Newsletter 2 April 2026
In our newsletter this week...
- April is RED MP month!
- Beginners Lessons
- Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea
- Working Bee - 11th April
- Youth Shoutout
- Upcoming Events
- Results
- Name Badge Order
- Go on - You know you want to...
- Lighter Moments
April is Red MP Sponsored Pairs Month!
During the month of April we will be holding RED Masterpoint events for selected sessions named after our sponsors, to give all players the opportunity to earn red masterpoints.
To be promoted to State Master or beyond, you need at least 25 red masterpoints, as well as your green masterpoints.
- If you play with the same partner over the three weeks, your cumulative score will determine your final place,
- No pre-entry is required. The table money is the same.
- Master points awarded for 3/3 scores or 2/2 for RB
The selected April events are as follows:
- 8 April - 22 April Wednesday evening f2f : Pacific Pairs
- 10 April - 24 April Friday morning f2f: TBIB Pairs
- 10 April - 24 April Friday afternoon f2f: Colourful World Pairs
- 13 April - 20 April Monday afternoon RB and Monday evening RB
- 14 April - 28 April Tuesday afternoon f2f: Travel Associates Pairs
- 16 April - 23 April Thursday afternoon RB
Beginners Lessons
Question: Do you know the best form of advertising our bridge classes for beginners?
Answer: Via word of mouth. So share your love of the game with your kids, neighbours, friends, baristas, colleagues, person next to you on the light rail and let them know that the next round of Beginners Classes starts in April.
Workshop with Will Jenner-O'Shea
Will's next CBC workshop will introduce the Jacoby 2NT system focusing on the follow-up bids that complete this very useful convention. This workshop will be held on Sunday 5th of April.
- The Game Forcing Jacoby 2NT Raise, and Responses
- Slam Bidding Using 4NT, Keycard (14/30)
- How To Value Hands For Slam (Shortages, Honours)
- Examples Of Control Bids, And Asking For Kings
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 5th April 10am to 3pm.
To make a booking click on the link below or with any enquiries please email
Outdoor Working Bee Saturday April 11th at 9 am
A few more willing workers are required to help with the following:
- Removing woody weeds
- Installing more brown irrigation piping
- Installing some stepping stones through a garden bed
- Preparing the ground for some new plantings.
If you can help, please contact Jennifer Yeats on 0412031903 or
Scongress
Playing bridge while eating freshly baked scones is a match made in heaven. You can do this once a year at CBC at the SCONGRESS. Enter HERE
This is a fundraising event for ACT's International players to help pay for their flights and accommodation.
There will also be a raffle with some excellent prizes.
Youth Shoutout!
Youthish Night
The next Youthish Nights are being held at the Club on Friday April 24 and May 15.
Entry is FREE and there will be a Pizza dinner!
All experience levels are welcome, no partner required.
Come to either session or both!
- Session 1: 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM
- Dinner: 6:30 PM - 7:00 PM
- Session 2: 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Contact CBC Youth Coordinator Suz Wilkinson
Youthish Teams
Online teams practice is available for Youthish players and mentors who are able to play a 24 board session. It’s being held at 7pm on Friday April 10.
Please enter in advance. Details and sign up can be found HERE.
A strong Youth Bridge program can only occur with dedicated people supporting us, nurturing beginner players and mentoring. This week I'd like to say a particular thank you to Stephen Fischer for mentoring Jade. His willingness to play regularly with her since the start of 2025 has seen her improve in leaps and bounds.
- Suz Wilkinson
Upcoming Events
The next Tuesday night competition is the 2 weeks BFACT State Open Swiss Matchpoint Pairs (incl BFACT Mixed Pairs Champ). This event will run from 14th to 21st April 2026 and will start at 7pm.
Graded Butler Pairs Saturday inc ANC Country Team Selection - Details:
- Where: CBC
- When: Saturday 18 April from 9:45 to 5:15pm
- Director: Steve Geddes
- Cost: $24 for full members, $20 for concessional members and $30 for non-members
- Click here to register - you will be charged on the day of the event, registration is free
Results
CBC and BFACT congratulates the following players who have been invited to join the ACT team at the ANC representing in the Open category:
- Peter Reynolds and George Kozakos
- David Appleton and Brad Coles
- Richard Brightling and Chris Quail
Name Badge Order
If you would like to buy a magnetic name badge please submit your order by clicking on the link below. The badge will display your full name and abf number unless you add in the notes section your preferred name. Cost is $20, please pay when you register
Go On – You Know You Want To!
On Saturday the 18th April 2026, the Canberra Bridge Club will be running its second all day, red-point event of the year. The last one in February attracted Thirty Three tables and was a great day of bridge. If you missed out (or if you had a fantastic time in February) please set aside the date and enter in our next event.
The purpose of this event is two-fold. First is to select the ACT Regional Team (under 300 Masterpoints) for the upcoming Australian National Championships in July. Each year the ANC travels from one capital to another and this is Canberra’s turn in this eight year cycle. If both members of your pair have less than 300 Masterpoints and if you are interested in representing the ACT during the ANC during the week from Monday 6th July through to Friday the 10th July, please consider nominating.
Even if you are not interested in nominating to represent the State, we will be running a side event alongside the Team selection. This will be a graded pairs, very similar to the event we ran in February. Pairs will play seven rounds in what is known as a Swiss Movement. The beauty of a Swiss movement is that all the pairs are ranked based on their performance during the day. The current top two pairs then play each other, third and fourth play each other, etcetera….all the way down to last versus second to last.
The field will also be graded – likely into A, B and C grades with a possible additional category for current supervised players, subject to numbers. The exact subdivisions will be decided closer to the time, based on entries.
Each round the draw is redone based on current rankings, so as the day progresses you will progressively play against pairs who are doing about as well as you are. If you are doing well, you will be playing your rivals. If you are doing poorly, you can commiserate with others who are also taking all the wrong finesses.
This event will be a great chance to try a new way of playing bridge. Scoring at the club is usually done via what is known as Matchpoint scoring (where all the results on a board are ranked from top to bottom. The best pair scoring 100% an the worst performing pair scoring 0%). The Saturday special events are scored using IMPs – in IMPs scoring your ranking is not as important as the magnitude by which you beat the other pairs sitting your direction. So Games and Slams are far more valuable and overticks are far less.
Many consider it a more pure form of bridge and it offers a novel excuse when you do score badly. Rather than blaming yourself or your partner, you get to mutter the well known bridge refrain “We were screwed by the datums!”
The day will run from 9-45 and should finish around 5-15. There will be a one hour break for lunch which participants will need to organise themselves. Drinks and nibbles will be provided at the end of play for the announcement of winners.
The cost for the day is two regular sessions (so $24 for full members, $20 for concessional members and $30 for non-members).
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak to Elizabeth, Steve or Jodi or any of the directors. Although there is no guarantee, if you want to play but don’t have a partner we will do our best to find someone you will enjoy the day with.
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
Last Chance - Annual Easter Egg Raffle
Our resident Easter Bunny hopped into the club early this year to leave a gorgeous basket of goodies for the annual raffle. Tickets are $2 each, or 3 for $5. Just write your name and phone number on the ticket attached to the book, drop your dollars in the tin, and wait until Good Friday for the draw. All money raised, as usual, supports our charity, Dementia Australia. Thanks to our Easter bunny Kate and Nicole for orchestrating this,
Lighter Moments
It won't be getting lighter anytime soon however getting up an hour later from Sunday will make it seem like it's lighter! Don't forget to wind your clocks back for daylight saving.
Have a happy Easter everyone!
Tamara
