Redcliffe Bridge Club Newsletter

January 2016

On behalf of the Management Committee, may I hope that every club member had a happy Christmas and I wish you and your family well for the New Year. We now have a period of events leading into sessions of bridge education. Firstly, Andrew Slater will embark on sessions of improvement lessons for advancing players from January 14 for 4 weeks.

I am pleased to advise that the club will provide 50% subsidy for these lessons for club members. and it was overwhelming with over 60 members attending the first session.

It is exciting as a club that values excellence in play, together with a range of social activities for all, that two long term club members have met through bridge, and we will soon be celebrating their marriage. Our best wishes are extended to Gaylene Masters and Eddie Rees on their upcoming nuptials to be held among their “bridge family” at the club. I would like to thank Gaylene for her long term commitment to the teaching of bridge for our beginner group and wish her well in the future.

The club is indebted to Ted Morriss, a very experienced club player who has formerly conducted lessons for our beginner groups, for conducting the new beginner training session, commencing on February 11.

A group of Redcliffe players will represent our club at the 3 way interclub in January and also at various congresses, including the very big event, The Gold Coast Congress.

I wish you all well at these events.

Richard Back

2016 Lessons will be conducted by Ted Morriss and commence on Thursday 11 February from 1.30 to 4 pm. Lessons are free and club members are encouraged to advertise this widely within their friendship

groups and local communities.

Commencing on Thursday 14 January and continuing for 4 weeks from 1.30 – 3.30 pm, Andrew Slater will be hosting a suite of lessons. The central theme of this course is for players to become more competitive at the table. Each lesson will consist of 4 hands to be played, and teaching points to be discussed. Board work is kept to an absolute minimum.

The hands are specifically designed for players to become more competitive by becoming familiar with various strategies and to gain confidence in using them. These lessons will show you how, and why you must learn to compete, plus there are many tips on how best to manage your defence and declarer play. Each lesson will have lesson notes and a hand analysis of boards played. Cost is $5 per club member (club is providing a 50% subsidy). It is not essential for you to attend each lesson, however, for

continuity it is desirable. A second session will be held mid-year.

Congratulations to club members who have achieved the following successes in QBA/ABF events:

Queensland Wide Pairs

North/South: 18th Anita Crestanelli/David Morgan 39th Brian Horan/Gaylene Masters

East/West: 12th Annette Hyland/Carolyn Adcock 35th Errol Miller/Bert Luchjenbroers

GNOT Brisbane Regional Final - October 2015

Our Redcliffe Club team representatives acquitted themselves very well, with each team achieving good results. Congratulations to:

� Carolyn Adcock, Annette Hyland, Jennifer Bavage, Anita Crestanelli;

� Roy Davenport, Robert Barr, Brian Horan, Gaylene Masters; and � Maree Filippini, Roxanne Blaylock, Jean Cassam, Jenny Reid.

November 2015

Mackay Central Queensland Teams: 3rd Errol Miller

Toowoomba Swiss Teams: 3rd A Cat Errol Miller, Dorothy Gehrke, Elizabeth Gibson, Neil Gibson

1st B Cat Aileen Beattie, Annette Hyland, Fay Jeppesen,

Noosa Imp Pairs: 1st C Cat: Annette Hyland

QCBC Novice Teams: 3rd Jill Hanley, Fay Jeppesen

QBA Brisbane Zone Interclub: 3rd Cat C: Jill Hanley, Fay Jeppesen, Sue Kennard, Wayne Parker

As this was the first time that this Category for players with less than 10 Masterpoints has been included in the Interclub Event, it was appropriate that their impression of a first team event in a first congress was reported on.

Many thanks to Max Kershaw for sharing his story.

Redcliffe D Grade representative team consisted of Brian Hallam, Arthur Edmonds, Sheryl Windsor and Max Kershaw. The 2015 Brisbane Interclub teams event was held at the Queensland Contract Bridge Club on Sunday 8 November, 2015. The Redcliffe Club was represented by a team in each of the four grades, which in itself indicates the diversity of the player strength within the club. That must be healthy for the club’s long term future.

The Venue was ideal, the catering excellent, the weather was just right for playing bridge and the D Grade players were all nervous, except Brian Hallam, who is fazed by nothing and of course Arthur, who was sporting the biggest black eyes ever seen at the bridge table. We were hoping that Arthur would be our secret weapon, as we informed all opposition teams that Arthur’s black eyes were the result of a bridge training exercise, in that he did not play the right card and was punished accordingly – they teach them tough at Redcliffe!

We had a mixed result which was somewhat disappointing, given the willingness of the D Grade team members – perhaps a case of nerves; all members had never played in a team’s event previously, not fully appreciating the ground rules and strategies for this type of event and the lack of practice as a playing pair with Sheryl and Max only playing once together, and Brian and Arthur just out of lessons.

