Newsletter 10 May 2024
In our newsletter this week...
- Club News
- Thanks to our Working Bees helpers
- Expression of Interest - Novice Support Coordinator
- Tip of the Week
- Tuesday night competition is moving to RealBridge
- Mentoring in May
- Results
- Upcoming Events
- Ian Morison
- Lighter Moments
Club News
Please be careful when you crossing over from our side of the carpark into the Croatian Club next door.
One of our members recently tripped over an exposed pipe in the ground near the entrance of their carpark.
If anyone else has had an injury from the same pipe please let the office know.
Thanks to our Working Bees
Thanks to all our volunteers who have done an awesome job around the club. The place is looking much cleaner, our plants are happier, bridgemates and bidding boxes are refreshed and all of our cubpboards have been reorganised! Again, we thank our volunteers below:
- Jayne Francis and Rosemary Matley for repotting our growing plants.
- David Kenny, Rick Nehmy and John Hempenstall for cleaning the bridge mates
- Chris Wawn for helping clear the cupboards
- Jodi and Ian for tidying up the director's corner
- Jennifer Yeats, Kathleen Kenny, Mary Tough for cleaning the bidding boxes
- Maureen Doszpot and Janis Meikle who have wiped down all the side tables and tidied up the Library
- Elizabeth Yoo who have chucked out heaps of rubbish
Expression of Interest - Novice Support Coordinator
The Canberra Bridge Club (CBC) regards support for its novice players as a high priority and takes all possible steps to integrate them fully into the club’s milieu. The Novice Support Coordinator has overall responsibility for this important task.
The Contract & Employment Sub-Committee is seeking expressions of interest in the position. It should be noted that in light of recent changes to employed and volunteer roles at the CBC, the position description is currently under review and will be made available shortly. It is expected that the tasks of the position will require a commitment of, on average, 12 hours per month.
Expression of interest should be directed to Mary Tough
TIP OF THE WEEK
The mechanics of bidding
Bridge is a thinking game. During the auction, we often need to stop and think before deciding on a call. It’s called a ‘break in tempo’. Everyone does it. It’s not bad; indeed, it’s part of the game. (Theoretically, a break in tempo can be interpreted as conveying unauthorised information, but that is extremely unlikely except at very high levels of an auction. However, should you feel damaged by a break in tempo, ask the director to rule.)
Just the same, there are proper forms of procedure. Don’t fiddle with the bidding box while you are thinking. It’s particularly bad form to take a card from the box and then to replace it before you’ve made up your mind. There’s one more thing. At the end of the auction, please wait until the opening lead has been made before replacing the cards in your bidding box. I know that’s counter-intuitive, but it is a regulation.
Long ago, all bidding was by word-of-mouth. Then came written bidding on bidding pads. Nowadays, almost always, we have bidding boxes.
Spoken bidding didn’t have much going for it. (i) Problems arose when bids were overheard at an adjoining table; (ii) The room was always noisier than it is today.
Written bidding was an improvement, especially when the director had to rule on a dispute about the auction ─ the bidding pad was a source of reliable evidence of who had bid what. But written bidding had its downsides: (i) Used sheets from the bidding pads often created an unholy mess; (ii) Despite carefully framed regulations, no-one ever seemed quite sure at what point in the early play the bidding pad should be turned over to conceal the auction; (iii) Sometimes the writing was indecipherable*.
Today everyone is accustomed to bidding boxes. That’s just fine provided that we are aware that there are downsides: (i) It’s all too easy to pull a wrong card from the box; (ii) No-one ever seems quite sure when to replace the cards in the box.
*Anecdote: In the days of written bidding, I was playing against a good friend ─ let’s call him George. (George was a first-class player but his writing was third class at best.). George was dealer and pre-empted by scribbling 4C (= 4 clubs) on the bidding pad. Second in hand, I overcalled 4H (= 4 hearts). “That’s insufficient” said George. The director came to the table and asked me what had happened. “George bid 4 clubs and I bid 4 hearts” I informed him. Visibly upset that anyone should misconstrue his handwriting, George pointed to his scribble on the bidding pad and said plaintively “that’s not 4C; it’s 4S”. Pity the poor director. What does he do?
-John Brockwell
Tuesday Night Competition moving to RealBridge
From 25 June 2024 until end of August, Tuesday night competition is moving to RealBridge.
To encourage wider participation in RB on Tuesday nights. Visitors will be charged at the same rate as our members for the duration of the RB winter season. CBC club members will be charged $12 per session.
A two nights Butler Pairs event will be played on 25 June -2 July, as a warm up for ANC participants in Orange.
Mentoring in May
Huge thanks to Rob Hurst for taking care of mentors and mentees. If anyone is still not sorted out or has fallen through the cracks, please contact
Please don't forget to pick up a yellow slip on your way in if you are doing mentoring. You will need to give this slip to the directors so they can charge the mentees for their mentors.
Results
Congratulations to the winners below:
Bathurst Congress
- 1st in Restricted Pairs (4th overall): DOREEN HAND - LYN WIDDUP
Autumn Nationals
- Beaten Finalist in Open Teams: BRAD COLES - DAVID APPLETON - FRASER REW - GEORGE KOZAKOS
- 2nd in Under Grand Teams: MARY TOUGH - BEV CROSSMAN
Upcoming Events
- The final Round of the Qualifier for the Nationwide Knockout Teams event on RealBridge is on 14 May - Click here to view the interim results. The link to play is open now on our website. It will also be emailed to the players on Tuesday morning.
- Two of the club’s Youth members – Zara Chowdhury and Diya Shah will represent Australia in the Under 26 Women’s World Youth championship in Poland in July. A fund raising Red point Congress will be held on Sunday 19 May (Open, Restricted, Novice and Rookie categories) - Click here to Enter For those who can't attend the office is collecting cash donations.
Ian Morison
Lighter Moments
- What language is spoken in the centre of the Earth?
Hint: What nationality is one of your office managers?
(If you can't work it out I will publish the answer next week.)
Have a great weekend everyone!
Elizabeth
