Newsletter 16 October 2025

In our newsletter this week...

Election of 2025-2026 Committee
President's Message
Message from BFACT
Online Lessons
New Members
Halloween Bridge
Upcoming Events
Results
Why You Are Rude At The Bridge Table!
Name Badge Order

Election of 2025-2026 Committee - Message from the Returning Officer

The election of the CBC Committee for 2025-2026 was conducted at the AGM on 14 October 2025.

The successful candidates were:

Office-bearers

President - Mary Tough
Vice-President - Alison Russell-French
Secretary - Caitlyn Jane McKenzie
Treasurer - Jenny Bergin
Tournament Secretary - Rob Hurst

Five ordinary Committee member positions

Vanessa Brown
Nicole Finn
Stephen Fischer
Kate Latimer
Lucy Stevenson

Best wishes to the new Committee for the year ahead.

Deb Milner- Returning Officer

President's Message

Thank you to all the members who attended the CBC AGM on Tuesday evening. The strong turnout was fantastic - a clear sign of how invested you all are in the running and future of our Club. Your engagement is both encouraging and greatly appreciated.

A special thank you to our Returning Officer, Deb Milner, who oversaw the election process and announced the successful nominees. Deb, along with our scrutineers Julia Hoffman and Joyanne Gough, undertook the mammoth task counting a record-breaking 42 proxy votes on the night. Your efforts were invaluable and sincerely appreciated! Please see Deb’s Returning Officer report (above) for the results of the AGM election.

Again, I would like to thank our wonderful staff - Elizabeth, Steve, Jodi, Bruce, Ian, John, Adam, Alex, Josh, Paul, Bricet, Tamara, Barbara, William, Jeanette and David.

As always, many hands are involved in keeping our Club running smoothly. In particular, I want to acknowledge our volunteers. Your time, energy, and care make a real and lasting difference to the CBC community, thank you.

My full report, which outlines the Club's activities and achievements over the past year, is available here:

https://canberrabridgeclub.com.au/files/FINAL_CBC_AGM_2025_-_PRESIDENTS_REPORT.pdf

I would now like to express heartfelt thanks to those Committee members who are stepping down in 2025-26:

Liam Minogue - Thank you for your dedication in your role as Secretary. Your contribution to the Club has been outstanding, and your personal support to me over the past two years has been immeasurable.
John Brockwell - What can I say! Not only are you one of our bridge “historians”, but your passion and dedication to bridge in both the ACT and across Australia has been extraordinary. Your legacy is remarkable, thank you, John.
Ian Robinson - Thank you for everything. Your deep knowledge of all things Club-related is invaluable. I know you will remain a strong presence in the background, and I look forward to our ongoing conversations.
Barbara Bialowas - Our social guru! I will miss our chats about food and events. I hope we can still call on you for advice in the future. Thank you for your energy, creativity, and all you’ve contributed over the past two years.
Malcolm Carter - Thank you for your thoughtful and considered advice on many matters. Your input has been greatly valued.

To our continuing and new Committee members - Alison, Jenny, Stephen, Vanessa, Caitlyn, Rob, Nicole, Kate, and Lucy - I look forward to another successful and productive year working together for the benefit of the Club.

Finally, to all our members: your ideas, feedback, and involvement are always welcome. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any suggestions or concerns. Together, we will continue to grow and enhance the CBC experience for everyone.

~Mary

Message from BFACT

BFACT AGM

BFACT held its AGM on 26 September at Canberra Bridge Club. The BFACT Office Holders for 2025-26 are Wendy Boxall (President), Cathy Nichols (Vice President), Tamara Cutcliffe (Secretary), Roger Brake (Treasurer) and Niek Van Vucht (Tournament Secretary). Stephen Fischer is CBC’s representative on the Council. The President’s report and financial reports are available on the BFACT website, but in short your State (Territory) Bridge Association had a successful year and is in good financial shape.

Canberra in Bloom 2026 – Assistant Convenor

While Canberra in Bloom is 12 months away, we are looking for someone to take on the role of Assistant Convenor for next year. The role would suit someone who wants to understand how a bridge tournament is organised, make a contribution to ensure the smooth running of the tournament and generally make people happy playing bridge! If you are interested, please contact the 2026 Convenor, Roger Brake on 0466 009 426 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Online Lessons

Will Jenner-O'Shea is running online lessons most weeks.

