Newsletter 11 September 2025
In our newsletter this week...
- Message from the Committee
- BFACT AGM
- Canberra in Bloom
- New Rank Promotions
- Upcoming Events
- Results
- Better Minor
- Thank you Travel Associates
- Lighter Moments
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.
BFACT AGM
- The BFACT AGM - Friday 26th Sept, 4:30pm
A number of nominations have been received - if anyone would like to nominate please see the Nomination form on the Notices page of the BFACT website and either email a completed form to
Those received to date:
President - Wendy Boxall
Vice President - Cathy Nichols
Treasurer - Roger Brake
Secretary - Tamara Cutcliffe
Tournament Secretary - Niek Van Vucht
The signed Financials report will be on the website later today.
The link for those that can’t attend face to face will be sent closer to the time. Happy to take any queries.
Cathy Nichols
BFACT Secretary
Ph. 0448778863
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 get free entry into the event. If you can help out, please email Jenny Bell at
New Rank Promotions for month of August
Graduate
- Farrelly, Peter
- French, Michael
- Korsch, Kathy
Club
- Bennetts, Tim
- Howard, Marcia
Local
- Burkett, Harry
- Davis, Jill
- Havlat, Karel
Bronze Local
- Freedman, Denyse
- Hitch, Sharon
- Hitch, Clayton
Regional
- Meares, Nicola
State
- Bergin, Rowan
- Francis, Jayne
Bronze State
- Kenny, Kathleen
Life
- Knight, John
Upcoming Events
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
Refresher Course
Just one more Barb's refresher course coming up, don't miss it!
- Dates: Tuesday16th September
- Time: 10.45 am – 12.00 noon
- Cost: $10 through myABF
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
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
The Winners of the Tuesday night Competition Egon Larsen Butler Pairs are :
- Steve Geddes and David Appleton
The winners of the GALA GOLD PAIRS DAY are:
Rookie/Novice Butler Pairs Championship
- LYNDALL KENNEDY & KATE LATIMER
Open Pair (Non Contending)
- NIEK VAN VUCHT & TIM DAVIS
GNOT RESTRICTED TEAM
- ADAM ROBINSON & JACQUES CHERBUIN
PAUL BIRKBY & DEBRA BIRKBY
GNOT OPEN TEAM
- DI HAWKE & LESLEY GUNSON
MICHAEL BURT & CATHY NICHOLS
Omission: We sincerely apologize for omitting a key announcement in our recent newsletter:
Congratulations to the Novice Category winners at the Cootamundra Congress, Maxwell Ashurst & Josh Schwartz
Better Minor
One thing that people spend a lot of time talking about, and not knowing what is best, is which minor to open when you aren’t opening the bidding with a Major or 1NT.
There are three main approaches. Some people play that their 1♦ Opening shows 4+ cards, and therefore their 1♣ opening might only be two cards.
Some people open the “Longer” minor, and sometimes their 1♦ Opening might be only three cards, but their 1♣ Opening is always 3+.
And then there is a third group of players who think that their 1♦ Opening always shows 4+ cards, and their 1♣ Opening shows 3+ cards, and I suppose that they never pick up a hand with four Spades, four Hearts, three Diamonds and two Clubs. That is the exact shaped hand that causes the discussion.
First of all, picking up exactly this shaped hand is very rare, and if you have 15 – 17 points, then you would open 1NT instead of a minor, so this situation doesn’t occur very often.
In good news, it doesn’t really matter what you do with this hand, because you have both four-card Majors, and a balanced hand, and you will nearly always end up playing in a suit other than your minor.
Here is what I usually play and recommend to most people.
In general, open 1♦ if you have four cards in both minors. If the auction does get contested, partner will treat your Diamonds as more likely to be a real suit.
Often open 1♣ with just three cards in both minors. Partner will know that your 1♣ opening might be not much of a suit later in the hand if they are thinking about raising or leading your suit.
If I have three Diamonds and two Clubs, I open 1♦. On the extremely remote case that everyone passes and leaves me playing there, I would rather have three trumps than two.
Here is something that I do and recommend that is a slight exception to the above. If one of my suits is much better than the other, then I consider opening the better suit.
Here are two examples.
♠ AJ92
♥ JT8
♦ AKJ
♣ 432
I would open 1♦. If our team loses the bidding, and partner must find a lead, I would much prefer a Diamond lead to a Club lead.
♠ QT4
♥ K2
♦ J862
♣ AQJ9
Similarly, I would open 1♣ here. If we do compete in the minor, I would much rather be in Clubs than Diamonds, and I would like a Club lead from partner.
The Summary of this is that I open both 1♦ and 1♣ with 3+ cards. I open the longer suit. I open the better quality suit as a priority.
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
Thank you Travel Associates
Dear Elizabeth
Please will you pass on my sincere thanks to Travel Associates for the generous prize that was part of their August Promotion at the Bridge Club.
I was initially surprised but then totally thrilled when you rang to tell me that I had won the first prize of a $500 gift voucher. I am looking forward to using it towards travel in early 2026 and I will greatly appreciate the expertise of Travel Associates in the planning and booking of my trip.
Thank you also to Canberra Bridge Club for facilitating this promotion. It was a delightful extra to all the regular arrangements that you/the Club put in place to enable us members to learn, play and enjoy our bridge playing.
Sincerely,
- Gill Kempton
Lighter Moments
- If you run in front of a car you'll get tired... But if you run behind the car you'll get exhausted
- Why do the guards around Big Ben always look so tired? Because they're working around the clock.'
- Astronomers got tired watching the moon go around the earth for 24 hours. They decided to call it a day.
Have a great week everyone!
Elizabeth
