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In our newsletter this week...
AGM 2026 Table Fee Increase Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea Canberra in Bloom Update CBC League - OCTOBER Online Lessons Upcoming Events Results Youth News Lighter Moments
Annual General Meeting
The Canberra Bridge Club AGM will be held on Tuesday 13 October 2026 starting at 5.30pm. The AGM Notice and Agenda will be emailed to members early next week.
In accordance with the Club’s Constitution, the nomination period for the Committee commenced on Tuesday 15 September and closes at 2.00 pm on Monday 28 September. The final time and date for receipt of proxies is 2.00 pm on Monday 12 October. Nomination and proxy forms can be found on the website or copies can be obtained from the Manager. There are two boxes located near the Manager’s Office, one for completed nomination forms and one for completed proxy forms.
Nomination forms will only be accepted as emails to the Manager if they have been scanned and included as an attachment as they must be completed in full including four actual signatures. Proxies can be emailed without the authorising member’s signature if the email is being sent by the authorising member to the Manager and all other relevant details as required on the form are provided.
Please note that completed nomination forms cannot be submitted later than 2.00 pm on Monday 28 September. If you are unable to submit your completed nomination form at the clubrooms before then, please arrange for a third party to submit the form on your behalf or, if convenient, you have the option to scan and email your completed form with the four signatures by that time.
Similarly, completed proxy forms cannot be submitted later than 2.00 pm on Monday 12 October. Proxy forms need to be checked and collated before the AGM. Each proxy form will then be given to the relevant proxy at the AGM.
Table Fees Increase
As members know, the cost of running the Club continues to increase. When preparing the 2026-27 budget, the Management Committee carefully considered how we could manage these rising costs while continuing to provide the facilities, services and quality of bridge that our members expect.
Some of the significant increases facing the Club include:
We are also facing increasing costs associated with maintaining and improving our premises, including addressing issues associated with our ageing building.The Committee has always tried to keep increases in member fees to a minimum. Table fees have not increased since July 2023, despite the significant increase in the Club's operating costs over that period.
After considering the 2026-7 budget, the Committee has determined that an increase in table fees is now necessary to help meet these rising costs and maintain the Club's financial position.
From 1 October 2026, the following table fees will apply:
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* Visitors at non-BFACT events
We appreciate that any increase in fees is a consideration for members. The Committee has sought to balance this with the need to ensure that Canberra Bridge Club remains financially sustainable and continues to provide a welcoming place for members to enjoy their bridge. Thank you for your understanding and continued support of the Club.
Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea
Will's next workshop will be held at CBC on Sunday 20th September. The workshop is on "Forcing Or Not- Which Bids Can You Pass, and Not" focusing on:
♥ Which bids are Forcing for each player. ♥ When do you need to jump or change suit. ♥ How to show a good hand in a competitive auction
Details:
To make a booking click on the link below or with any enquiries email
Canberra in Bloom - UPDATE
Yes we are still in search of more volunteers to help out before, during and at the end of the event. Please email
Yes we are also looking for fill in players to be called in last minute. Please email
ROOKIES wanted
On Monday 5th October 2026 Canberra in Bloom organisers have set up an event called Butterfly Orchid Rookie Pairs. This pairs event is dedicated exclusively to those with under 5 Masterpoints. If you are fresh out of beginers, fundamentals or supervised this a great introductory event to experience a big congress in a friendly field.
There usually isn't going to be much opportunity to play as rookies as you will be accumulating masterpoints quickly so don't miss out. Enter now through the link below.
If you have any issues entering please let Elizabeth know to include your entry.
CIB entries close tomorrow!!
If you haven't already entered then you will need to get yourself organised because entries (with the exception of Butterfly Orchid Rookie Pairs) are closing tomorrow.
CIB Friday CBC closed on Friday afternoon only
To give our players the opportunity to play in either CIB or here at our club, we will be opening the Friday morning session to all abilities and cancelling the Friday afternoon session on 2nd of October.
Teams League Competition at the Club - OCTOBER
We have now opened entries for the OCTOBER 2026 CBC League competition. Register your teams now, through the link below.
• https://www.myabf.com.au/events/congress/view/4790
When is it? Monday 12 October and Monday 26 October. Each session starts at 6-30 PM at the Club and will conclude at 9-00 PM Players should aim to arrive by 6-20PM at the latest!
