Newsletter 11 November 2022

 In this week’s newsletter...

  • President's Message
  • Supervised Sessions
  • Christmas Cheer
  • Southern Cross- Community Rewards
  • Results 
  • Upcoming Events 
  • Wednesday Nights - Pizza Night!
  • Australian - Opens Teams Trials - BB online operators wanted!
  • Down Under v Up Over RealBridge challenge - 6 December 
  • Summer Festival of Bridge Program for January 2023
  • Ian Morison - When to Jump
  • Lighter Moments

 

 From the President

 

On the 19th of November there is the working bee where we need lots of volunteers to help put up the Christmas decorations, work in the garden, remove the unsightly graffiti adoring our walls and generally clean and tidy up the building. We are a volunteer organisation and depend on our members to keep the club operating. So, the more volunteers we have the quicker the jobs are done and there is more time to socialise. Please bring gardening equipment if intending to work outside – rakes, forks, plumbers spades, pruners, and wheelbarrows. If anyone has any old bricks lying around, we need some to hold down some plastic sheeting. 

Thank you to all the users of the kitchen for not crowding and continuing to maintain social distancing within the club. The covid pandemic is not over and we need to maintain our vigilance. The details of the current covid plan are on the website.

For pizza lovers, please take note of the information from Jon Pike who is organising a once-a-month pizza night on Wednesday evenings commencing at the end of this month.

Try not to fall asleep at the table

Tim Mather

 

William Jenner-O'Shea Workshop - 26 November

If you haven't already please register for this insightful bridge workshop by 5pm today!  This will allow time for the organisers to deal the boards, print the booklets and arrange morning tea catering for the event.

Further details below.  This is the first in a series of workshops to be presented by William Jenner-O’Shea suitable for all standards of players. For more details see the flier here.  Partnership and singles bookings are welcome.

  • Topic: Improve Your Overcalls and Competitive Bidding
  • Date: Saturday 26 November, 10 am – 3 pm
  • Cost: $45 for CBC & BFACT-affiliated Club members; $50 for visitors
  • Bookings: Please fill out our online entry form
  • Payment: Members pay via CBCPay; non-members via Direct Deposit to our account.

William Jenner-O'Shea is a very experienced teacher and an Australian representative player. He has taught hundreds of Beginners, and thousands of Intermediate and Advanced players. He has represented Australia and won several National events. His last workshop in 2021 was very well received.

Enquiries: Patricia McDonald This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Bruce Chapman This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Upcoming Sessions

Our weekly sessions are the same as last week - see our homepage.   The Butler is back running on Thursday mornings.  Anyone wanting to play teams bridge is very welcome. 

Links to online sessions are on our RealBridge page.

 

November Supervised Sessions Wednesday nights and Friday mornings at the Club

We run supervised duplicates on Wednesday nights starting at 7.00pm and Friday mornings starting at 9.30am.  

Each duplicate is preceded by a short lesson. 

Here are the classes for November:

  • 16/18 November: Signals
  • 23/25 November: Better minor, responses and rebids
  • 30 Nov/2 Dec: Responses to NT and stayman

If you are interested, please come along.  You don’t need a partner.  There is no need to book.  If you would like a copy of the notes, please contact Morag Lokan -  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Master the Basics

Master the Basics virtual lessons are on Thursdays at 9.00am. The topic on 17 November is Slam Bidding - Roman Key Card Blackwood. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you want to be added to the Zoom class. It's $6 for members and $8 for non-members. The lessons run for 30 minutes.  

 

Festive Travellers

If you are looking for an additional game during the week please let us know and we will look out for a game for you. There are many people travelling. One such visitor is Kim (ABF 554030) from Queensland who is an intermediate player visiting her son in Canberra between 2-10 December.  Kim would love to play with someone better than her and is willing to teach her more. If you would like to have a game with Kim please let us know.  

 

Looking for a Christmas Gift that keeps on Giving?

If you know someone that is interested in learning to play bridge, consider giving them a gift certificate for a set of beginner classes. It costs $69. For this they receive 6 x 2 hour lessons with notes and hand records and 3 free supervised lessons.  The next beginners classes start in February

Support us while Dining at the Canberra Southern Cross Club

CBC has reentered the Southern Cross Community Rewards Program. This Community Rewards Program rewards patrons and their preferred community groups.  

The Club can earn up to $20,000 per year through the program. Those groups who are the most successful in the program have higher visitation to the CSC venues at Woden, Tuggeranong, Jamison and the Yacht Club.

7.5% of your food and beverage at the Southern Cross Club will be donated back to us as your preferred Community Group on your Canberra Southern Cross Club membership.  So if you are a member of the  Southern Cross Club and want to make us your favoured community organisation please indicate on this link and we will all be enriched!  

Non-CBC members can also nominate us as their preferred community group, so please tell your friends and neighbours and get them to click on the link.  

 

Results 

Congratulations to our own Lyn Widdup, Keith Till, George McLean and Kathy Bock who took out the RealBridge Online Congress Restricted Pairs hosted by Parramatta Bridge Club last Sunday winning big bucks! Virtual drinks all around?

Congratulations to Judith and sister Ruth Tobin who won the Southern Highlands Pairs and came third with John and Andrew Spooner in the Teams event.  

 

Upcoming Events

 

Wednesday Nights - Pizza Night!

After a COVID-19 break, the Wednesday night pizzas will return on 30th November. For those unfamiliar with the activity, the Wednesday night pizzas provide the opportunity for social interaction while enjoying a pizza sampling. It provides a great opportunity to talk to and socialise with your fellow players, which is not always the case when engaged in playing bridge. The pizzas will be available from 6:30pm, which provides ample time to enjoy your pizzas before supervised and walk-in play begins.

