In our newsletter this week...
Vale Margaret Henderson
President's Message
Canberra in Bloom Volunteers Needed
Teams League Competition at the Club!
New Players
Online Lessons
Upcoming Events
Youth News
How Weak Are You?
Barb's Farewell
Results
Lighter Moments
Vale Margaret Henderson
( 26th March 1938 - 20th August 2026)
Last week one of “Friday’s favourites”, Margaret Henderson, died.
Margaret played social bridge for many years before joining Grand Slam then Canberra Bridge Club.
She was very happy when she could no longer play bowls as it gave her even more time to play bridge.
Many Friday N/S players, who knew Margaret by sight, asked if she was that very elegant lady at the front of the room.
Margaret’s regular partners enjoyed playing with her so much but were all aware of her favourite bids - 6 NT and Double!
There will be a private family farewell to Margaret.
President's Message
Thank You to Our Wonderful Volunteers
A big thank you to everyone who have helped make our recent Club events such a success!
The farewell for Barb Toohey was well attended, and it was wonderful to see so many members come along to celebrate Barb. Thanks to everyone who brought along food and helped make the afternoon such a lovely occasion. Special thanks to Nicole, Kate, Lyndall, Sylvia, Rob and Rowan.
Our Graded Teams event last Saturday was also a great success, with plenty of activity around the tables and a wonderful day enjoyed by members. Thank you to Steve and Bricet for directing the event, and to Elizabeth for organising the teams. A very special thank you to Alison for stepping in to organise the food, and taking care of the set-up and cleaning up at the end.
And finally, you may have noticed that our honour boards have now been updated. Special thanks to David, Elizabeth and others who helped pull together the information needed. As you may know, the honour boards have been one of those "long-awaited jobs" that is now finally completed. We also have a new North sign in place, so thank you to our lovely member, Lyndall, who made it!
It is the willingness of our members to pitch in and help that makes CBC such a great Club. Thank you all for your time, energy and wonderful community spirit.
- Mary
Canberra in Bloom - Help Needed
2nd to 5th October 2026
House reserves
Are you able to reserve for any of the events at Canberra in Bloom? We are looking for players at all levels to fill in if needed. If you are called on at short notice, you will play for free! If you can help out as a reserve please email Jenny Bell at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Volunteers
We also need volunteers to assist with a range of tasks during the Congress (eg, with setting up for the day, assisting with morning and afternoon teas). Some of these tasks can be done by people who are playing the events (eg work needed to be done following completion of play). If you can help out, even for just an hour or two, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and include "Volunteer" in the subject line and include in the email when you would be able to help out.
Alternatively please let Elizabeth at the office know.
The tasks are not difficult and many hands make light work!
Teams League Competition at the Club!
As we head towards Christmas, we are trialling a new competition at the Club – a regular Teams Event designed for players of all skill levels, from beginners to expert!
The Club will be hosting regular teams events – open to teams of four, five or six held over two sessions a fortnight apart.
You do not need to have experience playing teams before entering. All you need to do is to have two pairs available for both the second and fourth Monday evening of the month.
Teams is an extremely rewarding form of playing bridge where you are not competing against the entire room, but are rather playing head-to-head against another team.
Your results are not scored against the whole room but are rather only compared to the results at the other table. If your pairs do better with the cards you are dealt than the pairs of the opposing team, you will win, regardless of where you are ranked across the room. The scoring rewards bidding games and making one’s contracts. Overtricks and obsessively bidding No Trumps instead of the minors are not rewarded as highly as in regular pairs game.
This makes it ideal for regular club players from B-grade, C-grade or the supervised sessions.
When is it?
The first season is Monday 14th September and Monday 28th September.
Each session starts at 6-30 PM at the Club and will conclude at 9-00 PM
Players should aim to arrive by 6-20PM at the latest!
Does the team have to come to both weeks?
Yes. At least one pair must play both weeks. The teammates can be a different pair each week if your team has six players
How much does it cost?
