Matamata, Te Aroha, Morrinsville Clubs

Barry Jones (Gold Grandmaster) returned to his original club of Matamata today to impart some of his cumulative knowledge to intermediate/juniors from the greater Waikato/Bay of Plenty (and ably supported by Karen Martelletti).

It was a day of BIG hands and No Trumps ... The first session looked at slam hands and it quickly became obvious that this was the theme of the day.

Nick Whitten from Morrinsville jokingly suggested making a 'psyche' bid to throw his opponents from getting to game (if not slam). Taking his cue, Barry had a word in Nick's next opponents ear ..."Rochelle - bid 3D regardless of your hand". Rochelle did just that ... Nick sitting on a hand with 20+ points and 6 diamonds in his hand was flummoxed ... what to do next??? Barry came to his rescue - perhaps too quickly but it was worth it to see Nick's reaction!

A "psyche" bid where the opposition bids with minimal points against an opposition who potentially will easily bid and make a game/slam contract was debated by those there... is it fair? is it legal? Legal definitely (although the rules say it can't be done with regularity and the partner of the person who makes the psyche must be equally unaware of their intentions) ... although the fairness was debated ... as with many sacrifice bids there is potential downside as well as upside.

Attached are the main points covered today which include Gameforce responses, Lebensohl and Roman Cue Card Blackwood in further detail ... and remember never ever open 4C!!!

Morrinsville hosted a well attended Open tournament with 19 tables turning out on a beautiful crisp winter's day.

Congratulations to Ian and Cynthia Clayton who had two 60+ rounds today to come top beating Richard Fletcher and Linda Lin to take out the Hamilton Quinella.

In third place was a great performance by Olive Davis and Mary Ronke from Waikato Club. Top Piako Pairs were Rodney Harris & Phillipa Kirkpatrick from Morrinsville in 5th place. Ian Bond and Lynette Morgan were best Matamata team and Jacob Kalma and Anna Kalma were best Junior Pair winning a bottle of wine each. Unfortunately Jacob has to cellar his for another few years before he can drink his!

Results are available under the Te Aroha result tab on the www.piako.bridge-club.org website

July is a busy month for the Matamata & Te Aroha Bridge Clubs with two open tournaments happening:

Matamata 5A Open
Saturday July 5th (10am start)
Matamata Clubrooms
$25 - byo lunch however meal at end of play

Te Aroha Spa Town Teams (5A open and 5B intermediate)
Saturday 12th July (9.30am start)
St Joe's Hall, 224 Whitaker Street, Te Aroha
$120 / team which includes lunch

Register on the tournaments tab or direct your enquiry to Anna Kalma Tournament Secretary anna_kalma@hotmail.com or 07 8873686.

Matamata Golden Girls

It was tense last night at the conclusion of the Quilty Tray Teams event.

Going into the final night, team Quilty (Lesley Quilty, Heather Kneebone, Sonia Crawford & Ann Ring) had a small lead over their nemesis; team Bond (Ian Bond, Lynette Morgan, Rita van den Einden & Desma Dickinson) who just happened to be their opposition first up.

With Desma and Rita bidding 6 on board 8 and scoring a good match win, the Bond team overtook Quilty to take a healthy lead with two matches left to play.

In round 8, The Te Aroha minnows (Anna Kalma, Hermanna Hemmes, Tim Rigter & Greg Saxon) surprised everybody (not least themselves!) by scoring an upset win over the more fancied Bond team. Quilty team in the meantime were up against Waikato and when Malcolm and Alison Smith failed to make 6 against a 3NT making opposite they gave away 13 MPs in board 13, the Quilty team was back into contention trailing by just 1MP going into the final stanza.

The final match up saw Bond vs Hamilton (Malcolm and Alison, Richard Fletcher & Linda Lin) and the board 17 was the decider which saw 6 made by Alison & Malcolm giving them a buffer that Bond team wasn't able to make up. In the other match Quilty vs Waikato (Lesley Chubb, Alan Dawkins, Judy Butler & Carolyn Black) the sides had a relatively flat match with only one positive and negative score each finishing with a +1 MP for the match.

Thus sealing a win for the Quilty Team who reclaim the trophy for Matamata. Bond was second and Hamilton third. Waikato while placed 4th had the most wins in the tournament only dropping two matches throughout the three nights.

A full wrap of the WAP Round 4 is now up on the WAP tab. A good turn out at Te Aroha with 15 tables.

I can report it was a good day for Gary Foidl and Yuzhong Chen however the Clayton's still retain top spot overall

Last Friday a simultaneous pairs event was held around the country and 363 pairs took part. At the Matamata club 8 tables competed raising $310 towards the Youth trip to Turkey.

The overall winner was Jeff Miller and David Green from Otago who made 74% and the top Matamata pairing were Ann Ring and Sonia Crawford who finished 23 with 61%.

Sonia and Ann: File photo: Sonia Crawford and Ann Ring hamming it up for the camera

On a lighter note, an amusing tale of how bidding can go horribly wrong (with some help from other substances) which features our very own teacher Jane Stearns taking part in the Youth Fundraiser in Cambridge on the same night...the story can be accessed by clicking on the link: http://www.cambridge.bridge-club.org/node/512

Well the results have yet to be ratified ... but it does appear that unofficially Elaine Saywell and Coral Daisley have triumphed in the Mokena Pairs and will take the silverware back to Matamata ahead of Greg Saxon and George Sherrell. Congratulations to Elaine and Coral.

For anybody looking for the results ... for some reason my home computer which I'm in the process of restoring after a bit of a meltdown last week is sending the results to the Matamata site ... hopefully will get it fixed after a strong coffee and some sleep - but for the time being check out the latest results under Matamata:)

Also on the subject of competition winners ... a huge congratulations to George Sherrell for winning the Jim Shine Individual which finished last week. It is the first time it has been played for several years so it is nice to see the trophies back in circulation.

Have you tried out this website? It is invaluable to students learning the game. All of the hands played at lessons are available to bid and play online at this site. For more experienced players, you are able to play hands of bridge to hone your skills. Step by step instructions on how to access the lesson deals are attached below. The website for SkyBridge is: http://www.skybridgeclub.com/

Congratulations to the competition winners from Matamata.
Nola Barron was successful in winning the Norm Beecham trophy on Thursday night.

Nola Barron

A handicap competition played over 6 nights with the top 5 scores counting and Nola gained an impressive average of over 60%. In second place was Joanne Swanwick and in third place Helen Reid

Also a few weeks ago saw the conclusion of the Edie Schwartz competition which was won by Hermanna Hemmes followed closely by Anne Beetham and Rita Van Den Einden

Hermanna

Congratulations Ladies!!!

Matamata hosted a Junior Tournament in the weekend with 13 full tables with representatives from as far afield as Auckland down to Taupo taking part.

Melanie Trevethick and Malcolm Hill from Cambridge were the eventual winners with two great sessions to finish with an average of slightly over 60%. Just behind were the top Matamata pairing of Barbara Keys and Raewyn Richards with consistently strong performances through the day. Geoff Wane and Anne Clark from Mt Maunganui were third.

Full results can be accessed here
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Thanks to the sponsors Property Broker and Sonia Crawford for donating wine as prizes.