12 Nov 2026 — Newsletter — Julie Rhodes
The TBA Committee met on November 10th from 2.45pm. Present were Julie Rhodes (P), John Grosvenor (VP), Leigh Blizzard (T), Trish Colles (Sec), Fran Healy, Paul Fredheim, Robin Barnes and Malcolm Sherlock. Jo Beck and Maggie Crawford also came to present their proposal for the 2028 TFoB. The following matters were discussed:
Our TWO teams in the GNOT finals, Tasmania (Hugh Grosvenor, Tania Lloyd, John Grosvenor and Mardi Grosvenor) and Tasmania South (Meryl Derby, David Marshall, Maria Gibbs, Bal Krishan, Julia Corr and Jo Beck), are about to travel to Brisbane to compete at the end of November and we wish them all the best.
There are some great upcoming events in the run-up to Christmas.
This event will commence at 9.30 with lunch provided by the TBA. Please bring a plate to share for morning/afternoon tea. There will NO regular Saturday bridge, so this is an opportunity for regular Saturday players to come along and try this new and exciting format. Feel free to ask for help if you need team mates. Enter via My ABF.
Board-A-Match scoring is probably the most straight forward method of scoring. The document here provides a brief overview of the format.
This is our premiere pairs event. It commences at 10.30 on Saturday and 9.30 on the Sunday to facilitate entry from Northern players. Enter via My ABF. This is an important event for anyone thinking about nominating for a Tasmanian team in next year’s ANC.
This is a one session event in which experienced players (Team Captains) play with a “team of 3” less experienced players. The captain plays a match with each of the three team members and there is an opportunity to discuss the hands afterwards. This event is limited to players with fewer than 50 Masterpoints.
Enter on My ABF as an individual, pair or threesome, and we will organise teams and captains.
From 2028, we plan to extend the Tasmanian Festival of Bridge to six days, incorporating the very first Australian Board-A-Match Teams Championship (subject to ABF approval). This is due to player demand for a teams event, and to make our event longer. The usual events will bookend the BAM Teams.
In the meantime, get your entries in for the 2027 TFoB as the early bird rate will disappear in a couple of months.
Every week, hundreds of boards are dealt by our erstwhile team of volunteer dealers and we would like to make things easier for them rather than more difficult. Something which is always difficult is when cards get stuck in the dealing machine for any reason, but often it is because a tiny piece of food is stuck to one of them. It is TBA policy to avoid eating at the playing tables for this reason, and I know it is difficult at the moment as there are limited eating areas available. However, please be aware that eating at the table then handling the cards causes problems for our dealing team (as well as the TBA as may have to prematurely replace the affected cards)
There were several suggestions from Members this month and we are responding to each of them :
Saving power on lighting by installing proximity lighting in the toilets. We won’t be doing this as it is too dangerous if the lights suddenly go off. However, in Summer it is often bright enough that we don’t need extra lighting in the toilets. Please feel free to turn off the lights in the ladies or gents toilets if you think it is bright enough.
Restricted Pairs competing in a restricted event are disadvantaged if they have to compete against experienced pairs, as for example in the TBA session of the recent Australia Wide Restricted Pairs event. The committee agrees that this is a valid concern and will refer the matter to the Tournament Committee.
We are approaching the start of the annual membership renewal process. Personalised renewal notices will be sent out by email to impacted members in early December. Membership fees for the 2027 year are due by 1 January 2027. The various methods of paying will be detailed on your renewal notice. Please note that the TBA is not able to accept payment via Amex cards.
The easiest way to pay your membership fee is via My ABF Bridge Credits. This is the most reliable method of processing membership payments and minimises the work required by the Directors, Treasurer and other volunteers involved in the process. Please consider using this method for paying your 2027 membership fee.
More details of the renewal process are available here on the TBA website.
Our normal schedule will apply until Thursday morning 9.30 am session on December 24th.
The following sessions will then be held across the Christmas - New Year peiod:
Our regular schedule will then recommence on Saturday January 2nd. This schedule can also be found on the online TBA Calendar.
