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Kairangi returns home...but is Tony ever at his "home?

The Kairangi Bridge Club have now returned to play regular bridge in their club rooms. The strengthening work on their building will be fully completed in October. Tony Sutich, our regional chair, must therefore be among the happiest persons in town. I’ve mentioned it before -  he’s somewhat busy this year. As well as working on that major project, he’s recently set up the various Interclub final formats as the competition transitions from the early rounds, and is sorting out the master points (no small task, given the number of teams and stand in players). The rubber bridge competition he sets up and supports in Wellington has produced its local winners. The Junior League has also been busy, as described below, with a brief respite before the last eligible event.

We’re also arranging and then holding the Annual meeting of the local clubs in mid-October, having brought it forward from the start of the calendar year. Since NZ Bridge has been active recently, he’s also handling local decision making and communications on their important initiatives. Not quite sure how he does it all and maintains his equanimity. It might be that the end of some of it is in sight, and there might be more time for the bridge table. If croquet doesn’t get in the way.

 

Something New

1. The Otaki club now have a new website, it’s at http://www.otaki.bridge-club.org.

 

2. If you follow the link to the Interclub results below, you might notice a link in round 8 that says “Interesting Hands”. This write-up was done for competitors in the Interclub competition, written on the assumption that the players have the hand records available to them. Even so, there is some commentary where the full deals are set out.

 

These notes are also interesting because they speculate instructively as to what might have happened across the grades, for example, explaining why Open players might press on to game in situations where less experienced players might not. The notes were prepared by Vil Gravis of the Hutt Bridge Club. Incidentally, Vil has a new book out, “Tips and Quips” available by emailing Vil at villyn@xtra.co.nz. The cost, including postage, is $30.

 

Local Tournaments

In reading the following roundup, bear in mind that Kate Davies and John Patterson will have travelled away and done well in various out-of-region teams and pairs events during this period. I’m thinking of getting a stamp made to say this in future updates. As a specific example, they were in the winning team in the Top of the South teams in mid September.

Another stamp would be useful for mentioning that several local clubs were holding their Intermediate and Junior tournaments. To avoid excess repetition, I’ll run through these local events in one block, first the Intermediate, then the Junior results, done one club at a time.

First up are the two Kairangi events on the 20th August. Martyn Dowman and Alan Jennings took out the Intermediate (17 Pairs) averaging 61.7%, from Elaine Richardson and Jeffry Craanen. In the 15 pair Junior, Maciej Szczesny and Julie Newsome won from Karen Oswald and Darren McCutcheon.

Next up is Otaki on the 27th. Twenty four Intermediate pairs, Cindy Lowndes and Alistair James coming in ahead of Mark Noble and Jack James. 16 Juniors, Tony Fayerman and Alan Mudford winning, with Adrienne Dale and Miriam Levin second.

Early September saw the Wellington Club repeating this formula, 16 pairs in the Intermediate, 12 in the Junior. Jan Borren and Brad Tattersfield finished ahead of Mira Trifunovic and Stephanie Smith in the Intermediate. Annie Fleetwood and Marina Smith were the Junior winners from Anne Gaskell and Miriam Lewin.

Finally, I can mention the Victoria Club tournaments on the 17th September. John Joseph and Ian Fowler headed the 18 pair Intermediate field from Mike and Pauline Murtagh. Suzanne Keppel and Kevin Stacey were first in the Junior, with Marcus Smith and Edward May coming second.

Yes, there was also some bridge for the other grades. The Waikanae Multigrade was held on the 6th August. Michael Stace and Lynda Evans won this event. Alwyn Courtenay and Alan Jennings were second, ahead of Adrienne Dale and Pat D’Arcy. You might notice some of these names featuring in the above Intermediate and Junior results.

The Hutt Intermediate followed one week later. It’s mentioned down here because there wasn’t an associated Junior tournament. Alan Jennings and Martyn Dowman made this no contest with scores of 65% and 64.23%. Graham Potter and Denise Barnett were second.

The Karori Open was held on the 27th August. Russell Dive and Anthony Ker averaged 63.22, with Graeme Norman and Pat D’Arcy second.

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Karori winners, Anthony Ker and Russell Dive

The Hutt Multigrade was held on the 10th September. Lorraine McArthur and Eleanor Morel won this event, from Caroline Strachan and Bryan Cunliffe. The winning “Pair with a Junior” were Allan Joseph (perhaps leaving his Director’s hat in the boot, Winston style) and Yiyang Wang. The winning “Pair with no Open player” were Alwyn Courtenay and Doug O'Halloran.

 

 Eleanor Morel and LorraineMcCarthur, with Gavin Murphy of Gee & Hickton, a longtime sponsor of the Hutt Bridge Club.

Junior League

We have had a few Junior tournaments recently (see above,) and two players, Miriam Lewin and Adrienne Dale, have established a significant lead as they head into the last tournament of the League.

Rubber Bridge

The twenty seven local pairs have fought their way through to a winning pair who will contest the finals in Hamilton later this week. If you don’t read this update within a couple of days of publication, the national final should be over. Our Wellington Region winners are last year’s local and national winners, Russell Dive and Anthony Ker. Russell and Anthony won convincingly from Kate Davies and John Patterson in the Wellington final match.

Interclub Update

The Open grade is run as a full round robin. With one round to go, the two leading teams, A. Henry and A. Ker, will be playing for first and second placings. The Open Restricted grade was split into 3 groups of 4 teams for the final three rounds, with the Wilcox team again leading the top group as we enter the final round.

The top two teams in the Intermediate grade, the Craanen and Lepper teams, are playing off in a grand final. There is a similar treatment for the third and fourth teams, while the remaining teams carry on in a Plate event. Twelve Junior teams are playing in three groups of four, as for the Open Restricted grade. The Stechman team enter the final round with an unbeatable lead in the top group.

The top two Novice teams have joined with the 13th and 14th Junior teams in a three match round robin. With one round to go, the Horton and Andrews teams, both Novice teams, are leading. Similarly, the other two Novice teams were joined by the remaining Junior teams. This time, the Foster (J) and Groome (N) teams are leading, going into the final round.

More detailed results can be found at http://www.wellingtonregionbridge.nz/interclub.html. The most recent round results are given for round 8, held on 22 September. This considerable database with its many links shows the workload on and organising skills of Tony. (Think of doing the master points for this from the paper records!) You can also infer the scale of support needed, in dealing, directing and use of club rooms, that make this a very successful event in Wellington bridge.

 

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