Newsletter 26 June 2025
In our newsletter this week...
- Vale Sean Mullamphy
- President's Message
- New members
- Upcoming Events
- Results
- High Card Points Tell Only Half the Story
- Lighter Moments
Vale Sean Mullamphy
Following on from the sad news of Sean’s passing last week, please see below from one of Sean’s best friends, Wendy Boxall.
SEAN MULLAMPHY (1955-2025)
I have known Sean for over 25 years and when Mary Tough asked me to write a few words I was very pleased to do so. To me, Sean was a friend, a bridge partner and a mentor. He will be missed.
Sean found bridge at university and the game held him in its thrall for the next 50 years. He raced to become a grand master, played bridge professionally and began teaching, directing and working in bridge administration. It was in this role that Sean came to the Canberra Bridge Club nearly 30 years ago.
But Sean was more than just a club director and manager. His skill and knowledge of the laws of bridge saw him rapidly become a National Director (Level 1) and then the Chief Tournament Director for the ABF. His directing abilities also brought him to the attention of the World Bridge Federation and saw him join the panel of directors who officiate at World Championships.
Within Australia, Sean also held significant roles. He will be remembered as Convenor of the Summer Festival of Bridge, a role he held for 10 years. He was regularly seen directing at Congresses in the district as well as important National events. I don’t believe Sean ever missed an ANC or Gold Coast Congress until his illness. Sean served as President of the Australian Bridge Directors Association and also as an advocate for Youth Bridge within the ABF. I believe that Sean gave back more to bridge than bridge ever gave to him.
Away from the bridge club, Sean was a keen golfer, a talented photographer, and a creative wood-worker. He would pay great attention to detail and his creative side was always on the lookout for ways to innovate and beautify the things he was involved in.
Family was a source of great joy and pride for Sean. He and Mary welcomed four wonderful children: Max, D’Arcy, Emily and Bridgette. Players will remember them as capable and efficient young people who happily filled various roles at the Summer Festival. In the last few months, the Mullamphy family celebrated several important milestones. Two occasions of great happiness were the weddings of daughter Emily and then a few months later, son Max.
In April this year Sean celebrated his 70th birthday surrounded by his close and extended family. As the eldest of six, Sean remained close to his siblings his entire life and all were able to attend. He and brother, Matt, (also an exceptional bridge player) were regular online bridge partners.
Over the last few days, many people have expressed to me their admiration for the way Sean coped with the health challenges that life threw at him. He remained a formidable player right until the end having qualified yet again for the ACT Seniors team and was looking forward to the competition in Brisbane. Sean will be remembered for his skill as a player, but, probably more importantly, Sean will also be remembered for introducing so many to bridge. Right until last week, he was still, willingly and generously, sharing his knowledge, skill and passion for our game.
On behalf of our bridge community, I extend my sympathy to Mary, Max, D’Arcy, Emily and Bridgette.
- Wendy Boxall (President BFACT)
Funeral arrangements: A requiem mass will be held on Thursday 3 July, 11:00am at St John Vianneys Church, 87 Namatjira Drive, Waramanga followed by a burial at Gungahlin Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be given to St Vincent De Paul Society, or to the Heart Foundation. The formal death notice will be in this Saturday’s Canberra Times.
President's Message
A big thank you to everyone who attended last Sunday’s Youth Fundraising (Scon-gress) Event!
Your generous support helped raise vital funds - most of which will go towards covering travel expenses for the Team as they head to Italy in July to represent Australia at the 19th World Youth Team Championships in Salsomaggiore Terme, 12–17 July 2025. We wish our young members Alexis and Jade all the very best for the upcoming competition. We hope you both have an incredible and inspiring experience!
A small portion of the funds will also support the ACT Youth Team, who will be competing in Brisbane at the Australian National Championships next month.
Special thanks to everyone who made the day such a great success - especially our talented bakers for the delicious scones and delectable lunch. Thanks also to the Convenor Will Jenner-O’Shea and the always-delightful Christy Geromboux (who directed the event).
Finally, a big thank you to our members, and members from other Clubs who came along to show their support for our ACT Youth. Your presence and encouragement means a lot!
I would also like to give a special thank you to the Gungahlin Bridge Club for their generous donation to the Youth Fundraiser, and, for advertising our beginners course on their website.
