Tuesday dawned, hot and wet as usual. Time to get this show on the road after a disappointing first day.

Match 1 India A

A strong and experienced team.

The scorecard.

Board 1: At our table, the Indians bid conservatively to 2NT and made ten tricks for plus 180. Our teammates gained six IMPs at the other table bidding game.

Board 2: George and I had a slight misunderstanding and ended up in three no-trumps, going 5 down for minus 250 after they took the first 9 tricks, mainly in the suit that they had shown! At the other table, they played 3C making ten tricks for plus 130, a conservative position given that they had 25 HCP combined but it gained them 9 IMPs.

Board 5: A painful board — we went down five in five clubs doubled for minus 1100. Fortunately it was flat, with the same result at the other table. NS could make 13 tricks with the cards very well placed for them however I suspect that they were not going to bid slam. A slightly more measured approach by me might have worked better.

Board 7: We passed this one in and picked up five imps when the other table went down. This was more conservatism by our opponents who had the majority of the strength and an 8 card spade fit. At the other table the auction got all the way to 4D which went two down.

Board 9: Our opponents played two diamonds making eleven tricks. At the other table, Joe and Fraser played three no-trumps which made on a misdefence, for a seven imp swing - more conservatism.

Board 10: Our opponents made three spades for plus 140. At the other table, Fraser went down in four spades — he thought it might have been makeable, but it was difficult. 6 IMPs to them.

Board 13: Our best board of the match. George and I bid and made 4H with not much in the way of values, ten tricks for plus 620. At the other table, Fraser and Joe went one down in 3S for minus 100. A swing of eleven imps.

Final result: Australia 34 – India A 18, 14.42 VPs. A good result against one of the contending teams. Overall it was a strange match. We were more aggressive at both tables and as so often happens this paid off.

Match 2 Bangladesh A

An unknown quantity as far as we were concerned. We played a young pair who played a complicated relay system based on a strong club.

The scorecard.

Board 17 allowed us to use a bidding gadget.

The jump to 4D showed a raise to game in spades with 5+ diamonds. Looking at good fitting cards, George checked for keycards then bid slam. With the diamond finesse working 12 tricks were easy. Obviously if the finesse had failed you would not be reading this! 11 IMPs in.

Board 21 the boot was on the other foot. Fraser and Joe bid a slightly optomistic slam which failed on a bad layout. Double dummy it was makeable but not in the real world. 12 IMPs out.

Boards 23, 24 & 25 were all possible games NS. Our opponents bid game on all three and made two of them. Uncharacteristically Fraser and Joe did not bid any of them. A net loss of 7 IMPs.

Final result: Australia 34 – Bangladesh A 29, 11.58 VPs. A slightly disappointing result with some missed chances, still a win is a win.

Match 3 Hong Kong China B

Another slightly unknown quantity.

The scorecard.

Final result: Australia 18 – Hong Kong China B 36, 5.15 VPs. A disappointing result with a lot of IMPs swinging on the slam decision.

Match 4 Korea

The scorecard.

Board 21 was an interesting declarer play hand.

Obviously if I played the DK at trick one I would have had 9 top tricks and nothing to write about! Having won his singleton Q south thought for some time then switched to the CQ. I had two main options for the ninth trick - the SK could be onside or I might make an extra club trick if both honours were onside or if they divided 3-3. I ducked this one and he continued with the T. Looking at the cards I could make by playing the A dropping the now singleton K or by playing low in which case my J would score later. Instead I tried the J which lost. North now continued a diamond. I cashed all my diamonds so south had to find 4 discards. He could not let go of a club so instead pitched 3 hearts and a spade. I now finessed the SQ and was disappointed to lose to the K. North played a heart (a spade would have been better). When I now cashed the HK south was squeezed in the black suits.
It would have been much easier to win the first diamond!

Final result: Australia 33 – Hong Kong China B 12, 15.46 VPs. A good way to finish the day with the team playing well.

End of day 2, 8th out of 15, up 4 spots from yesterday. Still a lot of work to do.

Other Australian teams:

In the Womens event out of 10 teams, Australia B are 6th and Australia A are 9th, the teams switching positions from yesterday.
In the Mixed out of 13 teams, Australia A are 12th and Australia B are 13th. Enough said.
In the Seniors out of 8 teams, Australia are 3rd, currently in a qualifying position.

