Newsletter 18 September 2025
In our newsletter this week...
- Southern Tablelands Congress Rescheduled
- Message from the Committee
- Youthish Night
- Wednesday night Pizzas
- Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea
- Upcoming Events
- Results
- House Players for CIB
- House team for Tuesday nights
- Lighter Moments
Southern Tablelands Congress Rescheduled
Please be advised The Southern Tablelands Congress to be held at and hosted by Canberra Bridge Club has been rescheduled to Friday 27th to Sunday 29th March 2026. (No longer this November).
Save the new dates!!!
- Friday 27th March is an evening “walk-in” Champagne Pairs. No pre entry needed.
- Saturday 28th March will be an all day Pairs event. You will be able to enter in the Open or Novice/Restricted Pairs.
- Sunday 29th March will be an all day Teams event. You can enter your team in the Open or Novice/Restricted Teams.
There will be a lot more info in future newsletters so keep a lookout for when entries are open in MyABF. As always Elizabeth is happy to help you find a partner or teammates.
We are hoping this will be a well attended and enjoyable event that can be held each year ongoing. Thanks to John Brockwell for resurrecting this historic CBC congress.
Happy Bridging
- Vanessa Brown
Message from the Committee
Would you like to be an active player in helping direct the Club’s future? Why not nominate to join the Committee in 2025-26 and be part of the enthusiastic members dedicated to assisting with the business and activities of the Canberra Bridge Club. Being part of the Committee brings many benefits including getting to know the Club’s members, participating in decisions about the Club and its directions, and bringing a varied expertise to the Committee. Nomination forms can be obtained from the Manager.
SAVE THE DATE - CANBERRA BRIDGE CLUB ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2025
The Canberra Bridge Club will hold its 2025 AGM on 14th October 2025 at 5:30 PM in the Olive Lott Room.
A Notice of AGM will be circulated to members 21 days prior on 23rd September 2025.
Please save the date.
Youthish Night
The next monthly Youth-ish night for all ACT Bridge Players under 40 years will be held at the Canberra Bridge Club on Friday 19 September 2025.
Entry is FREE and there will be a Pizza dinner!
All ages and experience levels are welcome, no partner required.
• Friday 19 September 2025
• Session 1: 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
• Dinner: 6:30 PM - 7:00 PM
• Session 2: 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
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 24 Sep - 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
Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea
Will's next workshop will be held at CBC on Sunday 28th September at 10am. This workshop focuses on Strong Hands and Slams:
- Showing Your Point Range Accurately
- The Splinter Convention, and Valuing Shortages
- Introducing and Expanding Roman Keycard 14/30
- Some Advanced Play Tips!
While this workshop does contain some more advanced topics, it is suitable for players of all levels.
- 28th September 2025 at 10am
- Cost: $60
- Morning Tea and Lunch are included.
- Click here to Register
Upcoming Events
The next Sponsored RED Masterpoint event will be:
- Doubleshot Pairs - RealBridge 1:15pm Saturday 20th and 27th September
- RealBridge Pairs - RealBridge 2:00pm Thursday 2nd and 9th October
Results
Wednesday Evening Red MP Colourfulworld Pairs:
- 1st - Jon Pike - Annabelle Boag
Cowra Congress:
- 1st in Pairs: John Donovan and Paul Nelson
- 3rd in Pairs: Chris Lokan and Morag Lokan
- 2nd in Teams: Chris Lokan, Morag Lokan, Geoff Hutchens and Helen Little
- 3rd in Teams: Andrew Kettle, Deborah Milner, Paul Nelson and John Donovan
Mollymook Congress:
- 1st in Teams: Rob Hurst and team
The Five Level Belongs to the Opponents
Several of our club players made the trek to Alice Springs to play in the recent Northern Territory Gold Congress.
One of the hands which proved crucial in determining the event is reproduced below. Imagine you are the dealer, with nobody vulnerable and you pick up the following hand:
♠ AT53
♥ Void
♦ AQT2
♣ T6432
You pass, your Left Hand Opponent opens One Heart and your partner bids Two Hearts. This is a conventional bid showing Five or more Spades and Five or more cards in an undisclosed minor. It can either be quite weak or quite strong. Your Right Hand Opponent bids Four Hearts and with your void in Hearts, ten High Card Points and decent trumps you bid Four Spades. Your LHO now bids Five Hearts and this is passed back to you. What would you do?
These kinds of decisions are very high stakes – they can swing a match (and indeed did in many cases when the hand came up!)
There is a commonly heard admonition that “The five level belongs to the opponents” – meaning that in high level, competitive auctions it is usually right to leave the opponents guessing whether their five level contract was correct, rather than to outbid them and give them another go at getting it right (often giving them the option of doubling you for a penalty higher than anything they could get themselves).
Whereas I usually adhere to this philosophy (and advocate doubling rather than bidding on at the five level) on the given hand, I think it is correct to outcompete them and to bid Five Spades.
The crucial determining factor is that you know you have a double fit. You have a big, nine card or better fit in Spades, but you ALSO have a big, nine card or better fit in whichever minor your partner has. Hands with double fits generate far more tricks than their high card values would suggest.
Try to picture your partner’s hand. They have at most three cards outside of your two big fits. Some of them are likely to be in Hearts (which you will trump) and so they are likely to have very few losers – even if they have not many points.
For the record, those who bid Five Spades faced this dummy:
Dummy
♠ QJ9862
♥ Q7
♦ J9763
♣ Void
Declarer
♠ AT53
♥ Void
♦ AQT2
♣ T6432
The Diamond finesse lost but the Spade Finesse worked, so twelve tricks were easy, even though North-South only have a combined 16 High Card Points!
The moral of the story? In general, you need a very, very good reason to outbid the opponents at the five level.
Usually, they have no idea, so leave them to the guessing! Extreme shape or big, double fitting hands are the one exception where it can be right to give just one more push…
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
Canberra in Bloom - House Players and Reserves Needed!
Canberra in Bloom needs players able to form house pairs/teams as needed and we need reserves who can play at short notice because of last minute cancellations. There is a need for players at all levels from novice to open. If you are called upon to play at short notice you will play for free. If you can help out, please email Jenny Bell at
Canberra in Bloom - Reminder that entries close next Thursday
For more information, see myABF.
Tuesday nights - We need House Players Too!
As you know, on Tuesday nights at 7:15pm the Club runs competition events. These Pairs or Teams events range from 2 to 3 weeks and are played by some of our top players.
Tuesday evening events are the most competitive in Canberra and they are a great opportunity to test yourself against a strong field. If you are up for a challenge and are interested in trying out the Tuesday nights please consider putting your name down to be in the house team.
The Tuesday night sessions require an even number of entries to run smoothly and the office is always on the look out for fill in players to be on standby in case we get an odd number.
So if you are available for all or some of the nights and would like to come and be part of the house team please talk to the manager.
You do not have to play all the nights, you do not need bring a partner and though there are no guarantees that you will be called in, if you are then you will play for free and could even earn some red points.
Regular Tuesday night players who can't commit for the entirety of the event are also welcome to apply to be in the house team. If you are required to play we will notify you by Monday afternoon.
Lighter Moments
- I went out and bought 1000 bees and they sent me 1001, tried to give one back and they told me "that one is a freebie"
- Do you know the best thing about living in Switzerland. well the flag is a big plus.
Volunteering to make up a house team is a great way to help bridge events run smoothly, the big plus is that it will always be a freebie!
Have a great week everyone!
Elizabeth
