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Two ladies from Wellington came down to play a double-date with two local gents. What happened next? Sorry.... you will just

have to wait to find out. Firstly, though, the Rangiora 8B on July 3rd.

Rangiora 8B

July 3^rd was a glorious winter’s day and we had 17 tables enjoying the sunshine.  Players from Geraldine and Westport enjoyed success, the overall winners being Chris Bras and Michael Hume from Christchurch. 

Michael Hume (left) and Chris Bras, sitting North, on their way to victory.

Two ladies from Wellington came down to play a double-date with two local gents.  The gents are invited back to Wellington. Will this be a "redouble" date ?  (Was it worth the wait...or maybe the date?)

Some fun from the table at Rangiora:

 

Most tables resulted in East playing 5 and making 6.   The lone pair in 6 failed to make the slam which is not so easy on a diamond lead.   You can draw trumps but never get back to the West hand.  Instead, declarer must first discard two spades on AK of clubs, and then run the J or else hope that North is the one with the doubleton club and has the doubleton trump. As you can see, if declarer plays the Q,North must ruff to prevent a third discard. Declarer over-ruffs, draws trumps in one round, ruffs their other diamond and continues on with the clubs to make all 13 tricks!

Mid-South Island Interclub Teams

Six clubs attended this social event at Timaru on June 26^th,  Timaru, Geraldine, Temuka, Oamaru, Ashburton and Waimate.  Timaru won all three grades. The Timaru Junior pairings had not played together before; so a great outcome.  The real winner was the tournament as a whole because many of the intermediates and junior players had not met the players from the other clubs. It was a fun day and hopefully it will encourage them to play in more tournaments.

 The winning Timaru team: (rear) Grant Patterson, Kay Nicholas, Bruce Small, Michael Johnstone, Margaret Christian, Paula Gregory, Lesley Andrew and Raewyn Shaw

                                         (front) Lucy Collier-Christian, Vivien Cournane, Mary Cumming and Anthea Shanks

Akaroa Improvers Lessons

This club ran lessons for 7 weeks each Monday night before play.  Each night had a topic with handouts, but mostly the players just gathered around one table and slowly played through selected examples from previous nights.   About a quarter of the club attended each lesson, with a third of the members attending the final night . Fun and educational.

 

SOUTH ISLAND PAIRS

This was held on the 9^th and 10^th of July at the Christchurch Bridge Club.

21 tables in total, with a high standard of players from around the country.   Saturday was 78 boards of qualifying, the field then being split into three flights of 14 pairs.   On Sunday each flight played a Howell movement with Barometer scoring, scores being provided after each round of three boards, 13 rounds in total.   Local pairs won the B and C finals, but the visitors took out the top five placings in the A final.   Congratulations to the overall winners, Ellena Moskovsky and James Coutts from Dunedin.

 South Island Pairs in action

Amusing asides, all different stories from the South Island Pairs :

1. After dark on Saturday there were some booms from outside. The volunteers all rushed outside to enjoy a fireworks display over Christchurch city. The players remained oblivious.

2. North, very serious, called for a psych form after putting down dummy on the board below. Very wise!

 

              West    North   East     South

                                                     Pass

                Pass     1 !   Dbl      2

                Pass     Pass   Pass                 -250 was a near top.

 

 

Was East out watching the fireworks?

3. The director was called and made a ruling.

“I want it to go to a higher authority !” burst out one of the players."The New Zealand's Chief Director agrees with the ruling, but you’re welcome to appeal …"

 4. A player asked the caddy, “Are there any shops around here ?” “Well, not really, but I’m not tied to being here Can I go and get you something ?”   “A packet of West Red 20’s please” …    "My mother would not approve."

 

Thanks, Giles for filling in while Craig Shanahan is away. (Richard Solomon)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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