The second day of Stage 2 of the Open Butler Pairs Championship. 5 more 12 board matches with the top 5 pairs in each field to qualify for Stage 3. Tania and I start the day running second NS. We have a tough morning playing the two pairs who are running first and second in the EW field.

Match 6 against Paul Dalley and Tony Nunn. A strong pair from Sydney who are undefeated so far in Stage 2.

Paul bid well on Board 8. Tony opened 1C which could be as short as 1. I overcalled 1H, Paul bid 1S which denied 4 cards in spades. Tania bid 2D an artificial bid showing a constructive raise in hearts. Tony passed and I bid 3H showing a non-minimum overcall. Paul bid 4C and Tania bid 4H. When this was passed back to Paul he tried 4S intending this as a choice between spades, clubs or diamonds. Tony chose 5C. We had bid 4H to make so I doubled. 11 tricks were cold so we scored up -550 and lost 10 IMPs.

Board 10 was a hand on the margin between game and slam with 15 opposite 15 and 2 fits. As it turned out even the 5 level was too high with 2 spades and an ace to lose. Half of the field got too high. 8 IMPs for us.

The last hand of the match was Board 6. We bid to a slightly enthusiastic 6H contract after Paul had made a lead directing double showing clubs. Tania had to guess who had the HQ. When she guessed wrongly we were one down for -50 and -10 IMPs. If she had guessed correctly we would have gained about 10 IMPs.

A 10 IMP loss. Not great but not tragic at this point of the event.

Match 7 we play Pauline Gumby and Warren Lazer. Pauline is the only Diamond Grand Master in Australia with almost 16,000 masterpoints. Warren is second on the list with only a little under 14,400 points. They were running second in the EW field having won all their matches.

Board 15 was a system triumph for us. Tania opened 1C, either balanced minimum or unbalanced with clubs. Warren overcalled 1H and I doubled showing 4 or more spades. Tania bid 2S to show a minimum hand with 4 spades and I raised to game. Played from south the HK was protected so 4S made easily. Most pairs played 4S by north which failed on a heart lead through the K. 12 IMPs.

Board 22 was very interesting. 6 EW pairs bid 6H. All of them went one down. The contract could make on a very pretty squeeze. Declarer wins the opening lead and draws three rounds of trumps. A club to the K loses to north's A. Now declarer plays 2 rounds of spades. Whichever minor suit north discards can now be established for the 12th trick.

At our table Warren and Pauline bid to 6H but were not clear on their fit. I doubled 6H and Warren removed to 6NT which I was happier to double. This had no chance and went one down for +200 and 5 IMPs.

A 20 IMP win was a great result for us.

Match 8 was against Donald Cartwright and George Fleischer an experienced pair from Sydney.

Board 1 we bid a poor slam which went one down. Fortunately 7 out of 10 NS pairs bid this slam so it was only -4 IMPs.

Board 2 was another problematic 'slam' hand. We bid 6S after east opened 3D. George led partner's suit and Tania had an easy 12 tricks. The HA and continuation would have resulted in one down. 4 pairs bid slam and all made. One pair bid 7S got doubled and went two down! 10 somewhat undeserved IMPs.

Donald and George had slightly the better of the rest and won the match by 1 IMP.

Match 9 against Bill Powell and Marjorie Askew. An experienced pair from Ballina who we have often played mainly online but also at the table.

A small win by 9 IMPs.

The last round was Match 10 against Kate McCallum and Axel Johansson. They were the winners of Stage 3 last year. Kate is a many time World Champion in Womens bridge representing the USA. They play a complicated strong club relay system.

Board 27 saw a pragmatic auction to 7NT. Axel played nicely to combine all his chances (the SJ coming down in 3 rounds, doubleton HJ in either hand, a red suit squeeze or as finally transpired the hearts dividing 3-3). -11 IMPs. One pair managed to stop in 3NT with their combined 35 points.

A loss by 14 IMPs.

We finished second NS. The prize is another 2 days of bridge in Stage 3! The final scorecard.

As is always the case a couple of fancied pairs missed out. This year it was Phil Markey and David Appleton in the EW field and Jessica Brake and Shane Harrison in the NS field.

Jacques Cherbuin and Adam Robinson hung on to finish 5th EW. A great effort. Also NS Carmel Martin and Abby Wanigaratne were in the top half of the NS field throughout and finished fifth.