Congratulations to all of the winners:
1st Overall - Bricet Kloren & Craig Becconsall
Open:
- 1st - Julia Hoffman & Wendy Boxall
- 2nd - Zara Chowdhury & Andrew Spooner
- 3rd - Pam Crichton & Peter Grant
Restricted:
- 1st - Bricet Kloren & Craig Becconsall
- 2nd - Jacques Cherbuin & Adam Robinson
- 3rd - Deborah Milner & Andrew Kettle
Novice:
- 1st - Julie McPhail & Anne Fleming
- 2nd - Nicola Meares & Sharon Michael
- 3rd - Kate Ward & Jayne Francis
Rookies:
- 1st - Sally Vardy & Catriona Bruce
- 2nd - Joanne Mitchell & Vivienne Hook
- 3rd - Michael French & Daryl Hart
- Mary
New Members
Canberra Bridge Club welcomes the following new and returning member to the club:
- Jim Rich
- Alana Garwood-Houng
- Matthew Mason-Cox
- Peter Wilsmore
- Paul Kay
Upcoming Events
We will be pausing the Tuesday night competition on 8th and 15th July due to the ANC. Tuesday night competition will resume from the 22nd July.
The next GNOT Qualifier Gold Masterpoint competition will be run on RealBridge, Monday evening sessions for two weeks.
- June 30 and July 7 - Monday 7.00pm RealBridge Open
Results
The Winners of the Red Masterpoint Ord Minnet Pairs on RealBridge are:
- Roger Curnow - Gita Curnow
High Card Points Tell Only Half the Story
Accepted wisdom suggests that we should hold around 33 High Card Points if we are to make a Small Slam or 37 if we are interested in a Grand Slam. Whilst this is a good guideline when both hands are balanced, the more and more shapely they become, the less and less relevant the points are.
At the recent Chris Diment congress at the Illawarra Bridge Association, I picked up the following not bad hand.
♠ A765
♥ 3
♦ AJT7
♣ AQT8
Elaine, my wife and bridge partner was dealer and opened One Heart. My Right Hand Opponent passed so I responded One Spade. My Left Hand Opponent also passed and Elaine rebid Two Diamonds. She would have jumped with seventeen or more points, so it looked to me that we would probably end up in game (most likely in Three No Trumps). Nonetheless, when my opponents aren’t bidding and I’m pretty sure I know where we’re heading I don’t mind taking some time.
I bid Three Clubs which for us is fourth suit forcing (it doesn’t mean anything about Clubs and ironically, tends to mean I don’t have much in the suit at all!) I was hoping to hear more about Elaine’s hand and when she bid her Diamonds once more I knew she had five cards in both red suits (we would tend to bid our hearts once more with nothing to say. I now had a choice to make as to whether to play game in Diamonds or Three No Trumps. I decided to opt for Three No Trumps – I f igured since I’d bid Spades and then bid Fourth Suit Forcing, it might look like I was worried about the Clubs and so I was quite likely to get a Club lead around to my very strong holding. Although we were playing imps, I felt comfortable that we’d be able to make Three No Trumps and any overtricks might be worth a few extra.
To my surprise, Elaine bid Four Hearts. Given she had already shown a Five-Five and I had selected Three No Trumps, I figured she must now have Six Hearts and Five Diamonds. She knew that no matter what I had, her hand would play much, much better in a suit.
I was always going to go back to Diamonds of course, but I could now reassess. Opposite a Five-Five, I had been wary about bidding slam. I could imagine losing a trick in trumps and another in a black suit. However, with this new information I figure Elaine only had two black cards. These would be taken care of by my two black aces. Then she would be able to draw trumps and probably ruff a few hearts until her six card suit was established.
Thus, although we figured to have less than thirty High Card Points, I bid Six Diamonds. The defenders led a Club and this was what Elaine saw:
Dummy:
♠ A765
♥ 3
♦ AJT7
♣ AQT8
Club Lead
Declarer:
♠ J
♥ AK8652
♦ KQ942
♣ 5
She spent no time considering the Club finesse but took the Ace and then drew trumps in two rounds. After that she played the Ace-King of Hearts, trumped a Heart in my hand, then ruffed a Club. Another Heart ruff exhausted the opponents of red cards and after cashing the Ace of Spades, her hand was high. Making thirteen with a combined 28 High Card Points!
When evaluating these “pure” two suited hands, remember that High Card Points are a guide. They work well when both partners have balanced hands but if you hold one of these hands and you find a fit, you are likely to win many, many more tricks than the points would suggest.
If you have any interesting hands that come up (or hands you wish you’d known how to play) we would love to hear about them at:
- Steve Geddes
Lighter Moments
- A ship carrying a cargo of red paint collided with a ship carrying a cargo of purple paint. Both crews were marooned.
At last I have some warming news, it seems that our heaters are now performing to their full potential and also the leak above the kitchen roof looks to be finally fixed! Many thanks to Nick and Steve both of whom have spent lots of hours trying to solve these two issues.
Have a great week everyone.
Elizabeth