Regular table fees will be charged on the night via MyABF
Who is it for?
Any playing ability will be accommodated
The field will be split into multiple “Divisions” and players will only play other teams within their division
At the conclusion of each month, the winning teams in each division will be promoted to a higher division and the bottom teams will be relegated to a lower division
What is the format?
Each night teams will play two twelve board teams matches
There will be an overall winner within each division after the two nights
How do we enter a Team?
Via the following link on MyABF:
• https://www.myabf.com.au/events/congress/view/4641
Can you help us find team-mates?
There are no guarantees but we are always prepared to assist. If you need help securing team-mates, please contact Elizabeth or Steve.
What if I have further questions?
If you have any questions, you can speak to Steve at the club or via email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Alternatively, you can speak to Elizabeth or email her on:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
New Players
Canberra Bridge Club welcomes the following new and returning players:
- Melanie Kerr
- Patrick McKenna
Online Lessons
The next online lesson with Will Jenner-O'Shea is on Thursday 3rd September at 9:30am.
This lesson is on Escaping from 1NT Doubled.
• Click here to buy
Upcoming Events
BFACT Gala Pairs - Saturday, 5 September
This is a one-day butler pairs event where players of BFACT affiliated clubs of all levels will be welcomed and will be competitive. BFACT will also be selecting the “ACT 2” team for the Grand National Open Teams (GNOT).
- Date: 5 September
- time: 9:45am
- Location: Canberra Bridge Club
- Click here to enter.
Have you been to our Cardplay Wednesdays?
Steve Geddes teaches Cardplay Wednesdays on the 1st Wednesday of the month. The next one will be running on 2nd September.
- When?
2nd September
- What Time?
5-00 pm Until 6-30 pm (hopefully accessible to both daytime players and workers).
- How Much Does it Cost?
$15 per session (charged through MyABF or paid by cash on the day).
- Who is it For? It is aimed at players who have recently transitioned from Supervised Play to B-Grade as well as B-Grade players who may find that they have a clear understanding of system but have received less assistance in how to actually play the cards. In terms of difficulty is it intended to be slightly easier than the workshops William Jenner-O’Shea runs from time to time at the club.
- What is the Format? There will be a brief (ten minute) introduction to a topic of cardplay followed by six to eight hands where the bidding will be provided and participants will be able to put the lesson to work at the table. There will also be handouts with a half-page discussion on every hand explaining the relevant tricks, tips and principles.
Youth News
YOUTH EVENTS At a glance
September 18: Youthish Night
September 25: RealBridge Youthish Night
September 27 - October 1: Youth Triathlon
Saturday November 7: Trivia Fundraiser
December 5 - 6: NSW State Youth Championships
CBC Trivia Fundraiser
Saturday November 7, 2pm - 5pm
Start assembling friends and family for a FUN Trivia Afternoon. Teams of 8, $25pp.
The money raised from the Trivia Day will be used to help Youth players gain experience against a variety of opponents including subsidies for Country Congresses and the NSW State Championships.
Youthish Night - September 18
Do you know someone 30 or under who would enjoy playing bridge? Bring them along to Youthish Night, it’s free and there are plenty of snacks and a pizza dinner and you can stay too!
Youth Triathlon - 27th Sept to 1st Oct (Sunday - Thursday)
3 days of Competition
2 days of Training
1 Winner Crowned
Sunday 27 Sept Development
Monday 28 Sept Pairs Competition: 2 sessions
Tuesday 29 Sept Teams Competition: 2 sessions
Wed 30 Sept Individual Competition: 1 session + development + sightseeing
Thursday 1 Oct Development
An overall winner of all 3 events combined will be crowned
🥇 2026 Youth Triathlon Champion 🥇 and receive the Bobby Richman Shield
CBC Youth Coordinator Suz Wilkinson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This week’s Youth Shoutout goes to John Donovan aka “The Director” who help get Youth RealBridge running and is going to Cootamundra Congress this weekend as a mentor to a young youth player.