They are suitable for all club players.

You can attend the Zoom live, or receive the recording, notes, and replayable hands afterwards.

October 23^rd No Lesson (Spring Nationals)
9:30 October 30th Major Raises And Bergen Raises

Alternatively you can access the online lessons through our website

New Members

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

James Kelly

Halloween Bridge

Wednesday 29th October 6:30pm

Bring a plate of Halloween themed food to share, dress up if you wish, bring your best Halloween jokes!
Normal Bridge session at 7:15pm with chief Warlock John directing. Incantations and wand waving permitted.
Small prizes will be handed out by the Chief Warlock.
If you have additional Halloween decorations that you would be happy for the club to use please drop them in to the office on Tuesday 28th October or before lunch on Wednesday 29th October.

** Volunteers wanted on Wednesday 29th October at 1:30 pm to help decorate the room.

Upcoming Events

The next Sponsored RED Masterpoint event will be on RealBridge:

Battery World Pairs - 27th October and 3rd November Monday RealBridge 2pm

The next Tuesday night competition is the Barry Turner Teams on 28th October to 11th November. Reminder that due to Spring Nationals we will not be running a Tuesday night session on the 21st of October.

Click here to Enter

Results

The winners of the Red Masterpoint Realbridge Pairs event are:

JOHN DONOVAN / BRIAN THORP

The winners of the Matchpoint Swiss Pairs (Including BFACT Mixed Pairs) are:

ADRIENNE STEPHENS / DAVID HOFFMAN

Why You Are Rude At The Bridge Table!

Okay…it’s probably not on purpose. Bridge at it’s heart is a social activity. Sure we all want to play well. We all want to get good cards. We all want to walk out with our name displayed on the top row of the computer screen. But from time to time, it is worth remembering that this is just a game of cards – randomly shuffled pictures on plastic held by other human beings. In the bigger scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter how we do or where we finish. However, how we treat other people is always important.

As directors and club managers, we often hear stories of “that rude man” or tales of “how awfully she speaks to her partner!” And whereas we will face genuine unpleasant behaviour from time to time, often enough what is meant innocently enough can be received as rude, boorish or gloating. There are a few things we can avoid which, even if meant in good faith, can leave a sour taste in our partner’s mouth (or our opponents’).

What You Say….	What We Hear….
Well done partner. That was a top!	You folks just got a zero.
No Double, No Trouble.	You idiots should have doubled.
I was never going to make that.	You two bid too much.
If they’d led a diamond I could never make that.	You should have led a Diamond.
We won’t make that on good defence.	You defended like fools.
Everyone else is in Diamonds.	You should have bid Diamonds.
Why did you open One Spade?	You shouldn’t have opened One Spade.
That was a good board for us!	You just got a terrible board.
Don’t worry they could have made……	You two didn’t bid enough.

You weren’t talking to me, but I heard it as criticism. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really matter what you were thinking I’m going to think what I think regardless. We’re all slightly insecure at the bridge table and this is doubly so when playing against pairs who we perceive to be stronger than us. Be especially careful when playing people you think are new or inexperienced.

Here are some rules I have adopted over the years that err on the side of caution, but help ensure everyone at the table is having a good time:

1. I don’t comment on the bridgemate ranking unless it is good for my opponents.

2. I don’t remark on why I got a good score, even if I know it was misdefence.

3. I don’t question the opponents bidding or play.

4. I don’t tell the opponents what they should have done.

5. I don’t discuss the hand with my partner unless there was some bidding miscommunication that needs resolution.

6. From time to time it will seem the opponents are genuinely puzzled and want to know what went wrong for them. I will always ask them if they want my opinion before offering a suggestion.

That set of rules may seem over-the-top and unnecessary, but it is worth remembering that every time you are experiencing the joy of doing well, your opponents are experiencing the embarrassment of having mucked it up. In my opinion, it is best not to dwell on what is probably a low point of their session. You don’t have to adopt the rules I have, but it is worth considering how what you say is interpreted, not just how it is intended.

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