The 2023 Tasmanian Festival of Bridge was held from Thursday 23rd and Sunday 26th of March 2023. This was the first time that the event has been held at the MyState Bank Arena in Hobart. This is a wonderful modern venue on the banks of the Derwent river. The spacious playing area provided room for the 80 tables in play, and room to grow next year.
400 entrants, including some of Australia's top players competed across five events. With the inaugural TFoB Rookie Swiss Pairs there was truly something for everybody. Half of the entrants were from interstate or overseas. Over 60 Australian clubs were represented.
Thursday and Friday saw the TFoB Restricted Swiss Pairs, the Roger Penny Senior Swiss Pairs and the Australian Mixed Swiss Pairs. The TBIB Australian Swiss Pairs was run on Saturday and Sunday. For the first time TFoB included a dinner on the Saturday night at the venue, which was very well attended. The inaugural TFoB Rookie Swiss Pairs was held on Sunday.
The TBIB Australian Swiss Pairs had a field of 124 pairs. The winners were Serhat Ozenir and Guray Sunamak. Avinash Kanetkar and Ron Klinger came second, and Arjuna De Livera and Lori Smith came third. The Warren Walker Memorial trophy for the highest placed Tasmanian pair was won by Andrew and Sandra Richman. Full results are here.
The Australian Mixed Swiss Pairs was won by Arjuna De Livera and Lori Smith. Anita Curtis and Tony Leibowitz came second. Axel Johannsson and Kate McCallum came third. Full results are here.
The Roger Penny Senior Swiss Pairs was won by David Brooks and Darryl Smith. Neil Ewart and Ian Robinson came second (no photo available). Chelliah Arul and Steven White came third. Full results are here
The TFoB Restricted Swiss Pairs saw 62 pairs with fewer than 300 masterpoints competing. It was won by Sonya and Shane Palfreyman. Gwen Riorden and Liz Moss came second. Jay Novak and Peta Drake came third. Full results are here.
The inaugural TFoB Rookie Swiss Pairs was well attended with 28 pairs with fewer than 25 masterpoints competing. It was won by Debbie Thomas and Edwina Lemaistre (no photo available). Rex and Nola Calvert came second. Jackie Mair and Penny Padgett came third. Full results are here.
Thanks to TBIB for their continuing sponsorship. Thanks to all the officials, organisers and volunteers who were involved in making this a successful event, including the convenor (Katherine Marsden), the directors (Simon Edler, Hugh Grosvenor and Ronnie Ng), the scorer (Chris Carolan), the caddies (Alison, Ash and Claire), and all of the TBA volunteers. Thanks also to all of the players of all levels who made this an exciting event.
The Tasmanian Festival of Bridge is supported by the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania
The 2024 Tasmanian Festival of Bridge will be from 14th to 17th March 2024. It will be held at the MyState Bank Arena again, and there is plenty of room for more tables. It is a lovely time of year to visit Tasmania. Save the date, and we hope to see you in 2024!