Sydney Bridge Centre

♣♦ RED Points Frenzy ♥♠

Let’s continue the festive spirit! All regular duplicate sessions will give out RED masterpoints from now to 2nd January (inclusive), join us for a game with some Xmas snacks 🙂

Our City venue is open during Christmas, except Boxing Day 26th December. Yes we have Tuesday Morning (10am start) and Evening (7.15pm start) sessions on 27th December! And all regular sessions will remain the same for the rest of the year.

Our Canada Bay venue is taking Christmas break, no session after 19th December. All sessions will resume in Canada Bay from Monday 2nd January 2023.

♣♦ Friday 9th AND Wednesday 14th December – Xmas Parties! ♥♠

Party time! There will be TWO Christmas Parties this year – if you prefer a cozy game, Friday will suit you; if you enjoy a bustling day, then Wednesday will be your game. Of course you can always choose both 🙂

There will be morning and afternoon sessions on each day.  Morning session 10.00am – 1.15pm and/or ARVO session 2.15pm – 5.15pm, lunch from 1.15pm – 2.15pm.  Your choice of playing 1 or 2 sessions together with lunch.  There will be separate sections for Open and Supervised players on Wednesday.

There will be a lot of fun programmes and spot prizes like Bridge Bingo, the most Xmassy dressed prizes, etc.  Raffle Draw for one Xmas Hamper on each day to support The Smiths Family’s Christmas Appeal.

Members $50 / Visitors $60 per person per party.  Fee includes a delicious Christmas themed morning tea, afternoon tea, festive snacks, a 3-course lunch, and drinks!  Vegetarian options available.  No concession, no vouchers.  Same price for 1 or 2 sessions of bridge AND lunch on the same day.

If you are a visitor enjoying the SBC group, join as a member now to enjoy 13 months membership and SAVE $10 for the Xmas party immediately!

We can only accept bookings for 28 tables at each party.  You MUST book online for catering and board dealing purposes.

♣♦ Sunday 27th November: Sunday Funday AND UHMP Pairs ♥♠

The majority of players in the bridge community have fewer than 100 masterpoints, so you are not alone! There are Congresses offering separate division for Novice and Restricted players, it’s great to stretch ourselves to see where we are in these tournaments, but 0-100 is still such a big range. So here you are, Sydney Bridge Centre is supporting the NSWBA to host the State Under 100 Masterpoints Pairs Championship, so players can compete with the others with similar masterpoints range in a No Fear tournament.

All are welcome. You don’t need to have played in any club qualifying event. The only pre-requisite is the masterpoint limit, i.e. you and your partner MUST each have under 100 masterpoints. If you and your partner are in 2 different categories, you will qualify under the higher category.

• Date: Sunday 27th November 2022
• Time: 1.30pm – 4.30pm (our clubroom opens door at 12.30pm, come on in to enjoy a free tea and coffee)
• Venue: Level 1, 162 Goulburn Street, Sydney
• Director: Marcia Scudder
• Entry Fee: $18 member ($15 concession member) / $22 visitor. Light tea sandwiches, a tasty cheese platter and moreish cake bites included. And don’t forget to join us for a sensational drink to finish a great game!
• Entry in advance essential for board dealing purpose.

Prizes and Masterpoints are awarded within each division. RED masterpoints. Pre-dealt boards with hand records.

? This event will be held in parallel with Sunday Funday afternoon duplicate. ?

♣♦ Upcoming Workshop ♥♠

• Friday 18th Novmeber – Topic: Improve Your Overcalls and Competitive Bidding. Full day workshop, morning tea and a light lunch are included. 10.00am – 3.30pm.

Please find details on the flyers. Booking essential for catering purposes.

♣♦ Melbourne Cup Day at SBC ♥♠

The Melbourne Cup Day is one of the SBC’s signature bridge parties! It is always well-catered with amazing hors d’oeuvres and delicious champagne lunch. Other attractions include Cup Sweepstakes, TV coverage of The Race on the Big screens, Bridge Prizes, Best Dressed Prizes… AND RED masterpoints for the day.