We finished with 1 win, 1 draw (unlucky in 2 matches which we should have drawn or won by a slight margin – the bridge gods were not with us on the day) and 5 losses. To everyone’s amazement we got red points, well actually it was 0.07 of one point, but at least we came away with something. Interestingly, during an inter round team talks we were able to identify several of the major points where we think we went wrong as a team (over ambitious bidding; too many doubles, or not at the right time; not being conservative in the bidding when necessary and overestimating the ability of the opposition at times).

During our play against the other teams in this grade, it was clearly obvious that bridge has a strong footprint in the Brisbane area; all clubs are investing considerable time and resources in promoting the game locally and holding teaching lessons and classes. The Redcliffe Bridge Club is held in high esteem – it is seen as a friendly club with a “solid” core of strong players.

We would strongly encourage all beginner players to participate in a team’s events at some time during their learning phase, as it does bring other elements of the game to the fore. It promotes a need to play consistently; the need to bid accurately (or at least conservatively in vulnerable games); make fewer mistakes than your opposition and make contracts safely.

We wish to acknowledge the assistance and support given by all members of the other Redcliffe teams on the day. Their encouragement was greatly appreciated. We would also like to thank the committee for selecting us to represent the Redcliffe Bridge Club – truly an honor.

Congratulations and well done to the following club members have achieved Masterpoints Ranking promotions:

September: State Master* Jennifer Bavage

State Master Melissa Weber

Local Master ** Lorraine Bechly, Jeanette Wyman

October: Regional Master * Wayne Parker

Local Master Duncan Cape, Yamin Yu

Graduate Master Ross Church

November: State Master * Fay Jeppesen, Sue Kennard

Local Master * Diana Khursandi

Graduate Master Brian Hallam

December: Graduate Master Annette Hendry, Tom Murphy

Congratulations to all our members who won green, red and gold in 2015. Special congratulations go to Bert Luchjenbroers (Bronze Life) and Fay Jeppesen (Local **) who topped Queensland’s McCutcheon/James O’Sullivan Ladder for their rank. Well done guys! The ABF keeps a record of all points scored during the year. If you want to know how you did, google ABF Masterpoints, click on Masterpoint Awards – By Name – ABF Masterpoints Centre, then key in your name. You can also look up Club, State and National Reports by clicking on them in the red column on the left of screen.

When we add up the points won in 2015 by all our club members, these players topped their Ranks within our club for the year:

Grand Errol Miller 145.76 pts

Gold Life Gordon Gemmell 85.15 pts

Silver Life Dorothy Gehrke 116.96 pts

Bronze Life Bert Luchjenbroers 123.26 pts

Life Robert Ansell 32.79 pts

National ** Carolyn Adcock 47.18 pts

National * Annette Hyland 130.57 pts

National Phil Diamond 23.36 pts State

* Jenny Reid 21.55 pts State

Anita Crestanelli 37.27 pts Regional*

Steve Woodrow 12.88 pts Regional

Melissa Weber 34.83 pts

Local ** Fay Jeppesen 75.80 pts

Local * Peter Murray 10.26 pts

Local Carol Bailey 14.20 pts Club Magdeline Wong 10.27 pts

Graduate Max Kershaw 6.17 pts

STATEWIDE ACHIEVERS After comparing our results with those from other clubs in Queensland, 10 of our members rated in the top 10 of the State Reports in the Queensland McCutcheon (James O’Sullivan) List:

Grand 10th Errol Miller Gold Life 7th Gordon Gemmell

Silver Life 4th Dorothy Gehrke

Bronze Life 1st Bert Luchjenbroers;

8th Herold Reinstra

National ** 6th Carolyn Adcock

National * 2nd Annette Hyland

Regional 3rd Melissa Weber

Local ** 1st Fay Jeppesen;

8th Ken Griggs

TOP 50 PLAYERS IN QUEENSLAND 2015:

Congratulations to the following 4 players who achieved outstanding results to finish in the Top 50:

24th Errol Miller 43rd Bert Luchjenbroers 36th Annette Hyland 48th Dorothy Gehrke

Four players also made it on to Queensland’s 50 Most Improved Players list across all Ranks:

3rd Fay Jeppesen 38th Bert Luchjenbroers 10th Annette Hyland 44th

Melissa Weber

AUSTRALIA-WIDE ACHIEVERS

This year 6 players from our club were mentioned in National Reports: Bronze Life 4th Bert Luchjenbroers

National * 8th Annette Hyland

Local ** 3rd Fay Jeppesen From Australia’s Most Improved Players List:

11th Fay Jeppesen;

50th Annette Hyland

From Australia’s Top 100 Red Point Winners List:

61st Errol Miller 85.93 red points

From Australia’s Top 100 Green Point Winners List:

7th Annette Hyland 65.85 pts 12th Gordon Gemmell 56.93 pts 47th Robert Barr 44.10 pts

82nd Bert Luchjenbroers 38.54 pts

• 6 members attended a QBA Bridgemate Operator training session

• Club Rule No. 6 was amended to “the time limit for appealing a score entered in error is 5 pm on the following day (Law 79c)”. This law allows equity and restoring justice for errors that occur.

