NEWSLETTER AUSTRALIAN BRIDGE FEDERATION INC. EDITOR: Stephen Lester NO. 166 MARCH 2014 Approved for Print Post S65001/00163 ABN 70 053 651 666 Senator opens Summer Festival of Bridge Each day consisted of three 20-board matches, and at the end of Day 1 the leaders were BROWN, Terry enator Kate Brown, Jeanette Reitzer, Marlene Watts, George Smo- SLundy, lanko on 53.87 followed by HAVAS, Elizabeth Havas, Senator for the Gordon Schmidt, Richard Douglas, Andrew Markovics ACT and Patron on 51.35, then LUSK, David Lusk, Peter Chan, Atillio of the SFOB, of- de Luca, Peter Colmer, Roger Januzske, John Zollo on fi cially ‘opened’ 50.66, and NEILL on 48.81. This was the fi rst time the the event on new WBF Victory Point Scale had been used for an Wednesday, ABF event. The general consensus was that it was good January 15. in signifi cantly reducing the number of tied scores, but During her speech, she commended the ABF for nurtur- that one decimal place would suffi ce. ing new players by creating a specifi c event to welcome At the end of Day 2, HAVAS was leading on 90.94, them to competitive play and for providing access to followed by KLINGER on 87.50, MARINOS, Tony free lessons to build their knowledge and skills. She Marinos, Peter Grant, Andy Creet, Stephen Mendick commented that creating this type of environment is on 83.33, and NEILL on 83.31. the right way to grow our sport within Australia. Senator Lundy also spoke favourably of the ABF’s use Slam hands are always interesting, and this event of technology. She noted we have a newish website, produced its share, with a number of them having provide online results and that we initiated free wi-fi instructive features. The fi rst of these was: access for festival attendees and a SFOB app in 2014. Board 4, West deals, all vulnerable In her opinion, we are democratising our sport by K J 9 7 4 2 providing access for more people. 10 6 5 In concluding her speech, Senator Lundy welcomed Q 8 5 everyone to the event and wished them all success in 10 their endeavours. She also welcomed everyone to a very ‘hot’ Canberra! A 10 5 3 Senior Teams in Canberra K 3 by David Hoffman A K A K Q 9 5 he Seniors Teams, one of the fi rst events at this Tyear’s Summer Festival, attracted 50 teams, up four With the 10-card fi t, it is still important to play the from the previous year. With four teams to progress to hand from South, either in 6 or 6NT, to protect the the semi fi nals, the top seeds were: heart position. Of the nine pairs who played from the North seat, fi ve failed after Q lead, while 14 pairs NEILL, Bruce Neill, Arjuna DeLivera, David Lilley, failed to bid slam. Zolly Nagy, Simon Hinge, Kim Morrison Then in Round 7, these were the EW hands: KLINGER, Ron Klinger, Bill Haughie, Robert Kroch- Board 8, West deals, nil vulnerable malik, Paul Lavings, Chris Hughes, Paul Wyer A K 5 3 10 ROBINSON, Ian Robinson, npc, Andy Braithwaite, K 9 5 3 8 7 4 Chris Quail, Neil Ewart, Richard Brightling, David --- K J 8 6 Hoffman A K 9 8 2 Q 6 5 4 3 BLOOM, Martin Bloom, Nigel Rosendorff, Bernie This is not a good slam in isolation. However, at our Waters, Roy Nixon table North had made a vulnerable weak jump overcall in diamonds, suggesting that A would be favour- 20 IMPs was lost in the second set, and ROBINSON ably placed. The slam was bid fi ve times, making at eventually won comfortably by 71 IMPs. four tables after A lead. However, Martin Willcox In the other semifi nal, KLINGER jumped out to a 22 received the more challenging Q lead. He won K, IMP lead, reduced to only 2 IMPs at the halfway stage. drew trumps, discarded one heart on the spades, gave NEILL then won the last two