• Date: Tuesday 1^st November 2022
• Time: 10.00am – 2.30pm (with a lunch break), 3.00pm The Race on Big Screens
• Venue: City, Level 1, 162 Goulburn Street, Surry Hills
• $50 for members, $55 for visitors (fee includes a delicious morning tea, champagne lunch and table money. No concession rate on the day.)

Booking preferred for catering purposes. Please book online on the SBC website.

If you need a partner, please contact office for match making.

♣♦ Workshops for Everyone ♥♠

There will be TWO Workshops this week:

• Friday 7th October – Topic: Playing Easy Hands. Playing Hard Hands. Full day workshop, morning tea and a light lunch are included. 10.00am – 3.30pm. [Flyer]
• Saturday 8th October – A SPECIAL HALF DAY Workshop for players who play Open bridge and Congresses. A delicious morning tea is included. 10.00am – 1.00pm. [Flyer]

Please find details on the flyers. Booking essential for catering purposes.

♣♦ RED masterpoints on Labour Day at both venues ♥♠

♣♦ Have Your Say and Win a Free 2023 Membership ♥♠

The NSW Bridge Association/Sydney Bridge Association will be conducting a survey of its
members. The Survey is already sent to our members via their email address, if you didn’t receive it, please send an email to Survey Matters (support@surveymatters.com.au) and they will resend the Survey to you.

As we have previously advised, the NSWBA/SBC is seeking feedback directly from its members to provide input into a “where should we be in five years” warts and all review of strategy. Your insights will help ensure that the research will deliver valuable data to help NSWBA/SBC better understand your needs so that it can focus its activities on the services that are most important to you.

Your feedback will also help to shape future activities and marketing so that we can best
help you address your needs and challenges as bridge players and can look to ensuring the future of bridge in NSW.

As a way of saying thank you, everyone who completes the survey will have the chance to
go into a draw to win one of five free membership renewals for 2023.

Think: Insight & Advice and Survey Matters, two independent research agencies, have been engaged to conduct the survey on behalf of the NSWBA so you can be sure that your answers will remain confidential. I encourage you to provide us with honest and objective feedback.

Please look out for an email with your survey invitation from Survey Matters this week and
take the opportunity to tell us what matters to you!

John Scudder
Chairman
NSW Bridge Association (NSWBA)

♣♦ Open as Normal on Thursday 22nd September ♥♠

♣♦ October Workshops for Different Levels of Players ♥♠

♣♦ Stroke Awareness Day on Wed 7th September ♥♠

♣♦ Australia Wide Open Pairs ♥♠

♣♦ Meet the SBC Representatives ♥♠

We ran two State Open Teams Qualifying events over 3 Tuesdays and 3 Thursdays in the City from early August. The events concluded yesterday and two teams were selected. Congratulations to:

• Tuesday winners: Alex Glikin – Michael Young, Terry Palmer – Mick McAuliffe
• Thursday winners: Jacky Gruszka – Cheryl Henke, Maurice Ripley – Jane Biscoe

They will represent SBC to compete in the State Open Teams Metropolitan Final on 16th October 2022. The State Open Teams Metropolitan Final will be held in conjunction with the NSWBA Jacaranda Teams Congress. Two teams from the Jacaranda Teams will qualify to play in the Finals of the State Teams. One place will be offered to teams representing metropolitan bridge clubs. The other place will be offered to teams consisting solely of metropolitan Sydney players. That means, if you are interested in playing along side our SBC representatives, you can form a team and qualify via the Congress.

The Grand Finals will be played over the weekend starting Friday 9 December 2022.

We ran a qualifying event for the Grand National Open Teams (GNOT) in June. Two SBC teams qualified to compete in the Metropolitan Final on 17-18 September 2022.

♣♦ NSW State Wide Pairs Highlights ♥♠

The State Wide Pairs was successfully held last Wednesday. We are pleased to see 4 tables compete in the Intermediate division and 7 tables Open. Our players once again demonstrated the amazing SBC culture – Sherry Gao volunteered to be a Bridge Buddy of one of our fresh beginners. John Sharpe graduated from our Beginners Course this March and is keen to play more in the duplicate. The pair came 2nd in the Intermediate field, well done!

