28-Feb-26 ESBC Congress
7-Mar-26 Devonport Swiss Pairs
13-Mar-26 Roger's Teams - St. Patricks Day
Links: Results | Documents | Members | Jackpot | Learning and Improving
Pianola | Masterpoints | myABF | Role & Venue Hire | Admin
Road Closures impacting access to the TBA Clubrooms until mid-March
Sections of Queens Walk will be closed between the northern end of Cornelian Bay Oval and Selfs Point Road from Mon 2 Feb to mid-March. The TBA clubrooms can only be accessed from the Risdon Road side during this period.
The TBA Committee met on February 10th from 2.45pm. Present were Julie Rhodes (P), Leigh Blizzard (T), Leonie Atkins, Chris Girvan, Sue Falkingham, Fran Healey (Minutes), Pam Murphy, Hugh Grosvenor, Simon Edler Laura Bauermeister. The following matters were discussed:
It’s that time of the year again! Think about whether or not you would like to join the TBA Management Committee this year. All positions will be declared vacant and nominations close on March 1st. There are nomination forms and the collection box near the kitchen.
For those new to the club, on the day of the AGM, we all bring a plate of food to share for lunch after the meeting. The meeting starts at 12.00 noon and is usually completed by 12.30. After that, we have a shared feast, and then there is free bridge for all those who attend the AGM.
The TBA will be closed from Thursday March 19th until Wednesday March 25th (inclusive). This is due to the staging of the Tasmanian Festival of Bridge, and to the continuation of Australian Playoffs for the Mixed and Seniors Teams.
Entries have been flooding in from mainland competitors for this year’s festival which is going to make for a fantastic event. But where are our local members? This is our premier annual event and there are opportunities to enter in many categories and events. If you want to play over the weekend but have too many points to enter the Novice or Rookie events, just enter the Open event. Open events are open to everyone – no restrictions! Like every Swiss event, you are likely to play most of your matches (after Round 1) against other pairs of a similar level of experience. Imagine how exciting it would be to sit down at a table with Ron Klinger in Match 1!
Entries and more information on My ABF.
Because of the high regard which the ABF has for our TFoB venue, and for the organisational capabilities of the TBA including the outstanding capability of Simon, Chris Carolan, Hugh and Sue, they have requested us to host the Playoffs for the Australian Mixed and Senior’s Teams in Hobart this year. The Playoffs will commence at the TFoB on Saturday and Sunday, then continue at the TBA the following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This means we will have some of the best players in Australia attending the TFoB and then coming to our clubrooms at the TBA to play.
As part of our hosting responsibilities for the Playoffs we will be providing lunch and morning/afternoon tea for the players at the club on Monday 23rd, Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th.
In order to feed the 50 people competing in the Playoffs we will need help from our members to either prepare food at home to bring to the club (soup or sandwiches or cakes) or to assist in the kitchen on those days. Any expense incurred in food preparation will be reimbursed by the TBA. If you can help in any way with this could you please let myself, Pam or Barbara Giizel know and we will get you to join our team.
Unfortunately Queen’s Walk is going to be closed until the end of March according to communication we have had from TasWater. They are apologetic for the inconvenience being caused by this but there is nothing much any of us can do about it.
The next beginner courses will be starting in February on the 23rd and 25th. Monday afternoons 1-3pm. and Wednesday evenings 7-9pm. Cost is $120, please email the TBA, Sue or phone. All members are asked to promote these to your family or any friends who might be thinking about taking up our wonderful game.
Katherine Marsden is looking to hand over the reins of TFoB organiser. If you have organisational skills and would like to take over this role, please see me or Katherine about it. There will be significant transitional assistance, and the event at MyState bank Arena is now quite bedded down with many established procedures.
We are very aware of the safety issues around the damage to our entry way caused by subsidence. It is proving difficult to find someone to undertake this repair with asphalt. If you know someone who could do this repair, or have an idea as to what approach we should take, please mention this to Paul Fredheim.
