The 2019 ANC is on!:
The 2019 Australian National Championships is running 13-25 July in Melbourne. Tasmanian Open, Women and Senior state teams are completing. Results for all events are available from the website (click More).
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The TBA Committee meeting for July was cancelled due to the number of people away at the moment. Out of session approval was given for membership applications for the following people:
| ♠ Kay Allport | ♥ Rosie Donald |
| ♦ Ian Bailey | ♣ Sarah Finlayson |
| ♣ Carsten Bauermeister | ♦ Paul Fredheim |
| ♥ Christina Buell | ♠ Carol Hues |
| ♠ Barbara Carolan | ♥ Rob Hues |
| ♦ Craig Coleman | ♣ Patsy Primozich |
| ♣ Suzanne Coleman | ♦ Peter Tsilipakis |
Many of these people are newer players from the recently completed Beginners' Courses. Please make them feel very welcome as you see them around the club.
The 2019 Australian National Championships is on in Melbourne from 13-15 July.
Tasmania had three state teams competing in the Interstate Teams:
Sadly Tasmania did not have a Youth team. The full list of state teams is here.
The ANC Interstate Teams Qualifying finised on Wednesday. The results are available here.
In addition to the ANC teams events there are a range of ANC and Fringe Bridge Festival events on, with various Tasmanian players are participating. Full details are available at the 2019 ANC Website
Congratulations to the TBA members who achieved rank promotions at the end of June 2019:
| ♠ Carmen Lockwood - State | ♥ Helen Thomas - Local |
| ♦ Meredith Stacey - State | ♣ Bron Peatling - Local |
| ♣ Janette Targett - *Regional | ♦ Leonie Atkins - Club |
| ♥ Jan Colville - Regional | ♠ Ron Kelly - Graduate |
| ♠ Florence Lewis-Bryan - **Local | ♥ Rita Talbot - Graduate |
| ♦ Marlene Childs - *Local | ♣ Richard Molesworth - Graduate |
| ♣ Mardi Grosvenor - Local |
The ABF Masterpoint Centre website provides a range of club, state and national reports updated each month. These include promotions, McCutcheons (rankings by Masterpoints earned this year), most improved players, and top 50 Masterpoint earners.
The 2019 TBA Congress was held over the weekend of 29-30 June at the TBA club rooms.
Sunday was the Swiss pairs, with a field of 36 pairs competing over 6 rounds of 9 boards. The full results are here.
1st - Sandra and Andrew |
2nd - Dallas Cooper and |
3rd - Barbara Holland and |
4th - Ian Mansfield and |
5th - Julian Corr and |
Restricted - Rose Rowell and |
Saturday saw the rooms packed for three sections of matchpoint pairs. 17 pairs played in the open, 18 in the restricted (fewer than 150 masterpoints) and 14 in the novice (fewer than 25 masterpoints). Full results are here: open, restricted, novice
Open - 1st - Sandra and Andrew |
Open - 2nd - Jane and Robert |
Open - 3rd - Wynne Webber and |
Restricted - 1st - Mary Hawthorne and |
Restricted - 2nd - Anna Egan and |
Restricted - 3rd - David Marshall and |
Restricted - 4th - Julia Johnson and |
Novice - 1st - Mardi and John |
Novice - 3rd - Edward Gee and |
The presentations were made by TBA Vice-president Lynne Cooke, with TBA Chief Director Simon Edler loitering in the background. Absent for the presentations were 2nd placed novice pair - Debbie Easther and Pam Batrouney.
The novice field included four pairs of players yet to make Graduate master. They were congratulated on taking the step of entering a congress event. The best performing pair in this group - Elizabeth Taranto and Jan Sheen - received special recognition for their achievement in coming fourth.
Thanks to Simon for all of his work organising and running the congress, and to all members who brought food and helped organise the weekend.
Congratulations to the nearly 30 people who have just completed the first two beginners' courses of the year.
These courses were run by Sue Falkingham over the last 6 weeks on Monday afternoons and Tuesday evenings. This is a fantastic result for all concerned. Further beginners' course are being planned for later in the year.
We look forward to these new players moving into the regular club sessions over the coming weeks. Please keep an eye out for them around the club, introduce yourself, make them feel welcome, and help them get established in this wonderful game.
Update - The Monday 1 July supervised session was buzzing with 12 tables, thanks to a number of new players from the Beginners' courses joining this group. Great to see.
The 2019 Australia-Wide Novice Pairs was held in the last week of May and the national results have just been finalised. The competition is run each year by Australian Bridge magazine in conjunction with the ABF. This year 1,433 pairs from ~90 clubs played the same set of boards. The competition is restricted to players with fewer than 100MP, with separate rankings for players with fewer than 50MP. The results were scored locally (for green masterpoints) and again nationally (for red points). Personalised scorebooks were produced including detailed results and analysis for each hand.
