Newsletter 17 April 2025
In our newsletter this week...
- President's Message
- Beginners Lessons
- Reminder for Fundamental Students
- Pizza Night
- April is Auction Awareness Month
- Mentoring in May
- Results
- Upcoming Events
- Lighter Moments
President's Message
Message from the President:
I just wanted to share a little “fun” fact --- over the last few months I have noticed we have lots of members travelling and competing in Country Congresses (which is no small feat travelling that much), and it’s a real testament to the dedication and spirit of our club! In fact the CBC was the third-largest contingent out of 320 players (20) competing in the Swiss Pairs events at the Central West Festival! It’s awesome to see our members showing up and supporting regional congresses like that ---it not only strengthens the bridge community, but also builds great camaraderie. Plus, I’m sure all those country clubs feel the love when you all turn up to play 😊
Winners from the 2025 Central West Congress held in Orange last weekend were:
2025 Central West Festival
Novice Pairs
2nd – Kathleen Kenny & David Kenny
Open Teams
2nd - Will Jenna-O’Shea, Vanessa Brown (and others)
Intermediate Teams
1st – Atel Hajela, Chris Tough (and others)
Novice Teams
3rd – CANBERRA - Kathleen & David Kenny, Belinda Moss & Jenny Bell
Full results can be found here - https://www.abfevents.com.au/events/results/results.asp?yr=2025&dir=cwf&E=7&R=6&T=R
I also wanted to thank Barbara Bialowas for again putting together the “delicious Easter raffle (see below for the winners).
Happy Easter everyone!
~Mary~
2025 Central West Festival Results
Easter Raffle Winners
Thank you to those club members who bought tickets in the Easter Raffle.
The lucky winners were
1st – Sue Whigham
2nd – Sue La Peyre
3rd – Josh Schwartz
The proceeds from the raffle will be shared between the club and the current charity, the Arthritis Foundation.
Beginners Lessons starting in May
The next Beginners Lessons will be held in the club on Wednesday evenings (7th May ) and Friday mornings (9th May) and continue for six weeks finishing in June.
If you know of anyone wanting to learn our “addictive” game please get them to contact our Managers -
For futher details refer to our webpage through the link below.
Reminder for Fundamentals Students
Just a reminder that the Fundamental Lessons will NOT be running on the following dates:
- 23rd April and 25th April
The last week of the lessons will be held on Wednesday 30th April and Friday 2nd May.
You are all very welcome to instead attend the Supervised classes running from 7-15pm on Wednesday the 23rd or 9-30am on Friday the 25th.
Wednesday Night Pizzas
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.
o 30 April - 6:30pm
o $5 payable on the day for half a pizza
Those wishing to partake should place their name on a list on the noticeboard or contact Jon Pike directly. His email is
April is Auction Awareness Month
Next in my series of articles about bidding practice, I have discussed when we should ask questions during the bidding and I discuss unauthorised information in general. If you have any questions or suggestions, please send me an email to
Remember to be kind to your opponents and your partner!
- Rob Hurst
Questions during bidding and unauthorised information
Frivolous bidding questions…
If you don’t need to know, don't ask!
Asking a question for the purpose of passing information to partner is both unethical and illegal!
If you have no intention of bidding, you should not ask the opponents about their bids during the auction. For the purposes of defence, you can always get a full explanation of the auction after bidding is
complete. It speeds up play to wait until the end of the auction where one of the opponents can quickly explain all bids. As declarer, I will usually explain quickly after the auction what all bids mean as I feel that this is an ethical practice, but this is not mandatory.
Note that the defender not on lead should not ask about the auction until partner has made the opening lead. It is usual to make the opening lead face down to give partner a chance to ask questions before the opening lead is faced.
Asking questions during the auction can give an advantage to the opponents. I personally love it if my partner and I are in an unclear bidding sequence and the opponents ask about the bidding, I can then launch into an explanation of my inferences regarding partner’s bid. My partner is fully entitled to use this information (provided my explanation is actually correct!). Don’t help the opponents out by asking unless you need to, you can always get an explanation later.
Unauthorised information…
In bridge the only way that we are allowed to give information to our partner during the auction is through our bids. Any other means such as hesitation prior to passing or body language is strictly not allowed.
Hesitation.