The TBA is pleased to welcome the following new member to our club : Sheila Campbell
Congratulations to the following members who have received rank promotions last month:
John Absolom and Curtis Smith to Graduate Master (>2 MPs)
Deb Ford, from Graduate to Club Master (>5 MPs)
Carmel Campbell, Max Corney and Julie Hunt from Club to Local Master (>15 MPs)
Anne Travers to Silver Local Master
Rosemary Giles to State Master
Anyone can enter an Open event, regardless of experience level and do not be deterred. It is a great opportunity to learn when you play against more experienced opponents. You can observe their declarer play and their defensive strategies in a free bridge lesson!
Julie Rhodes
President
The 2026 Vera Houdek Summer Swiss Pairs was held at the TBA on Sunday 25 January. Somewhat unusually this was a matchpointed Swiss Pairs event. 18 pairs played six matches across two sessions.
The winners were Hilton Francis and Julie Rhodes. Second place went to Duncan Abercromby and Phil Timmins. Bal Krishnan and Maria Gibbs came third. Roger and Judith Hooley were the top placed Restricted pair. Full results are here.
Thanks to Sue Falkingham for directing.
Each year the ABF Masterpoint Centre ranks players based on the total number of Masterpoints they have earned in the calendar year. Separate rankings are maintained for each Master level (determined by the player's Master rank at the start of the year) and overall (all players). The top 20 in each category are available each month in the Masterpoint Centre website National Reports McCutcheon section. Each player's overall McCutcheon rank can be found in their details using the Masterpoints Lookup page. State-based and club-based McCutcheon rankings can also be view on the Masterpoint Centre website.
At the start of February the McCutcheons will reset for the new year. Until then the final ranks for 2025 are available on the Masterpoint Centre website. Ten Tasmanian players made it into the top 20 lists, with two in the overall top 20 and one topping their category:
The regular Roger’s Teams session on Friday night in July was transformed into a celebration of Christmas in July. The event attracted a good field but got off to a rocky start when the original date saw many entrants felled by sickness. Fortunately nearly everyone was able to manage a postponement of one week so the event went ahead on 25 July with 8 tables participating.
Players got into the spirit of things by dressing up and the Christmas themed decorations set the tone – see the photos below.
A sumptuous feast was brought to share including roast duck, hot baked ham, salmon, roast potato, salads and some delicious desserts.
Dinner was followed by a form of Secret Santa where everyone had contributed a small gift which were then selected at random by others. The twist was that you were able to ‘steal’ a gift that someone else had already selected! This led to some hilarity including Graeme Cooper having his gift stolen 6 times!
Teams were drawn by lot. The winners were Barbara Giizel, Maria Gibbs, Panchita Salmon and Janette Targett. Full results can be found here.
Much fun was had by all. Many thanks to Erica McCoull and Jeremy Reid for their considerable organisational efforts and of course to Dallas the regular director who went above and beyond in elf mode!
The August Roger's Teams is on 8 August. Enter on My ABF. There are also plans for another special Roger's Teams later in the year to celebrate Halloween.
The 2025 Tassie Board-a-Match Teams was held at the TBA on the weekend of 14-15 June. Board-a-Match scoring is simple. It is essentially matchpoint scoring with each board being played twice within a match. If you score better than your opponents at the other table you get 2 points for the board (they get none). If the scores are equal you each get 1 point. If the opponents get a better score you get no points (they get 2). No mucking around with IMPs or VP tables! Some people believe Board-a-Match teams is the purest form of the game.
Six teams (including a couple of fly-in celebrities) competed in a round robin of 24 board matches. The winners were the Lloyd team (Tania Lloyd, Hugh Grosvenor, Sandra & Andrew Richman). Second place went to the Gibbs team (Maria Gibbs, Pam Murphy, Phil Timmins, Duncan Abercromby). Full results are here.
Thanks to Simon for organising and directing the event.
If you are interested in giving Board-a-Match teams a go, the TBA Club Board-a-Match teams is coming up on Sunday 27 July. Entries are open on My ABF.
