Anna Kalma's blog

After a few last minute dropouts due to frosty conditions, an eventual turnout of 12 tables competed at the Matamata 5A Open in the weekend. The field was a mix of veteran locals and enthusiastic intermediates who mixed it with some of the best in the region which included NZ representatives and NZ's newest Grandmaster in Yuzhong Chen.

The director was Rona Driscoll and she wisely decided against going for three sessions opting for a 28 board Mitchell in the morning and splitting the field into two Howell sections playing 33 boards in the afternoon.

Top of the billing at the lunch break was Yuzhong Chen and Herman Yuan who sat East West and Kate McFadyen and Gwynn Lobb who took NS honours.

The afternoon's play had Karen Harris and Ian Clayton top of Section A howell and locals Lesley Quilty and Heather Kneebone taking honours at the other side of the room.

Once weightings had been added to take into account the differing number of boards played in each session; the overall victors were Karen Harris and Ian Clayton from Hamilton, Christine and Jenna Gibbons came in second and the best locals Heather Kneebone and Lesley Quilty finished in third place.

Apologies for the lack of photo's of the day and those who finished on the podium ... The lure of the roast dinner and a glass of wine at the RSA following play took precedence over the need to record events for prosperity!

Results available via the results tab: http://www.piako.bridge-club.org/resultmam

Just when I thought some of the newish players are coming to grips with sacrifice bids, I stumble across the following summary of the contract played on Tuesday Night at Te Aroha bridge club. 4600 points - in case anybody was wondering what 8 light redoubled and vulnerable was worth:)

sacrifice bid?

At the very least, I admire their gumption although I do wonder what the partner was thinking!

A huge turn out of 20 tables competed at the Morrinsville Open 8B tournament this weekend.

Heather Kneebone and Lesley Quilty topped the field with an impressive average of 64 against strong opposition. A great result:)

The other notable performance from locals was a fine 7th from Tim Rigter and Victor Kooter. Victor was the only junior featuring in the top half of the field and they were the top non-open pairs.

Attached are the final placings.

We received sad news that Allan Barclay of Thames died on Tuesday after a short battle with cancer. Allan was instrumental in organising and running the Thames summer festival of bridge, was a recent NZ Bridge board member and also proactive in organising interclub events with Te Aroha which is where most of our new members will remember him from.

Richard Solomon from NZ Bridge has written a very fine obituary on the NZCBA website and can be accessed via the following link here.

The funeral will be held at 11am on Monday 15th June at St Francis Catholic Church in Thames.

The Waikato Team of Lesley Chubb, Judy Butler, Brian Nicholson and Alan Dawkins have finally triumphed in the Quilty Trays after competing in every event since it was opened to visiting teams.

They had an emphatic win and could have gone home at supper with an unbeatable 32 point lead at supper time on the final night. It turned out that their last match against runner-ups (and last year's winners of Lesley Quilty, Sonia Crawford, Ann Ring and Heather Kneebone)was their closest with just a 1 IMP win but meant they retained their perfect record of 9 wins from 9 matches.

Third place was the Hamilton Team consisting of MAlcolm Smith, Alison Smith, Linda Lin, Richard Fletcher and Richard Hooper!

Well done to Ari and Tim Rigter for winning the 2015 Championship Pairs. Ari and Tim are long time members of the Te Aroha club and have paired up for this competition for many years without success until this year which makes their victory all the sweeter.

Ari and Tim

Their victory was aided with a timely 70% score in the penultimate week which left a bit of breathing space between them and the chasing pack.

The winners of the Mokena Handicap Trophy which is run alongside the event was Pamela Clydesdale and Laurie Belfield. A great result for Pamela who just learnt bridge in the past year.

A stunning home win for mother and daughter combo Barbara and Raewyn at the Matamata Junior Tournament. A stunning top of the room score of 63.64% in the morning session followed by a steady 54.17% in the afternoon saw them clinch the Matamata Junior Pairs title by just 1.5%. Well done to Barbara and Raewyn who have now taken the lead in the Waikato Bays Junior League at the half way point. Runners up from Rotorua were Colleen Allen and Maureen Carter. A notable third place for a beginner from lessons last year Michele Liddle playing with her "Buddy" Jan Wills.

Attached the latest newsletter from the Waikato Bays region.

Jane Stearns is offering the "Nesting Pairs" course at the Putaruru Bridge Club to all partnerships in the Waikato area that are interested as well as Rotorua and Taupo. Full details of the course content and registration details are available on the South Waikato website

http://www.south-waikato.bridge-club.org/

If interested, please let Jane know by Friday 17 April janelawrence50@hotmail.com

Jane will be running her Bridge-It Jane's Nesting Pairs Course at the Putaruru Club from April to July. A fortnightly, one-hour seminar, one-hour practice series of seven is designed to promote partnership understanding and tournament success.

Partnerships need to register their interest by FRIDAY 17 APRIL. The course is aimed at intermediates wishing to raise their game. Very keen juniors may enjoy Seminars 1, 2, 3 and 5 and 6. Open players that have not covered the topics on offer are welcome to register.

The Edie Schwarz Jug competition played over seven rounds has been completed. This competition is an individual scratch competition with six out of seven scores counting. It is one of the main Wednesday Bridge contests and the saying goes that “cream comes to the top.”

It certainly was the case in this competition. Sonia Crawford was the winner without even having to play the final round with all six of her scores counting. She was able to withstand a spirited challenge from Ann Ring and win by 1.1 point.

Best six scores were-
1. Sonia Crawford 367.00 av. 61.47
2.Ann Ring 365.99 av. 61.00
3.Anne Beetham 355.58 av. 59.26

Edie Schwarz: Edie Schwarz

It is fitting that one of the Matamata Bridge Club’s most revered past members is remembered with a keenly contested trophy. Edie played at the club for many many years and a number of the present bridge players were taught the game by Edie Schwarz.