Bridge Club News

There was some uncertainty about whether the Club will be open on New Year's Day. The answer is yes!

Cassandra Mitchell has kindly volunteered to direct the session, so if you wish to start the year on a bridge note please come along.

So you have a burning question or suggestion about the way the club works and players interact? Why do we turn over the contract after the opening lead? Why don't we turn it over until the opening lead? Why don't we all wear name tags. Are players allowed to stop the play and claim the rest of the tricks?

Ask the club guru! Simply send you suggestion or question to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - or drop a note to the guru and place it in the Suggestion Box to be found soon outside the office.

The questions and answers will be published on this site as an ongoing resource of frequently asked questions. Some may also lead to other responses such as a director pre-session chat, an informative article or even a suggestion to the Committee regarding a change of operating procedure or playing rule.

Read

Vivien Eldridge and Alan Davies triumphed in the 2017 Sloman Competition, ahead of Beryl Dawson and Yvonne Perkins.

This annual competition is held on Mondays across the whole year.

No-one took a photo on the day so this photo is repurposed from one taken a couple of weeks earlier when they won the November Swiss Pairs.

In a tight final round Cath Whiddon and David Farmer overtook leaders Col Dempster and Brian Ody to win the 2017 Padman Trophy. This was despite David putting Cath into an impossible slam - "Slam seemed to be possible, and there was no way I could think of to ask the questions I wanted to - and I am an optimist...". 

Col Dempster and Brian Ody were the 2017 Padman Trophy runners-up.

No-one took a photo on the night and so this is a repurposed photo from earlier in the year.

Anyone been wondering what’s behind the grey screen in the north west corner of the club room? All will be revealed this week in the lead up to the Christmas party this Sunday. There was a lucky pair on the waiting list who have got the last tickets but otherwise sadly, it is all sold out and no walk ins.

On Sunday the bar will open at 9.30. Bridge play starts at 10.30 until 4pm. Please bring a plate of your wonderful morning tea delights (savoury preferred) for everyone to enjoy on the day.

Queries please contact Gayle on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Put together six victories out of six (a rare feat for most of us) and wine and cheese and there is room for some contentment.

Such was my fortunate experience with the Club Teams Championship with team mates Alan Davies, Vivien Eldridge and Catherine Whiddon - with a score of 93.8, just beating the fast-finishing Draper team (Ray Bragge, Michael and Margaret Draper, and Anne Small) on 91.3.

It was a great event enjoyed by it seemed all participants. You can check the full results on our site.

The final Swiss Pairs evening on Tuesday 21 November saw Alan and Vivien triumphant, including winning the last round against the fancied guest expert pair of Warren Lazer and Pauline Gumby.

Warren and Pauline had a bidding problem in the last round when they missed a slam after an intervening bid prevented their being certain they had slam range points. Warren opened 1C which in their system can be a 17-20HCP hand as well as a 12-14 ish 1C opening. When Alan or Vivien intervened with a 3C overcall, Pauline bid 3NT. Warren with 20HCP passed not sure if Pauline had stretched with a club stopper. A slam went begging.

Earlier just before the session, Warren had spoken on "What to count, How to count" starting with the basics and with efficient ways to store information about hand shapes that emerges during the play of a board, and ending up with using counting to determine how to play the last few tricks with confidence. That will be our last Swiss Pairs for 2017 with the 2018 season planned to start on Tuesday 23 January.

Peninsula players comprised 11 out of the 134 players competing in the NSW State Open Pairs Championships in November - after qualifying events at clubs around the state.

The first day saw the field cut back to 14 and we managed to hold 3 of these 14 finalist places with Robin Ho (our Administration Officer, playing with her frequent partner Alexander Cook) and our regular pairing of Vivien Eldridge and Alan Davies. The second day of finals saw Robin finish 8th in the state with Alex and Vivien and Alan finishing 12th.

 In the consolation Swiss Pairs held in part for those pairs that did not make the finals, Greg Hay and Mervyn Baxter did well to place 13th equal. You can check all the results.