Newsletter 21 June 2024

In our newsletter this week..

• President's Message
• New Members
• Wednesday Night Pizzas: Date Correction 
• Introduction to Teams!
• Tip of the Week
• Will Jenner-O'Shea Workshop
• Cootamundra Golden Canola Spring Congress
• Monaro Bridge Club Congress
• RealBridge Links
• Upcoming Events
• Ian Morison
• Message from the Office

President's Message 

Covid and Cold

Winter is truly here and the club would like to reiterate that we ask our members to not be at the clubrooms if you are unwell, whether with Covid symptoms or other symptoms.

Our membership is older and includes more individuals with chronic health conditions than the general community.

Mask wearing is encouraged if you have a cough or have been in close contact with someone who has been exposed recently.

Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated. We want to keep everyone safe.

Celebrating Success – May
Continuing on with our “celebrating success” of our beginner/supervised graduates who receive a score of 55%+ in a standard duplicate in the previous month we would like to congratulate the following:
1. Lynne Tomati – Friday 31 May 56.64% 

Cancer Council Biggest Morning Tea  

A big thank you to the members who attended the Biggest Morning Tea on Tuesday with cakes and other delicious food. There was a lot, all scrumptious and we had a very pleasant chatty morning.

 Thank you to those who donated to the  Cancer Council. The amount of $425 was banked immediately after the event. And of course thank you to the helpers. 

If you still wish to donate the dedicated page for Canberra Bridge Club will remain open for another few weeks according to the Cancer Council. Here is the information if you are wondering  how to make a donation to the Cancer Council.

Canberra Bridge Club has a unique QR code which will allow you to easily donate directly to the club's online fundraising page. All you need to do is scan the QR code with your phone camera and follow the simple steps to donate. There are signs with the QR code on the notice boards and office window.
This link will take you to the club's fundraising page.

https://www.biggestmorningtea.com.au/fundraisers/CanberraBridgeClub

And a big thank you to Barbara Bialowas for her work in organising the event and her awesome baking skills!

Outside Working Bee 

Thanks to our volunteers below who came to our Outside Working Bee and did a lot of work in cold weather. 

John Kelly, Steve Kyburz, Mark Wood, Brett and Jennifer Yeats, Mary Tough, David Kenny, Elizabeth Voveris, Nick Vonthethoff.

IBA Chris Diment Memorial Congress - 2024

Huge congratulations to our members below who achieved excellent results in the Illawara Congress:

2nd in pairs:  MORAG LOKAN, CHRIS LOKAN 

3rd in teams: ELAINE PRETORIUS, STEVE GEDDES, VANESSA BROWN, WILL JENNER-O'SHEA 

Protected Session on Friday Morning 

The club holds a protected duplicate session for our novice and intermediate players on Friday mornings. It is a gentle and relaxed session where a lot of learning still continues for our newer players.

Although this is an OPEN Walk In Duplicate session, it is encouraged that the more advanced players refrain from becoming a regular on Friday mornings and opt to play in the afternoon session instead.

We are in the process of considering more sessions dedicated exclusively to novice and intermediate players and will soon be making the official announcement in due course.

Travel Associates Morning Tea

Travel Associates have advised that Cruise Partners Silversea offer incredible cruising experiences in some of the most awe-inspiring locations. 

A morning tea will be held on:

• Thursday 11th July at 9:15am

In this morning tea Rachael from Travel Associates will be showcasing the cruising experiences.

The event will only go ahead if we have enough interested members so please pre-register with Elizabeth as soon as possible if you are planning to come.

•  Click here for more information

New Members 

Canberra Bridge Club welcomes new and returning members:

• Richard Johnston
• Sue Gosman
• Daniel Geromboux
• Paul Jones

Wednesday Night Pizzas

Correction: The next Wednesday Night Pizzas will be on the 26th, NOT on the 27th June as advertised previously. 

Introduction to Teams!

Canberra Bridge Club will be running a short teams bridge competition, designed for people with little or no experience in teams play. Although there will be guidance provided for those new to the Teams format, the event is also open to those who have played teams before.