If you are a bit concern diving in the Open field, talk to us for more details about our Bridge Buddy program. If you are interested to be one of our Bridge Buddies, please also let us know. You don’t need to have a lot of experience, you just need to be patient, even-tempered and pleasant to play with!

Congratulations to the sessional winners:

• Open (NS) – Paul Roach and Ken Cahill
• Open (EW) – Jake Andrew and Orsolina Aroney
• Intermediate (NS) – Ru Bizys and Virginia Addison
• Intermediate (EW) – Lyn Harris and Marcia Riik

Sessional results can be found on Pianola. There are clubs still running the event, the state wide results will be posted on the NSWBA website once processed.

If you enjoy the competition, don’t miss out the Australia Wide Open Pairs on Monday 29th August 2022.

♣♦ Next Sunday Funday will be on 31st July ♥♠

Our first Sunday afternoon game on 17th July went well with 10.5 tables!  We hope you enjoyed the classic cucumber sandwiches, cheese platter and everything makes a Sunday great.  As requested by players the club will now run two Sunday Fundays each month.  The next Sunday Funday will be held on 31^st July 2022, 1.30pm – 4.30pm.

No need to book in, visitors are walk-ins are welcome. $18 member ($15 concession member) / $22 visitor.

♣♦ Share your love of Bridge with a friend ♥♠

Emma Barnes is one of the best bridge teachers in the country! She is patient, humorous and makes bridge easy to learn! It’s not too late to enrol, join us from Lesson Two on. Come in half an hour earlier, Emma will help you to catch up. Our current Beginners Courses are held on:

• 6 Wednesday mornings from 20^th July – 24^th August at City, 10.00am – 12.15pm
• 6 Wednesday evenings from 20^th July – 24^th August at City, 6.30pm – 9.30pm

If you are beyond Beginners level, consider the Improvers Course:

• 6 Thursday mornings from 21^st July – 25^th August at Canada Bay, 10.00am – 12.15pm

$159 per person per course. Please find the details and enrol on our website.

♣♦ Victory in the ANC ♥♠

Our Wednesday morning players wondered where Marcia is – she is in Adelaide captaining the NSW Women’s Team in the Australian National Championships (ANC). Congratulations to the NSW Open, Women’s and Seniors, who won the 2022 interstate teams championships! Besides from Marcia Scudder, you probably recognise some of the NSW representatives from our mentoring programme and the NSWBA Teams of Three event:

OPEN: NSW defeated VIC

• NSW Open – Liam Milne, Sophie Ashton, Simon Zhang, Wayne Zhu, Paul Dalley, Tony Nunn, David Fryda (NPC)
• VIC Open – James Coutts (PC), Justin Mill, Simon Hinge, Stephen Lester, Ben Thompson, Rob Fruewirth

WOMEN’S: NSW defeated SA

• NSW Women’s – Kinga Moses, Avril Zets, Nazife Bashar, Marcia Scudder (NPC), Giselle Mundell, Rena Kaplan, Helena Dawson
• SA Women’s – Ingrid Cooke, Therese Demarco, Alison Fallon, Susan Lusk, Pam Morgan-King, Felicity Smyth, David Parrott (NPC)

SENIORS’: NSW defeated ACT

• NSW Seniors’ – Robert Krochmalik, Peter Buchen, Paul Lavings, John McIlrath (NPC), Avi Kanetkar, Warren Lazer, Pauline Gumby
• ACT Seniors’ – Sean Mullamphy, David Hoffman (PC), Adrienne Stephens, Peter Kahler, Michael Cullen, Bernie Walters

If you have played on Wednesday night, you probably have met the NSW Youth Team. The team has done really well to come 3rd in the qualifying round, considering that half of the representatives only learnt bridge a couple of weeks before this National Championships! We hope this will encourage you to dive in competitions.

♣♦ Go for GOLD – SBC GNOT Qualifying Event ♥♠

GNOT (Grand National Open Teams) Club Heats are the only event you can earn Gold masterpoints at your local clubs. Don’t be putt off by the title “Teams”, you only need to compete as Pairs, and we will form one SBC Team from the top two pairs. The Team will be sponsored by SBC to compete in the Metropolitan Final on 17th – 18th September in our Goulburn Street clubrooms. Four teams from the final will qualify to the National Finals on 25th – 28th November in Brisbane, Queensland this year.