The TBA session was held on the evening of Wednesday 29 May, with thirteen pairs competing. The top pairs on the night were Maureen & Brendan Richardson, Jane Dickie & Leonie Atkins, and Karen Andrews & Julianne Edwards. In the national scoring the top ranked TBA pairs were Mardi & John Grosvenor (160th), Jane & Leonie (211th) and Maureen & Brendan (221st). The summary for the results for the TBA pairs is here.
The top ranked Tasmanian pairs were Maureen & Brian Rawding from Devonport (28th), Kevin Crombleholme & Paul Chisholm from Launceston (65th), and Haj Skilton & Robert Jago from Devonport (95th). The national winners were Neil & Christine Cramer from the Blue Mountains. Detailed national results are available here.
Australian Bridge will be running an equivalent Open event in August, and a restricted event in October.
Thanks to Jenny Penny for running the TBA session, and to Sue Falkingham and Malcolm Sherlock for organising the boards and booklets.
We have recently purchased a number of new books from the US and I have provided a brief synopsis of them here.
Much interest has been shown in the ‘Two over One’ system - 2/1 - so we have added 3 new titles on this system to our library. Also a specialised book on statistics has been introduced together with a few other topics.
The following is a synopsis of the new titles.
1) The MATHEMATICAL THEORY of BRIDGE by Messieurs Borel and Cheron. This is a reprint of a book originally published in 1940. It is highly specialised and totally theoretical so I would say some knowledge of Math would be necessary to get the most from this work. It’s a hardcover book and is probably the only book published on this topic. Definitely a read for insomniacs!
2) FALSECARDS by Mike Lawrence. This is another older title by a bridge master who has won 3 World Titles and numerous other distinctions. All his books are well-done and very readable: this book is no exception. It is described as “the definitive book on pulling the wool over your opponents eyes” and is definitely a book to brush up on this lesser-known area of the game.
3) The Secrets of Winning Bridge by Jeff Rubens. This is another old chestnut from the 20th Century that has been ‘modernised’ and updated; it is not system specific and is considered a bridge ‘classic’. Timeless and practical this is a great addition to our library.
4) 15 WINNING CARD PLAY TECHNIQUES by David Bird & Tim Bourke. These are 2 of the best bridge writers and they summarise 15 declarer play techniques that are clearly explained with great exercises. I found the section and examples of how to prevent a ‘trump promotion’ very instructive.
This leads us to:
5) PLAYING 2/1 - The Rest of the Story by Paul Thurston. This is in some ways a sequel to his first book that laid the foundations of the 2/1 System and thus becomes a more advanced treatment of the system. Lots of good stuff showing ways of dealing with exceptional bidding situations. Amplifies the system.
6) TWO OVER ONE by Bill Treble. This is a basic introduction to the 2/1 System and takes the Standard player to a new level. Easy to read with lots of exercises this is a good start for this increasingly popular system. And finally:
7) Larry Teaches 2 over 1 Game Forcing by Larry Cohen. This is a basic introduction to the system by an old master. This guy has been teaching and writing for 40 years and he presents here a very readable and easy to understand book. It’s basic with exercises and examples aplenty.
Some of these books may be out on loan already.
If you want a hand locating a book please ask me – Richard Cooke – to assist you.
And remember: others will want to enjoy our library so please read and promptly return your loans - 2/3 weeks is a reasonable loan period.
A full list of the library titles, including commentary, is here.
127 members completed the 2019 survey with the major findings summarised as follows :
73% of members report playing 1 – 2 times a week with 27% playing three or more times a week. The club performs a very or somewhat important social function for 90% of our members, with quite a few seeking more social functions to be held throughout the year. Suggestions included a Grand Final Footy afternoon, Cancer Council Morning Tea and separate Christmas parties for the different sessions in addition to the Melbourne Cup Lunch and AGM Lunch.
The Committee is not averse to the idea of holding more of these functions, but we seek interested members to agree to co-ordinate one or more of these events. Please discuss your interest in arranging a social event with Julie Rhodes.
The committee and Directors have already implemented measures to curb slow play and these seem to be working well.
As a result of feedback from this group, the Thursday morning session will now play a minimum of 24 boards with a shorter coffee break to accommodate the extra boards.
Many experienced players would like to improve their bridge and attend training conducted at either intermediate or advanced level.
Those seeking advanced training are welcome to join the State Teams training sessions on Sat/Sun June 22nd and 23rd from 10.00am and 9.00am respectively. This training will be conducted by SA bridge professional Philip Gue. If you plan to attend, please bring a plate of food to share.
Sue Falkingham will conduct Intermediate training on Wednesday afternoons from 1.45 until 3.45 in July and August. Cost will be $10 per session with $5 going to the Club. Topics will include Overcalls & Responses, Two Suited Overcalls, Overcalls of Opponents’ 1NT, Takeout Doubles, Responding to Takeout Doubles and Defence & Signals. You can attend as few or as many of these sessions as you like. Keep an eye out for more information closer to the date.
Several Members commented that they would like to play more bridge but sometimes don’t have a partner. The TBA will encourage more walk in and “buddy” sessions and welcomes volunteers who would be prepared to roster themselves on as a “walk in” partner. Please contact Barbara Giizel if you would like to help in this manner.
