Matamata Intermediate Tournament coming soon

Reminder that the Matamata Intermediate Tournament takes place next Sunday 13th September.

Only $20 to enter which includes refreshments post play (BYO lunch) and prizes for best junior pair alongside with general winners. The event is also part of the Waikato Bays Intermediate league.

Morning tea from 9:30am.

Please enter early so we can ascertain demand. Entries a bit slow at present. Enter on the nzbridge website or send an email to matamatabridge@gmail.com

Matamata Intermediate flyerMatamata Intermediate flyer

Lawrence Teaz passing

We are sad to report the passing of Lawrence Teaz - past president of the Matamata Bridge club in 2015/2016. He died on Saturday in Tauranga at the age of 77 years.

LawrenceLawrence

Lawrence was brought up in Ngarua on his parents farm where he followed them into farming - often earning the title of best producing Jersey cow in his heyday as a dairy farmer (there was some debate about whether Jersey or Ayreshire but Laurie is adamant it was Jersey!). Either way they were pedigree and top cows!

He later went on to work for Mike Moroney the horse trainer and bridge players remember Lawrence bringing a Melbourne Cup into the bridge club for everybody to admire (chances being it was the 2000 MElbourne Cup that was won by Brew that year). Most years he was unavailable to play bridge during the early part of November instead enjoying time in the spring racing carnival in Melbourne.

Another place he frequented was USA - he had a grandson there and he had developed an unlikely friendship with a KJ Choi - a worldclass Korean Golfer who was living in the US! Lawrence reckoned they hooked up after he arranged a case of NZ wine to be sent to KJ following a win and him mentioned he liked Sauvignon Blanc in the interview!

While he took up bowls in later life - I hope to think Bridge was his second preferred sport (to Racing). He was responsible for getting filtered water on tap into the bridge club during his tenure as well as being the king at sandwiches! Some say his first love however was gardening - he looked after the roses at Mike Moroneys as well as the bridge club gardens.

He was also great at bringing in sponsorship seemingly he knew
everybody in town!

Lawrence: Lawrence (left) in dress up mode with some of the other Matamata
committeeLawrence: Lawrence (left) in dress up mode with some of the other Matamata
committee

Best thing about Lawrence was his humour and easy going nature...

Bridge players - let me know if you have any other memories of Lawrence and we can add them to this page.

Go well Lawrence.

Matamata Open

Great tournament held in Matamata on Saturday with 19 full tables in the clubroom.

You required at least 60% to get into the top 6 for the prize money and at least 63% average to make the top three!

Grant Jarvis and Ian Berrington - top placeGrant Jarvis and Ian Berrington - top place

Barry Jones and Jenny Millington from Hamilton were the runners-upBarry Jones and Jenny Millington from Hamilton were the runners-up

Third place was Malcolm Mayer playing with Matamata's Ken YuleThird place was Malcolm Mayer playing with Matamata's Ken Yule

Judith won the heat for the Judith Howard league (along with Malcolm Kirkby)Judith won the heat for the Judith Howard league (along with Malcolm Kirkby)

In 4th place overall was Gary Chen and John WangIn 4th place overall was Gary Chen and John Wang

5th place was Anna Kalma and Richard Solomon5th place was Anna Kalma and Richard Solomon

Best score of the day (71% in the second session) went to locals Neil Dravitzki and Sonia Crawford who ended up in 6th placeBest score of the day (71% in the second session) went to locals Neil Dravitzki and Sonia Crawford who ended up in 6th place

Bridge Restarts under Level 1

Te Aroha have voted to start back at bridge on Friday 12th June at 11.30 and Tuesday night session starting on the 16th June at 7pm.

Both events will be social and you don't need a partner - just turn up.

Matamata will restart the week beginning 22nd June - social play for the week also just turn up with or without a partner. All usual club sessions are back on.

Lessons will also start afresh on Thursday 18th at 7pm at the Te Aroha Bridge Club.

Make sure you tell your non-bridge playing family and friends about the wonderful game of bridge.

AND Spa Town Teams will take place … however new venue (for one year only) the Hamilton Bridge Club!