The final of the Tassie Matchpoint Pairs was held at Tamar Bridge Club on Sunday 1st June. Seven tables of pairs that had qualified through heats at various clubs around the state competed over two sessions. The winners were Pam Murphy and Bal Krishan from the TBA averaging about 59.5% over the two sessions. Second were Sally Clarke and Catherine Elliott from the Tamar Club averaging just under 58%. They also won the title of best womens pair. Third just a few matchpoints back were Roger Swain and Felicity Wivell also from Tamar. Full results are here.
Many thanks to the Tamar Club for their hospitality.
The 2025 TBA Club Open and Handicap Teams was held over two Monday evenings in May. Nine teams competed. The open winners were the Murphy Team (Pam Murphy, Barbara Giizel, Jo and Phil Beck). The handicap winners were the Giles team (Rosemary and Brian Giles, Betty Pilgrim and Paul Fredheim). Full results are available here.
The TBA Congress is the most significant club event held by the TBA each year. This year the congress was held on the weekend of 3rd and 4th May.
Saturday was Matchpoint Pairs over two sessions. The competion was divided into three categories - Open, Restricted and Novice. The overall winners of the Open were Guray Sunamak & Darryl Smith, with Annie Bartlett & Julie Rhodes coming second, and Barbara Giizel & Pam Murphy third. Full results for the Open are at: Overall, Session 1, Session 2.
The Restricted and Novice categories played in a combined section for the Matchpoint Pairs. Overall winners in the Restricted category were Mary George & Mary Hawthorne. Overall winners in the Novice category were Keong Chen & Leonie Atkins. Full results for the combined section are at: Overall, Session 1, Session 2.
Sunday was Swiss Pairs with 40 pairs competing. The overall winners were Fiona Hickey & Alaine Macmorran. Wynne Webber & Hilton Francis came second, and David Robinson & Phil Beck came third. The highest placed restricted pair were Jeremy Reid & Erica McCoull. The highest placed novice pair were Pam Halton & Toby Meredith. Full results are availabe here.
Thanks to the many volunteers who helped make the weekend a success, and to all who brought food to share. Thanks to Chris Carolan for Directing.
Thanks to everyone - players, organisers, directors, caddies, volunteers and sponsors - who made the 2025 Tasmanian Festival of Bridge a successful and exciting event. The Festival was held from Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 of March 2025. This was the third time that the event has been held at the MyState Bank Arena in Hobart on the banks of the Derwent river.
400 entrants, including some of Australia's top players competed across 6 events. This is an impressive 25% increase over last year. Half of the entrants were from interstate or overseas. About 75 Australian clubs were represented, with a growing contingent of New Zealand players joining us.
Thursday and Friday saw the TFoB Restricted Swiss Pairs, the Roger Penny Senior Swiss Pairs and the Fixed Income Solutions Australian Mixed Swiss Pairs. The TBIB Australian Swiss Pairs was run on Saturday and Sunday. The TFoB Rookie Swiss Pairs was held on Sunday. The inaugural Jenny Penny Novice Swiss Pairs was also added to the schedule, running on Saturday.
Click to enlarge images
The TBIB Australian Swiss Pairs had a field of 114 pairs, an increase of 25% over last year. Start of play was preceeded by a few words from Ron Klinger and a minutes silence in memory of Avinash Kanetkar. The winners of the event were Warren Lazer and Pauline Gumby. Ashley Bach and Arlene Dalley came second. Maurits Van Der Vlugt and David Beauchamp came third. The Warren Walker Memorial trophy for the highest placed Tasmanian pair was won by Guray Sunamak and Darryl Smith. Full results are here.
The Fixed Income Solutions Australian Mixed Swiss Pairs also saw a signifcant increase over last year's field with 42 pairs playing. The event was won by Ashley Back and Arlene Dalley. Hugh McGann and Candice Smith came second. Andrew Peake and Giselle Mundell came third. Full results are here.
