The first session of the 2026 Elsie Strickland Memorial Pairs was played in the Thursday morning session on 17 September 2026. This is a pairs event over two sessions for players with fewer than 150 Masterpoints. The results from the first session are here. The second session will be held on Thursday 24 September 2026.

Past winners of the event are listed on the TBA Honour Board.

Many current members may not know who Elsie Strickland was. Thanks to Elsie's daughter for providing the following short précis of her life.

Elsie Strickland- a short précis of her life

Elsie Strickland nee Chandler was born in the English Cotswolds. Her father was a farm manager, and Elsie was one of eight girls. They were brought up on the farm and as money was tight neither Elsie nor any of her seven siblings went on to further education, being educated at the local village school. After her marriage to Frank Strickland Elsie spent many years living overseas with her husband and daughter. Persia (now Iran), Peru and Malta were where the family lived, as Frank worked for oil companies in Persia and Peru and the dockyard in Malta.

On their return to England Elsie worked with her husband running a public house near Bristol. She took in borders and was famous for her wonderful sandwiches and cooking skills.

When the marriage finally failed Elsie returned to her family rootsCheltenham in Gloucestershire where she ran an off- licence bottle shop for many years.

Following her retirement at age 65 Elsie emigrated to Tasmania to be with her daughter and young granddaughter. Ever the entrepreneur Elsie ran a B and B and afternoon tea emporium in Battery Point, called Barton Cottage for many years.

When Elsie arrived in Tasmania she knew no one apart from her immediate family. The colonial life she had lived overseas in Persia and Peru paid off however, as she had learnt to play bridge. She joined the bridge club in Hobart, made many friends and settled into a new life, playing bridge at every opportunity.

As a bridge player Elsie was a force to reckon with. A canny and extremely competitive player who loved the game. As her years advanced Elsie continued to play bridge despite her physical problems. She remained ‘sharp as a tack’ eventually succumbing to ‘big bridge house in the sky’ at age 89. Her daughter felt that such a brave and addicted bridge player should be remembered by those who followed. Hence the plaque.

So, please remember Elsie as you play your hand as she may be watching you and chide you strongly for playing the wrong card!

Christine Needham. Daughter
September 15 2026.

Each year the ABF runs an inter-club team knockout competition on RealBridge. 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 to compete against players from around the country. As a national event, it is also one of the rare opportuntities to earn gold masterpoints locally.

September was the quarter finals, with four Tasmanian teams playing. Two TBA teams that did not make it to the quarter finals were playing in the Consolation Swiss.

In the Open division the TBA Maroon team (Tania Lloyd, Hugh Grosvenor, Mardi Grosvenor and John Grosvenor) won against Arafura. They will play North Shore in the semi finals in October. The Hobart City team (David Brooks, Darryl Smith, Maruta Boyd and Barbara Holland) lost to Newcastle.

In the Under 750 MP division the TBA team (Nigel Brookes, Jeremy Reid, Erica McCoull, Jane Edler, Simon Edler and Pam Murphy) won against Central Coast Leagues. They will play Victorian in the semi finals.

In the Under 100 MP division the TBA team (Anne Travers, Steve Thollar, Roger Hooley, Judy Hooley, Catherine Catt, Jack Pashev) beat South Perth, but South Perth progress to the semi finals because the TBA had an ineligible player for this round.

In the Consolation Swiss, in a field of 24, the TBA Open Green team (Maggie Crawford, Julia Corr, Phil Beck and Jo Beck) are coming 7th and the TBA Under 300 MP team (Geraldine Carey, Anne O'Rourke, Laura Bauermeister, Leonie Atkins and Paul Fredheim) are coming 8th.

The semi final round will be held on Tuesday 13 October.

A Special General Meeting of the TBA was held on Saturday 12 September 2026 to consider the clubroom extension. Seventy one members attended.

The motion "That the TBA proceed to contract with Tasbuilt for the construction of a building as specified by them in their proposal to the TBA." was passed. The TasBuilt proposal is available here.

Draft minutes of the meeting are available here. In accordance with the TBA Constituion the draft minutes will be confirmed at the next Annual General Meeting of the Association.

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 Committee met on September 8th from 2.45pm. Present were Julie Rhodes (P), John Grosvenor (VP), Leigh Blizzard (T), Trish Colles, Malcolm Sherlock, Sue Falkingham, Pam Murphy, Fran Healy, Robin Barnes, Simon Edler and Hugh Grosvenor. The following matters were discussed:

Special General Meeting - Building Extension

If you can, please come to the 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.