We welcome the following new and reactivated members to our club and wish them all the best on their bridge journey :
Anita Carlin, Sofia Pashev, Kristin Riley, Susan Riley, Michele Klok, Brigid Ritchie, Mark Gillard, Imogen Blackie and Hannah Jenkins.
Congratulations to the following club members on their promotion to a new playing rank :
If you have a young person in your life that would like to learn bridge, please bring them along to the club on Friday January 29th at 10.00am. We will be starting from the absolute basics, and those who are keen to continue after that will be able to join our Youth program in 2027.
As the ABF invests more and more to increase the functionality of MyABF, it will become increasingly important to the all bridge players. If you have not yet set up your MyABF account, or you don’t feel confident using it, please ask Hugh or John to help you. Once you have used it a couple of times, you will find it quite easy to use, and it will make all aspects of your bridge playing life easier.
Julie Rhodes
President
11 Nov 2026 — Out and About : NZ Congress 2026 (Hugh) — Hugh Grosvenor
Updates from Hugh at the 2026 New Zealand Congress. See all of the posts in this series here
NZ National Congress – New Zealand Open Teams, final
Team Joel beat team Coutts by 119 IMPs to 75.5 over 56 boards and are the 2026 New Zealand Open Teams champions. Congratulations to Geeske Joel, Liam Milne, James Coutts, Shane Harrison and Andy Hung.
We finish second of 70 teams.
| Set | Coutts | Joel |
|---|---|---|
| Carry-over | 1.5 | 0 |
| Set 1 | 7 | 48 |
| Set 2 | 18 | 30 |
| Set 3 | 18 | 10 |
| Set 4 | 31 | 31 |
| Total | 75.5 | 119 |
The match was decided in the first set. We lost it 48 to 7, and after that we were always chasing. We won the third set and drew the fourth, but it was not enough to close a gap of more than 50 IMPs.
The final had a family flavour. Our teammate Samuel Coutts was up against his brother James, who plays for Joel. Jessica Brake, also on our team, was up against her husband, Shane Harrison. In the last set George and I played against James Coutts and Shane Harrison.
Set 4, board 17. Dealer North, nobody vulnerable.
♠ Q 9 6 5
♥ 7
♦ K 9
♣ J 9 8 7 6 2
♠ 4 ♠ A J 8
♥ A K Q 9 3 ♥ 8 6 4
♦ A Q 7 4 2 ♦ J 10 8 6 3
♣ K 10 ♣ Q 4
♠ K 10 7 3 2
♥ J 10 5 2
♦ 5
♣ A 5 3
West North East South
George Hugh
– Pass Pass 1♠
2♠* 4♠ Pass Pass
Dbl Pass 4NT* Pass
5♦ All pass
*2♠: five hearts and a five-card minor. 4NT: bid your minor.
George showed hearts and a minor, and North jumped to 4♠. When George doubled 4♠, I had three hearts and five diamonds. It was a close decision whether to bid on or pass. Having decided to bid on, rather than bidding 5♥, I bid 4NT to ask for his minor, and we found the diamond fit.
5♦ made: +400. At the other table West played in 4♥ and went one down, so the board was worth 10 IMPs to us.
The lesson: when partner has shown two suits, look for the fit that is safest, not just the first one you find. With a ten-card fit in diamonds and only an eight-card fit in hearts, the minor-suit game was the better spot.
Team Edler finished the Congress Restricted Teams 28th of 36, with two wins and four losses. After two narrow losses to start, they beat Imlach by 13 IMPs and edged Alexander by 1, but then ran into Koh, who finished third.
It has been a great event. Nine wins from nine in the qualifying, wins over Pelkman and Fraser-Hoskin in the knockout, and second place in a field of 70 teams. Thank you to Samuel Coutts, Brad Johnston, Jessica Brake, Jack James and, of course, George.
Next up is the NZ Open Pairs, a six-session matchpoint event: two qualifying sessions on Thursday, two semi-final sessions on Friday and a two-session final on Saturday. George and I will be there; the Edlers are heading off touring. Clearly they have no stamina!