• Thank you to Jill Hanley and Sandra Routley for organizing for the plumbing alterations in the kitchen to the Zip boil, which was a mammoth job getting a plumber here for such a small task – how could they refuse such an offer from Jill and Sandra?

• 2016 Club Program was finalized. Many thanks to Sandra Routley, Helen Chapman and Wayne Parker for their compilation and printing.

• Training Program for advancing players finalized with Andrew Slater (2 workshops)

• Beginner Training program finished with 9 players graduating. Thanks to Gaylene Masters for her dedication and commitment to conduct this 12-week program. Committee presented Gaylene with a small gift as a token of appreciation for conducting the two sessions in 2015.

• Moreton Bay Regional Council advises that early February there may be some disruption to the

western carpark while a drainage wall is installed between our building and the school fence.

The club welcomes the following new members to the club:

Leonie Watkins, Elizabeth Irvine, Tolek Widomski, Maya Widomski, Susan Fortune, Benjamin Fortune, Stella Horvath, Maya Kuperman, Pamela Schmidt., Michael Palmer, Mary Prentice, Peter Godfrey, Jacqueline Lonsdale Cuerton, Muriel Bell (away club), Shirley Watson (away club), Terry Davies (away club)

At the end of each year, the Bea Donaldson Trophy is awarded to the bridge player with the most masterpoints in the rank of Club Master.

Bea Donaldson learnt to play bridge around the year 2000 and was a member of the Redcliffe Bridge Club until the end of her life. She played bridge with unfailing good humor and at the time of her death, she had achieved the rank of Club Master. To honor her memory, her long time bridge partner, John Dunne, donated this trophy in her name.

John Dunne presenting the trophy to 2015 winner Fay Jeppesen

From Sandra Routley

CALLS TO THE DIRECTOR

Call the director if any infringement occurs at the table. Any player doing his or her own ruling forfeits the right to any rectification. After the Director has given a ruling, it is permissible to ask for the law to be explained. It is NOT permissible to argue with the Director and the ruling must be accepted. However, all players have the right to appeal a ruling and if you think you’ve been disadvantaged, you should exercise your right to appeal. The Director must be advised of the fact that you AND your partner wish to appeal (or in a team’s event, the Captain must be in agreement), and an Appeals Committee will be formed to examine the situation. Club Rule Nos 7,8 and 9 outline the Appeals process further.

PSYCHE BIDS

A psyche bid is a deliberate and gross mis-statement of honour strength and suit length. Players who partner frequent psychers must be careful that they don’t believe that as long as they continue to bid according to their system, then all is okay. If you are aware that your partner may have psyched, then it becomes a partnership understanding or a systemic agreement and that information should be available to the opposition. The suspected psyche bid must be alerted and the opponents advised that partner

has been known to bid without points or expected suit length.

Gaylene Masters and Eddie Rees invite all their dear bridge friends and their partners to celebrate their loving union on the occasion of their wedding, that will be held at the Redcliffe Bridge Club rooms on Saturday 12 March at 5.30 pm. The only gift that would be appreciated is your loving presence and a small plate of shared food or something refreshing to drink to share with us all after our special ceremony.

Bridge is a card game for all ages and can be whatever you want it to be. For some, it seems simply fun, or a

social activity, while others develop a passion for the game that leads to the pursuit of excellence. Our members are friendly and helpful, and the club fund days such as the Melbourne Cup Day and Christmas Party to help develop the social atmosphere at our club. Our committee member, Ken Griggs has had an extremely busy few months, organizing a very successful Melbourne Cup Party, decorating the Clubrooms with Xmas decorations and organizing a bumper Christmas Party (though he couldn’t attend). All were outstanding successes, and many thanks to Ken for his efforts and to other members for their support.

