September News

September News
Hello Fellow Spring Lovers!
Welcome to spring, past the soaking, cold winter with warming weather heading to summer.
I’m happy to be back from my holiday in Europe and thank our wonderful committee and directors for keeping the club’s wheels turning so efficiently during my absence. Special thanks to Terry Maunsell who organises and runs our many great parties, while also being our very successful club treasurer and Theo Mangos as our tireless matchmaker. Also thanks to Nick Hughes for being bulletin editor in my absence.
By all accounts, the Christmas in July party was much enjoyed by all. I am sorry I missed it! We are planning a similar format for our final party for 2025 immediately after the AGM.

What’s Coming up
Tue 23 Sep – Beginner’s Course Graduation Pizza Party (All members welcome)
Wed 26 Nov – AGM and Big End of Year Party after.

Name Badges
Committee member Terry Simmons has organised new name badges for all members, which will be available soon. Stay tuned.

Some Exciting News!
Intermediate Lessons
At our recent committee meeting, it was decided to introduce weekly intermediate lessons by our chief director and popular Bridge teacher, Nick Hughes. The 1-hour lesson will be on Wednesdays at 11 am covering bidding or card play and then playing 4 boards to practise and reinforce the lesson. The cost will be $10 and those who stay to play in our regular Wednesday 1 pm duplicate session will pay only $5 table money for the session (half price). Those coming for the lesson then playing at 1 pm can have lunch in between.
The intermediate lessons will begin in November.
Bridge Rules and Protocols from our Chief Director, Nick Hughes
Some Dos and Don’ts

Don’t start a new board after the 3 minute warning on the clock.
The director will award No Score ( = the average of your scores on the other boards)
Don’t start the card play after the final bell (“No dummy, No play”)
(If dummy isn’t on the table, the director will award an adjusted score on completion of the auction.)
Don’t touch another player’s cards!

Don’t turn your card to a “quitted trick” face up.
(However, if you are yet to turn your card face down, you can require all the other
players to turn their cards to that trick face up.)
If the cards to the last trick are all face down, you can’t peek at your card.
At the end of play, leave your cards as they are until all four players agree to the
number of tricks won.

When you call the director, raise your hand to help the director find your table.

Compulsory Bidding Protocols
When your partner opens 1NT, state the high card points range (typically 15-17)
When your partner opens 1C, say “2+” or “3+” according to your agreed methods.

Leave the bids on the table until the opening lead is played.

For the person entering scores on the Bridgemate
Enter the contract and lead as soon as you can. Don’t wait till play is over.
However, if you are the opening leader, make your lead before using the Bridgemate (or writing on your personal scoresheet)
Likewise if you are dummy, spread your hand when the lead is made, before using the Bridgemate.

When the hand is over, pass the unit to East to press [Accept]. East should check that the details are correct.

Courtesy and Kindness in our great 25+ year Club
We are a friendly, welcoming community club which has been thriving for over 25 years, now with about 200 members. Your committee of volunteers works very hard behind the scenes to make our club welcoming and enjoyable, also with a competitive Bridge experience.
We have excellent table numbers with an average of at least 50 players each session, which shows that people enjoy playing at our club. We also have many visitors play with us, many of whom have become members.
Please continue to be courteous and kind to your fellow members and visitors to continue our club’s long and proud tradition.
Most importantly, please remember: we are all here to enjoy ourselves, playing the greatest game there is, with people we like! How lucky are we?

August Winners (free games)
Congratulations to the monthly winners below. Due to a technical issue, we do not have ratings improvements for August.
Monday
Dianne Mullin & Kitty Gottlieb - 60.7 %
Tuesday
Pat Mithieux & Gaby Paroz - 64.8 %
Wednesday
Jeff Zhang & Hao Tang - 65.4 %.
Player of the Month (from top 6 scores with 2+ partners)
Theo Mangos - 64 %.

Using our Website
Here is a link to our web page https://www.easts.bridge-club.org/
If you just want to go straight to results, here’s that link:
https://www.easts.bridge-club.org/bridge/au2065/all-results-index

On the Results webpage, you can replay any of the hands for each session and you are guided how to play and make the optimum contract, card by card:
You can go into each hand to see which contracts were makeable, see the results for other tables and even replay a hand, with guidance on making the optimum contract. Just click on the Replay and Analyze link at the bottom of the details for the particular board.

Suggestion Box
The Suggestion Box is available at all our sessions. Please let us have your suggestions, all of which we consider.

Enjoy the spring weather and I look forward to another cracker month of bridge at Easts and to see you (enjoying yourself) at the bridge table!
Warm regards

Ted Popper
President