Newsletter 2 August 2024
In our newsletter this week..
- Please Advise - Survey
- Integra Guide Dogs - Teams of Three
- Club Charity Nomination
- Southern Cross Club Community Rewards
- Will Jenner-O'Shea Workshop
- Beginners and Supervised Helpers
- RealBridge Bring a Buddy - Update
- Refresher Course
- Upcoming Events
- Results
- Ian Morison
- Lighter Moments
Please Advise - Survey
For 2025, the CBC tournament committee is contemplating the introduction of a series of new club championships based on masterpoints:
1. Graduate masters <5 MPs.
2. Club masters <15 MPs.
3. Local masters <50 MPs.
4. State masters <150 MPs.
5. National masters <300 MPs.
Each championship will have the same format. A possible format:
1. There will 4 sessions for each championship.
2. The pair with the best total score over 3 of the 4 sessions will be declared the
winner.
3. A particular month will be dedicated to each championship.
4. A particular session in each week will be dedicated to each championship.
5. Entrants in each championship will play in a dedicated field.
6. The championships will not interfere with normal sessions.
Advice please:
1. Is the idea of new club championships a good one? (If you think the idea stinks,
don’t hesitate to tell me ─ I’ve got a thick skin.)
2. Which weekly session should be chosen for championship play? (It doesn’t have
to be the same session for each championship.)
3. Would it be better to have more than one weekly session dedicated to each
particular championship?
4. Is the formula for determining the winning pair a fair one?
5. Is five too many new championships?
6. Other ideas?
Note: BFACT runs the ACT Beginners Championship for players with fewer than 2 MPs.
More advice please:
The CBC tournament committee has decided to run one or two or three “protected” sessions each week. “Protected” means that experienced players are not permitted to compete. But we have a linguistic problem; “protected” sounds a bit derogatory, and we would like to use a better word ─ but we don’t know what. Your ideas please.
John Brockwell <
Integra Guide Dogs - Teams of Three
On Sunday 4th August at the Teams of Three event, we are supporting CBC’s charity for 2024 - Integra Service Dogs Australia. On the day, we will have one of the Integra volunteers coming along with a Service Dog in training.
Integra Service Dogs Australia is a Not-for-Profit Organisation, founded by Veterans for supporting Veterans and First Responders suffering from PTSD. Integra specialises in the sourcing, matching, placement, ongoing training and development of high-quality Labrador trainee Service Dogs. Integra are a national provider, delivering Assistance Dog services in most states and territories, and have efficiently matched and placed more than one hundred (100) high quality Labrador dogs with Veterans and First Responders.
Their exceptional dogs support Veterans and First Responders which leads to reduced periods of hospitalization, reduced medication levels, helps individuals rebuild trust and relationships, and connect with family, friends and the community.
100% of all donations to Integra from the public go directly to supporting Veterans, First Responders and Integra's dogs.
If you’re attending the Teams of Three event, please make sure you say “hi” to the Integra volunteer, Phil and the amazing Service Dog.
Club Charity Nominations
Each year the Committee considers nominations from members for a new charity for the next financial year. The Club has raised over $1190 for its current charity, Integra Service Dogs Australia. Over the past few years, the Club has supported Radio 1RPH, Beyond Blue, Barnardos Australia and the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Proceeds from fundraising events and the produce table all go towards supporting the charity. If you have a favourite charity that you would like to have considered, please email the Secretary at
Southern Cross Club Community Rewards Program
By nominating Canberra Bridge Club 7.5% of your spend on food and beverages at the Southern Cross Club will be donated to us.
Last financial year CBC received approx. $3100 from this program and we have been accepted as a member again for 2024 to 2025. It is a wonderful source of funds to help us cover our costs.
If you are a member of CSCC and haven’t nominated CBC as your preferred community group, you can do it online here.
Alternatively let the reception team know that you are nominating CBC next time you are at the Southern Cross Club.
Will Jenner-O'Shea Workshop - Sunday 11th August 10am to 3pm
Another great workshop by Will is coming up on the 11th August, focusing on Competitive Bidding:
- How High To Compete. And Push Them.
- When to Bid, Sacrifice, And Double
- Improve Your Knowledge Of The Scoring
- Game Trial Bids
Cost: $50 per player including a delicious morning tea, a light lunch, and a booklet of notes. $30 for players under 30
Beginners and Supervised Helpers
CBC is looking for passionate and enthusiastic members to assist with our Beginner and Supervised lessons. This is an extremely important role when it comes to the club's ability to attract and retain new members so we can continue to grow into the future. Alongside the teacher for each session, you will be the friendly face that helps and assists our newest players who are just starting on their bridge journey. The role is both fun and rewarding. Explaining concepts to new players can even improve one’s own game. Beginner and Supervised sessions run on Wednesday evenings and Friday mornings. There is no minimum number of sessions you need to volunteer with so don't be afraid to put your hand up.
Please contact the Novice Coordinator, Josh Schwartz, with your interest -
Refresher Course
The 4th Session of the Refresher Course this year concentrates on Defence.