Can you help us find team-mates? There are no guarantees but we are always prepared to assist. If you need help securing team-mates, please contact Elizabeth or Steve.
What if I have further questions? If you have any questions, you can speak to Steve at the club or via email:
Alternatively, you can speak to Elizabeth or email her on:
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.
Those wishing to partake should place their name on a list on the noticeboard or contact Jon Pike directly. His email is
Online Lessons
The next online lesson with Will Jenner-O'Shea is on Thursday 24th September at 9:30am. This lesson is on Redouble for Strength.
Upcoming Events
The next Tuesday night competition is the Alan Macarthur Teams.
Results
The winners of the BFACT GALA Pairs are:
1. CHRIS STEAD - NIEK VAN VUCHT 2. LYN CARTER - MALCOLM CARTER 3. JILLIAN HAY - JADE WILKINSON
The members of the ACT 2 team are Malcolm and Lyn Carter, Jacques Cherbuin and Ruitian Lang.
Youth News
YOUTH EVENTS at a glance Tomorrow, September 18: Youthish Night September 25: RealBridge Youthish Night September 27 - October 1: Youth Triathlon October 16: Youthish RealBridge October 23: Youthish Night Saturday November 7: Trivia FUNdraiser November 13: Youthish RealBridge November 20: Youthish Night December 5 - 6: NSW State Youth Championships December 11: Youthish Night Christmas Special
CBC Trivia FUNdraiser Saturday November 7, 2pm - 5pm Start assembling friends and family for a FUNdraising Trivia Afternoon. Money raised from the Trivia Day will be used to help Youth players travel to events further afield such as country congresses.
Youthish Night - September 18 Do you know someone 30 or under who would enjoy playing bridge? Bring them along to Youthish Night, it’s free and there are plenty of snacks and a pizza dinner and you can stay too! Entry is FREE and there will be a Pizza dinner! All experience levels are welcome, no partner required. Come to either session or both!
Contact CBC Youth Coordinator Suz Wilkinson
Here is an interesting hand from the Cootamundra Congress Teams provided by Jade Wilkinson.
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North - South had an uncontested auction to 5C.
On the lead of the H4, North won with the A in dummy. It looks like there are at least 2 spade losers, a possible club loser and you only have one winner in hearts. Usually it is a good idea to draw trumps, but tricks can be generated when ruffing in the hand with short trumps.
With this plan, North ruffed a heart in dummy, cashed the A of diamonds (discarding a spade), ruffed a diamond, and ruffed another heart.
North ♠ T76 ♥ J ♦ ♣ AK53
South ♠ A92 ♥ ♦ Q965 ♣ J
Next North played a diamond from dummy and West discarded a spade, allowing North to ruff low in hand. The hand is suddenly looking a lot better if trumps are splitting evenly.
North returned to dummy with a heart ruff (they broke 4-4 which has a probability of 37.2%), to lead another diamond from dummy. West ruffed high. Rather than using a top trump, North discarded a spade loser. West returned a spade to dummy’s A.
North ♠ T ♥ ♦ ♣ AK53
South ♠ 92 ♥ ♦ Q96 ♣
Now when North plays a diamond from dummy, if West ruffs high, North can discard the losing spade and ruff the spade return, or win the club return and draw trumps. So long as the three remaining clubs aren’t all in one hand, declarer makes the rest of the tricks.
If West discards a spade or ruffs low, then North can safely play a low club, as East still has a remaining diamond. Now East can cash the top two clubs, and hoping that W started with 3 trumps and East with 2.
At the table, West ruffed low, declarer overruffed. The CQ dropped and the last spade trick was given to opponents for +600, +12 IMPS. Declarer made 8! trump tricks and the 3 off-suit aces.
Youth Shoutout
A strong Youth Bridge program can only occur with dedicated people supporting us. This week I'd like to say a particular thank you to Alison Russell-French for her great efforts in publicising CBC and CBC youth events. She organised a radio interview with Georgia Stynes on ABC Canberra where Jade and Alexis spruiked Youth Bridge and talked about going to China.
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Lighter Moments
The following contribution was made by Nikki Riszko and we've decided that it was indeed quite funny. |
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They can perhaps still be allowed to play in other contracts? Anyway, lucky for us our bridge is still on.
Have a great week everyone and don't forget to sign up for the CIB, especially the Rookies. Remember that you will never go back to being rookies and no, you can't give back or refuse the masterpoints!
Elizabeth |