The TBA Committee met on June 9th from 2.45pm. Present were Julie Rhodes (P), John Grosvenor (VP), Leigh Blizzard (T), Trish Colles (S), Sue Falkingham, Pam Murphy, Paul Fredheim, Hugh Grosvenor and Laura Bauermeister. The following matters were discussed:

Coming Up – Eastcoaster Weekend in Orford

On August 29th and 30th we’ll be running our fourth Eastcoaster Swiss Pairs event. As the name suggests, it is held at the Eastcoaster Resort near Orford. It is a great opportunity for a different weekend of bridge set on the beautiful East Coast of Tasmania. The entry fee includes morning tea and lunch on the first day as well as three sessions of bridge. We also hold a three course dinner on the Saturday night which can be entered as a separate event on MyABF. Play kicks off at 10.00am on the Saturday and is all over by around 1.00pm on Sunday. There are prizes awarded in all categories subject to the number of entries. There is generally also a lucky door prize donated by the Eastcoaster Resort.

A range of accommodation options are available at the resort from single rooms to 3 bedroom cabins so you can stay with your friends, family or partner if you like. Mention bridge when you are booking with the resort and they will give you a good rate.

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 which will include an office/utility room, a member’s recreation area and a better kitchen. In addition, the Vera Houdek room and existing kitchen will be combined and extended to provide an additional teaching/playing room to provide greater flexibility with scheduling of Beginners Classes or additional playing sessions.

This was costed at approximately $ 800,000 a couple of years ago, and the TBA has (unsuccessfully) applied for several types of government assistance to enable us to progress the work. We have approximately $ 500,000 set aside for the extensions including a bequest of the late Ron Spencer for $ 200,000.

We have recently discovered than an alternative building approach by Tasbuilt involving off site manufacturing may provide an affordable solution for us and are currently investigating this.

If the quote and design from Tasbuilt offers us a viable solution, we will call a special meeting of Club Members to approve the project, as there will be inconvenience from pile driving, and we will need to close the club whilst the new extension is joined to our existing club. We will post the amended design and quote as soon as it is available.

ABF Online Club Knockout event

This event is scheduled to commence in July and the TBA has been quite successful in it in the past. Teams are categorised according to the Masterpoint level of their most experienced member and can participate in the Open, Under 750, Under 300, Under 150 and Under 50 category.

Events are run monthly at night via Real Bridge, and the TBA pays for the team entry fees. Consequently, any winnings are retained by the TBA to go towards the entry fees for next year.

If you would like to participate in this event, please register you interest with Sue Falkingham.

Suggestion Box

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

• We won’t be welcoming puppies/dogs to the TBA unless they are designated companion animals.
• We now have 5 of the specially requested black chairs.
• We will purchase two chairs with arms for people that need assistance in this way
• The TBA has a sophisticated air conditioning system. We should all recognise that it is impossible to provide a temperature which suits everyone You will all realise that some people are wearing a T Shirt at the table whilst others are rugged up! Rather than nag the Director, or complain about the temperature, please ensure your own personal comfort by wearing layers of clothes which you can add or remove as appropriate. This is the Tassie way.

Free Coffee for Dealers

As a thank you for our dealing team, we have decided that if they wish, they can request a coffee machine token from the Director on duty which will be provided free of charge.

A reminder that you can purchase coffee machine tokens if you don’t have a $ 2 coin in your pocket!

Youth Bridge

We are going to establish a Youth Bridge program over the next 12 months, leading up to the ANC in July 2027 which will be held in Hobart. If you have a young person in your life who you think would like to learn bridge, please contact myself, or Sue Falkingham, and we will endeavour to include them in this program.

New Members

We welcome the following new and reactivated members to our club and wish them all the best on their bridge journey : Mel Croft, Liam Croft (Youth), William Keyte and Jan Sheen.

Bridge Etiquette – Kindness (Again!)

Just a brief reminder to be kind and respectful to everyone at the table. We want people to enjoy their visits to the club and to tell their friends how fantastic bridge is as both as a brain stimulating hobby and as a family.

Julie Rhodes
President