Hugh
9 Nov 2026 — Out and About : NZ Congress 2026 (Simon) — Simon Edler
Updates from Simon at the 2026 New Zealand Congress. See all the posts in this series here
Day 2 of the The New Zealand Bridge Congress Restricted Teams saw the final 4 matches of the event. Starting the day in third place, team Edler suffered two substantial losses in the morning, before rallying to win our final two matches to finish in 14th place. Today was a tough draw, playing team 20 (the eventual winners), along with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd seeds!
Here is one hand amongst the gloom of the morning that stood out. Sometimes a bit of assistance from the opponents is all you need.
Our teammates bid to a quiet 2H NS, making for +110. Double dummy it can be defeated, but it requires EW to get a club ruff by W with their singleton heart.
I sat East at our table where the auction went:
Jane’s 2S bid can be fairly wide ranging, so I closed my eyes and bid 3NT. Things weren’t as good as I hoped when dummy came down, but at least the opponents had led a heart, giving me a fifth trick, still well short of nine. Winning HJ, I now led D10, which both opponents ducked (six tricks now). I next played D8, South now decided to rise DK, crashing his partner’s DA. North now just returned a heart (now I suddenly have 9 tricks, 3 Hearts, 4 Diamonds and 2 Clubs). Winning with HA, I now ran dummy’s diamonds, and both North and South pitched clubs, so the club 7 became my 10th trick. +630 to go with +110 from the other table for a 12 imp gain!
Pam and Barbara bid board 23 in our final match well to play in 7S when the opponents at our table stopped in 6S for a 13 imp gain.
NZ Restricted Teams Final Results are here.
Good luck to team Coutts in the NZ Open Teams Quarter finals on day 3. Pam and Barbara will be playing in the NZ Restricted swiss pairs over the next two days. Jane and Simon are having two days off. We’ll be back together for a one day teams event on Wednesday.
3 Nov 2026 — Event Reports — John Grosvenor
Tuesday 3 November 2026 saw the 166th running of the Melbourne Cup, and the continuation of the TBA's tradition of Melbourne Cup Day sessions. 23 pairs played in the daytime session. The session incuded sweeps, lunch, drinks, prizes for best headwear and outfit, and the race on the big screen after bridge.
Congratulations to Annette Keen for the best headwear, and Noela Foxcroft for best outfit.
Thanks to all who brought a plate to contribute to the impressive spread at lunch. Thanks to Julie Rhodes for being on kitchen duty throughout the day, and Hugh Grosvenor for directing and organising the informative Melbourne Cup slide show.
14 Sep 2026 — Event Reports : State Events — John Grosvenor
The finals of the 2026 Tassie Matchpoint Pairs was held at the Tamar Bridge Club on Sunday 13 September. Players qualified for the finals of this State event through qualifying sessions held at each club. Members of the 2026 Tasmanian Representative teams were given automatic qualification.
The finals were held over two sessions with 18 pairs competing. There was good representation from Launceston and Devonport, but disappointingly little representation from the south.
The winners were Margaret Roberton and Vere Van Ingen. Anne Fyfe and Floyd Suban came second. Ian Farmer and Haj Skilton came third. Full results are here.
Thanks to Hugh Grosvenor for directing the finals.
The TBA Spring Pairs was held on Sunday 25 October with 20 pairs competing. Congratulations to Hilton Francis and Julie Rhodes for coming first.
Read more →The fourth round of the ABF Club Teams Knockout was played on Tuesday 13 October 2026. Congratulations to the TBA under 750 MP team (Nigel Brookes, Jeremy Reid, Erica McCoull, Jane Edler, Simon Edler and Pam Murphy) for winning their semi-final! They will play Parramatta in the Under 750 Finals next month.
Read more →The 2026 State Daytime Pairs were held over three Wednesday Mornings ending 14 October. Congratulations to the overall winners: Julia Corr and Maruta Boyd.
Read more →The Southern Graded Pairs was played over 4 Fridays in September. Congratulations to Maria and Bal.
Read more →