April showers bring choice of events to bridge players

The Open Team to represent NSW at the ANC Interstate Teams Championship is selected over the weekend 25th – 26th March, congratulations to Pauline Gumby - Warren Lazer, Maurits van der Vlugt - Andre Korenhof, David Hudson - Paul Lavings. Read the results with Julian Foster's story will give you some inside views of the Final match. Read his article "The ITS Open Finals 2017 – How high will you ruff?" here.

While the Womens' and Open Teams are ready, we are going to select the Seniors' and Youth Teams this month. New for this year, that the Seniors' ITS Qualifying and the Finals will be held over two weekends – a one-day qualifying will be held on Sunday 9th April and the Finals over the weekend 22nd – 23rd April. The Youth ITS will be held on Sunday 23rd April. Enter now and earn the honour to represent NSW.

For novice and restricted players, don't miss the State Novice and Restricted Pairs Championship at Mittagong by end of April! First place-getters in the Restricted section will receive a subsidy from the ABF in the form of allowance and entry to the ANC Restricted Butler Pairs in Canberra on 22nd – 23rd July 2017.

Want to sharpen your bridge skills before all these state events? There are a lot of local congresses around NSW every week. Check out the Upcoming Events. In the meantime, let us review some of the local congresses in March:

Forbes Bridge Club Swiss Pairs
– An enjoyable day with 60 players attending from local areas and interstate

Trumps Bridge Centre Autumn Teams
– It's all the wild stories which give us laughter at the tables!

Batemans Bay Bridge Club's Bridge at the Bay
– To encourage youth players, the NSWBA and BFACT jointly provide funding for the weekend

Inverell Delvyn Bridge Club Pairs
– A friendly congress attracted even visitors from WA
2017 Open ITS winners – Maurits van der Vlugt, Andre Korenhof, David Hudson, Warren Lazer, Pauline Gumby and Paul Lavings.

Congratulations to the winners of Forbes Swiss Pairs (Left) 1st place Jyotsna and Jay Kulkarni with Vice President Kay Toohey. (Middle) Runners up Betty-Ann McFarland and Helen McQuie. (Right) Restricted winners Kay Toohey and Doddy Englert with Judy Kerr the Secretary.
It's encouraging to see so many youth players in Batemans Bay Super Congress (Left to right): Zac, Peter, Max, Erin, John, Helena, Mitch, Ailsa, Andrew, Charles, Shannon, Jess, Stuart, Shane, Tamsin, John. Absent from photo: Matt, Dave, Edmond, Ernie.
Winners of Inverell Pairs (Left) Overall winners were the Inverell pair of Pat Yee and Jan Anderson. (Middle) The Plate was won by the Glen Innes pair of Zoe Boyd-Law and Valmai Stevenson. (Right) Peter Cannon and Judy Noad won the prize for Best Restricted Pair, both under 35 masterpoints.
Winners of NSBC@East Lindfield Pairs (Left) 1st – Peter and Nadia Jeffery. (Middle) 2nd – Fraser Rew and Colin Baker.(Right) 3rd Equal – Jenny Barnes and Catherine Else third equal with Helena Dawson and Ann Baker.


Upcoming Events
Events highlights from 1st April to 7th May. Click HERE to view congresses in the full year.

Congresses In NSW Local Clubs
Mar 31 – Apr 2 (Fri – Sun) Central Coast Bridge Club Super Congress
Pairs, Swiss Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

Apr 1 – 2 (Sat – Sun) Sapphire Coast Bridge Club Congress
Swiss Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

Apr 8 – 9 (Sat – Sun) Hawkesbury Bridge Club
Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

Apr 9 (Sun) Tilligerry Bridge Club
Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 

Apr 14 (Fri) Trumps Bridge Centre
Good Friday Pairs
Event Details > 

Apr 16 (Sun) Trumps Bridge Centre 
Easter Teams
Event Details > 

Apr 23 (Sun) Kings and Queens Sydney
Autumn Swiss Pairs
Event Details >

Apr 23 (Sun) Taree Bridge Club
Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 

Apr 29 – 30 (Sat – Sun) Tamworth Bridge Club
Teams
Event Details > 

May 6 – 7 (Sat – Sun) Bathurst and District Bridge Club Congress 
Swiss Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

May 6 – 7 (Sat – Sun) Yamba Bridge Club
Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 

May 7 (Sun) Maitland Bridge Club
Teams
Event Details > 


NSWBA Events
Apr 9 – 23 (Sun – Sun) NSWBA Seniors' ITS
Qualifying and Finals
 Event Details > 

Apr 10 (Mon) NSWBA Invitation Pairs
Event Details > 

Apr 23 (Sun) NSWBA Youth ITS
Event Details >

Apr 24 – May 8 (Mons) NSWBA State Mixed Pairs Qualifying
Event Details >

State Events
Apr 29 – May 30 (Sat – Sun) Southern Highlands Bridge Club
State Novice and Restricted Pairs
Event Details > 

National (ABF) Events
Apr 28 – May 1 (Fri – Mon) QBA Barrier Reef Congress
Event Details > 

May 4 – 8 (Thu – Mon) SABF Autumn Nationals
Event Details > 

Others
Apr 8 (Sat ) Peninsula Bridge Club Ladies Going Places: An All Day Affair at Peninsula Bridge Club
Event Details > 


Featured Articles
Being the only table finding and making a grand slam made the Watts team shine like a diamond at the Trumps Autumn congress! Let Rakesh Kumar tell you all about it in "Trumps Autumn Teams".
 Read the full article >

Thank you for sending the topics you are interested in. We appreciate it and Matthew McManus will filter these queries and answer them in his column later on. In the meantime, please follow Matthew McManus's column HERE >
Congress Player of the Year
Your Association is pleased to acknowledge this 2017 Award. There will be four categories.

• Open
• Intermediate < 750 MPs
• Restricted < 300 MPs
• Novice < 100 MPs

Click HERE for our current "interim" list, as at 28th February 2017.

This award is based on masterpoints earned at NSW Congresses held under the auspices of NSWBA during the year.

So how are masterpoints updated? Why haven't they been processed yet? Julian Foster, the Chairman of NSWBA, answers players' common question "Why haven't I got my masterpoints yet?"
Read the full article >
Congress Psyche Register
The NSWBA has decided to establish a central psyche register for all congresses held in NSW.

The laws permit players to deviate from their systemic agreements so long as the partner of the player who does so has no greater reason to be aware of this deviation than the opponents. Once your partnership has a history of deviating from its agreements in a certain situation you are required to inform your opponents of this tendency.

If you feel that your opponents have psyched against you, please email details of the hand to the psyche register – no action will be taken against players who are reported to the psyche register but once a pair has multiple entries in the psyche register, congress directors will be informed so that they are aware of this history when making their rulings.

A form which can be used for submissions is available HERE.
About the eCongress
The eCongress is a monthly newsletter published by the NSW Bridge Association. It updates you with the latest congresses in the month, interesting hands and analysis from events, and tips regarding the bridge laws.
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NSW Bridge Association
+61 2 9264 8111
office@nswba.com.au
www.nswba.com.au
1/F, 162 Goulburn Street,
East Sydney 2010
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Do you have a story to tell or a photo to share after playing in a congress? Let us know, we will be pleased to publish them.
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