The very popular Wednesday afternoon Laugh and Learn sessions have been on winter recess (while Sue was off captaining an Australian youth team in China!).

These sessions will restart on Wednesday 2 September 2026.

Each year the ABF runs an inter-club team knockout competition on RealBrigde. The event is played one evening a month over several months with separate divisions for open, under 750 MP, under 300 MP, under 100 MP and under 50 MP. It is a great opportunity for players at all levels top compete against other players from around the country. As a national event, it is also one of the rare opportuntities to earn gold masterpoints locally.

August was the conclussion of the qualifying rounds in most divisions, with the top eight teams going into the quarter finals. Teams who did not qualify can play in a consolation Swiss event for the remaining rounds.

The TBA has two teams in the Open division playing in different pools in teh qualifying - Green (Maggie Crawford, Julia Corr, Phil Beck and Jo Beck) and Maroon (Tania Lloyd, Hugh Grosvenor, Mardi Grosvenor and John Grosvenor). Maroon squeaked into fourth position in their pool and will be playing Arafura in the quarter finals. Green placed eigth in their pool.

Hobart City is the only other Tasmanian club represented in the competition. Their Open team (David Brooks, Darryl Smith, Maruta Boyd and Barbara Holland) qualified third in their pool and will play Newcastle in the quarter finals.

In the Under 750 MP division the TBA team (Nigel Brookes, Jeremy Reid, Erica McCoull, Jane Edler, Simon Edler and Pam Murphy) placed sixth. They will be playing Central Coast Leagues in the quarter finals. Simon pointed out tis remarkable hand got to play in the August round, a rare hand where either direction can make 12 tricks (6C or 6D North-South, 6H East-West).

The TBA team in the Under 300 MP division (Geraldine Carey, Anne O'Rourke, Laura Bauermeister, Leonie Atkins and Paul Fredheim) came 11th at end of. qualifying.

The TBA team in the Under 100 MP division (Anne Travers, Steve Thollar, Roger Hooley, Judy Hooley) can 6th and will be playing South Perth in the quarter finals.

Best of luck to all Tasmanian teams for the quarter finals and consolation Swiss in September.

Thanks to Paul and Laura for passing on this blast from the past when bridge results were published each week in The Mercury. This one is from March 2011. It is remarkable that 15 years on the majority of the players listed are still to be seen at the TBA or ESBC each week.

The TBA Committee met on August 18th from 2.45pm. Present were Julie Rhodes (P), John Grosvenor (VP), Leigh Blizzard (T), Sue Falkingham, Pam Murphy, Robin Barnes, Simon Edler and Hugh Grosvenor. The following matters were discussed:

Exciting News! – 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. This will include an office/utility room, a member’s recreation area and a better kitchen. We are also planning internal renovations to provide an additional teaching/playing room to provide greater flexibility for scheduling of Beginners Classes and other lessons or additional playing sessions.

Tasbuilt has provided us with a quote of $421,520 for the extension. If we allow an additional $100,000 for the internal renovation, new carpet and appliances such as a commercial dishwasher, we will have sufficient funds to be able to completely fund our extension project from monies which have been set aside over the years as a building reserve, including the bequest from Ron Spencer.

The next step is for our members to approve this expenditure at a Special General Meeting which will be held at the club on Saturday September 12th from 12.30 pm. Anyone attending that meeting will be offered free bridge in the afternoon session. We need to move quickly as we are hoping to get the extension and associated works done during the ANC next July.

The motion to be put at the Special General Meeting will be :

“That the TBA proceed to contract with Tasbuilt for the construction of a building as specified by them in their proposal to the TBA.”

The Tasbuilt proposal is available for your information here. We will also run some Q&A sessions immediately after the following sessions :

• Wednesday August 26th
• Tuesday September 1st
• Thursday September 3rd
• Saturday September 5th

If you are unable to attend any of these sessions but would like more information, please feel free to contact me personally. There will also be a hard copy of the proposal at the club for the information of members.

This will be a fantastic improvement for our club, so I hope to see as many of you as possible at the Special General Meeting.

Coming Events – Southern Open and Handicap Teams

The previously advertised “Weekend of Teams” has been cut down to a Sunday event only (commencing at 9.30am on Sunday September 27th). In order to encourage as many new players as possible to come and have a go at a teams event, the TBA will be providing lunch as well as prizes in different categories. Entry is only $80 for a team of four. If you would like help putting together a team, see Sue Falkingham who will be directing the event. Come along and have a fun day of teams play.

Calling All Builders

We would like to give the opportunity to any builders with an association to the TBA to quote for the internal renovation at the Club. Please contact me as soon as possible as we would like to have everything organised before Christmas to ensure that the work can be undertaken in July next year.

Suggestion Box

There were several suggestions from Members this month and we are responding to each of them :

1. There are card holders in a tub near the Director’s area as well as in the back cupboard
2. The commencement time for all sessions is available via the web site. You can access it via the Calendar or via the “About” tab. If you are using the Calendar, just click on the session you are interested in, and the information about that session will come up. If you select the “About” tab at the top of the website, you will see a “Session” tab appear. Just click on that for all Session information. We have sessions starting at different times to suit different people, but they all commence at the same time each week.
3. We cannot display the phone numbers of member due to privacy reasons, but we will try to make it easier for people to look for partners for particular events. As suggested, we will put up a sheet next to event posters for people to register “partner” interest. Remember that we also have a club appointed Partner Finder – Pam Murphy who will be happy to help you find a partner.
4. We think it is a wonderful idea to have a designated “volunteer” to help our Directors with Kitchen duties, Bathroom duties, and general session tidy up. If you would like to do this, please speak directly with the Director of a session which suits you, and they will accept your help with alacrity!

Youth Bridge

If you would like to help with the Youth program on a Saturday afternoon (1 per month) please let me know, and I will add you to our roster. Similarly, if you know a young person who you think would be interested, also let me know, and we’ll work out how to slot them in.

New Members

We welcome the following new and reactivated members to our club and wish them all the best on their bridge journey : Helen Kaczmarski, Kyran Stanton and Mary-Anne Duncombe.

Lost Property

There are a lot of unclaimed items of clothing at the club either in Lost Property or on hangers or hooks. Please check to see if you are missing something as will have to give these items away if they remain unclaimed.

Bridge Tip – Play Improvement

If you have never played teams bridge before, try to enter an event soon. As well as the Southern Open and Handicap Teams on September 27th, the Teams of Three is coming up in November. We will also try to reschedule the TBA Board a Match Teams for later in the year. All serious Bridge Competitions are run in the Teams format so it is a good idea to become familiar with it – and it is always a lot of fun!

Julie Rhodes
President