Members supported expanding the Club rooms in a ratio of two to one, with the most popular uses being to provide a separate teaching or “supervised” area as well as the potential to host larger events. Better kitchen facilities were also highly desired and out ranked the wish for a members’ Lounge.
The Committee will now engage an architect to develop a “concept plan” for presentation to the Council and as a basis for investigation of overall feasibility of the idea.
Half the membership would like to be able to pay their table money in a cashless fashion, or in bulk. Using a model adopted by some Clubs in NSW, John Grosvenor is working on a system whereby members could pay money into a personal “account” by cash or card and when a member plays a session, the table money for that session would be automatically deducted from their account. This would occur by the recognition of the Member’s name being input into the Bridgemate. The Member would be alerted when their balance is running low so that they can top it up.
The Management Committee held its monthly meeting on Tuesday June 4th at 7.30pm. Attending were Julie Rhodes (chair), Jana Vernon, Graeme Poulton, Ann Paton, Edward Gee, Katherine Marsden, Malcolm Sherlock, and Simon Edler. Apologies were received from Lynne Cooke, Margaret Gibbs, Susan Falkingham, and Judith Bills.
New Members welcomed to the TBA in June are Diane Gain, Russell Morse, Sally Morse, Richard Jackett and Elaine Jackett. Please extend a friendly hand to these and any beginners or newcomers to our club and help them to fit in by “showing them the ropes”.
The Committee extends its best wishes to Susanne and David Sarten. Susanne is recovering from a serious illness contracted overseas and it is a difficult time for her, David and their family.
Discussion ensued on the format of restricted events as a result of correspondence from a Club member seeking alteration of the Masterpoint levels for entry to these events. It was the view of the Committee that present levels (based on ABF standards) should continue to apply. Simon Edler noted that the TBA has already significantly lowered the barrier to entry to restricted events with the TBA cut off level of 150 masterpoints significantly lower that the 300 point cut off which applies to the TFob and other ABF restricted events.
The committee sometime receives requests from Members to support a particular charity. It is the TBA’s charter to “foster the development of bridge in Tasmania” and as such, this should be the primary focus of the Club. The TBA supports the “Bridge for Brains” charity and Colony 47 at Christmas time. It is the view of the committee that this is sufficient for the TBA to support, but that if a member wishes to conduct an appropriate charitable event (such as Cancer Council morning tea) approval from the committee would not be unreasonably withheld.
Happy Bridging
Julie Rhodes
TBA President
The 2019 Tasmanian Festival of Bridge was held at Wrest Point Casino Hotel in Hobart from 28th to 31st March 2019
There were a record number of participants with 140 pairs competing in the premier event, the TBIB Australian Swiss Pairs. 86 pairs contested the Roger Penny Senior Swiss Pairs, 62 pairs in the TFOB Restricted Swiss Pairs and 16 pairs in the Island Matchpointed Swiss Pairs.
TBIB Australian Swiss Pairs Winners David Beauchamp and Jodi Tutty |
TFOB Restricted Swiss Pairs Winners Jack Foreman and Bob Ransom |
Roger Penny Seniors' Swiss Pairs Winners Phil Gue and Nigel Rosendorff with TBA President Julie Rhodes |
Warren Walker Memorial Prize winners Rob and Jane Tyson with Sue Thompson-Walker. This prize, donated by Sue, is for the best placed Tasmanian Pair in the TBIB Australian Swiss Pairs. |
Go to the Tournament Website for more information and results.
The 2020 Tasmanian Festival of Bridge will be at a new venue, the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Launceston. The Festival will run from Thursday 26th March to Sunday 29th March 2020.
The Role of the TBA
The TBA is is the largest bridge club in the state with about 400 members and is the administrative body for the game of bridge in Tasmania. The TBA is responsible for running national and state events including the Australian Swiss Pairs championships and the Roger Penny Senior Swiss Pairs competition. These are conducted annually with the venue alternating between Hobart and Launceston. The TBA also administers the Masterpoints system for the ABF and endeavours to promote the growth and teaching of bridge throughout Tasmania via its affiliated clubs. The TBA's purpose-designed Centre at 5 Marine Esplanade, New Town Bay serves as both our local Clubrooms and the headquarters for bridge in the state.
| North-West | North | South |
|---|---|---|
| Burnie Bridge Club | Launceston Bridge Club | Hobart City Bridge Club |
| Devonport Bridge Club | Tamar Bridge Club | Eastern Shore Bridge Club |
| Ulverstone Bridge Club | Kingborough Bridge Club |
Contact us:
Phone: 0400 492 327
Email: tba@tasbridge.com.au
Post: PO Box171, North Hobart 7002
Bank Account Details for direct debit: BSB: 067-102 A/C #: 2801 2004 A/C Name: Tasmanian Bridge Association
ABN: 66 028 130 967
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Tasmanian Bridge Association Bridge Association 2019
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