Week 1 - Opening Leads
- August 6. Lesson 1 - What card to lead
- August 7. Lesson 2 - What suit to lead
Week 2 - Reading the play
- August 13. Lesson 3 - Signals
- August 14. Lesson 4 - Active versus Passive Defence
Remember, the Tuesday lessons are on at 10:45-12:00 and Wednesdays at 1:45 -3:00pm. The cost is $10 and anyone can just turn up on the day.
RealBridge – Bring a Buddy Update
Two of our newest starters to the bridge table, Lyndall Kennedy and Kate Latimer, gave RealBridge a try in July. Both started lessons in February and are rapidly coming to terms with its various perspectives. Lyndall said they found the RB technology easy. Despite landing 60% in a Friday morning session F2F during the month, they weren’t as lucky at the RB session.
They found the platform great for reviewing results as they went. They learnt many new tricks and will definitely come back again. For our newer starters, the afternoon sessions on Monday and Thursday are probably marginally easier(?) than Monday night and Saturday.
Well done Lyndall and Kate! Keep on persevering! It’s a journey!
Also, I thought I would share with you the following email from a member of the Sapphire Coast Bridge Club who recently played in one of our RealBridge sessions:
Tamara
I just wanted to thank you and the members of the Canberra Bridge Club for making our members' first session with RealBridge so enjoyable.
I was impressed with the user friendliness of the program.
Thanks once again for your help and patience.
Regards
Sarina Garrett
- Tamara Cutcliffe
Upcoming Events
Gala Gold Pairs
The Bridge Federation of the ACT is holding a Gala ‘Gold’ Pairs Day at CBC club rooms.
The objective of the day is to provide a one-day butler pairs event where players of BFACT affiliated clubs of all levels will be welcomed and will be competitive.
The event will have Open, Restricted and Novice categories. Please enter through myABF via the link below.
- Date: Saturday 10 August - 10 am.
- Click here to enter
Winter RealBridge Butler Pairs
This is the last of the Tuesday night RealBridge competition, and it is a 2 weeks Butler Pairs with Swiss Draw Format.
- Date: Tue 13 August and 20 August
- Click here to Enter
From 27 August, the Tuesday night competition will be back to F2F.
Australia Wide Open Pairs
The Australia-Wide Open Pairs has a rich history that goes back more than 40 years, bringing together thousands of players from all around the country.
Each player will receive a souvenir booklet on the day, describing our recommendations for how the bidding and play should have gone. After the results are in, there will also be a second personalised booklet available on our web page, looking at every board to see how your bidding and play compares against our recommended results.
- Date: Wednesday 28 August 7:15pm
- Entry fee: $15 Concession : $13 Youth : $7.50
- This is a walk in event which will run in place of our usual Wednesday evening Duplicate. (Supervised session will be on as per normal)
- Click here for more information
Final Results from Intro to Teams Event
Over the last two weeks on Friday nights, the club ran the first Introduction to Teams Event. Fourteen teams of four entered and played six matches over the two weeks. Congratulations to the Walpole team consisting of Jenny Walpole, Robyn Carroll, Julie McPhail and Anne Fleming, who ran away with a comfortable win at the end of the six matches.
The event was intended to introduce a different style of bridge to club members who may have had limited experience playing teams in the past. Indeed, for a significant majority of the room, this was their first time using IMPs scoring and for many their first time in a standalone “event” rather than a regular walk-in game at the club.
Overall, the event was a success, though we had several players who indicated the only reason they weren’t entering was due to it being held on two Friday evenings. With that in mind, the club is running a second event on two consecutive afternoons in late September:
- Sunday 22nd September from 1-00pm until 4-30pm
- Sunday 29th September from 1-00pm until 4-30pm
- You will need to be available for both weeks
- You will need to enter as a team of four made up of two partnerships via MyABF – Click Here
The two weeks will introduce the idea of teams and how the scoring differs from regular pairs play. There will be a few handouts and a brief talk by an experienced teams player on the different strategies and how bidding and play changes when playing teams. It will also be an ideal practice in the run up to Canberra In Bloom, for those entering the various novice, rookie or restricted events being offered there.
If you are an interested pair who need teammates or an individual who needs both partner and teammates, please contact the manager, Elizabeth at the office.
Anyone who played in the initial event is welcome to enter this one as well – the lessons will be similar but the hands and handouts will be entirely new.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask at the office or to speak to Steve Geddes if you see him around the club.
- Steve Geddes
Ian Morison
Lighter Moments
This farmer is lucky enough to own a talking sheepdog.
After the dog gets all the sheep in the pen, he says to the farmer: “Right, that’s all forty sheep accounted for.”
The farmer says, “But I’ve only got 37 sheep.”
The sheepdog says, “I know. I rounded them up.”
The "Lighter Moments" this week was supposed to be about guide dogs but I couldn't find a good one.
To those who are coming to play on Sunday, have fun and thanks for supporting Integra Guide Dogs Australia!
Elizabeth