One of the biggest issues around unauthorised information is hesitation. This is usually in a competitive auction and most common when considering whether to bid on, double or pass after the opponents have bid to game.
Of course, we are entitled to some thinking time. However, if partner takes a long time over a bid and then passes, they clearly have something to consider. This is a form of unauthorised information. You can still bid on, but you must have a very clear bid. I have found that directors tend to enforce this rule very strictly and will usually support the non-offending party. The ethical path is usually to pass if your partner takes a long time prior to passing.
Unfortunately, hesitation often gives opponents two bites of the cherry, if your bid is bad, they benefit, if your bid is good, the director may give an adjusted score to the opponents by undoing your bid.
This is often a struggle for newer players as it appears that the opponents are gaming the system. My advice is don’t give them the opportunity! Think about your bids ahead of time. In a competitive auction, I usually start thinking quite early in the auction about what action I am going to take if opponents bid to a certain level.
Choose your bid before you reach for the bidding box. If we select a bidding card and then change our bid, this gives partner extra information.
Next week I talk about the role of the recorder and the director with respect to bidding practice.
- Rob Hurst
CBC Working Bee
Volunteers are needed for general outside gardening and cleanup, rail painting plus various jobs inside of the club. Bring gloves and garden tools. Please come and help us out for just half an hour or the entire 3 hours!
- Saturday 17 May 9am to 12pm
Any questions contact the managers at the club or Nick Vonthethoff on 0429 208 222.
Mentoring in May
The Mentoring in May program matches mentors and mentees for 2 games during May.
The mentor and mentee play for 2 sessions during May.
Mentees pay the table money for their mentors.
In general, the mentor plays the mentee’s system.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor or mentee (or both!), please email Rowan Corbett at
Please provide the following information in your email.
- Whether you are interested in being a mentor and / or a mentee.
- Your approximate skill level (beginner, intermediate, solid or advanced).
- In general terms, for which session(s) you would be available.
Upcoming Events
Youthish Night
- Friday 18 April (Good Friday)
• Session 1: 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
• Dinner: 6:30 PM - 7:00 PM
• Session 2: 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Come to either or both!
Next Tuesday night competition is the Autumn Butler Pairs:
- 22nd April to 6th May 2025
- Click here to Enter
2025 ACT Open Team Selection Event
On weekend of 10/11 May an event to select the ACT Open team for 2025 will be held. Details and entry in MyABF (in Calendar view select State=ACT).
All pairs who are members of a BFACT affiliated club are encouraged to enter.
Kieser Pairs
The next day time red masterpoint event will be the Kieser Pairs, to be run for three consecutive weeks on Friday morning sessions.
- When: 9:30am Friday 2. 9 &16 May
Winner will be with the pair with the highest percentage who have played in all 3 sessions with the same partner.
Even if you don't play all three sessions red points will be awarded and then additional points will also be given for the top third of the overall field.
No need to book, usual table fees apply
Australian Bridge Novice Pairs
- Tuesday afternoon 27th May.
No need to book as this will be a walk in event during the normal Tuesday 1pm Duplicate Session. Entry will be subsidised by the CBC so normal table money will apply.
GNOT Qualifying Gold point Events
A series of Grand National Open Teams pre qualifying events played for 2 weeks in each regular Duplicate and RealBridge session between May and August. These feature Masterpoint awards at Gold Point level. The first event will be on:
- Monday morning 5th and 12th May (F2F at the club).
No need to book as this will be a walk in event during the normal Monday 10m Duplicate Session, normal table fees apply.
RESULTS
The winners of the Tuesday afternoon red masterpoint Travel Associate Pairs are:
- Sunny Campbell and Ken Anderson
The winners of the Tuesday competition night Matchpoint Pairs including The Ted Crichton Mixed Pairs are:
- Bill Tutty and Jodi Tutty
Hands with Double Fits
Along with twenty or so other Canberra bridge players, I made the trip to Orange last week to play in their annual bridge festival. After five days straight of bridge, all of the hands tend to blur together. However, there was one hand in the final set which illustrates an interesting feature of hands with a double fit.
- Steve Geddes
Lighter Moments
70% of the Earth is made of water and virtually none of it is carbonated. So the Earth is, in fact, flat.
With Elizabeth out of the office, I have spent the last few weeks frantically learning all the millions of things she does every day.
Have a great week everyone.
Steve