Ideally, people will enter as a team of four consisting of two partnerships, available on both evenings. However, if you and your partner are looking for team-mates, please send an email ASAP and the club will endeavour to match up others with similar needs.

If you are at all interested or curious, please consider registering for the event via email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Similarly, if you have any questions or require clarification, please feel free to email or to speak to Steve Geddes at the club.

• Friday 19th July 6:45 pm until 9:30 pm
• Friday 26th July 6:45 pm until 9:30 pm

Click here for more information 

TIP OF THE WEEK

Masterpoints. 3: Green points 

Immediately you become a member of the club, you are allocated an ABF number.  From the time you play your first session of bridge (including a supervised session), you are eligible to win masterpoints.  It all happens automatically.  Your masterpoints are cumulative.  As they accumulate, your masterpoint rank advances (see table below).

            The ABF Masterpoint Scheme allows the club to run restricted championship events, e.g. Championships (i) for Graduate Masters ─ players with <5 MPs), (ii) for Club Masters ─ players with <15 MPs), (iii) for Local Masters ─ players with <50 MPs), (iv) for State Masters ─ players with <100 MPs.

            The club’s tournament committee can easily organise these championships, starting in 2025, without interfering with normal sessions.  If you think it is a good idea, please mention it to Elizabeth or send me an email.

            We still need to talk about red and gold masterpoints.  But we’ll leave that to another time.  For the present, we’ve had enough about masterpoints ─ except for the postscript.

PS: The player with the greatest number of masterpoints is Pauline Gumby, the ABF webmaster.  At 20 June 2024, she had 14,921.33 MPs and needed fewer than 80 more to become Australia’s first Diamond Grand Master.  What a performance! What a player!!!

-John Brockwell

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

Will Jenner-O'Shea Workshop

Next workshop by Will focuses on "Common Bidding Errors, and How To Avoid Them". 

• When: 10am to 3pm on Saturday 29 June.
• Morning tea and lunch included
• Cost: $50

To register please click here.

Cootamundra Congress (Sat 24 Aug) and Interclub Teams (Sun 25 Aug)

This year Cootamundra is hosting the BFACT  Interclub teams on Sunday 25 August. The Canberra Bridge club can send teams in the categories listed below:

Novice (<100 per player), Restricted (<300 per player), Intermediate (<750 per player) and Seniors (you know if you are senior) categories. Multiple teams per club per category are allowed.

In Addition, Cootamundra has a one day Swiss Pairs event on the Saturday 24 August open to all players.

• Link to the flyer 
• Click here to register through myABF site

Monaro Bridge Club Congress 

Monaro Bridge Club is pleased to announce that we are to have our first Bridge Congress in many years.  We would love to see as many surrounding clubs and other clubs as possible join us for this event. 

Looking forward to seeing you here.

John Chapman  (President)  &    Edith Flanagan (Vice President)                 

• When: Sat 12 and Sun 13 October
• Where: Cooma Car Club
• Click here for more information

RealBridge Links

Please note that the link to play in all of our Tuesday night online sessions and any other RealBridge events will be uploaded on:

• our website (under RealBridge sessions) and
• on the myABF website under "Links" section for that event.

The link will connect to the RealBridge session which the directors will open up at least half an hour prior to the start time on the day of the event.

Upcoming Events

Butler Pairs on RealBridge

• When:  25 June and 2 July
• Cost: $12 all comers
• Format: RealBridge
• Click here to Enter

RealBridge Walk in Matchpoint Pairs

• When: 16 July
• Cost: $12 all comers
• Format: RealBridge
• Pre register through myABF or walk in (log in) on the day if you decide to join us last minute!
• Click here to Enter

PS. Due to the ANC in Orange we will not be holding a Tuesday night competition on the 9th July

Ian Morison

•  Shorter Trumps

Message from the Office

If anyone wants the free, large black plastic container outside near the ramp please take it, it would be ideal for a pond liner.

The heater is being temperamental, I should have known not to speak so soon, seemed OK for a few days. Please know that we are trying our best but in the meanwhile wear layers.

Elizabeth.