Visitors are welcome. GOLD masterpoints awarded for each session.  The more you play the more you can collect GOLD points without travelling to national congresses!

♣♦ NEW Lesson plus Game session at Canada Bay ♥♠

A NEW Wednesday Afternoon session (1.30pm start) is added to the Canada Bay session timetable, starting from June! The session will start with a one-hour lesson with 4 practice hands and notes, then followed by a two-hours duplicate game. There will be a different theme for each month and you will go through a different topics under the monthly theme each week.

For June, we follow the theme “Reverses and Jumps”:

• 1st June: The Tale of Two Hands
• 8th June: Responding to Reverses
• 15th June: Reverses in Competition
• 22nd June: Jumps
• 29th June: mini summary

For July, we are going to talk about 1NT responses.

You don’t need a partner, visitors and walk-ins are welcome. $18 for members to do both (lesson AND game, they costs $12 each!), $22 for visitors to do both. You can choose to attend only the lesson or to play only the game, it will cost you $12 (member) / $15 (visitor).

♣♦ We are OPEN on Queen’s Birthday ♥♠

♣♦ SBC players won the entry to ANC Restricted Pairs ♥♠

♣♦ Teams of Three – A fun way to learn ♥♠

This was probably the smallest Teams of Three in recent years. There were 18 teams competing in one field. A big thanks to our Captains who volunteer to support the event in such a short notice, and gave our players a fantastic learning experience!

Congratulations to the winners:

• 1st REW: Fraser Rew (Captain), James Palmer, Alex Phillips and Alan Stoneham
• 2nd PEAKE: Andrew Peake (Captain), Julie Mansfield, Ray Burr and John Dobies
• 3rd MUNDELL: Julie Guthrie, Mark Guthrie and Jake Andrew

The Best Restricted Team belongs to Team Neill: Bruce Neill (Captain), Ian McLaren, Steve English and Gayle Calvert. A special prize to our Novice Team who just finished their beginners course in mid-March: Marcia Scudder (Captain), Kyna Foo, Stephanie Price and Marlene Velecky.

Full results can be view on the NSWBA website.

We ran the Cancer Council Morning Tea in April, and raised over $600 for donation. The Raffle was drawn today – Patricia Watson is our lucky winner of a complimentary game with Warren Lazer as her partner. The gourmet hamper (2nd prize) went to Irene Mytkowski.

Our next Congress will be the Christmas in July on 16-17 July, we look forward to seeing you again!

♣♦ The Great Experience in Australia Wide Novice Pairs ♥♠

It was very busy in our clubroom in City yesterday morning – there were 14 tables competing in the Australia Wide Novice Pairs on top of our regular duplicate session and beginners supervised table. We are proud of our players who stretched to take up the challenge, well done! We are also pleased to see that the club heat attracted a few youth players and some beginner graduates who just finished their course 2 months ago – that says a lot about the SBC inclusive culture and welcoming atmosphere!

Congratulations to the sessional winners:

• Alex Glikin and Philip Kringas (NS)
• Sheena Cole and Gay Patten (EW)

The Australia Wide Novice Pairs club heats are still running in some clubs. The nation-wide ranking will be published once all club heats results are submitted and collated. Please keep an eye on our website.

Enjoy the fun way to gain experience? Here comes an opportunity! The NSWBA Teams of Three will be held on Sunday 5th June. This one day congress limits to players below Grand Master. An experienced player will be assigned to be your Captain who will play at least 2 matches with each team member. A fun way to improve your game! Please find the details on MyABF.

♣♦ Better Together with Our Volunteers ♥♠

The bridge community is heavily relied on volunteers, our club won’t be able to grow without their contributions. This year, the National Volunteers Week has set “Better Together” as theme, how appropriate! It’s also ABC’s 90th anniversary. The broadcast company is going to run a 90 for 90 program, encouraging volunteering.

