playyer
Make it a December to Remember

Getting close to the end of the year, there were a few state events that reached their final stage after running club qualifying events through the year.

The NSW State Open Pairs Championship (incorporating the Country Open Pairs Championship) was held on 18th - 19th November. André Korenhof and Maurits van der Vlugt won the State Open Pairs title, Renate La Marra and Stuart Cutsforth came first in the Country Open Pairs, and 3 pairs (Judy Zhu - Shuliang Yang, Eric Lippey - Kerry Boytell and Nazife Bashar - Kinga Moses) shared the honour of Spring Swiss Pairs! Check all the results HERE.
Congratulations to the winners in the State Open Pairs. (Left) André Korenhof and Maurits van der Vlugt won the State Open Pairs title with Richard Douglas the NSWBA Secretary on the left. (Middle) Renate La Marra and Stuart Cutsforth came first in the Country Open Pairs. (Right) 3 pairs (Shuliang Yang - Judy Zhu, Eric Lippey - Kerry Boytell and Kinga Moses - Nazife Bashar) shared the honour of Spring Swiss Pairs.
Mixed Teams were one of the highlights in bridge promotion. The State Mixed Teams was held from 30th October to 20th November over 4 Monday nights. Congratulations to the MILNE Team (Liam Milne - Pauline Potts, Elizabeth Adams - Andrew Peake) who won the title. A lot of interesting hands in the tournament and Yumin Li is going to share a hand with you:

The NSWBA State Mixed Teams Championship
– Yumin Li shares with you his thoughts in bidding this 7NT grand slam.
Winners of the State Mixed Teams – Liam Milne, Pauline Potts, Elizabeth Adams and Andrew Peake.
For novice and restricted players, the State Novice & Restricted Teams was held in Illawarra from 4th - 5th November. The Van Weeren Team (Jeff Conroy, Hans Van Weeren, Jill Blankey and Peter Clarke) proved to be the rising star in the Restricted Division, as were the Lynch Team (Louise and Michael Brassil, David Num and Sarah Lynch) in the Novice Divison. Please click on the following link to read the feature report and more results can be found HERE.

The State Novice & Restricted Teams
– Players gave positive feedback to the host, Illawarra Bridge Association in Wollongong.
Rising stars in the State Novice & Restricted Teams hosted by Illawarra Bridge Club. (Left) Restricted Teams winners Jeff Conroy, Hans Van Weeren, Jill Blankey, Peter Clarke with organiser Jill MacRae. (Right) Novice Teams winners Louise and Michael Brassil, David Num, Sarah Lynch with Jill MacRae.
New South Wales has sent 22 teams representing different regions to the Grand National Open Teams at Tweed Heads from 24th - 27th November. The final was an all Sydney affair. Congratulations to the winners SYDNEY 1 (Liam Milne – Nye Griffiths – Sophie Ashton – Sartaj Hans – Adam Edgtton – Nabil Edgtton) and to runners up SYDNEY 3 (Michael Wilkinson – Shane Harrison – Matt Smith – Fraser Rew – David Wiltshire). Check all the results HERE.

Novice players gathered to compete in the UHMP (Under 100 Master Points) Pairs challenge in 4 metropolitan clubs and 11 non-metropolitan clubs on Sunday 26th November. As soon as all clubs send in their results they will be ranked statewide. Keep yourself current with the most updated news HERE.

Have you started planning your bridge calendar for next year? New South Wales is invited to take part in the 2018 Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championship in Gold Coast from 14th - 18th February 2018. To find the best teams to represent the state, a Team Selection competition will be held from 16th - 17th December. The top team and another competing pair will represent NSW as a transnational team in the Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championship next February. Check the details and enter NOW!

The NSWBA Summer Swiss Pairs on 10th December will be the perfect practice with your partner or a get-together with your bridge buddies before Christmas! Details can be found HERE.

Merry Christmas and we wish your bridge journey be filled with joy and excitement!

There was a variety of congresses organized by local clubs last month, here are their reports:

Tenterfield 18th Annual Congress Pairs
– A congress well supported by clubs in the region.

Bathurst & District Bridge Club Central West Novice Tournament
– 1/3 players were attending their first bridge tournament and appreciated the friendly atmosphere.

Tomaree Bridge Club Congress
– The Annual Congress now becomes a two-day event of Pairs and Teams.

Mudgee Bridge Club Congress
– A congress that had previously stopped running for 12 years, and now restarted, had successfully attracted a full hall!

Parramatta Bridge Club Foundation Day Teams
– A fast growing congress.

Southern Highlands Congress
– Rakesh Kumar reports from his new home club.

Results and photos of all congresses can be found HERE.

