The Brisbane Water Bridge Club held it’s Annual Open Pairs Championship on Saturday 26th August 2023. The leading two (2) Pairs will be sponsored by the Club to the State Final in November.

Unfortunately the event clashed with other celebrations which resulted in a diminution of the field. It also meant that with some clever work from Director Alan Bustany every pair played everybody else. Thanks Alan for a great day.

The bridge was very competitive with so many Grand Masters in the field. ‘Any slip meant death’ (Banjo Paterson). And so it proved for many.

Club Open Pairs Overall
Place	%	Pair Name
1	62.36%	Jaan Oitmaa - Sylvia Foster
2	58.55%	Lorraine Lindsay - Richard Carter
3	54.36%	Martin Johnson - Chris Hasemore
4	52.91%	Karen Ody - Jim Routledge
5	52.18%	Judy Wulff - Susan McCall
6	50.00%	Kerry-Anne Durrant - David Adams
7	49.45%	Pamela Joseph - Janice Donohoe
8	47.64%	Edith Marshall - Hilary Owen
9	47.09%	Dasha Brandt - David Bowerman
10	44.36%	Stephen Calcroft - Roy Cotton
11	42.18%	Kerry Dwyer - Laurie Powell
12	38.91%	Marcelle Goslin - Christine Hadaway

Congratulations to all the winners and those that tried so valiantly.

If you have enjoyed playing board games, or card games such as Euchre and 500, then bridge is the game for you. Develop a new interest, meet new friends and keep your brain active while learning to play at the Central Coast’s leading teaching club, Brisbane Water Bridge Club. We are at the Peninsula Community Centre Woy Woy. (Corner of Ocean Beach Rd & McMasters Rd From Tuesday 5th September @ 10am. Lessons will be followed by supervised bridge games. You will be helped with all aspects of bridge until you are ready to play in our regular daily games. The cost is $50 for seven weeks of lessons and practice sessions. Ring now to register or inquire about returning to bridge after a break at our open supervised session where you can get help with the bidding and play. Meet new friends and keep your brain active. Phone Christine: 0488194737

The Annual President’s Cup was held on Thursday 13th July.
It is a special Red Point event to thank President Sylvia Foster for all the hard work, both seen and unseen, she has done for the club over the past twelve months.
With the coming out of COVID restrictions and all the other problems faced by clubs of all sorts and sizes, not just Bridge, this was a particularly challenging year for her and the committee.
During the period of this insidious disease our numbers diminished considerably. Some started play on-line, a few battled on and unfortunately some followed other pursuits. Thanks to Sylvia’s hard work and dedication our membership is steadily growing again and attendances are on the up.

The competition was particularly hot with joint winners and joint runners-up in the North/ South field.

North-South
Place
1	53.87%	Christine Hadaway - Blair Glass
1	53.87%	Karen Ody - Jim Routledge
3	52.68%	Martin Johnson - Chris Hasemore
3	52.68%	Chris Hannan - Lorraine Lindsay
East-West
Place
1	56.55%	Susan McCall - Pamela Joseph
2	55.95%	Noel Crockett - Shirley Crockett
3	55.65%	Hope Tomlinson - Barry Foster

Full results here

Congratulations to all the winners. Sorry Sylvia you will have to stay President for another year.

This Championship was conducted over two consecutive Wednesdays.

When both weeks results were combined the winners were ...

Restricted Pairs Championship Overall
Place	%	Pair Name
1	61.23%	Warren Nicol - Edith Marshall
2	59.17%	Graham Woof - Peter Wheatley
3	58.16%	Kerrel Walker - Carol Long

 
Here are the session results :

The first session had the normal N/S and E/W fields. This produced some, what some would consider surprising results, with players with varying degrees of experience featuring in the results. 

Restricted Pairs Championship Session 1
North-South
Place	%	Pair Name
1	66.04%	Peter Hume - Elaine Hume
2	63.33%	Linda Cunningham - Jo Ampherlaw
3	60.42%	Warren Nicol - Edith Marshall
East-West
Place	%	Pair Name
1	62.73%	Graham Woof - Peter Wheatley
2	53.94%	Walt Alma Van Der - Kathryn Ivits
3	53.47%	John Drew - Denyse Stephens

The second session was a Howell movement which meant that every pair played each other at some time during the Championship. This tricky movement, devised by Director, Peter Hume, certainly kept us on our toes. He was ably assisted in this by Marcelle Goslin who told us where to be seated when we got lost.
Someone once said a week is a long time in politics. It certainly can be in Bridge. The leaders from the previous week came back to the field as others demonstrated their prowess. Special mention to Carolyn Harper and Kerry-Anne Durrant. Kerry-Anne is our most regular player and joins us almost every day. Good to see them on the podium.

Restricted Pairs Championship Session 2
Place	%	Pair Name
1	62.03%	Warren Nicol - Edith Marshall
2	61.02%	Carolyn Harper - Kerry-Anne Durrant
3	59.46%	Meg McGregor - Hilary Owen

Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to Peter and Marcelle.

The Annual Winter Teams Championship was conducted this year in a revised format and attracted a red hot field including many former winners. The Teams format gave all players a better chance of collecting some of those illusive Red Points. The leaders after the 1st round were Team Fane with 33 points after a decisive win. They were less fortunate in Round 2 surrendering the lead to Team Lindsay, who continued on their winning way to retain their lead going into Round 4. They had a handy lead of 16 points over the eventual winners. Director Peter Hume was kept busy all day with a slight computer glitch. Members and visitors are reminded that our Super Congress will be held over the weekend of July 22/23 with Pairs on Saturday and Teams on Sunday. Entries should be made on the NSWBA website. Team Members VPs W-D-L Rpts Barry Foster - Hope Tomlinson - Martin Johnson - Chris Hasemore 59.75 4-0-0 0.64 Lorraine Lindsay - Richard Carter - Wendy Mitchell - Dorothy Berzins 56.4 44-0-0 0.64 Jim Routledge - Karen Ody - Sylvia Foster - Jaan Oitmaa 53.34 2-1-1 0.40 Jorgen Boettiger - Deborah Guthrie - Julie Teague - Joan Walsh 44.55 2-0-2 0.32 Felicity Fane - Heather Brown - Peter Hume - Elaine Hume 40.88 1-1-2 0.24 Christine Hadaway - Chris Hannan - Robin Vaughan - Ed Vaughan 35.17 2-0-2 0.32 Susan McCall - Judy Wulff - David Adams - Pamela Joseph 32.91 1-0-3 0.16 Edith Marshall - Hilary Owen - Marcelle Goslin - Frankie Craven 32.41 1-0-3 0.16 Kerry-Anne Durrant - Carolyn Girdwood - Jennifer Tebb - Irene Irvine 84 4.55 0-0-4