Newsletter - 28 January 2022

 

From the President

For all those playing at the Club, please remember to leave your bidding cards on the table until a card has been led. To all players, please remember to state the value of your INT bid and the number of clubs in your 1C bid, and please alert all artificial bids. Please do not give an explanation of a bid unless asked.

The Club is still looking for a teacher for the supervised group. If you are not interested, but know of someone else who you think could be a possibility, please contact Barb Toohey.

Please stay safe and enjoy your bridge

Margaret

 

A word on Governance

 Minutes from the Committee's December 2021 meeting are available online or in hard copy on the Governance Notice Board.

 

Updated COVID-19 Safety Plan and Checklist for Players

The COVID-19 Safety Plan and Checklist for Players have been updated.  The major changes reflect recent changes to the ACT Government's COVID-19 requirements.  In particular:

• You must not be present at the clubrooms if (i) you are unwell; (ii) you are subject to relevant ACT Government COVID-19 requirements concerning quarantine, isolation, symptoms, testing, exposure locations, etc; (iii) you have been overseas or interstate and are subject to other jurisdictions' requirements; or (iv) you have been in contact with a person who has COVID-19 and are at high or medium risk of developing COVID-19 according to ACT Government guidelines.
• If you are diagnosed with COVID-19 and were at the clubrooms from two days before symptoms started or you tested positive (whichever came first), please inform the CBC managers at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. who can assist with advising any social contacts who were at the clubrooms at the same time.

Spread out playing tables in Barry Turner Room

Currently, the playing tables in the main playing area are spread out as much as possible, with at least one unused table between each playing table.  The arrangement facilitates physical distancing between players.  Maybe players also appreciate the extra opportunity to stretch their legs between rounds.

 

Back to Bridge at Canberra Bridge Club for those who would like some support - please share with those who need it!

The beginner’s classes are going ahead face-to-face in the club rooms starting Wednesday 2 Feb at 7 pm and Friday 4 Feb at 10am!  There are still some spots available on the Friday morning if you know someone who wants to play!

We are launching a new supervised duplicate for people who would like support to play bridge in a more relaxed session.  Starting the first week in February we are offering you the chance to participate in a more relaxed duplicate.  It will run for 6 weeks. You will play 18 boards.  Prior to each session we will offer you a 10-15 minute lesson.  During the duplicate you will have the opportunity to ask questions of your supervisor.    This duplicate will be held at the club rooms starting at:

• 7pm Wednesday evenings  2 February
• 10am Friday mornings  4 February.

 Beginner's Lessons are on in the Olive Lott Room on the same days and times.  There are a few spots left on the Fridays but the Wednesdays are fully subscribed. 

Sessions in the club and on RealBridge are outlined below. NB There may be possible changes from time to time but if any of the advertised sessions below change we will send another email advice.  

Upcoming Sessions

Our weekly sessions

• Monday morning 10.00am at the club
• Monday 10.15 am RealBridge
• Monday 2.00 pm (24 boards) RealBridge
• Monday 7.00 pm RealBridge
• Monday 7.15pm RealBridge event
• Tuesday afternoon 1.00pm at the club
• Wednesday morning 10.00am at the club
• Wednesday morning 10.15am RealBridge
• Wednesday evening supervised at the club 7pm (18 boards following lesson) commencing 2 Feb
• Wednesday evening 7.15pm RealBridge
• Thursday morning 10.00am at the club - Butler and walk in duplicate
• Thursday afternoon 2.00pm (24 boards) RealBridge
• Friday morning supervised 10am at the club (18 boards following lesson) commencing 4 Feb
• Friday afternoon 1.00pm at the club
• Friday afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge
• Saturday afternoon 1.15pm RealBridge

Watch the newsletters and website for advice on face-to-face sessions at the club, and RealBridge sessions as these are fluid, depending on COVID developments and demand.  At this stage it is intended that the Monday and Thursday afternoon RealBridge sessions will continue.  

Member table money will be deducted from players CBCPay accounts. Visitors' fees will be paid for by their member-partner, or via prior arrangement by emailing the office.

Cost: face-to-face $10 members/ $13 visitors, concession $9.  RealBridge $8 members and $7 concession (including event).

Links to sessions are on our RealBridge page.

 

 CBC Pay Statements for the month of January are scheduled to go out next Wednesday.  These are planned to go out in batches so that all members will receive statements this month.

 

 

Festival of Bridge

The Summer Festival of Bridge is a national event hosted by the Australian Bridge Federation. It took place from 13 to 23 January 2022 on RealBridge. A wide range of events are scheduled.  To see results etc go to the website.  