Cost is $120 per team, start time 9.30am. Maximum 25 teams at this stage. Multigrade and Open will be combined into the one field but prizes for teams with less than 200 A points etc depending on the number of entries. BYO lunch.

Virtual bridge takes off in the Waikato Bays

Waikato players now have special areas in BBO to maintain their skills while enjoying the company of others in the Region. We have been working towards the concept of each of the region's bigger clubs hosting a session or two every week so there's something on offer for everyone.

We're going to leave it up to the organising clubs to set up their own sessions. While we place emphasis on the need to encourage mainly newer players to take part, we also recognise that our more experienced players would appreciate the opportunity to compete against their friends at other clubs in the region. The schedule laid out below is a first cut that, hopefully, will offer something for everyone. As we settle into it we will be making alterations and, hopefully, additions so we can offer two sessions a day.

So - our first-cut weekly schedule:

  • Monday 1pm Matamata hosts Matchpoint Individuals open to newer players throughout NZ.
  • Monday 7pm Te Awamutu hosts Matchpoint Pairs open to Waikato-Bays Listed players only.
  • Tuesday 7pm Te Aroha hosts Matchpoint Swiss Pairs open to Junior and Intermediate players throughout NZ.
  • Wednesday 7pm Rotorua hosts Matchpoint Indivduals open to Waikato-Bays Listed players only.
  • Thursday 1pm Tauranga hosts Junior/Intermediate players at Matchpoint Pairs open to anywhere in NZ.
  • Friday 1pm Piako hosts Matchpoint Swiss pairs open to NZ players only.
  • Friday 7pm Cambridge hosts IMP Swiss Pairs open to all NZ players.
  • Saturday 7pm Hamilton hosts IMP Swiss Pairs for Open and stronger Intermediate NZ players.
  • Sunday 7pm Rotorua hosts Matchpoint Indivduals for Beginner and Novice NZ players.
  • Please click the Read More button below to ... read more ...

    What to do once you're registered with BBO (please have your NZB number showing in your profile)

    • Entries open two hours ahead of scheduled start time. Be sure you are on BBO before start time - either playing or in the lobby.
    • Just follow these instructions and you should arrive at the right place at the right time
    1. Any time within two hours of start time log in to BBO and go to HOME at the top
    2. Click on Competitive
    3. Click on Free Tournaments
    4. In the search box at top start type "WB" - the tournament should appear
    5. Click on it
    6. For Pairs you must enter your partner's BBO name to get registered. If it's an Individual just your BBO name is all that is required
    7. Stay on BBO or come back before start time - either kibitzing or playing or just lurking in the lobby
    8. At the appointed time you will be unceremoniously whisked away and plonked in a seat at the tournament
    9. You know what to do then. Have an enjoyable game
    10. When it's all over you'll be able to find your results on the History tab of your side menu.

    To ensure the integrity of our fields, entry to our region-wide tournaments which are run by director chameli is restricted to just the BBO names that have registered with us at nzw247@gmail.com. Get your BBO name registered and join in the fun.

    For - well - anyone, really, there's a totally excellent resource on how to use BBO on the NZBridge website c/- Karen Martelletti.

    Also .. check out these YouTube videos

BBO tonight - Te Aroha Matamata individual

Good night with 14 tables (56 players) taking part online in an individual. A few people somehow didn't make it onto the table but hope those that did enjoyed the experience. We will repeat on Friday.

The scores are sort of irrelevant in an individual but we are competitive and like to know … so the final placings were as follows!

Name Score (%) Rank
shirltowns 75.26 1
samennz 69.37 2
Joysie1 67.29 3
Rainboat 65.32 4
drycow 63.32 5
phriday 62 6
AL 059 60.44 7
tchavagrou 60.38 8
flica3 59.56 9
Totarakid 59.33 10
notrumpluv 58.51 11
Zara54 57.79 12
Motleycat 57.01 13
BethVo 56.71 14
NZBEAR 56.35 15
radar51 55.63 16
kiwiliddle 54.95 17
happytiges 54.93 18
Brownie10 54.91 19
lesgarth 54.39 20
cruisechic 53.93 21
newby51 53.43 22
Umpah 52.34 23
clusker 52.1 24
aconahonda 51.66 25
louloucam 50.52 26
lann1 50.24 27
litenin 49.76 28
diann1 49.68 29
KevinB100 49.56 30
guyzer5 48.48 31
Top Cru 48.2 32
rock70 47.98 33
judithhow 47.84 34
pres 63 47.12 35
hhemmes 46.96 36
minnie16 46.33 37
chameli 45.95 38
hafrisch 45.11 39
Ricsym 44.73 40
Mierie 43.55 41
ShirleyBa 42.47 42
bloss06 42.19 43
Lozza18 40.79 44
moiralags 40.71 45
lynnycam 40.06 46
kski 39.94 47
Turtle Top 39.92 48
joshyteeee 38.56 49
8east 38.28 50
Teela14 37.46 51
Silverbeet 37.2 52
te puru 36.38 53
garthles 35.82 54
heinilux 35.42 55
peterpietj 25.9 56

Online Bridge in the Piako region

There have been a number of opportunities for bridge players to continue playing in the comfort of their own house recently.

Thanks to Peter Daffurn and Judith Howard who have been organising club matches on BBO and arranging access and instruction for those wanting to get online.

Along with regular twice daily New Zealand online tournaments arranged by Auckland Bridge Club. The Waikato Bays are slowly setting themselves up with other options to play. Keep an eye on the Waikato bays website with other opportunities to play.

We will be holding Piako Bridge Matches this week on BBO … on Tuesday night at 7pm and 1pm on Friday.

These are for piako bridge club members or neighbouring clubs only.

These tournaments will be hosted by akalma and be named 'Piako NZ' or something similar.

Judith and Peter are also keeping a register of everyones bbo usernames to enable partnerships and registration for club specific competitions. If you want to play or learn how to get onto bbo contact Judith.

IF you are new to BBO there is a number of instructive information on how to bid/alert and undo your bids online... http://www.nzbridge.co.nz/latest-updates,listing,6038,new-to-bridge-base...

COVID-19 fallout

Hi all

Based on recommendations from NZ Bridge and the ever evolving situation both Te Aroha and Matamata bridge clubs have made the decision to temporarily shut up shop from all bridge for the next three weeks- club sessions, lessons and tournaments for at least 3 weeks.

There will be no more bridge sessions at Matamata but Te Aroha will play a last hurrah on Friday afternoon the 20th March before shutting up shop.

We will monitor the situation and keep our members informed. As well as looking for alternative ways of carrying on with the game we enjoy - perhaps through house bridge or technology.

Please see below the link to NZ Bridge's latest advisory: http://www.nzbridge.co.nz/latest-updates,listing,6003,coronavirus--bulle...

And keep linked to the NZ Bridge website for further updates (as will we at the bridge clubs).

The key thing is about protecting our members in the short term … while we look forward to returning back to bridge in the medium term.

First heat of he WAPS kicks off in Matamata

The first WAP kicked off in Matamata today with a good crowd of 17 tables.

Well done to Kathy and Mike who took out the first WAP of the year with a stonking 73% in the morning and 65 in the afternoon. It was a good day for Matamata with Ian and Lynette taking second and Joy Williams and Michelle Liddle who had a great first section took out the top Junior Junior pairs.

Winner: First place Kathy and MikeWinner: First place Kathy and Mike

Ian and LynetteIan and Lynette

top junior pair: Joy and Michelle                                                                                                       `top junior pair: Joy and Michelle `

Summer and Holiday Bridge kicks off!

Matamata Bridge Club kicked off their social holiday bridge on Monday afternoons from 6th January onwards at 1pm for anybody interested - just turn up and we will guarantee a partner.

Wednesday Holiday Bridge starts on Wednesday 15th January from 1pm - 4pm.

Te Aroha also starts back in their social holiday bridge programme - both Tuesday evenings (7pm) and Friday afternoons (from 11.30am) started the week beginning 6th January. No partner necessary just turn up!