Newsletter 10 April 2025
In our newsletter this week...
- President's Message
- Events for improving players in May
- April is Auction Awareness Month
- New Members
- Rank Promotions
- Mentoring in May
- Results
- Upcoming Events
- Lighter Moments
President's Message
Sapphire Coast Congress Results
Congratulation to all our members who played in the Sapphire Coast Congress last weekend. Again, we had quite a few winners!
Results can be found here https://nsw.bridgeaustralia.org/resultslistbyheadevent.asp?umbid=993
Open Swiss Pairs
1st - John Donovan & Alex Hewatt
3rd - Malcolm Carter & Lyn Carter
Restricted Swiss Pairs
2nd - Belinda Moss & Jenny Bell
Open Teams
2nd – Stephen Mendick & Tony Marinos (& others)
3rd - Niek Van Vucht, Chris Stead, Malcolm Carter & Lyn Carter
Novice Teams
2nd - Joyanne Gough, Jayne Francis, Barbara Bialowas & Jenny Bergin
Saturday Afternoon F2F Bridge
For those members wanting to add another game of bridge to their week, don’t forget the Clubrooms are open every Saturday afternoon at 1pm! It would be great to see some new (and old) faces, so please come along and support this session!
Easter Raffle
The Easter Egg raffle will be drawn at the start of the Friday afternoon session on 11th April. Many thanks to Barbara Bialowas for organising the cute prizes.
- Mary
Event for improving players in May
Australian Bridge Novice Pairs
- Tuesday afternoon 27th May.
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– watch this space for further details.
April is Auction Awareness Month
After the bidding.
Putting away the bidding cards….
The bidding cards should be left on the table until the opening lead is
faced. This rule was implemented by the ABF a few years ago, but many
players are still in the habit of putting their bidding cards away at
the end of the auction. A couple of reasons for leaving the bidding cards out...
1. It helps to prevent an opening lead out of turn
2. It allows the defenders to more easily ask questions about the auction.
3.If the director needs to be called, then they can see a record of the auction.
Personally, I make it a practice to ask for a review of the auction if the cards have been put away prior to the opening lead.
Speeding up play after the auction…
One of the constant battles faced by directors is slow play.
It is not mandatory, but good practice to make the opening lead or to put dummy down prior to making any record of the contract or entering information into Bridge Mates. Declarer will often take a couple of moments to think about dummy’s hand and this is the time to do any housekeeping.
Also, think about your possible opening lead during the auction. Most of the time the auction is heading in a fairly predictable direction, and you can use the time spent by opponents thinking about the bidding to think about your lead!
My next article will be about questions during the bidding and unauthorised information.
- Rob Hurst
WORKING BEE TO PREPARE FOR THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN CANBERRA
The ABF has several perpetual trophies awarded at the Australian National Championships (ANC). As they have not been used for several years, they are in a sorry state. Lyn Carter and Cathy Nichols will be holding a working bee to clean them up, assess them for repairs and determine the engraving needed to update them, so that they are ready for use at the ANC to be held in Canberra next year.
- It will be at 2 pm next Wednesday (16 April) at Deakin.
We invite anyone with a few hours to spare to join in. As the date is in the school holidays, bring along your children or grandchildren to help. We will provide all cleaning materials, but you may want to bring your own gloves and apron. Some used toothbrushes would also be useful.
Please contact Lyn Carter on 0402-077958 with any questions
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.
New Members
Canberra Bridge Club welcomes the following new and returning member to the club:
- Alan Howard
- Sergio Rodriguez Sanchez
Rank Promotions
Graduate
- Gillett, Derek
- McCallum, Mary
Club
- Gillespie-Jones, Marion
- Heesom-Green, Jo
- McKay, Sharron
Local
- Hitch, Sharon
- Hitch, Clayton
- Wawn, Chris
Bronze Local
- MacKinnell, Graham
Silver Local
- McPhail, Julie
- Watters, Prue
Regional
- Cherbuin, Jacques
- Young, Phil
State
- Kenny, David
Bronze National
- Carter, Jennifer
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
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.
Next Tuesday night competition is the Autumn Butler Pairs:
- 22nd April to 6th May 2025
- Click here to Enter
Youthish Night at the Canberra Bridge Club is back on:
- 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!
Register your interest by completing the sign up sheet in the Barry Turner Room or emailing
Lighter Moments
- What is the hardest thing about skateboarding? Concrete.
- Soccer is a strange game. It’s a bunch of people running away from their goals.
- Swimming is a confusing sport, because sometimes you do it for fun, and other times you do it to not die
- If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you!
- I kept wondering why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
- What’s the difference between my bridge partner and time? Time passes.
I will be taking a well overdue holiday from the 17th to the 27th April touring lovely (or so I've been told) Vietnam. Although Steve is multi talented and immensely capable, my preference would be for you to follow up on all the non urgent and easy matters once I get back... the hard stuff - yes, you can ask him.
Happy Easter everyone!
Elizabeth