The cost of the pizzas is a nominal $5 payable on the day. This entitles you to half a pizza. A variety of toppings will be available and participants can pick and choose. Vegan pizzas can be made available for those who want them. No drinks are provided, so if you want liquid refreshment you will need to bring your own. 

Attendance is voluntary and those wishing to partake should place their name on a list on the noticeboard or contact Jon Pike directly. His email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or mobile 0414 272 778. 

 

Working Bee - Saturday 19 November

Working Bee at the Club - the first for several years.  Putting up Christmas Decorations, gardening and other tasks as directed.  Put your name on the sign up sheet and come along and enjoy the workout from 9.30am on Saturday 19 November.There are 7 starters so far - mainly your committee members who could use a bit of help.

 

Australian Open Teams Playoff 12-17 November

Notice some new people around the club next week?  The ABF are staging the Australian Open Team Playoff  from 12 to 17 November at our Club upstairs in the Olive Lott Rooms. These people are playing to represent Australia.  

 

BBO Operators needed to Broadcast 

The ABF would like to broadcast on BBO one match from each round of the Australian Opens Teams Playoff.

To do this, a sufficient number of BBO "Operators" are needed.

  • you need a working knowledge of using BBO and training on the specifics of being an operator will be given if required.
  • you need to be available for a number of sessions.
  • lunch and remuneration are provided  - 4 matches a day at around $50 per match of 15 boards - it's worked out on a board basis.

If you, or someone you know, are interested, please contact the tournament organiser Roy Nixon on 0423 043 220 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Roy says they may have further work for operators in early December for the Mixed Teams. 

 

Up Over v Down Under RealBridge Challenge

RealBridge creators are devising an international competition on ReallBridge.  A group of players from the Southern Hemisphere (“Down Under”) have issued a  RealBridge challenge to “Up Over”, that is UK and Ireland.

For this event, we are adopting a rather loose definition of “Down Under”, to include South Africa as well as Australia and New Zealand. Each hemisphere will be represented by a super squad of pairs. This promises to be a battle of epic proportions.  Are you up for the challenge?

  • Tuesday 6th Dec, 7am AEDT - and/or
  • Tuesday 6th Dec, 7pm AEDT

Members of CBC are eligible to play.  Each session is 20 boards. Players can play in either or both sessions. In each session we are dividing the players into three sections:

  • High level players.
  • Club players.
  • Players who are learning, but have been playing for more than 6 months.

Those who have not played for as long as 6 months, may find it hard to keep up to 15 minutes for 2 boards. We have in mind a similar idea for newcomers/learners in the new year. They will not be left out.

Right now, there is no need to commit, but we are hoping to get indicative numbers from you soon. Further details to follow.  If you are interested put the date in your calendar and email the club This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

Canberra Summer Festival of Bridge 10-22 January 2023

Summer Festival of Bridge at the Rex Hotel Northbourne Ave. This is the first F2F event since 2020.

The Festival offers events for players of all levels. There are events for players with fewer than 100 masterpoints , to under 300, 500, 750, 1000 and  many open events.

There are single day and multi day events with all  events providing Gold Masterpoints.

A full program is on on the notice board at the  Canberra Bridge Club, is also available on MYABF or  at https://www.myabf.com.au/media/Congress-downloads/2022/10/31/sfob2023.1pdf

 

Ian Morison - Jump or Wait?

Here is a hand from the Club game on Wednesday night. How should you bid it from all directions?

Dealer North, NS Vul

                                              105

                                              J732

                                               103

                                          KQJ105

 KQJ8643                                                                       97

AK4                                                                           Q10986

87                                                                                 QJ42

 6                                                                                     83

                                            A2

                                               5

                                        AK965

                                        A9742

The Bidding

North and East both passed, then South opened 1C. All correct in my view (South planned to bid 2D if North replied 1H,1S or 1NT in response, showing a strong 2 suiter)

Over 1C, should West bid 4S straight away? West has 5 losers, and EW are Not Vul, so there is a strong case for it. If East can cover 2 of those losers, game will make. Even if it does not make, it will be a good sacrifice if NS can make game

I decided to bid 1S and see what happened. I could always bid more later. I was hoping Partner may be able to help

North bid 3C, East passed, South passed, I bid 3S, North passed, East passed and South bid 4C (I think South should bid 5C with the strong 2-suiter)

Over 4C by South, I feared pushing them into 5C if I bid 4S, so passed. North passed, as did East

The Play

There is nothing to the play - 6C will make on any lead after drawing Trumps, then cross-ruffing Hearts and Diamonds, with the 13th Diamond in hand being the last to throw the losing Spade in Dummy                                         

Moral of the Story

Sometimes a jump will help the Opponents bid their game. North said if I had bid 4S straight away, she would have bid 5C. If I then bid 5S, South said he would have bid 6C

This time my softly softly approach worked. 4C making 6C was a poor score. Other times it won’t work

How would you have bid it?

 

Lighter Moments

 I'm on two diets. I wasn't getting enough food on one.

I put my scale in the bathroom corner and that's where the little liar will stay until it apologizes.

My mind is like an internet browser. At least 19 open tabs, 3 of them are frozen, and I have no clue where the music is coming from.

Hard to believe I once had a phone attached to a wall, and when it rang, I picked it up without knowing who was calling.

Advice to all - apparently, RSVP-ing to a wedding invitation "Maybe next time" isn't the correct response.

 

44 days to Christmas, slightly less shopping days....

 

Tamara (for Kerry and Tamara)