Tuesday is the second day of the Interstate Teams Championship. The first round robin concludes today.

The Open Team played four matches against WA, Queensland, NSW and SA. 2 wins and 2 losses. Running 5th out of 8. Full results here.

The Womens Team won by 8 against SA, had a 1 IMP losing draw to NSW, won by 19 against Victoria and lost by 38 to WA. Running 5th out of 7. Full results here.

The Seniors Team had a bye in the first match, lost by 37 to Victoria, lost by 53 to Queensland and lost by 70 to SA. Running 7th out of 7. Full results here.

Our first match was against WA.

Board 18 was interesting.

On the SJ lead I won in hand, finessed the DQ then ruffed a diamond. Two more rounds of trumps ending in the dummy, then DA and a diamond ruff established the two long diamonds. The HA provided the entry to cash them. 6 spades, 4 diamonds and the HA was 11 tricks for +650.
At the other table Hilton Francis led the HK. This took an entry out of the dummy and made the play a lot trickier. The declarer ended up ruffing a club with the SQ, now when the trumps were 3-1 there were 4 losers, 2 clubs, 1 heart and a spade, +100 for 13 IMPs.

On Board 20 Tania and I were the only NS pair in the Open field to bid a good slam.

Neither of us were clear what Tania's 4D bid was, either natural or a cue agreeing hearts. Now when I bid 4H, Tania was not clear whether 4S would be natural or RKCB agreeing hearts. She chose a practical bid of 6H. The contract was excellent and made easily when all the suits were friendly. +1430 for 13 IMPs.

A 30 IMP win was just what we needed. The Victory Point Conversion that is used in this event is unusual. Basically if you win or lose by 30 or less, each IMP is worth a VP. If you win or lose by more than 30 the excess IMPs are only worth 0.1 VP. This means that a 30 IMP win gets you all the 'whole' VPs. As far as I know the ITC is the only event that uses this VP conversion - a matter of tradition but interesting for a change.

The second match for the day was against Queensland. Another good win by 24 IMPs. Scores here.

After lunch we played NSW who played well at both tables and got almost everything right. 63 IMPs was a bit of a flogging but it was their day not ours. Scores here.

Last match of the day was SA. This time we suffered the 'perfect' loss by 30 IMPs. Scores here.

Tomorrow the second round-robin starts. Having finished fifth in RR1 we have a tough start to the draw with matches against the four leading teams.

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