We specially thank these volunteers this year:

• Martin Clear and Phil Halloran who continue to organise and host the Tuesday night session
• Mick McAuliffe for helping out the collaboration with CBC and Wednesday night
• Jake Andrew for hosting the Wednesday night social duplicate

If you are interested in joining our volunteers group, let us know your interests and your strength, we would like to find something that you can enjoy while volunteering!

The ABF applauds all of our amazing volunteers giving so freely of their time. A thank you note to all of them from Allison Stralow, ABF president was published on the NSWBA website.

♣♦ Cancer Council Morning Tea Snapshots ♥♠

Thank you very much for those who came and join us in the Cancer Council Morning Tea Party on Thursday 19th May, either at the City or at Canada Bay! Our volunteers have helped filling up the table with delicious home baked coconut jam slices, apple fritter cake, orange cake, turkey & cranberry terrine, cucumber sandwiches and a lot of goodies in the City – maybe we should run a bake-off for fund raising next year! Our Canada Bay players just love those cute tea cup cookies and couldn’t wait to share them with their grandkids! There were 18 tables cross the two venues. Congratulations to the sessional winners:

• Peter Bardos & Irene Mytkowski (CBC)
• Helen Maguire & Tony Chamberlain (City NS)
• Jane Biscoe & Ellen Borda (City EW)

All sessional winners will receive a complimentary entry to the Teams of Three. The Cross-Venue results can be found on Pianola. The Raffle tickets will be drawn on Teams of Three on 5th June. 1st Prize is a free game with Warren Lazer as your partner. 2nd Prize is a hamper sponsored by SBC. So you still have time to buy more raffle tickets, all raffle takings will go to Cancer Council.

The Teams of Three is one of the most popular events hosted by NSWBA. A mentor will be assigned to your team which is formed by 3 players and you will have an opportunity to learn from the mentor by partnering with him/her for at least 2 matches. To find out more about this fun learning experience, please check it out on the NSWBA website: https://www.nswba.com.au/tourn/eventDetails.asp?tid=3579

♣♦ A Good Day in the SBC Easter Monday Congress ♥♠

With a few players travelling during Easter, our first face to face Congress this year attracted 24 pairs. The tournament was run in combined field offering 3 prizes.

It’s so rewarding to hear from players that they “had a good day”. The chit chatting sound in between rounds, the laughter during a hand, the eating together in the lunch break are so, real life.

Congratulations to:

• Overall winner – Martin Brown and Gail McKenzie (SBC)
• The Best Novice Pair (also overall 2nd) – Natalie Topper (Harbourview) and Lara Topper (Youth)
• 2nd in Novice Pairs – Orsolina Aroney and Nader Esber (SBC)

The full results can be found on the NSWBA website.

♣♦ Fund Raising for Flood Relief on Tuesday 12th April ♥♠

♣♦ March Events & Programs ♥♠

RED and Super Green Masterpoints Events in March

• Super Green F2F Collaboration Pairs in Canada Bay over 3 Thursday mornings from 10th, 17th & 24th March. 10am for 10.15am start – 1.30pm. You can join 1, 2 or all 3 sessions. Each session will award Green masterpoints, and the overall winners will be awarded for extra masterpoints!
• RED F2F first Two Tiers Tuesday (both Open AND Intermediate sessions) in City on Tuesday 15th March, 10.00am start
• RED Online St. Patrick’s Week on BBO on Saturday 19th March, 1.45pm start

All are welcome.  Normal table money fee.  No need to book in advance.

Friday Workshop is back!

♣♦ SBC Players shone in the Gold Coast Congress ♥♠

You probably have noticed that some of the familiar faces were missing in our regular sessions last week, as they were directing / competing in the Gold Coast!

The SBC members have done really well in the Gold Coast Congress. Congratulations to:

RESTRICTED TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

• Jake Andrew, Mary Poynten, Tony White and Craig Taberner won the Restricted Team
• Gail McKenzie, Martin Brown, Judy Parsons and John Russell came 3rd

Jake Andrew and Francis Lyons also came 3rd in the Bobby Richman Pairs Championship (Division D).

In the Novice Pairs Championship, Michael Braham and John Bellingham have done well and reached 7th.

