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Kia ora koutou, and thanks for reading my newest report :) I have a riddle for you to think on while you read this.

What is the link between these two hands:

 

 

 

We start in Wanaka where the oh so enthusiastic Sonya Adams recently celebrated when her group of 42 finished their beginner lessons.  Sonya comments:

“This afternoon we had graduation for the 34 people that committed and finished the lessons,

We had 8 people that couldn't make it, me being me always thinking outside the box, I blew up balloons drew faces on them with their names and stuck them to the chairs. In the group photo you will see them less a few that popped lol.

We played Bridge, ate nice food, drank good wine, watched a few inspirational videos, and we handed out the QBP certificates that I found available on the NZB website. Along with their Wanaka Bridge Club badges.

It's been a long road but a very enjoyable one. And it's not over as we have introduced a new Novice section with supervised play.

We have such a great bunch of people. I have two that are coming to the National Congress.”

That's Sonya Adams up (or "down") front with the QBPs, "Qualified Bridge Players"

 

 

The first event to cover is the Otago Winter Teams & Pairs, which is a set of 5A events on the weekend of the 12^th of June.

 

Winter Teams

12 teams competed for this event. The Wylie team (Moss Wylie, Max Morrison, Sam Coutts, Glenn Coutts) were not only the most geographically diverse team; but the team to beat after they set the pace with a blitz in the first round.

The Somerville team (Anne Somerville, Joan Scarlet, Kristen Collins, Donna Ruwhiu) was their toughest competitor; managing to go undefeated over the 5-round event. In the end Wylie couldn’t be caught, with 4 wins that were all over 15 VPs. This lead to the standings being:

Place    Team               R1         R2       R3       R4       R5       Total

1^st        Wylie               20.00   17.92   8.91     17.61   15.33   79.77 VPs

2^nd       Somerville       17.28   12.09   11.09    11.09   12.71   64.26 VPs

3^rd        Kerr               2.72     8.91     10.74   18.99   18.35   59.71 VPs

          

(Christine Kerr, Stewart Kerr, John Sheehy & Maria Godfrey)

 

Winter Pairs

26 pairs competed for the 5A Open Pairs, and 18 pairs competed for 5B Intermediate Pairs.

The Open Pairs started with a hiss and a roar, Chris Ackerley and Murat Genc threw down the gauntlet with a 68.11% in the morning, which was a comfortable buffer down to Neil Johnstone and Diane Daly’s 59.62% second-place score.

The scores were lower in the afternoon, with Pamela Nisbet and Arleen Schwartz taking the top EW score with a 58.81%, and Chris and Murat continuing their form with a 58.17% to be the top NS pair. This means there were no surprises about who won:

Place    Pair                                                      S1        S2        Total

1^st        Chris Ackerley + Murat Genc              68.11   58.17   63.14%

2^nd       Philip Noye + Marilyn Noye                 55.45   58.01   56.73%

3^rd        Neil Johnstone + Diane Daly              59.62   53.37   56.49%

 

 

The Intermediate Pairs was well-contested by people from a wide geographic region. It started with Janice Munden and Cushla Colquhoun (Otago) scoring a 61.06%, which had them leading from Jan Brown and Yvonne Hughes (Invercargill) on a 59.38%. In the afternoon, Bridget McCaughan and Sonya Adams (Wanaka) topped the scoreboard with a 61.54%, leading from Graham Dale and Vivienne Clifford-Marsh (Balclutha) on 60.58%.

 

 

Place    Pair                                                                  S1        S2        Total

1          Jan Brown + Yvonne Hughes                         59.38   58.89   59.13%

2          Janice Munden + Cushla Colquhoun                  61.06   56.25   58.65%

3          Graham Dale + Vivienne Clifford-Marsh              50.96   60.58   55.77%

Jan Brown & Yvonne Hughes

 

 

The following weekend had the Winton Intermediate/Junior Pairs, which was supported by 34 pairs in the Intermediate and an additional 10 pairs in the Junior.

The Intermediate Pairs reporting seems a little buggy on pairs.bridgenz (why are there 11 tables in the morning session and 17 tables in the afternoon session?), but the top scores in the morning session were Sue Scott and Robyn Reidie on 65.00, followed by Diana Easson and Karen Palmer-Hall on 62.38%. The afternoon session had Brain McCandless and Jill McChlery posting a redoubtable 68.38%, with Graham Dale and Vivienne Clifford Marsh topping the other direction on 61.25%.

 

Place    Pair                                                      S1        S2        Total

1^st        Sue Scott + Robyn Reidie                   65.00   57.75   61.38%

2^nd       Karen Palmer-Hall + Diana Easson        62.38   56.50   59.44%

3^rd        Alan McRae + Richard Hishon             58.38   56.88   57.63%

 

 

The Junior Pairs had Janet Ciaffoni and Margaret Henderson topping the morning on 65.50%, and Wendy Boniface and Janine Graham winning the other direction on a 55.50%. The afternoon session had Robert Kaplan and Dorothy Fennell leading on 60.50%, and the other direction had a top score of 52.00%—also Wendy Boniface and Janine Graham. You’d think that two session wins would be enough for an event win, but not in Winton...

 

Place    Pair                                                                  S1        S2        Total

1^st        Janet Ciaffoni + Margaret Henderson               65.00   51.00   58.00%

2^nd       Robert Kaplan + Dorothy Fennell                   51.50   60.50   56.00%

3^rd        Wendy Boniface + Janine Graham                 55.50   52.00   53.75%

 

The next weekend saw Oamaru run an All Grades 8B tournament on the same day that the Invercargill Bridge Club ran a C-point Swiss Pairs.

The Oamaru All Grades was contested by 40 pairs, with the morning set going to Dennis Normal and Matt Geare as the top EW pair on 65.64%, Michael Johnstone and Paula Gregory at the top NS pair on 64.62%, and John Kelly and Michael Neels topping the Howell on 60.03%.

In the afternoon session, Ann-Maree Fox and Alan Geare were top NS on 62.26%m Dennis Normal and Matt Geare were top EW on 63.32%, and Frances Sheehy and Phillip Hensman challenged with a 63.94% to top the Howell.

 

This resulted in a final ladder of:

 

Place    Pair                                                                  S1        S2        Total

1^st        Dennis Norman + Matt Geare                        65.64   63.32   64.48%

2^nd       Michael Johnstone + Paula Gregory                64.62   57.01   60.81%

3^rd        Frances Sheehy + Phillip Hensman                 57.28   63.94   60.61%

 

 

Sadly ,I can’t report on who won each of the lower grades, but Ka Pai to them nonetheless.

 

Invercargill’s Avenal Park Funeral Home Swiss Pairs had 28 pairs contesting, and a final ladder of:

 

Place    Pair                                                      R1       R2       R3       R4       R5       R6       Total

1^st        Greg Buzzard + Anne Somerville       17.85   16.60   7.58     15.31   13.49   17.87     88.70VPs

2^nd       Lorraine Oliver + Marilyn Jackson        2.67     11.97   17.78   18.06   16.35   15.50   82.33VPs

3^rd        Debbie Cooper + Diana Easson          6.71     10.69   15.31   10.74   13.99   13.71   71.15VPs

 

 

It looks like this format proved to be popular, and it might be something that other clubs would want to consider going forward.

My report now jumps over to Te Anau, who ran their Open 8B Pairs on the 3^rd of July. This event had 36 pairs fighting for glory. The morning session was won by Graham Dale and Vivienne Clifford-Marsh on 63.24%, while the top NS score was Kath Glover and Deirdre Glover on 61.99%. The afternoon session had Bill Verral and Jan Ludemann as the top NS pair on 60.52%, and (not to lose familial bragging rights) Lindsay Glover playing with Greg Buzzard topped the EW field on 68.10%.

Place    Pair                                                                  S1        S2        Total

1^st        Greg Buzzard  + Lindsay Glover                       58.48   68.10   63.29%

2^nd       Kath Glover + Deirdre Glover                          61.99   59.50   60.75%

3^rd        Graham Dale + Vivienne Clifford-Marsh             63.24   55.88   59.56%

 

 

The 18^th of July had the second session of the Otago Junior Pairs being run (the first session was back on April 25^th). This time Ian Van Delft and Patricia Larsen topped the field on 59.92%, with Elizabeth Wilson and Cecylia Klobukowska second on 56.58%. The leaders from the first session (Judy and Bevin) didn’t have quite as good of a session, but they had just enough in the tank to hold on.

Place    Pair                                                                  S1        S2        Total

1^st        Judy Bevin + Deidre Bruce                            69.56   47.83   58.70%

2^nd       Ian Van Delft + Patricia Larsen                      57.32   59.92   58.62%

3^rd        Elizabeth Wilson + Cecylia Klobukowska         53.53   56.58   55.06%

Deidre Bruce and Judy Bevin

 

On the 24^th of July Taieri had their Graded 8B Pairs, which 32 pairs participated in. Heather Bunn and Pam Hodgkinson topped the NS scores in the morning, with a 66.41% set; while Paul Freeland and Margaret Perley managed to mostly keep up, with a 63.72% to top the EW field. The afternoon session saw Lorraine Peacock and Wyn Jones as the top NS pair on 63.59%, while Stewart and Christine Kerr ran the EW field on a 61.54% set. With a lack of repeated names up here, there were many pairs who would have been hopeful, but at the end of the day the results were as such:

 

Place    Pair                                                      S1        S2        Total

1st       Paul Freeland + Margaret Perley        63.72   62.56   63.14%

2nd      Heather Bunn + Pam Hodgkinson      66.41   54.74   60.58%

3rd     Lorraine Peacock + Wyn Jones           54.49   63.59   59.04%

 

 

The last tournament I have to report on is the Otago 5A Swiss Pairs, ran on the 1^st of August. 30 pairs fronted up on the day, and it was a strongly contested event.

Before I talk about the results, I want to shout out one pair our opponents we had in particular. An auction that doesn’t bear repeating saw us (North/South) bidding to a slam played by North after East made a 2 overcall, with North cue-bidding 4 Diamonds to show a Diamond control along the way. Once the auction was over, West asked about the 4 bid. After pointing out that this was improper (they should wait for East to make their opening lead face-down first), East asked if they were still ethically allowed to lead a Diamond. (The director ruled ‘yes’, based on their hand there wasn’t any other logical alternatives).

This sort of attitude to active ethics by East is very commendable, and exactly the sort of thing that should be recognised. Well done to Alan Geare for playing bridge in the correct spirit.

Chris Ackerley and Arleen Schwartz lead for the first two rounds (of seven), who were overtaken by Debbie Cooper and Tony Winters for rounds three and four. Their pole position was wrested from them by Michael Johnstone and Paula Gregory, after a convincing head-to-head win. If they’d spotted this pattern they might have been nervous, as their round 5 lead of 7 VPs had been eroded to a buffer of only 1.4 VP with a match to go. The curse of first prevailed, with the Timaru pair losing their last match by 14.7-5.3 to leave a final ladder of:

 

Place    Pair                                          R1       R2       R3       R4       R5       R6        R7      Total

1^st        B Hutton + L Turley             15.0     2.8       13.6     19.4     14.2     16.8     15.5     97.13VPs

2^nd       K Skoropada + A Somerville  11.5      15.2     8.3       19.2     9.9       8.9       19.6     92.50VPs

3^rd        M Blakeley + B Johnston       12.2     15.0     6.2       15.2     14.2     11.1     14.7     88.54VPs

   
Barbara Hutton & Lydia Turley                     Murat ("i do not want to be identified) Genc
                                                                     and Chris Ackerley who will soon be banned
                                                                       from ever playing again in no-trumps.
                                                                      Find out why.

 

 

Kevin and Anne mastered the strategy of “win big, lose small” to come second with only 4 wins from the 7 matches. The first of the two boards at the start of this write-up happened during the Otago Winter Teams.

 

 

 

Chris Ackerley (North) was playing with a Turkish Expert who wishes to remain anonymous, against Geoff Eyles and Harry Shepherd.
Chris decided to make a minor deviation and open the North hand a slightly off-shape 12-14 1NT (“What’s the worst that could happen?”). The auction proceeded all-pass, with South putting down dummy on the A lead and dashed outside for a cigarette. I can only imagine how confused both West (Harry) and Chris were when the second round of Hearts had two people discarding. Finding seven discards isn’t easy at the best of time, and when you’re vulnerable and counting the undertricks it’s especially daunting. North grimly discarded all of his clubs on the top hearts, before starting to pitch his high diamonds (to keep a spade control). When East cashed the A, he had to choose between discarding the A, or his long spade stopper. Maybe at this point he was going more for a story, and discarded the A – to allow East to cash the high J before crossing to West for the top spades. The end result was 1NT -7, for +700 EW and a pick-up vs 4 making at the other table.

 

 

The second board occurred in the Otago Swiss Pairs. Chris was again sitting North, playing with Arleen Schwartz and facing Geoff Eyles and Harry Shepherd. South opened a precision spade, North optimistically responded 2 (it pays to bid games at Swiss pairs, after all); and soon thereafter reached 3NT by North.

East kicked off to a spade lead, which West won (North discarding a heart) to switch to a low Diamond. This tracked to the Queen, with East returning another Spade (won by West’s King, and North discarding a Club). West tried another low Diamond, which Chris won with the King to play a club towards dummy. West pounced on this in order to cash their other diamond winners. Reluctant to discard too many of his winning clubs, Chris discarded a second heart from the North hand. This allowed Harry to play a Heart through the doubleton King to Geoff’s AQT76 to take the last five tricks.

 

1NT -7, and 3NT -8. By the same player, in the same seat, in the same club, against the same opponents in two different tournaments. Do you think that this is the great dealers’ way of telling Chris to stop bidding No Trumps?

It is not the dealers who are trying to stop Chris ever bid no trumps again but his teammates in this year’s New Zealand Teams. (Jeremy, Anna …and yours truly!)

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