Stage 3 starts tomorrow. A round robin amongst the remaining 10 pairs. Time for some much needed sleep!

The TBA Committee met on June 9th from 2.45pm. Present were Julie Rhodes (P), John Grosvenor (VP), Leigh Blizzard (T), Trish Colles (S), Sue Falkingham, Pam Murphy, Paul Fredheim, Hugh Grosvenor and Laura Bauermeister. The following matters were discussed:

Coming Up – Eastcoaster Weekend in Orford

On August 29th and 30th we’ll be running our fourth Eastcoaster Swiss Pairs event. As the name suggests, it is held at the Eastcoaster Resort near Orford. It is a great opportunity for a different weekend of bridge set on the beautiful East Coast of Tasmania. The entry fee includes morning tea and lunch on the first day as well as three sessions of bridge. We also hold a three course dinner on the Saturday night which can be entered as a separate event on MyABF. Play kicks off at 10.00am on the Saturday and is all over by around 1.00pm on Sunday. There are prizes awarded in all categories subject to the number of entries. There is generally also a lucky door prize donated by the Eastcoaster Resort.

A range of accommodation options are available at the resort from single rooms to 3 bedroom cabins so you can stay with your friends, family or partner if you like. Mention bridge when you are booking with the resort and they will give you a good rate.

Building Extension

As many of you know, we have been working on a plan for many years to improve our club facilities by adding an extension at the rear which will include an office/utility room, a member’s recreation area and a better kitchen. In addition, the Vera Houdek room and existing kitchen will be combined and extended to provide an additional teaching/playing room to provide greater flexibility with scheduling of Beginners Classes or additional playing sessions.

This was costed at approximately $ 800,000 a couple of years ago, and the TBA has (unsuccessfully) applied for several types of government assistance to enable us to progress the work. We have approximately $ 500,000 set aside for the extensions including a bequest of the late Ron Spencer for $ 200,000.

We have recently discovered than an alternative building approach by Tasbuilt involving off site manufacturing may provide an affordable solution for us and are currently investigating this.

If the quote and design from Tasbuilt offers us a viable solution, we will call a special meeting of Club Members to approve the project, as there will be inconvenience from pile driving, and we will need to close the club whilst the new extension is joined to our existing club. We will post the amended design and quote as soon as it is available.

ABF Online Club Knockout event

This event is scheduled to commence in July and the TBA has been quite successful in it in the past. Teams are categorised according to the Masterpoint level of their most experienced member and can participate in the Open, Under 750, Under 300, Under 150 and Under 50 category.

Events are run monthly at night via Real Bridge, and the TBA pays for the team entry fees. Consequently, any winnings are retained by the TBA to go towards the entry fees for next year.

If you would like to participate in this event, please register you interest with Sue Falkingham.

Suggestion Box

There were several suggestions from Members this month and we are responding to each of them :

• We won’t be welcoming puppies/dogs to the TBA unless they are designated companion animals.
• We now have 5 of the specially requested black chairs.
• We will purchase two chairs with arms for people that need assistance in this way
• The TBA has a sophisticated air conditioning system. We should all recognise that it is impossible to provide a temperature which suits everyone You will all realise that some people are wearing a T Shirt at the table whilst others are rugged up! Rather than nag the Director, or complain about the temperature, please ensure your own personal comfort by wearing layers of clothes which you can add or remove as appropriate. This is the Tassie way.

Free Coffee for Dealers

As a thank you for our dealing team, we have decided that if they wish, they can request a coffee machine token from the Director on duty which will be provided free of charge.

A reminder that you can purchase coffee machine tokens if you don’t have a $ 2 coin in your pocket!

Youth Bridge

We are going to establish a Youth Bridge program over the next 12 months, leading up to the ANC in July 2027 which will be held in Hobart. If you have a young person in your life who you think would like to learn bridge, please contact myself, or Sue Falkingham, and we will endeavour to include them in this program.

New Members

We welcome the following new and reactivated members to our club and wish them all the best on their bridge journey : Mel Croft, Liam Croft (Youth), William Keyte and Jan Sheen.

Bridge Etiquette – Kindness (Again!)

Just a brief reminder to be kind and respectful to everyone at the table. We want people to enjoy their visits to the club and to tell their friends how fantastic bridge is as both as a brain stimulating hobby and as a family.

Julie Rhodes
President