Some notable mentions at the end of events carried forward from last week (and apologies for any omissions - for a full list visit the website):

Open Matchpoint Swiss Pairs - Pam Crichton and Ross Crichton came 2nd in a field of 86 pairs.  Well done Pam and Ross!

Under 750MP Matchpoint Swiss Pairs - Chris Tough and Mary Tough came 12th in a field of 48 pairs

Our recently departed director, Joshua Tomlins was a member of the team that won the Oz Youth Challenge Team!

 Congratulations to all CBC players participating in the SFOB.  

Significant Board in the South West PacificTeams with Len Dixon

Today's deal, from Tuesday's first round of the SWPT generated double digit IMP swings in several matches.  This is a reprint from Sunday's Canberra Times.

Respectively NS in the diagrammed auction were Pam and Ross Crichton, half of the eventually highest-placed-all-Canberra team.  West's opening lead against 4♠ was 8♦ to 3-A-Q.  Understandably failing to read it as a singleton, 

Board:  Vul: NS Dealer: E	♠ AQ10 ♥ KJ102 ♦J1073 ♣ 43
♠ J96 ♥ Q93 ♦ 8 ♣ Q97652		♠ 3 ♥ A854 ♦ A642 ♣AKJ10
	♠ K87542 ♥ 76 ♦ KQ95 ♣ 8

East departed from best defence. ♣ A-8-9-3 cost one of the three tricks by which 4S could have been defeated.  ♣K- ♠2-♣2-4 cost the other two.   ♠4-6-A-3, ♠Q-♣J- ♠5-9. ♠10- ♥4- ♠K- J, ♦5-♣5-♦J-2, ♦10-4-9-♣6, ♦7-6-K ♣7, ♥6-3-J-5.  ♥2-8-7-9.  contained no departure from double-dummy perfection and 10 tricks were claimed for a NS table score of 620.  

After a very different auction (1♣ 2♠ -Pass-Pass, Double, Pass- 3♣ 3♠ 4♣ - All Pass  ) at the other table, the Crichtons' teammates, Niek Van Vucht (West) and Graham Wakefield, increased that to 750 for a 13-IMP pick-up. North led ♠A to 3-2-9 presenting declarer with an overtrick chance and the play continued ♣4-A-8-2, ♦A-5-8-3, ♦2-Q-♣5-♦7, ♠6-10-♣K-♠4, ♣10-♠5-♣Q-3, (surrendering the valueless overtrick) ♠J-Q-♣J-♠7, ♦4-9-♣6-♦10, ♣9-♥2-4-6, ♥3-10-A-7, ♥5-♠8♥-9-J.  ♥K-8-♦K-♥Q, ♦J-6-♠K-♣7.  

 

Upcoming  Events

 

February Pairs RealBridge Mondays

Before we launch the February Pairs, we should at least let you know what happened with the January Pairs! Placings as follows:

1. Peter Grant & Tony Marinos
2. Des Manderson & Rob Hurst
3. David Wawn & David Hoffman
4. Roy Nixon & Emlyn Williams
5. Ian Robinson & Adam Robinson
6. Chris Quail and Julia Hoffman

Congratulations to all who participated.  Now onto February Pairs.

Find a partner and enter the two week competition on 7 & 14 February 2022.  Please enter by 10am 7 February. 

Later in the month the Hugh Hudson Pairs Club Championship will be kicking off.  This  is a Butler Imps scored event to be held over several weeks on either Monday evenings via RealBridge or Tuesday evenings face-to-face.  The decision on which format will be determined in mid February.  

ABF Foundation Fundraiser: ProAm BridgeTournament

An ABF Foundation was established in 2020 to assist participants at all skill levels to enjoy and promote our fascinating game. 

There is a Pro-Am Bridge Tournament to raise funds for the Foundation by auctioning a session with a professional or leading players (including  our own Jodi Tutty).  The auction has been extended and finishes on 29 January with the ProAm to run on either Tuesday 1 February or Tuesday 15 February at 7pm by arrangement.    

The winners will receive gold points! Click on the link above for details on players and the auction!  

