Newsletter 05 March 2026
In our newsletter this week...
- Understanding Defence – The Hardest Part of the Game
- New Players
- Rank Promotions
- Youth News
- Upcoming Events
- Online Lesson with Will
- Sit there and Shut up!
- Rottnest Swim Update
- Lighter Moments
Understanding Defence – The Hardest Part of the Game
A series of workshops for the developing player
This is a practical series of workshops focussing on defending accurately. It will cover some of the well known defence aphorisms such as “Third Player Plays High”, “Always Return Your Partner’s Suit” and focus on why they are valuable and when you should ignore them!
As an experiment, we are offering these classes at our usual day time but also trialling an evening opportunity for players unavailable during the day. The Monday and Tuesday classes are repeats.
- Where is it: Canberra Bridge Club – Evening or Morning classes
- When is it:
• Monday Evenings – 6:45 pm until 9:00 pm
on 23rd, 30th March and 6th, 13th April
OR
• Tuesday Mornings – 9:45 am until 12:00 pm
on 24th, 31st March and 7th, 14th April - How much does it cost: $15 per lesson
- Who is giving it: Steve Geddes
This is a walk in event, no need to register. You can come as an individual or as a partnership. All lessons are on defence but even if you miss one, you can still attend the rest.
Further enquiries please contact:
New Players
Canberra Bridge Club welcomes the following new and returning players:
- Marianna Xerri
- Nola Daly
RANK PROMOTIONS
Graduate
- Garwood-Houng, Alana
- Muecke, Chris
- Quach, Robyn
- Wilson, Mark
Club
- Appel, Denis
Bronze Local
- Jones, Peter
- Wawn, Chris
Silver Local
- Carlin, Karen
- Hitch, Clayton
- Hitch, Sharon
- Reis, John
Regional
- Quach, Bob
State
- Quach, Paul
Gold Life
- Sullivan, Paul
Youth News
There’s a new Australian Youth Bridge Website, check it out! https://www.aussieyouthbridge.com/
SAVE THE DATES
- The next Youthish night is on Friday March 20.
Further Youthish nights will be held on April 24 and May 15.
- Youth Fundraising Day: The Scongress is being held on Sunday 17 May.
We will once again hold a raffle (prize donations are welcome!) and Jade and Alexis will bake more scones than the Knave of Hearts can steal.
IT’S OK TO BE A MUG
Youth fundraising mugs will arrive at the club soon. They were hot property at the Summer Festival of Bridge in January. The mugs are an initiative of the ABF Youth Coordinator to provide some funding for Australian Youth Representatives in the U26 Women’s, U16, U21, and U31 teams (the U26 team is funded by the ABF). There are 4 different designs. You can buy individual mugs for $30 each or a set of 4 for $99. Cash Only at the club.
HOSTING YOUTH PLAYERS FOR EVENTS
We are looking for members who are willing to host Youth players from Interstate at various events in the future. If you like the idea of meeting and billeting ‘up and coming’ Youth players, please email
Alternatively if you have contacts or suggestions on good accommodation deals near CBC, please get in touch.
Please don’t hesitate to approach CBC Youth Coordinator Suz Wilkinson if you have questions or ideas about Youth related issues.
Upcoming Events
The next Tuesday night competition is the BFACT State Open Butler Pairs on 24th March - 7th April 2026:
A reminder that the BFACT State Open Butler Pairs will still be starting at 7:15pm. The event after this one will be starting earlier at 7pm.
Online Lesson with Will
Will is running regular Online Lessons that are suitable for Club players of all levels.
There is a LIVE ZOOM on Thursday Mornings at 9:30am, or you can sign up for the lessons and receive the Recording, Hands, Notes, and a way to Replay the hands later. The full list of lessons and topics can be found on our website.
Next lesson is on "Responding to a Double". Purchase through the link below.
Sit There And Shut Up!
It is rare to run into a Director Call that you’ve never seen before. Nonetheless, in week one of the State Open Teams, I ran into a situation that I have never seen at the bridge table.
Here is the hand. North-South bid their way to Four Spades and West showed Hearts along the way:
East dutifully led the Six of Hearts, West won the Queen and then the Ace (hoping her partner had led a singleton and that the third round would be ruffed). Sadly it was not to be, so at trick three, West switched to the Jack of Clubs looking for a ruff of her own.
East won the Ace and recognising a singleton when she saw one returned another club. West was ready for this of course and ruffed…..with the Three of Diamonds (not a trump). Such is the confidence of youth that she then boldly continued with another Heart and the table played on as if she had ruffed.
North now had a problem. He knew East was able to ruff this Heart and so he played the Ace of Spades. Having now shortened his trump honours, he could no longer draw trumps without West eventually winning a trick with the Jack of Spades. At the end of the hand, South (who had been Dummy and noticed the infraction when it occurred) pointed out that West had not, in fact ruffed the Club at all…..Director….?
(For those interested, the ruling is that the Queen of Clubs actually won trick four; despite everyone scoring it as a loss and that the third Heart was then a lead out of turn, accepted by North when he ruffed with the Ace of Spades. The defence have effectively ceded a trick by neglecting to ruff. Luckily, Declarer gave it right back by accepting the lead out of turn and West effectively gave herself a trump promotion! Nine tricks, the way God intended).
The most notable thing for me in this hand was that Dummy, who knew West hadn’t actually ruffed the Club, sat silently as his partner conceded the trick and then accepted the lead out of turn. It is a little known law that Dummy is not allowed to draw attention to an infraction and hence they had to wait until the end of the hand to point out the irregularity.
South, luckily, is one of Canberra’s most experienced Directors. HE knew he had to wait. How many of us would have been able to keep our mouths shut?
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
Rottnest Swim Update
With 12 hours to go before we were due to dive into the water for only the second time in its history, the Rottnest Island Channel Swimming Association cancelled the event.
The forecast weather included south-westerly winds of up to 60 knots, a southerly current of 12 meters per minute, and waves of 1.7 meters, it was too dangerous to swim.
At last count, the Mather-Petersen Charity swim team had raised $38,315, which I have been told is the largest amount of money ever raised by a single team in one year. So, while we are devastated, we did not swim across to Rottnest; we all swam 5 kilometres on Rottnest at the weekend.
-Tim Mather
Lighter Moments
- The Ultimate Truth: The easiest way to find something you've lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
- The "Safe Place" Paradox: I’ve finished cleaning and put the item in a "safe place" where I can easily find it again. You know the rest of this scenario....
- Location, Location, Location: "It's exactly where you left it!".
- The Guarantee: Things are always in the last place you look.
- The Search Protocol: I like to help people find things by telling them they have to be around here somewhere.
Next time you are at the club please remember to look through the Lost Properties table placed near the upstairs kitchen. All unclaimed items will be donated to Charity by the end of next fortnight.
Have a great week everyone!
Elizabeth