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 latest version of the proposal is here.

Building Extension FAQs

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the pleasure of chatting with many members about the extension, answering their questions and listening to their suggestions. As a result we have refined our design to make it even better.

John and I have worked together to document most of the questions asked by members along with the relevant answers. Our “FAQs“ are available on the website or as a PDF (the PDF may take a moment to load). A copy is also on a noticeboard at the club. We hope this will provide answers to any questions you are still have about the proposed development.

Coming Events – Southern Open and Handicap Teams

Get your entry in as soon as possible for this event commencing at 9.30am on Sunday September 27th. As previously noted, the TBA will be providing a free lunch and we need to know the numbers for the caterer. 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.

Save the Date – BAM Teams & Spring Pairs

The Spring Pairs will be held on Sunday October 25th commencing at 9.30 am.

Our last club championship event for 2026 will be held on Saturday December 5th starting at 9.30 and is a 1 day BAM teams event (if you are not familiar with Board-A-Match scoring this document provides a quick introduction). It will replace normal Saturday bridge, so start putting your team together – feel free to ask for help if you want to put a team together.

Suggestion Box

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

1. The Club will trial starting the Monday evening session a little earlier. From Monday October 5th, the Monday evening session will start at 7.00pm.
2. Wednesday morning session will remain with a 10.00am commencement time, not 9.30am as requested. We already have two morning sessions starting at 9.30am and it is the objective at the TBA to have a variety of sessions and start times.
3. Constitutional changes to allow for proxy voting. We will investigate this – it is not a trivial matter to change the constitution.
4. This suggestion is from last month but needed extra consideration as it is logistically complex. From next Monday (September 14th) for players who play more than three sessions in a given week, there will be a discounted rate ($5) for each subsequent session after the first three. This arrangement will apply to regular walk in sessions only and once you have completed your three sessions, you will have to “claim” your discount from the presiding Director. This arrangement will replace the current Thursday afternoon discount, and we hope it will encourage you to come to more sessions – the more you play, the better your bridge will become!

Women’s Bridge

The ABF has written to us to seek a volunteer who would like to liaise with them about issues relating to Women’s Bridge. If you would like to do this, please see me.

New Members

We welcome the following new and reactivated members to our club and wish them all the best on their bridge journey : Matthew Bretherton and Ian Stewart

Bridge Tip – Play Improvement

When defending, you often have to come up with discards from your hand. As a general rule, try to protect your four card suits. You will be surprised at how many times your “fourth” card wins a trick.

Julie Rhodes
President

Over the last several weeks many local players have particiapated in the Grand National Open Teams (GNOT) qualification events online and at Tasmanian clubs, and the regional finals.

The next phase of the GNOT is a three day "Online Finals" where the teams representing each region compete in an online event to qualify for the face-to-face finals to be held in late November in Brisbane. The online final qualifies 8 teams for the National Final and 12 teams for the National Non-Metropolitan Final.

The online finals will be held on RealBridge on 18-20 September. Up to 64 teams will be competing. The three tasmanian teams are:

• North: Catherine Elliott, Felicity Wivell, Anne Fyfe, Cvetko Suban
• South: Maria Gibbs, Bal Krishan, Merryl Darby, David Marshall, Julia Corr, Jo Beck
• Online: Tania Lloyd, Hugh Grosvenor, Mardi Grosvenor, John Grosvenor

The 2026 Eastcoaster Swiss Pairs was held at Orford on 29-30 August 2026. There were 40 pairs playing including players from across the state with a wide range of experience levels. The weekend included a well attended dinner on the Saturday night, featuring live music from William Keyte and friend.

The winners in the open category were Sue Falkingham and William Keyte who led from match 4. Pamela Lidl and Joy Mahant came second. Maria Gibbs and Maggie Crawford came third.

The top placed restricted pair were Gill Robinson and Vicki Douglas. In the novice category, Judy Hooley and Roger Hooley were highest place. The best performing rookie pair were Gaye Dobson and Barb Edwards. Full results for the event are here.

Thanks to the Eastcoaster resort for their support and sponsorship. The winner of the door prize of accomodation at the Eastcoaster was Roger Hooley.

Thanks to Julie Rhodes for being the event coordinator, and for Simon Edler for directing. Thanks also to William and friend for their performance at the dinner, and to all TBA memebrs who helped transport side tables etc. A special thank you to all the Northern players who participated. The broad participation from across the state is one of the things that makes this event special.