Newsletter 26 February 2026
In our newsletter this week...
- Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea
- Understanding Defence – The Hardest Part of the Game
- Upcoming Events
- 2026 ANC Selection Events
- Youth News
- Shift the Blame
- Online Lesson with Will
- Calligraphy Skills?
New Players
Canberra Bridge Club welcomes the following new and returning players:
- Marcus Kelson
- Jeannette Heycox
- Yani Miller
- Alex Lloyd
- Peter Edsor
- Bluey Little
- Virginia Cook
- Greg Clarke
- Seng Yun
- Mary Jenkins
- Will Brook
- Ian Brook
- Kate Aikins
Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea
Once again Canberra Bridge Club is very lucky to host a series of workshops presented by one of Australia's most gifted teachers!
Will's first workshop for 2026 will be held at CBC on Sunday 1st of March.
The workshop is on "Commonly Misunderstood Auctions, And How To Get Them Right" focusing on:
- Defining Which Jumps Are Strong And Weak
- How Many Cards And How Many Points
- Identifying When Conventions Apply, And Don’t
Details:
- $60 per player including a delicious morning tea, a light lunch, and a booklet of notes.
- $20 for players under 30. (A portion of entry fees and book sales goes towards Youth Bridge in the ACT)
- Sunday 1st March 10am to 3pm.
To make a booking click on the link below or with any enquiries please email
Understanding Defence – The Hardest Part of the Game
A series of workshops for the developing player
This is a practical series of workshops focussing on defending accurately. It will cover some of the well known defence aphorisms such as “Third Player Plays High”, “Always Return Your Partner’s Suit” and focus on why they are valuable and when you should ignore them!
As an experiment, we are offering these classes at our usual day time but also trialling an evening opportunity for players unavailable during the day. The Monday and Tuesday classes are repeats.
- Where is it: Canberra Bridge Club – Evening or Morning classes
- When is it:
• Monday Evenings – 6:45 pm until 9:00 pm
on 23rd, 30th March and 6th, 13th April
OR
• Tuesday Mornings – 9:45 am until 12:00 pm
on 24th, 31st March and 7th, 14th April - How much does it cost: $15 per lesson
- Who is giving it: Steve Geddes
This is a walk in event, no need to register. You can come as an individual or as a partnership. All lessons are on defence but even if you miss one, you can still attend the rest.
Further enquiries please contact:
Upcoming Events
The next Tuesday night competition is the BFACT State Open Teams starting on 3rd to 17th March 2026:
Results
The Women's team representing ACT at ANC are:
- PAM CRICHTON / JULIA HOFFMAN
- ADRIENNE STEPHENS / JUDITH TOBIN
- WENDY BOXALL / JODI TUTTY
The winners of the Ssiss Summer Pairs Competition are:
- ANDREW SPOONER / STEPHEN FISCHER
2026 ANC Selection Events
BFACT will be holding events to select pairs to play as ACT representatives at the Australian National Championships (ANC). Women, Senior, Open and Youth teams can go to the ANC.
The event will be played on Saturday and Sunday, adding Friday evening if more than 10 entries, and the following Wednesday evening if more than 16 entries. Please see regulations for more detail.
Register in myABF through the links below :
Youth News
There’s a new Australian Youth Bridge Website, check it out! https://www.aussieyouthbridge.com/
SAVE THE DATES
- The next Youthish night is on Friday March 20.
Further Youthish nights will be held on April 24 and May 15.
- Youth Fundraising Day: The Scongress is being held on Sunday 17 May.
We will once again hold a raffle (prize donations are welcome!) and Jade and Alexis will bake more scones than the Knave of Hearts can steal.
IT’S OK TO BE A MUG
Youth fundraising mugs will arrive at the club soon. They were hot property at the Summer Festival of Bridge in January. The mugs are an initiative of the ABF Youth Coordinator to provide some funding for Australian Youth Representatives in the U26 Women’s, U16, U21, and U31 teams (the U26 team is funded by the ABF). There are 4 different designs. You can buy individual mugs for $30 each or a set of 4 for $99. Cash Only at the club.
HOSTING YOUTH PLAYERS FOR EVENTS
We are looking for members who are willing to host Youth players from Interstate at various events in the future. If you like the idea of meeting and billeting ‘up and coming’ Youth players, please email
Alternatively if you have contacts or suggestions on good accommodation deals near CBC, please get in touch.
Please don’t hesitate to approach CBC Youth Coordinator Suz Wilkinson if you have questions or ideas about Youth related issues.
Shift The Blame
One of the most useful bidding gadgets ever invented is the transfer. Generally, this involves bidding a suit below the one you are showing and the most common usage is opposite our partner’s No Trumps opening. Unfortunately, many bridge players learn just that definition without learning what to do next.
The great advantage of transfers is that it allows us to show our suit and also show more information (such as whether we have exactly five or more than five. Whether we have a weak hand, a game going hand or an invitational hand).
