Newsletter 17 February 2023
In this week’s newsletter...
- President's Message
- Results of the Not Quite Valentines Day
- Wednesday night - Pizza Night
- Hugh Hudson Pairs
- BFACT Women's Teams Qualifying - enter via MyABF
- BFACT Senior's Teams Qualifiying
- BFACT Open Teams Qualifying
- Support us when dining at the Southern Cross Club
- Tony Bembroke Travel Insurance
- John Dunn: Pearson's Rule of 15
- Ian Morison - Slam Doubles
- Lighter Moments
President's Message
Last Saturday the Almost Valentine’s Day Open teams, Restricted and Novice Pairs event took place in the Barry Turner room which was professionally catered for through the combined efforts of Michele Grant, Mary Tough and others too many to name. Thank you also to the generous providers of the morning tea cakes and slices I am sorry I did not write down names but you know who you are and we thank you.
During that day it was bought to my attention that there are some players sitting as Dummy who use the opportunity of their position at table to suggest which card should be discarded by declarer from their hand. This is illegal and unethical behaviour and can result in penalties if the Director is called to the table. You are called Dummy for a reason. Remain silent and only touch cards after being directed to by declarer.
Can I take this opportunity to thank the people who have volunteered to wash the tablecloths - Pamela McKittrick, Barbara Priest and Nicole Finn. You inherit a legacy from Gerdina Bryant who managed it for many years. Thank you all! We are looking for another volunteer to fill the hand sanitisers if anyone has a spare hour please let me or the managers know.
Good luck to all CBC members heading to the Gold Coast this week. Enjoy the games and companionship. I hope the weather improves from when I was there in May last year. It rained every day!
Tim Mather
Upcoming Sessions & CBC Pay
Our weekly sessions are almost the same as last week.
Low balance reminders for CBC Pay went out this week. If you didn't receive one you are still in the black!
Supervised Lessons
Supervised Lessons are on Wednesday nights or Friday mornings. A 15 minute lesson commences at 7pm and 9.30am respectively followed by up to 20 boards. Please just turn up if interested.
Here is the program for our last week of Feb
- 22/24 Feb: Slam bidding, Blackwood
We are now offering a “supervised lesson only” option. If you would like to come for the lesson but not supervised play the cost is $6 for members and $8 for non-members. Please advise your teacher on arrival. No need to have a partner - just come along.
Master the Basics
Master the Basics virtual lessons are on Thursdays at 9.00am. Please email Barb Toohey if you want to be added to the Zoom class. It's $6 for members and $8 for non-members. The lessons run for 30 minutes.
Competitive Bidding & Play - continues Tuesday 21 February
Barb Toohey will again present face-to-face our Competitive Bidding and Play course this year. This is the next step after the beginners lessons, and is suitable for Novice & Supervised Players.
Each week is a 2-hour lesson on a Tuesday morning from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon and will cover an aspect of bidding or play when the opponents have opened or are playing the contract. Notes and practice hands will be included. You've just missed doubles and overcalls.
The remaining topics are:
- Leads - 21 Feb
- Signals - 28 Feb
Costs are $15 each week or $55 for 4 weeks paid in advance. If you are making a specific payment please put your ABF number and CB&P in the reference field.
Results of the Not Quite Valentine Day Congress
Novice Butler Pairs (< 50MP)
- Mary Emmett & Gilles Bonin
- Joyanne Gough & Sydney Rowan
- Ian Vickers & Carla Di Franco
Restricted Butler Pairs (<300MP)
- George McLean & Tim Mather
- Simon & Michele Grant
- Pamela McKittrick & Odette Mayne
Open Teams
- Andrew Struik, Brian Thorp, Nikki Riszko, John Kelly
- Jodi & Bill Tutty, John Donovan, Sue Doyle
- Des Manderson, Jackie Adcock, Rowan Corbett, Robin Erskine
Congratulations to all! Thanks to all the volunteers who catered and organised the event including chief proponent and strategist Tim Mather, Michele Grant, Mary Tough and Bruce Crossman. Sebastian Yuen did a superb job directing on the day and dealing duplicate boards to ease congestion. A wonderful day from all the feedback!
56 red points were awarded on the day. To see how many you scored see the Congress ABF report in the foyer.
Upcoming Events
Good luck to all the people travelling to the Gold Coast for the Gold Coast Congress from 17-25 February.
Wednesday Nights - Pizza Night!
Wednesday night pizzas will return next week on 22 February. 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 6:30pm, 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. There are already 32 names of people signing up for it.
For those attending please remember to wash your hands after eating and before play.
CBC Hugh Hudson Pairs
As President of the ACTBA, Hugh Hudson presided over the rationalisation of bridge administration in Canberra. This annual competition acknowledges Hugh Hudson's contribution. This year the 3 week competition will run from 2 March 2023
Thursday evenings - 7:15pm, 2, 9 & 16 March 2023
Location: Canberra Bridge Club, Deakin
- Major Butler Honour Board Event - run in accordance with CBC Supplementary Regulations
- 2 night qualifying and 1 night final and consolation
- RED Masterpoints, B4c GW 2.5 (3 Sessions)
- Butler scoring
- Entries close Wednesday, 1 March, 12pm midday
- Late entries accepted only if convenient
Australian National Congress - ACT Qualification Events
BFACT has recently advised us of the Womens, Seniors and Open selection events for 2023. These events are generally a little earlier in the year as the National Congress is in Perth in July this year.