50 pairs played in the Roger Penny Senior Swiss Pairs which was won by Nigel Rosendorff and Peter Reynolds. Ian Robinson and Neil Ewart came second. Phillip Fent and Dee Harley came third. Full results are here.
Click to enlarge images
The TFoB Restricted Swiss Pairs saw 66 pairs with fewer than 300 masterpoints competing. It was won by Louise Cowan and Susan Bezette from the Tamar Bridge Club. They also won the inaugural Ron Spencer Memorial Prize for the highest placed Tasmanian pair. This prize is in memory of Ron Spencer, a member and generous beneficator of the TBA. Margaret Cusack and Rhonda Khong came second. Joann Theriault and Eamonn McCabe came third. Full results are here.
The inaugural Jenny Penny Novice Swiss Pairs was played on Saturday with 22 pairs with fewer than 100 masterpoints competing. The event is named in memory of Jenny Penny, a much loved bridge teacher and director who introduced many Tasmanians to the game over a very long career. The winners were Jan Van Riel and Margaret Grant. Second placed were Nat Wright and Jo Wright. Robyn Russell and Anne Donnelly came third. Full results are here.
This was the third running of the TFoB Rookie Swiss Pairs with 22 pairs with fewer than 25 masterpoints competing. It was won by Nat Wright and Jo Wright. Ann Burnett and Anne McEntee came second. Helen Hebblethwaite and Chris Arnott came third. Full results are here.
Thanks to TBIB for their continuing sponsorship.
Thanks to Fixed Income Solutions for becoming a major sponsorship.
Thanks to Fella Hamilton for their sponsorship. Two $100 Fella Hamilton gift vouchers were awarded to the top place women's pair in the Restricted, Senior and Open events.
The Tasmanian Festival of Bridge is supported by the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania
The 2026 Tasmanian Festival of Bridge will be from Thursday 19 to Sunday 22 March 2026 at the MyState Bank Arena. There is plenty of room for more tables and it is a lovely time of year to visit Tasmania. Save the date, and we hope to see you in 2026!
TFoB 2019 | TGSP 2021 | TFoB 2022 | TFoB 2023 | TFoB 2024 | Top
The TBA is is the largest bridge club in the state with over 400 members and is the administrative body for the game of bridge in Tasmania. The TBA is responsible for running national and state events including the Australian Swiss Pairs championships and the Roger Penny Senior Swiss Pairs competition. The TBA also administers the Masterpoints system for the ABF and endeavours to promote the growth and teaching of bridge throughout Tasmania via its affiliated clubs.
Road Closures impacting access to the TBA Clubrooms
Sections of Queens Walk will be closed between the northern end of Cornelian Bay Oval and Selfs Point Road from Mon 2 Feb to mid-March. The TBA clubrooms can only be accessed from the Risdon Road side during this period.
The TBA's purpose-designed Centre at 5 Marine Esplanade, New Town Bay serves as both our local Clubrooms and the headquarters for bridge in the state. The TBA premises are available for hire by community groups for suitable activities by arrangement with the TBA Committee. Please complete a booking request form (available here) and email it to the TBA at tba@tasbridge.com.au.
| North-West | North | South |
|---|---|---|
| Burnie Bridge Club | Launceston Bridge Club | Hobart City Bridge Club |
| Devonport Bridge Club | Tamar Bridge Club | Eastern Shore Bridge Club |
| Kingborough Bridge Club |
Contact us:
Phone: 0400 492 327
Email: tba@tasbridge.com.au
Post: 5 Marine Esplanade, New Town, 7008
Bank Account Details for direct debit: BSB: 067-102 A/C #: 2801 2004 A/C Name: Tasmanian Bridge Association
ABN: 66 028 130 967
| (C) Altosoft and
Tasmanian Bridge Association Bridge Association 2026
Site template developed by Peter Busch, Altosoft and content managed by Tasmanian Bridge Association Bridge Association Click here for Management log-in Server: DO |