It is never too late to bring in a great idea in a year. Peninsula Bridge Club initiated a Head to Head Teams event with Brisbane Water Bridge Club, an inspiration of Catherine Whiddon and Christine Hadaway. Peninsula Bridge Club sent 48 players (17 of them with less than 10 masterpoints) mostley on the ferry across Broken Bay to battle a similar line up from Brisbane Water. Read on and get some inspirations for the new year:

Peninsula Vs Brisbane Water Woy Woy– the first head to head teams event between the two clubs.
Applause to the winners in the Tenterfield congress: (Left) Rachel Rich and David Tuckey from Armidale came first in Pairs. From left to right in photo – Club President Patricia Barry, Rachel Rich, Director Chris Snook and David Tuckey. (Right) Runners up – Anne Riley and Gary Lynn from Ballina.
Congratulations to the winners in the Bathurst Novice Congress: (Left) 1st Overall Pairs – Convenor Karin le Roux, Faye Franklin, President Chris Rosevear and Julie Cowling. (Right) 1st Overall Teams – Sue Stacey, Jim Driscoll, President Chris, Alan Adcroft and Peter Horwood.
Happy winners in the Tomaree Congress: (Left) Director, Peter Peterson, presenting the prize to Kevin Farrell (Tomaree President) and Trish Grigson for the winning pair. (Right) Kevin Farrell presenting the prize to Sandra Dean and Bev Cleary for the best local pair.
Players were pleased to see the return of the Mudgee Congress! (Leftmost) David and Helene Lander came first in the Open Pairs. (Left) Sally Keenan and Diana Waddell won the Novice Pairs. (Right) The REED team (Michele Kerin, Peter Reed, Anne Hazelton and Neville Nott) won the Open Teams. (Rightmost) The COX team (Lorraine Gooley, Chris Cox, Robin Simson and Janet Bishop) won the Novice Teams.
Congratulations to the winners in the Parramatta Congress: (Left) The GREWCOCK team came 1st – Nigel Rosendorff, Martin Bloom, Warren Dobes and Les Grewcock. (Middle) The LIMAYE team came 2nd – Avi Kanetkar, Pauline Gumby, Warren Lazer and Ranjit Limaye. (Right) The WILSMORE team came 3rd – Avon Wilsmore, Anthony Burke, Murray Green and George Fleischer.
Well done to the winners in the Southern Highlands Congress: (Left) Winners of the Open Swiss Pairs – Ian and Vicky Lisle on the right with co-convenors Alison Micnchin and Craig Curry. (Middle) Winners of the Restricted Swiss Pairs – Donna Stewart and Sally Barber with Craig Curry. (Right) Winners of the Open Teams – Kevin Douglas, Liz and Stephen Hurley. (Absent Michael Ross).
Upcoming Events
Event highlights from 10th December to 8th January. Click HERE to view congresses for the full year.

Congresses In NSW Local Clubs
Dec 10 (Sun) Central Coast Bridge Club
Summer Teams
Event Details > 

Dec 10 (Sun) NSWBA Summer Swiss Pairs
Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 

Dec 26 – Jan 2 (Mon – Mon) Trumps Bridge Centre Festival of Bridge Swiss Pair and Teams, Gourmet Pairs, Festival Pairs & Teams, Open & Restricted Pairs and much moreEvent Details > 
Jan 7 (Sun) Double Bay Bridge Centre
Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 


State Events
Dec 9 – 11 (Fri – Sun) John Arkinstall State Open Teams Final
State Open Teams Final
Event Details > 

Dec 16 – 17 (Sat – Sun) State Youth Championship
Pairs and Teams
Event Details >

Dec 16 – 17 (Sat – Sun) 2018 Commonwealth Nations NSW Selection
Event Details >


NSWBA Events
Jan 3 & 8 (Wed & Mon) NSWBA New Year Masters Teams
Event Details > 


National (ABF) Events
Jan 6 – 12 (Sat – Fri) ABF Australian Youth Championships
Canberra
Event Details > 

Jan 10 – 21 (Wed – Sun) ABF Summer Festival of Bridge
Event Details > 


Holidays
Dec 29 – Jan 2 (Fri – Tue) Finesse "Wiseman's Ferry Festive Pairs"
Event Details > 

Jan 2 – 14 (Tue – Sun) Helane K Tours "12 Night Great Barrier Reef Bridge Cruise"
Event Details >

Jan 3 – 21 (Wed – Sun) Holiday Bridge "Sydney to Singapore Cruise"
Event Details >

Jan 5 – 7 (Fri – Sun) Trumps Bridge Centre "Leura Holiday"
Event Details >

Jan 7 – 10 (Sun – Wed) Finesse "Hunter Wine Pairs"
Event Details >

Featured Articles
Interesting hands are always thoughts provoking. Rakesh Kumar shares with you some of these from Southern Highlands Congress. Read the article of "Tales from the Deep South" by Rakesh Kumar.
Read the full article >
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 31st September 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.
 Subscribe Now >

NSW Bridge Association
+61 2 9264 8111
office@nswba.com.au
www.nswba.com.au
1/F, 162 Goulburn Street,
East Sydney 2010
Send us your stories
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.
Submit your stories / photos >
Feedback
It is important for us to know your feedback. Write to us and let us know what kind of topic you would like to know more about.
Write to the Editor >
Sponsors
Tony Bemrose
Insurance Brokers
For all your insurance needs - including travel insurance!

Red Plum Automotive
Broking Service
Buying a new car? Check out the price from the guys at Red Plum.

TFE Hotels
Discounted accommodation in Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe.