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Plenty of tournament action to report this issue. So, let's get straight into it:

Mid South Island Teams  - June 23^rd

Someone, or a group, must be doing a lot of hard work in South Canterbury to get 6 Junior and 6 Intermediate teams along for a day of bridge. I had noticed that the Timaru club seems to feature as the venue for hosting new players to tournaments.

Open   This is the first time I have reported on this event. It is restricted to teams from outside Dunedin and Christchurch. I am not sure whether the area’s Grandmasters were part of the teams from Oamaru, Waimate, Timaru, Geraldine, Temuka and Ashburton but irrespective there were some interesting results.

            In the first round Oamaru, Timaru, and Temuka had roughly even wins at 16-4, and these 3 teams kept this advantage through to the end. In round 2 Oamaru drew with Temuka 10-10. Amazingly in the next round, Oamaru drew with Timaru 10-10, and in round 4, Temuka nearly held their own with Timaru, only losing by a narrow margin.

      Open                             Intermediate         Junior

1st	Timaru	73.4	1st	Geraldine	59.1	1st	Waimate	61.9
2nd	Oamaru	65.7	2nd	Oamaru	58.6	2nd	Geraldine	60.0
3rd	Temuka	58.6	3rd	Timaru	57.5	3rd	Oamaru	58.9

 

Intermediate  Geraldine were on fire from the outset, winning their first match 19 / 1. They continued on their winning way until round 4, when the other contender Oamaru defeated them 4-16. However, Geraldine still had a margin of 6 which proved enough to stave off Oamaru and Timaru’s point totals, and win by a slim margin. Well done Geraldine Intermediate.

Junior  It was the time for the remotest of all the clubs in the wider region, Waimate, to net some success.

Geraldine had a big win in the first round, and in round 3 it was Waimate’s turn to score a huge win. Eventually it was these two matches that decided the two top places. Well done Waimate and Geraldine for these encouraging results for people relatively new to the game.

Overall Winners In the final analysis it was the Timaru twelve that edged the Oamaru association from first place by 0.3 match points.

 

Rangiora All Grades               8B                    June 30^th

            The highest percentage for the day was scored by Peter and Elena Udy, and they would have been disappointed not to do better in the afternoon session. But it was Richard and Sue that came through to win the second session and the tournament comfortably.

The next 4 places were within 1 percentage point of each other. For one of those pairs it was the first time they had come second in a tournament – Judy Parkinson and Bernard Chidgey can be proud of their results.

 

1^st        Richard Lapthorne & Sue Southen                                                61.0 %

2^nd          Judy Parkinson & Bernard Chidgey                                           57.9 %

3^rd          Jan Roose & Judith Driver                                                          57.7 %

4^th           Elena Udy & Peter Udy                                                              57.4 %

5^th           Mary Small & Mike Small                                                           57.2 %

                  
 Sue Sterrenberg and Richard Lapthorne      Judy Parkinson, Sue Solomons (Convenor)     C Grade winners, Lin and Chris Clark
                                                                       Derek Wilson (President) and Bernard Chidgey  (and Derek Wilson)

South Island Pairs                  20A                  6^th July   Crockfords

  It is not often we have the chance to play a whole tournament in a BAROMETER  format. I enjoyed it but it was not till later that I became aware of all the work involved in doing this. As each board is played simultaneously you need the same board dealt 10 times. The card dealers had been dealing for days. The tournament was ably run by three directors – two of them imported from the North island!

            
 Winners from the North,                       Directors from North and South: Allan Joseph, Caroline
 Aucklanders Carol Richardson            Wiggins and John McKenzie
and Andi Boughey
Andi and Carol averaged an impressive 59.98% over the 5 sessions while 2nd placed Blair Fisher and George Masters averaged 58.99%. Top Canterbury pair were Tony Fitzgerald and Tim Schumacher in 3rd place with 57.03%. 

Canterbury Regional Swiss Pairs       5A        13^th July

            It is always nice that in a tournament outside Christchurch, a local pair hold sway on the day, and so it proved at Timaru in July. 22 pairs contested this event in Timaru and the tournament was decided in the penultimate round when the leading two pairs, Max/Jane and Michael/Paula met in the Swiss. Michael and Paula came out on top in that match, and with a slightly better win in the last round, cemented their place at the top of the table.

             1^st       Michael Johnstone/Paula Gregory                   71.7

            2^nd       Max Morrison/Jane Lennon                             63.9

            3^rd        Sarah Garland/Neal Phillips                            61.0

            4^th        Naomi Hannah-Brown/Priscilla Bloy               58.5

            5^th        Rosemary McLaughlin/Kay Robb                   57.7

            6^th        Jeanette Meijer/Vivian Hill                              57.6

       
 Michael Johnstone and Paula Gregory              Max Morrison and Jane Lennon              Neal Phillips and Sarah Garland
    (with director, Janis Franc)

 The best results from those in the Intermediate section were Shirley Lattimore/Jan Stupples with 3 wins and 44.9 with Jean Rath/Mike Bunce with 43.5, not too far behind despite having only 1 win.

Crockfords All Grades             8B                    21^st July

            I can just hear the rounds of applause at ensuing sessions at the Crockfords Club in late July as they announce tournament results. The club could be very well pleased with the success it had at its own tournament. Five club players were in the awards:- Graeme Black with Phillipa Borlase, and Elena Udy with Peter Udy, all local masters and Crockfords members, commanded 2^nd and 3^rd spots. Close behind them was Peter Van Leeuwen [playing with Dave Putt] who would have done a good deal of the work as the Crockfords Club President.

            But it is hard to outpace Chris Bras and Michael Hume when they are on form. They scored an impressive 72% in the Howell and followed this up by winning the afternoon session as well.

            I was out of town for this tournament, and I accessed the results on the Web. I noticed that Pavla and Haley Fenwick had played together. I decided that I would record here that Pavla and her daughter had done well, and would duly congratulate her on her inter-generational success. When I went to do that rather belatedly this week, there was a roar of laughter from Pavla and others. It was inter-generational all right – Pavla’s mother-in-law was down from Wellington!

1^st        Chris Bras & Michael Hume                 68.1%

2^nd        Philippa Borlase & Graeme Black       58.7%

3^rd        Elena Udy & Peter Udy                        57.6%

4^th        Peter Van Leeuwen & David Putt         55.9%

5^th         Haley Fenwick & Pavla Fenwick         55.6%

 

4 was basic Gerber. Afterwards, South tore a strip of North for giving the wrong Gerber response! (4=2 aces!)

It meant that North played the hand in 6, much to the chagrin of South who had the insight to search for slam, and loves playing for his own bidding successes. But instead he had to watch his partner enjoy taking the board to its logical conclusion. (South should really be grateful as one can only imagine that the final bid would have been a level higher had the correct Gerber response been given.)

 Christchurch  Mid Winter Teams     5A        27^th July

1^st        Theo Smits/Andrew Purves and Sally Shrimpton/Jan Carthy

2^nd       Sarah Garland/Neal Phillips and Neil Hawkins/Richard Lapthorne

3^rd        Pam Tibble/Margaret Burgess and Kay Nicholas/Leslie Andrew

4^th        Michael Johnstone/Paula Gregory and Jane Skipper/John Skipper

They won by a slim margin but a win is a win. The team was put together by Sue Edwards, the club manager, at the last minute. Sally and Jan were reluctant starters into their first Open Teams tournament, but they must have done their bit in taking the team through to first place in a 5A tournament. Congratulations to all four players – this has to be the result of the year!

            
Jan Carthy, Sally Shrimpton, Theo Smits       Kathryn Tennant, Bruce Anderson, Jane Morris   Sam Gurney, Viv Hurst, Linda White
and Andrew Purves                                        (missing Hayden Seal) Under 600 Rating Point   and Caroline Caseley,Intermediate
                                                                        winners                                                                 Team winners

Ashburton All Grades             8B                    3^rd August

            The lowest score in either session by the first five place getters was 58%. Michael and Paula topped the results in the afternoon, but it was going to be difficult to fend off the stellar result of 69.7 scored by Pam and Margaret in the morning. It is hard to beat consistency and Caroline Caseley/Sam Gurney, relative newcomers on the scene, scored 62% in both sessions.

I must make the effort to identify Karen Rarere and Raewyn Guise when I am next in Timaru. From Masterpoints I gleaned that they have been playing for quite a while and will be pleased to score 64% in both sessions in a field with no less than a dozen very experienced players.

                                                               1,2,3 at Ashburton

               
 Pam Tibble and Sarah Garland    Karen Rarere and Raewyn Guise   Paula Gregory and Michael Johnstone  

1^st        Pam Tibble & Sarah Garland               66.6%

2^nd        Karen Rarere & Raewyn Guise           63.9%

3^rd        Paula Gregory & Michael Johnstone   62.5%

4^th        Caroline Caseley & Sam Gurney         62.0%

5^th        Jane Skipper & John Skipper              59.4% 

       B Grade winners                       2nd C Grade                                   3rd C Grade                    

                
  Toni Jones and Tracey Bruce          John and Margaret Shearer             Trevor Coulter and Lois Rose

Geraldine All Grades                          10^th August

            Ever alert to unusual disturbances during play, at lunchtime, I went over to Mary Buckland to enquire about the sustained laughter that had erupted from her table during the session. It so happened that the Ashburton contingent, including Lois Rose had gathered there for lunch. Mary relished the opportunity – “Lois was sitting right there where she is now when she dropped a card. It went right under her chair and awkward to get, and as Giles Hancock [the director] was nearby, he went down on his knees to retrieve the card from under her chair.” Then Lois brightly said: ”This is the first time a man has ever been down on his knees to me!”  Everyone laughed, and I wonder if Giles went red….. It was now over to me to ask the obvious question “Does that mean that Lois has never been married?” Everyone thought that was funny too.

The top percentage for the morning session was collected by Judy Parkinson and Bernard Chidgey – a creditable performance. They then went on to place 4^th overall and to win the intermediate section.

            The afternoon session was led by Neville Newburn and Max Robb with 69%, but it was the consistency of Kay Nicholas and Lesley Andrew who prevailed for the day.

                    A Grade                                                                                                B Grade

1^st        Lesley Andrew/Kay Nicholas              63.5 %                                   1st Judy Parkinson/Bernard Chidgey

2^nd       Max Robb/Neville Newburn               63.1 %                                   2nd   Margaret Fraser/Helen Bremner

3^rd        Michael Johnstone/Paula Gregory     59.5 %                                  3rd   Julie Kelly/Pam Kippenberger

                                                                                    GRADE WINNERS at GERALDINE

         
 Lesley Andrew and Kay Nicholas                          Judy Parkinson and Bernard Chidgely   Richard Bray and Rick Pitelen

 

C Grade

1^st        Richard Bray/Rick Pitelon

2^nd       Peter McMullan/Allan Luscombe

3^rd        Francee Verbakel/Jo-Ann Van Der Salm

 

 

 

 

 

 

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