The BFACT Womens team will be decided by a Friday night and weekend event on 17, 18 and 19 March; eligible BFACT affiliated players can enter via MyABF with a link to appear shortly or by emailing “
The BFACT Senior team selection will involve a qualifying event held on 27 March and 3 April to qualify 12 pairs to a weekend final on Fri., Sat., Sun. 14, 15, 16 April. If less than 12 pairs enter the qualifying event by 24 March, the qualifier will be cancelled with all pairs playing in the final.
Open team selection will have a Stage 1 event to select 9 pairs to a final, and a Stage 2 event to select 3 additional pairs to the final:
Open Stage 1 – 27 February, 6 and 20 March
Open Stage 2 – Sunday 2 April
Open Final – 21, 22 and 23 April
For all enquiries regarding the tournaments please see the fact/entry pages or email
Some people are asking why some events in the ANC trials are run through MyABF and some through the CBC entry system. The underlying reason is simple - CBC and BFACT arrangements for weekday and weekend events are very different.
CBC runs the weekday events under the auspices of BFACT, but they are effectively CBC events. Hence people enter via the CBC entry methods.
BFACT runs the weekend events, hiring the premises from CBC. Over the past couple of years, BFACT has started to adopt the MyABF platform to manage entries to its events, which automates many of the processes and minimises the work for the CBC Managers.
The majority of congresses and national tournaments are using MyABF and it is beginning to be made available for clubs to adopt if it meets their needs, so it should be familiar to many of the players. If anyone has issues with it, email
Tasmanian Festival of Bridge
After a tree change? The Tasmanian Festival of Bridge will be held in Hobart on 23-26th March 2023 at the new MyState Bank Arena in Glenorchy, 15 minutes north west of the Hobart city centre.
Information and entries are on: https://www.myabf.com.au/events/congress/view/424. New this year: a Rookies’ event and a very reasonably priced onsite Saturday evening dinner – a great chance to relax with fellow players.
March is a lovely time to be in Tasmania so if you want to experience Tassie, this is a great way to do it.
Save the Date: Illawarra Chris Diment Pairs and Teams - 17 and 18 June 2023
For more information visit Illawarra.bridgeaustralia.org or email Jill MacRae. Online entry www.nswba.com.au.
Tony Bembroke Travel Insurance
The ABF and Tony Bembroke Insurance Brokers have competitive rates for ABF members' needs and needs. See https://abfinsurance.com.au/
Support us while Dining at the Canberra Southern Cross Club
CBC has recently reentered the Southern Cross Community Rewards Program. This Community Rewards Program rewards patrons and their preferred community groups.
The club can earn up to $20,000 per year through the program. Those groups who are the most successful in the program have higher visitation to the CSC venues at Woden, Tuggeranong, Jamison and the Yacht Club.
7.5% of your food and beverage at the Southern Cross Club will be donated back to us as your preferred Community Group on your Canberra Southern Cross Club membership. So if you are a member of the Southern Cross Club and want to make us your favoured community organisation please indicate on this link and we will all be enriched!
Non CBC members can also nominate us as their preferred community group, so please tell your friends and neighbours
Ian Morison : Slam Doubles
To read Ian's regular column please press here.
John Dunn - Pearson's rule of 15
The following hand occurred this week and was passed out.
Pearson points (rule of 15) is a useful tool when there are 3 passes and in the fourth seat you hold a marginal hand in this case 12 points. The rule is predicated on the idea that when the honour cards are evenly distributed around the table, the best suit to own is spades because you can outbid the opponents at the 1- or 2-level. Hands short in spades are worth less because of the increased probability of the opponents bidding and landing in their own spade contract.
The calculation is easy you add your high card points to the number of spades you hold and if the answer is 15+ you open the bidding and if it is 14 you pass.
In this case even if the opposition interferes in the bidding 3 spades is makeable
North Dealer - All vulnerable
2
9 7 2
A Q 5 2
A 6 5 4 3
A 9 5 K J 10 7 4
A 8 4 K J 10 5
K 7 6 4 9 8
J 10 9 Q 8
Q 8 6 3
Q 6 3
J 10 3
K 7 2
Thanks John.
Lighter Moments
A cleaning woman was applying for a new position.
When asked why she left her last employment, she replied,
Yes sir, they paid good wages, but it was the most ridiculous place I ever worked. They played a game called Bridge, and last night lots of folks were there. As I was about to empty the bins,
I heard a man say, "Lay down and let me see what you've got.'
Another man said, "I've got strength but no length."
Another man said to a lady, "Take your hand off my trick."
I pretty near dropped dead just then, when the lady answered,
"You jumped me twice when you didn't have the strength for one raise."
Another lady was talking about her protecting her honour,
and two other ladies said, "Now it's time for me to play with your husband and you can play with mine."
Well, I just got my hat and coat and as I was leaving, I hope to die if I didn't hear someone say,
"Well, I guess we'll go home now, that was the last rubber."
Thanks to Carol Bates for this pearler!
Be kind in all things
Tamara (for Kerry and Tamara)