sets to record a 42 IMP up a heart and ruffed a heart. With hearts 3-3, the slam win. came home. So on to the fi nal, where NEILL, the top seed, and fi eld- In the same match, the EW cards were: ing three established partnerships, faced ROBINSON, Board 17, North deals, nil vulnerable the third seed, fi elding one established partnership, and A 9 3 2 three players with little previous partnership experi- A K Q 10 7 2 3 ence, but at least the advantage of playing the same K 6 A J 10 9 7 2 system. Obviously, NEILL were favourites, and the K J 5 4 A 7 3 fi rst two sets did nothing to alter this, as they won the At our table, in 6, Richard Brightling received the fi rst quarter 54-24, and the second quarter 57-31, to most diffi cult lead, a spade. Needing to control a further lead by 56 IMPs at the half. ROBINSON recovered 18 spade, and South having Q, he took an immediate IMPs in the third set, but still trailed by 38 IMPs with diamond fi nesse. When the diamond position became only 16 boards to play. exposed at trick three, with North holding queen to And so to the last set. four, he played hearts through North, using them as Board 49, North deals, nil vulnerable surrogate trumps, and eventually making. 10 pairs bid A K 7 6 6, all making, while seven pairs bid the inferior 6, A 10 6 3 2 also surviving. J 2 The fi nal hand of note was in Round 8: 7 3 Board 8, West deals, nil vulnerable Q 10 4 2 J 5 3 --- J 9 Q A J 9 6 4 9 6 5 3 A K 10 8 7 4 A K J 7 9 8 5 A K J A K 9 6 9 8 K 8 7 5 4 Q A K Q 10 8 7 5 2 Q 10 6 4 2 --- In the Open Room, the bidding started 1 – Dbl – 4– 9 6 4 Pass – 4. Everybody passed for 420. However, in the J 2 Closed Room, Braithwaite overcalled 2, then doubled The bidding at our table was (Pass) 1 – 1; 2 – 2 at his next turn, which led to West bidding 5. Neither (GF); 3(0-5-4-4) – 4; 6, claiming 13 tricks on the opponent felt they could double, and the contract was opening lead. 6NT was bid fi ve times, failing four times two down for -100. NEILL by 30 IMPs. when J was not an entry. The fi fth player played it Board 50, East deals, NS vulnerable from South on a club lead, making 13 tricks. Five pairs A Q 2 bid 7 , but reports suggest that in some instances it A 5 was South rescuing themselves from 6NT. A J 10 8 7 5 4 On Day 3, HAVAS suffered losses in the last two 9 matches to fall out of contention, while ROBINSON J 9 4 10 8 5 3 had three wins to move into the top four. NEILL, while K J 10 6 4 3 2 Q 9 8 having a big loss in Round 7 to fall to 10th, recovered to 6 K 3 leave the fi nal qualifi cation as LUSK 124.28, KLINGER 7 2 A J 4 3 123.21, ROBINSON 121.44, NEILL 118.26, with a gap K 7 6 of about 4 VPs to fi fth. 7 Not surprisingly LUSK selected ROBINSON as their Q 9 2 opponents in the semi fi nals. However, this turned K Q 10 8 6 5 out badly when they lost the fi rst set 10 – 52. Another Both rooms started Pass -1 - 3 - 3NT. In the Closed 2 Disclaimer: It is ABF policy not to accept advertising from persons or organizations believed to be unreliable or financially irresponsible. We are not responsible, however, for the performance of advertisers, the delivery or quality of the merchandise or services, or the legality of any 1 particular program. The ABF reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to refuse any advertisement. PAUL LAVINGS BRIDGE BOOKS & SUPPLIES PO Box 807 Double Bay NSW 1360 Tel: (02) 9388-8861 Email: [email protected] Visit bridge museum at www.bridgegear.com or visit (phone fi rst) UPSTAIRS, 68 New South Head Rd, VAUCLUSE 2030. Books, software, club & home supplies. 2nd hand books, vintage & antique items. 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