Matamata, Te Aroha, Morrinsville Clubs

On Thursday nights from 6.45pm, Kathy Yule will take a 30 minute instructional for anybody who wishes to attend. The topics may be (but not limited to) things like;

Rule of 11
Rule of 15
Count and attitude
Discarding
7 diamonds ... The Beer Card (ha ha I added that one in!)
2C checkback

Kathy will take a couple of boards from the previous week's play and use this to demonstrate correct play or a new convention.

In a short break in play - Kathy demonstrated her ability to pass on knowledge in a short space of time ... ever heard of a Smith Peter convention?

This is a way of signalling attitude in defence to a No Trump contract.

It is a way of saying to your partner that you love (or hate) their lead (which is often the suit that they are trying to set up in defence as their longest suit).

	32 A8 J87 AQ93
KJ4 QJ6 T954 T82		976 KT742 K3 K74
	AQT8 93 AQ62 J65

For example in this hand, Defending against 3NT - East leads the 4 hearts, partner plays the Jack of hearts which is taken on the first round by the A of hearts. Declarer then leads the Jack of diamonds from hand which wins. West discards their 10 of diamonds showing they loved the heart lead and indicating to partner to carry on hearts when they get a chance.

If West didn't want another heart lead (didn't hold the King or Queen of hearts) they would throw a small diamond to indicate they didn't like partners initial suit lead.

That is what is called a Smith Peter convention.

Day Bridge kicks off in Te Aroha on Friday afternoons from 3rd February.

12.30pm start at the clubrooms on 105 Whitaker Street, Te Aroha (please be seated 12.15pm)

Table money is $3 and everybody (non members also) welcome.

Look forward to seeing you there. If you are coming and might be running late give me a call on 0275 183 133.

Anna

Full room at Te Aroha

Cambridge is kicking off a series of Improver Lessons from 8th February - each Thursday night from 7-9pm for the next two months.

They are making these available to any Waikato Bays members - they have just requested a gold coin donation from non Cambridge members.

These are being pitched at relatively new players and attached is a poster showing what topics will be covered and some more information.

For more information or to let them know you may attend; contact Clare Coles on pccoles@clear.net.nz

Barry Jones and Jenny Millington will be running a series of monthly sessions on Friday Nights in Hamilton for those who want to improve their bidding and playing skills and have opened these up for outside club members. The first three sessions will be at 7pm on Friday 10th Feb, 10th March and 7 April.

The first session (10th February) is primarily aimed at those who have been through beginners courses in the last couple of years. It will start with a short refresher on what you've already been taught. They will talk about bidding with points and without them and follow it up with playing some boards and discussion.

Turn up on the night with $5 and bring your own drinks if you wish for a social session/discussion afterwards.

thames winners: Noel Griggs, Grant Jarvis & Ken Yule

A great result for Matamata trio - Noel, Kathy and Ken who teamed up with Grant Jarvis from Auckland to win the prestigious John Eldridge Teams event at the first major tournament of 2017 in Thames.

Unfortunately Kathy was absent from the photos and my efforts to photoshop her into the photo above were less than convincing ... probably best to just refer to her photo in the following blog for reference.

Well done you three - great to have Matamata on the podium...It was also encouraging to see around 12 other members from Te Aroha and Matamata taking part in the tournament which attracts around 140 players from the greater North Island. This included juniors taking part in the 8B multigrade teams as well as others in the open teams and walk in pairs.

The end of year rank reports and Baden Wilson awards have been issued by NZ Bridge and are available on the NZBridge website

Kathy

Great to see some local names; Kathy Yule features on the Baden Wilson list (those earning the highest number of A points within NZ in the past year) and also ranked 7th highest female silver Grand Master in the country with regards to Masterpoints earned in the past year.

Noel Grigg was 2nd highest in the Life Master ranking which is the rank below Grand Master ... great result considering Noel has only recently returned to playing bridge in NZ.

Malcolm Kirkby also featured in the Club Master rankings at 9th equal of the males - also impressive considering Malcolm has only been seriously playing for a couple of years.

You can also check your own rankings, ratings and Master points here.

To understand what ranking, grades and Masterpoints mean and how they are calculated - there is an excellent article under snippets to the left hand side of this website.

Remember that Matamata is hosting a New Year's Eve Bridge party on 31st December.

It will kick off at 7.30pm and open to anybody and you don't need a partner BUT you need to let Hermanna know whether you are attending so she can sort a suitable festive movement.

No cost but bring something to share (drink and eat).

Contact Hermanna on 07 8873 781 if you intend to play.

Social Bridge starts again in the New Year in Matamata on Wednesdays afternoons from the 4th January at 1pm- 3pm with partners drawn on arrival. It will be back to normal picnic bridge from 10.30am from the 18th January.

The first Thursday night will be the 19th January and the first two weeks will be partners not required and drawn on arrival.

The first Monday Night is Jan 30th

And Te Aroha will start earlier than usual from Tuesday 10th at 7.15pm and Friday Day sessions will start February (will advise date closer to the time).

Have a safe and happy holidays as we want to see you back at the table in 2017!

A great end to the Matamata Thursday night bridge calendar with lots of people entering the spirit of things.
Xmas Party

Top scratch pairs were Kathy and Ken Yule and Lynette Morgan and Ian Bond whilst once the handicaps had been applied top of the ladder were Michelle Smith and Jill Ireland along with Joe and Barbara Keys.

A great night was had by all who attended.

Two major competitions concluded this week at the Matamata Bridge Club.

The Dora Hammond Tray which is a handicap competition held over 7 weeks and played with all different partners concluded on Wednesday. Beth Vosper outplayed a big field of enthusiasts with an average score of 57.29. Elaine Saywell was the runner up. The Thursday night Handicap Championships has been keenly contested and our Secretary Joan Darby-Smith and Stella Macilquham managed to stave off all the challenges to win by a small margin from Judith Howard and Ross McIntrye. Joan & Stella recorded 407.47 points over the seven sessions with an average of 58.21%. Ross and Judith pulled out all stops on the final night to win that round with 64.77 % but could not catch the leaders and finally recorded 57.07%. Michele Smith and Jill Ireland were third.

End of year Program

Monday Night Nov. 28th Final night of Championships. Committee Shout.

Wednesday Nov. 30th. Round 1 of Christmas two day match. BYO Lunch as usual.

Thursday Dec 1st Final Night-Christmas Celebration.

A small plate for shared supper. 1 Plate per pair. No table money . $50 Raffle.

Wear an outrageous tie or gaudy beads & ear rings. This applies to men or women.

Christmas spirit to be available. Prizes both handicap and gross.

Wednesday Dec 7th. Picnic Bridge Christmas Party. Red Letter Day. Wear something red. Christmas spirit to be available.

No table money, but optional 5.00 gift. Prize Giving for Wednesday competitions. A plate for shared lunch. Prizes both handicap and gross.

Thursday 8th December at 7.30pm.

Your Bridge Club’s A.G.M. and Prize Giving.

Be there to support your club.

Friday bridge sessions will resume next year ... too many people unavailable in the run up to Christmas/New Year.

Will advise in the New Year when Tuesday evening holiday bridge and Friday day bridge resumes.

Well done Jacob Kalma; named as non travelling reserve in the NZ Youth Team to play Australia in January 2017 along with his Auckland playing partner Jeremy Fraser-Hoskin.

Jacob