Let’s imagine we hear our partner open One No Trump and our Right Hand Opponent passes and we are looking down at five Spades in our own hand. We might have a fit in Spades but we may not. Before learning transfers we could essentially bid Two Spades with a weak hand (to play). We could bid Three Spades with a good hand (leaving partner the choice of Three No Trumps or Four Spades) or we could bid Four Spades and not let partner get it wrong.
Once we introduce transfer bids, we can have a much more nuanced discussion. We would bid Two Hearts – telling our partner “I have five Spades, please bid them for me”. Our partner will then dutifully bid Two Spades whether she likes them or hates them, a transfer is an instruction, not a conversation. Once the bidding comes around to us we have more options and can now also show invitational hands. The clever part of transfers comes on our second bid:
Having transferred, we can now pass with 0-8 Points and five or six Spades.
We can bid Two No Trumps with specifically 9 High Card Points and exactly five Spades.
We can bid Three Spades with specifically 9 Total Points and six or more Spades.
We can bid Three No Trumps with 10+ HCPs and exactly five Spades
We can bid Four Spades with 10+ TPs and six or more Spades
Before transfers were invented we could show weak or strong hands alongside our Spade suit. Now we can show invitational hands as well. A very useful innovation!
Consider the following Hands. Your partner has opened One No Trump, your RHO has passed and you have bid Two Diamonds (a transfer to Hearts). Your LHO has passed, your partner has dutifully responded Two Hearts and it has come back to you. What is your next bid? (Answers at the end)
HAND ONE
ª J93
© AKJ65
¨ QT6
♣ 32
HAND TWO
ª 4
© QT9753
¨ AT32
♣ 96
HAND THREE
ª 85
© 985432
¨ T7
♣ 873
HAND FOUR
ª AK
© AKQT95
¨ 52
♣ JT4
HAND FIVE
ª AT9
© A5432
¨ JT6
♣ 86
HAND SIX
ª AQ2
© T97432
¨ 5
♣ 874
It is worth considering ones continuations after you have transferred. Often at the club I see the auction begin with a quite spritely One No Trump: Two Diamonds: Two Hearts:……followed by a very slow Two No Trumps…….Three Hearts…..Three No Trumps…..each bid made with a more and more quizzical expression!
Remember – after transferring, bid No Trumps if you only have five of the suit you’ve shown and repeat the suit with six or more. Bid game if you have ten or more points, pass if you have zero to eight and with that awkward nine you can invite by making an intermediate bid somewhere between where you are now and game.
Transfers are excellent but there is more to them than just the first two bids!
ANSWERS (After the auction One No Trumps: Two Diamonds: Two Hearts: what do we do next?):
Hand One – Three No Trumps. Show partner we have the points for game and she knows we have exactly five Hearts. She can bid Four Hearts now with a fit or pass Three No Trumps with only two small Hearts.
Hand Two – Four Hearts. Although it was only six HCPs when we picked it up, once our partner opens One No Trump we know we have a fit. So we can add distribution points. One for a doubleton and Three for a singleton gets us to ten – that’s enough for game and we know we have a fit in a major. Play game in the major.
Hand Three – Pass. Our hand was going to take zero tricks in One No Trump. Now our partner still has all her picture cards to take tricks but some of our little Hearts are going to be as good as aces!
Hand Four – Four No Trumps (Asking for Aces) it is barely possible that we are missing both the minor aces (in which case I will bid Five Hearts and we’ll play there) but I fully expect to hear at least one and to then bid Slam in Hearts.
Hand Five – Two No Trumps. We have this awkward nine HCPs. We could well make game, but we could well go off also. Transferring to Hearts and then bidding Two No Trumps lets our partner know exactly where we are points wise and exactly how many Hearts we have. Bonus Question: What would you do if your partner bids Three Hearts (showing a minimum No Trump Opening with three or four Hearts)?
Hand Six – Three Hearts. We have six or more Hearts so we are going to insist on those (even though they are bad!) We only had six HCPs when we picked up the hand, but when partner opens One No Trump we know we have a fit, so we can add three for the singleton. That gets us to nine Total Points – the awkward maybe-maybe not range. Bidding Three Hearts tells partner we should play in Hearts but also lets them go on to game with a maximum and to pass with a minimum.
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:
- Steve Geddes
Online Lesson with Will
Will is running regular Online Lessons that are suitable for Club players of all levels.
There is a LIVE ZOOM on Thursday Mornings at 9:30am, or you can sign up for the lessons and receive the Recording, Hands, Notes, and a way to Replay the hands later. The full list of lessons and topics can be found on our website.
Next lesson is on "Double, Overcall, 1NT or Pass?". Purchase through the link below.
Do you have Calligraphy Skills?
ANC organisers are seeking for a member with calligraphy skills who might be willing to help in preparing certificates for prize winners in the ANC in July.
Please contact Lyn Carter at
Have a great week everyone!
Elizabeth
