Newsletter 15 November 2024

In our newsletter this week..

• Vale Doreen Johns
• Message from the President
• New Members
• Community Rewards SCC
• Wednesday Night Pizzas
• John Brockwell's Column
• Update to Saturday F2F Bridge 
• Results
• Upcoming Events
• Ian Morison
• Lighter Moments

Vale Doreen Johns

29 March 1928 - 6 November 2024

Last week we said goodbye to a longstanding member of the Canberra Bridge community, Doreen Johns.  Doreen played for many years at Grand Slam Bridge club and also enjoyed games here at the Canberra Bridge Club from 2020. Her last game at the club was in March 2024. Players will remember Doreen as a friendly fixture at her regular table near the water cooler at Grand Slam where she always greeted arriving players with a smile and friendly conversation. Doreen was an excellent bridge player who was not afraid to bid her hands. We will miss her.

Message from the President

With Christmas coming up FAST it is timely to start making our Club look festive! On Wednesday 27 November after the morning session of bridge (at around 1:30pm) we would like some help from our lovely volunteers to put up the Xmas tree, and decorate the Clubrooms. Any help is great, and is always very much appreciated 😊

- Mary

New Members

Canberra Bridge Club welcomes the following new and returning members to our club:

• Peter Murray
• Grazia Garrard

Yes-vember at the Canberra Southern Cross Club

November is a great time to visit the Club with our double Community Rewards promotion Yes-vember! It is where we say “yes” to our Community in an even bigger way.

What’s Yes-member? It’s when we turn November into a month-long celebration of our Community Rewards Partners – and taking part is easy!

Across the entire month, all our Community Rewards Partners will earn Double Rewards – that’s a huge 15c for every dollar Members spend on eligible food and beverages across our Clubs.

If you are a member of CSCC and haven’t nominated CBC as your preferred community group, you can do it online here.

Wednesday Night Pizzas

The next Wednesday night pizza will be on 27th November 2024. 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 6:30, 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. 

John Brockwell's Column 

Suit Combinations

The Bridge Encyclopedia is a fund of information about common suit combinations.  Once you recognise them and play them as the Encyclopedia suggests, your matchpoint score will improve by several percent.

Let’s say you want 4 tricks from

K 10 8 x x      opposite      J x x,

lead small to the ten (and repeat if West takes the ace).  If the ten holds, lead to the king.  If the ten loses to the queen, play the jack.  If the ten loses to the ace or if East follows with the nine, finesse the eight.  Your chance of making 4 tricks is 25%.

If you only want 3 tricks, finesse the ten and, if the ten loses to the ace, run the jack or lead small to the king, and then small to the jack.  Your chance of making 3 tricks is 90%.

            A bit complicated, I know, but definitely worth adding to your arsenal.

- John Brockwell

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Saturday F2F Schedule:

Please be advised that the F2F Bridge Session which was to be held on this Saturday 16/11/24 has been cancelled due to the ABF Open Play offs.

Join us on RealBridge instead at 1:15pm.

Also, note that the Saturday Bridge at the club will be running for two more Saturdays - 23rd and the 30th of November before shutting down for the remainder of 2024.

Saturday F2F bridge will return again on the 15th February 2025.

Schedule for Bridge on Saturdays at the club:

16/11/24 - closed
23/11/24 - open
30/11/24 - open
7/12/24 - closed for the remainder of 2024.
15/02/25 - reopening
RealBridge will continue as per usual throughout the holidays.

Results

Mudgee Congress 

Congratulations to team Donovan for coming first in the Mudgee Congress Teams event: 

• JOHN DONOVAN -  PERELLE SCALES - GEOFF HUTCHINS - HELEN LITTLE 

Upcoming Events

State Open Butler Pairs 

The next Tuesday night competition is the BFACT State Open Butler Pairs:

• 19 November - 3 December
• Click here to Register

Ian Morison

• Defensive Errors

Lighter Moments

•  When I canceled my gym membership, I had to hand in my too weak notice
• I forgot to renew the fee for my Scrabble membership. Now they’re sending me threatening letters!
• I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said: "You have reached the end of you free trial membership at BenjaminFranklinQuotes.com."
• I tried to join a terrorist organisation but the membership costs an arm and a leg!

Thanks to everyone who have replied to next year's membership renewal request. So far we are making good progress with 287 emails received and 500 more to come. Robyn Cleary wins the QRA (Quickest Replier Award) with a response that came in under 2 minutes.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Elizabeth