OPEN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

• Winners of the Gold Coast Congress Open Teams 2022: Geo Tislevoll, Tony Nunn, Liam Milne, James Coutts, Nick Jacob, Paul Dalley.

Tony Nunn and Paul Dalley have also won the Open Pairs.

Please find the full results on the official website. The next National Congress will be held in Launceston, Tasmania from 24th – 27th March. If you would like to join other SBC members for a dinner get-together in Launceston, let us know. This time Wing Roberts will be our SBC ambassador at Launceston.

♣♦ February Events & Programs ♥♠

More RED and Super Green masterpoints to grab with the successful collaboration between the Sydney Bridge Centre and the Strathfield Bridge Club!

• RED F2F at City: Lunar New Year Thursday Morning on 3^rd February 2022, 10am – 1.15pm

• RED F2F at Canada Bay: Lunar New Year Thursday Morning on 3^rd February 2022, 10am for 10.15am start – 1.30pm

• RED Online on BBO: Lunar New Year Thursday ARVO on 3^rd February 2022, 1.45pm

• Super Green F2F at Canada Bay: Strathfield Summer Pairs over 3 Monday mornings on 7^th, 14^th & 21^st February 2022, 10am for 10.15am start – 1.30pm. You can join 1, 2 or all 3 sessions.

• RED Online on BBO: SBC Valentine’s Day Monday Morning on 14^th February 2022, 10.15am start

All are welcome. Normal table money fee. No need to book in advance.

♣♦ The Australia Day BBO Swiss Pairs results ♥♠

We are grateful that the online congress was supported by almost 100 players on the day with such a short notice. Thank you so much! There were 17 tables in the Open and 9 tables in the Restricted/Novice division. Congratulations to:

OPEN

• 1st Bertha Dembo – Erica Windmiller (VBA)
• 2nd Kim Morrison – David Weston (SBC)
• 3rd Sari Irlicht – Rachel Judelman (Dendy Park)

RESTRICTED

• 1st Martin Brown – Gail Mckenzie (SBC)
• 2nd Julie Alliston – Patrick Morgan (Frankston)
• 3rd Mary Colling – Steve Colling (Frankston)

NOVICE

The best Novice Pair was won by Anne Heyes – Simon Tissera (Waverley).

The full results can be viewed on the NSWBA website: http://www.nswba.com.au/tourn/res.asp?yr=2022&dir=congress/sbc2201

♣♦ January Programme Update ♥♠

♣♦ Regular Sessions now available at Canada Bay ♥♠

Our first session at Canada Bay went well on Monday morning. There were 6 full tables and we are pleased to see so many long time no see faces from Rozelle!

The venue is spacious with a lot of free parking. You MUST sign in with QR code and show your vaccination certificate upon entry. If you live close by, you are also required to become a member of Canada Bay Club (it’s only $3.3 for a year). The club opens at 10am, players usually sit outside on the bench to have a bit chit chat before the club open for a 10.15am start.

Don’t forget to bring a cardigan with you, the aircon can be quite cool. Unlike in City which is our own premises, Peter Bardos our director won’t be able to lend you a jacket or shawl there!

We have two sessions in Canada Bay – Monday morning and Thursday morning. Wing will be there every session for the first month, and will be there from time to time afterwards. For players in the City, our director Ronnie Ng on Monday and Ian Lisle on Thursday will take good care of you.

♣♦ January events and programmes ♥♠

We hope you had a great holiday break and feel refreshed to return to the bridge table! Our City venue has already reopened, all day-time sessions resumed as normal. The two evening sessions (Tuesday night and Wednesday night Supervised) will start next week on 11th on BBO and 12th January in City. The NEW extra Monday morning and Thursday morning sessions at Canada Bay Club will also start next week on 10th and 13th January. Find out more from our session timetable!

Please note that you MUST be fully vaccinated upon entry to any of our venues. Please follow the government announcement on other Covid requirements.  As at the time of writing, QR code and facemasks are required.

We appreciate your understanding to help us to find this balance – to have appropriate measures to keep us safe, while continuing our game to enjoy certain quality of life.