  

 Jacoby 2NT with Joan Butts

• A jump by responder to 2NT after partner’s opening of 1♥️/1♠️ is not natural if you’re using the Jacoby 2NT convention (1♥️/1♠️ p 2NT)
• 2NT, Jacoby,  shows a strong raise (13+ points) of partner's opening, and is unlimited, with four + trumps
• The 2NT bid asks opener to show whether their hand has a shortage too (singleton or void)
• The Principle of Fast Arrival operates in that, if either opener or responder are minimum without a shortage, they will jump straight to game
• Working out how shortages match each other’s hands will facilitate successful slams on 26+ points
• The best holding for partner opposite a singleton or void is Axxx or xxxx, (not wasted values) rather than QJ10x, or KJ10x (wasted values)
• If the hands "fit", then either partner may Cue Bid or use Blackwood

 

Vale Judy Macklow

Our good friend and club member, Judy Macklow, died in hospital on Monday, due to unexpected medical complications.
Judy was a long term club member having served on the committee, assisted in catering and attending club events. 
She had many attachments  in the club; Judith Anderson with whom she shared a love of theatre and films, a fellow traveller with Sue Welbourne, a work colleague with Rick Nehmy at Foreign Affairs
and shared the last plane out of Saigon with Adrienne Stevens.

Great fun, a good sport and unfailingly friendly to everyone who joined us at our table.

Many club members rely on their well oiled bidding system to score well, but Judy and I had a different strategy:
a) keep your head down and play a "steady" game; and 
b) hope for a series of opponents who have the most appalling of blunders!

Raise a metaphorical glass to our good friend Judy, she will be very missed.

Thanks to Rowan Bergin for this dedication.  

 

Up the Creek without a ... (entry to a winner)

A golden rule of Bridge is you must take stock before you play any cards.

I wrote about the problem of Declarer being in the wrong hand at the wrong time, on 22 Nov last year – it was a hand played at the club, and Declarer went 2 down in 1NT with 7 top tricks there for the taking – Declarer mistimed and became stuck in the wrong hand. 

Over the January break, I noticed the following in Paul Marston’s Bridge Column in The Australian. Paul is a great bridge writer as he instructs us common players on simple ways to bid, play, and defend better.

[Other columnists merely write about a brilliant play by Australia’s top players. Most of us struggle to see the problem yet alone understand the answer; thus, their columns are not as useful to us.]

So, thank you Paul (and keep it up - from all of us grateful bridge mortals).

You are South in 4S with this hand, not Vul, no opposition bidding, S7 is led:

 

Board:  Vul: Nil Dealer: N	♠ Q93 ♥ Q105 ♦ AQ532 ♣ 63
♠ 75 ♥ K972 ♦ J94 ♣ A1085		♠ 864 ♥ AJ8643 ♦ 10 ♣ KJ9
	♠ AKJ102 ♥ - ♦ K876 ♣ Q742

                                                 

You analyse it. 10 tricks on top in Spades and Diamonds (5 each suit, unless Diamonds break 4:0 – very unlikely), with no real prospects of any tricks in Clubs or Hearts, as the cards lie.

Your plan - draw Trumps then run the Diamonds, if no 4:0 Diamond break, you chalk up 420 as a score and expect that will be a relatively flat 4S hand (some purists with only 23 Points between the 2 hands might not get there, thus improving your relative score).

But look what happens to send that astray. You draw Trumps in 3 rounds, then play DK, DA, DQ (counting and noting the opponents have played all the missing ones). Then you play D2, over to D8. You are then stranded in South and cannot get to your winning Diamond in the North hand, being your 10^th trick. You go 1 down. No more 420 on the score board, just -50.

Seeking sympathy from Partner (my partners are always bereft of such mercy to me), you say ‘I would have made if Diamonds were 2:2. Too bad they were 3:1.’

What should you have done to counter the possible 3:1 break?

You need to throw a Diamond from South after drawing Trumps to stop from being stranded there as you play Diamonds.

How do you do this? It is hard to spot but distressingly simple. After drawing Trumps, you lead a Heart from North and simply throw a Diamond from South. EW can now take 2 Club winners if they like but then you must get the lead back, and you will not be trapped in South when you play Diamonds, DK first.

You needed to take stock at the very start – where could I be trapped in the wrong hand? – look at the lower Diamonds for the clues.

Ian Morison - Bridge lover (and a very proud husband of Bridge novice Jenny – who received an AM Member on Wednesday for her service to business in the field of accountancy and to professional associations . Congratulations from us all Jenny!)

 

Lighter Moments

Things to think about:

• What doesn't kill you must make you stronger
• There'll be more pain before we die
• Be thankful, be helpful and never ever feel sorry for yourself
• Try a little kindness and you'll overlook the blindness of the narrow minded people on the narrow minded street