How Weak Are You?
Several decades ago, bridge experts realised that when you have a weak hand and lots of trumps, you could wreak havoc on the opponents’ auction by jumping to a very high level and stopping them from exploring for their best fit. An important tool was invented called the Weak Two.
Opening with Two-of-a-Suit (that isn’t Clubs!) shows a good, six card suit and between 6-10 HCPs. When vulnerable it is important that your suit is very good (two of the top three honours or three of the top five honours is a minimum you should have when vulnerable). By taking away most of the one and two-level bids, the opponents will now struggle to have their usual quiet, unobstructed auction.
Unfortunately, sometimes we will hit our partner with our pre-empt. And despite us having a weak hand, our partner is the player holding all the cards. Suddenly all that room we’ve used up is room in the auction that we could have used to explore for our best contract. What should we do then?
The Two No Trump Enquiry
One excellent principle when facing a weak two is that responder should only bid with a good hand or a good fit. With a very good hand of eighteen, nineteen or even more points, responder should just bid game. With a good fit, responder should raise (either once or all the way to game) based on how large that fit is. But what about hands that might be good enough to make game?
Suppose you hold the following and your partner opens Two Hearts showing 6-10 HCP and a good, six card Heart suit:
♠ JT92
♥ J32
♦ AK3
♣ AQJT
Now we have sixteen High Card Points, but we could easily lose a Heart, a Club and a couple of Spades. Alternatively, our partner might have the Ace-King of Hearts and a Spade shortage and we’ll make twelve tricks if the Club finesse works.
When we are not sure about bidding game, but would like to know more, we can use the Two No Trump enquiry to ask our partner about their weak two. Responding Two No Trumps to a weak two opening is not natural, it doesn’t mean you want to play in No Trumps. It definitely doesn’t mean “I hate your suit and I want to play somewhere else” - if you hate your partner’s Weak Two and you have a weak hand, you should pass!
The opener then needs to evaluate their hand and decide whether they have a good weak two or a bad weak two. With a bad weak two and Six or Seven HCPs, opener should just repeat their suit. This says “I have a minimum – it’s not just weak, it’s VERY weak”.
Any other bid shows a good weak two. Any weak two with nine or ten HCPs should be called a good one. (With eight you need to decide – is this good or bad?). With a good weak two, we should bid another suit. Any suit we bid shows a shortage in the bid suit. That is either a singleton or a void.
So the auction:
2H : 2NT* (enquiry)
3S* shows a good weak two in Hearts with only one or zero Spades.
2D: 2NT* (enquiry)
3D shows a minimum weak two in Diamonds (it may have a shortage or may not)
2S: 2NT* (enquiry)
3C shows a good weak two in Spades with only one or zero Clubs.
Responder should now know whether to sign off in three of their partner’s weak two or whether they can take a chance on game.
The one tricky hand is something like this:
♠ KQJT92
♥ KT3
♦ 42
♣ 75
Suppose you open this Two Spades and your partner responds Two No Trump (the artificial enquiry), what should you bid then? You clearly have a good weak two, but you have no shortage.
The special response to remember is Three No Trumps. It doesn’t mean “I want to play in Three No Trumps” (although your partner might pass!) it means “I have a good weak two but I have no shortage”.
If you are playing weak twos with your partner make sure you also discuss what the next bids mean! New suits by responder should be forcing but if you haven’t yet done so, consider adding the Two No Trump enquiry. It can help you push to game when it’s right and stay out of game when you really have no business being there.
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: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Steve Geddes
Farewell Barb!
On Thursday, the club saw a great turnout to farewell a beloved teacher, Barb Toohey, who reminded us that she is ‘relocating, not retiring’. After 15 or so years teaching bridge at CBC and some 36 years playing at the club, Barb has been a fixture, introducing hundreds of students to the rules of bridge. She is looking forward to teaching bridge at her new home town but also resuming attendance at congresses. We look forward to our paths crossing in the future.