The Melbourne Cup Party had a field of 50 players all dressed in their finery and was an enjoyable day. A thank you to Thea Hobson for organizing the Sweeps, of which there were many … we must be gamblers as well as bridge players! The Christmas Party was a standout with over 112 members playing bridge with many dressed in the spirit of Christmas. Our logistics were tested to the absolute maximum, with Jan and Leanne playing through the entrance door! Many thanks to our Directors Gaylene Masters, assisted by Tony Bowmaker in establishing and directing the 3 sections for play and our Bridgemate Operators Wayne Parker and Peter Murray. In Section C, the memories of hand scoring were tested, as there were insufficient bridge mates to record results. Another thank you to Wayne and Peter for individually entering each of this section’s manual scores into Compscore, while others were enjoying the Christmas festivities. All agreed

the catering was a success, with ample supply of buffet food. We were well entertained by our Christmas baubles, Jill Hanley and Jennifer Bavage who provided a range of trivia games and fun. Janet Franklin and Sue Kennard again led us in choir as we sang our Christmas Carols. In November, a large group of members and partners, journeyed across the bay to Tangalooma for 5 days. Many tried activities that have never been tried before, some mastering it quite well, like Sue Kennard and Max Kershaw on the Segway, though it was an expensive exercise for Paul Hendry in Paddle boarding, who had a spectacular fall losing his prescription glasses. Thank you to Alan Metcalf for his organization of this successful event.

It was a game of table tennis that highlighted the most, with a marriage proposal by Eddie Rees to Gaylene Masters. Who would have thought that

bridge and table tennis could be so romantic? Congratulation

to Gaylene and Eddie from all at the Club.

Bachelor’s Quiche 3 or 4 eggs 1 tbsp. butter or olive oil

1 ½ cups milk ½ cup self-raising flour 1 cup cheese

grated 3 rashers bacon chopped

1 onion chopped parsley, shallot, capsicum etc.

Put all ingredients in a container with a lid. Shake until mixture is thoroughly mixed. Pour into a greased 10” quiche dish. Bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes.

The club has liaised with Tony Bemrose Insurance Brokers (TBIB) to provide $200 sponsorship for an event at the club. TBIB are a major sponsor for the Australian Bridge Federation and the Queensland Bridge Association. TBIB provides insurance brokerage services for bridge clubs and members with many of our members enjoying the travel cover, which has been highly recommended for its competitiveness and cover afforded. The club will be hosting a TBIB sponsored event in the future, with prize money for the winners. A representative from TBIB will be in attendance to provide information about their insurance products.

Nominations will be required for this event, to ensure grading of the pairs is equitable. Please check the notice board for nominations. Further information will be available when confirmation is received from TBIB.

B4C Red Points (same partner) event will be held on Friday 29 January and Friday 5 February. As with all multi day red point events, there is a requirement for players to nominate on the notice board for inclusion in these events. Whenever scheduled competitions are held, a side section will be conducted if possible.

Club Championship Teams will be held on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 March. Nominations will be required.

B4C Red Point Single event will be held on Monday 14 March.

There will be a red point event one Tuesday evening in March, to be determined by a random draw

There will be no play on Good Friday 25 March.

GOLD COAST BRIDGE CONGRESS This is a marque event for Queensland bridge players and provides events and opportunities for players of all levels to obtain some gold points.

Events range from <10 masterpoints, <50 masterpoints, Novice, Restricted, Intermediate, Senior, Open and a range of Butler pairs events. There is something for everyone at different levels. Nominations and further information may be obtained from the website http://www.qldbridge.com/gcc/index.php

Redcliffe club has been well represented in the past, with club members Herold Rienstra and Bert Luchjenbroers winning the Intermediate Teams event in 2015.

If Only I Had a Good Partner

I've always secretly relished the fact

That bridge is a partnership game So whenever I didn't do wonderfully well

There was always my partner to blame

So imagine my horror and disbelief

When some so-called friend made me see That instead of my blaming my partners

My partners were all blaming me!

So if you're a really good player

And your partner is not very hot Why don't you get in touch with me

And we can give it a shot

I've just about given up waiting

For the partner I dream of to phone And if I don't find a good partner soon I'm

playing this game on my own!

Thank you to Sandra for sharing this with us

Sue Woodrow and Annette Hendry first met when learning to play bridge at Redcliffe Club in 2014 in the beginner lessons conducted by Dorothy Gehrke. As with all beginning players there are many challenges when moving out of supervised play to play against the club field. It can be demoralizing to continue to see your name at the bottom of the scoreboard. These two ladies have persevered to develop their

partnership by playing during most Thursday sessions since. They have been very enthusiastic in seeking advice and implementing it into their play. It was exciting to share the moment of their success on the last day in 2015, when they celebrated their first win. Congratulations to Sue and Annette.

Australian Bridge Federation (ABF)

The ABF has retained the services of Tony Bemrose Insurance Brokers as its

insurance broker.

We have conducted a significant market investigation to not only provide greater coverage and benefits for the Federation, but also a range of

preferential services and market leading products for members.

TBIB is a full service brokerage and we are delighted to be able to offer

our expertise to ABF members. Please feel very welcome to talk to us about;

• Cover for your business and revenue generation activities

• Protection for your home and personal assets

• Travel cover, and

• Any other insurance protection matter.

Should you have any queries whatsoever don't hesitate to contact Sandra Mulcahy at the federation marketing@abf.com.au or

contact TBIB directly via the form on the ABF web site.