Travelling and Bridging Around NSW

Our State Teams for the Open and Women divisions are all ready and set to go, we are proud to have these top players to represent us in the Australian National Championships in Brisbane this July:
  • Open: Mathew Vadas, Michael Wilkinson, Nicoleta Giura, Terry Brown, Nick Hughes and Peter Buchen
  • Women: Elli Urbach, Nafi Bashar, Kinga Moses, Berri Folkard, Marcia Scudder and Inez Glanger
The INTERSTATE TEAMS SELECTION events for Youth and Seniors will be held next weekend (Youth ITS on 15th May and Seniors ITS on 14th – 15th May). Enter now to gain this opportunity to represent your state! The Swiss Pairs game held along side the final is open to all, which will give you a chance to play with good players in a more casual way. Check it out! For more competitive events, the ANC Butler Pairs will be over 4 Mondays nights from 9th May to 6th June. Don't miss it!

Last month we've seen a lot of players travelling and bridging around, and we are especially pleased to see new faces among them. Click on the names of the congresses to read some feature reports in April:

Central Coast Bridge Club Super Congress
– Celebrating their 40th Anniversary, the club invited their very first director to be their guest player

Tilligerry Bridge Club Swiss Pairs Congress
– Who said you can't go to a congress for good food?

Inverell Delvyn Bridge Club Swiss Pairs Congress
– A friendly congress and it was encouraging to see the 3rd place was taken by an experienced-novice partnership
Congratulations to our NSW Open and Women's Team! (Left) Open ITS Winners: Mathew Vadas, Michael Wilkinson, Nicoleta Giura, Terry Brown, Nick Hughes and Peter Buchen. (Right) Women ITS Winners: Elli Urbach, Nafi Bashar, Kinga Moses, Berri Folkard, Marcia Scudder and Inez Glanger.
Winners of the Central Coast Pairs – (Left) Restricted Division: John Russell and Judith Parsons. (Right) Open Division: Jann Oitmaa and Sylvia Foster.
Applause to the winners of the Central Coast Teams – Equal First in Open Division: (Left) Steven Bock, Les Grewock, Warren Dobes and Witold Chylewski. (Middle) Sharon Mayo, Janet Clarke, Di Coats and Greg Mayo. (Right) Restricted Teams Winners – Trish Byrnes, Carol Anderson, Jurate Petrauskas and Matthew Lynch.
(Left) Winners of the Tamworth Teams – Ros Roworth, Ian Price, Bruce Tier and Rachel Rich. (Middle) Winners of the Hawkesbury Pairs – Warren Lazer and Pauline Gumby. (Right) Winners of the Hawkesbury Teams – Peter Fitzmaurice, Anne Morris, Noreen Grant and Neil Williams.
Winners of the Tilligerry Swiss Pairs – (Left) 1st place was won by Deanna and John Stuart. (Middle) 2nd place was taken by Chris Williams and Ian Lincoln. (Right) 3rd place went to Michael Simes and Ken Wilks.
Congratulations to the titlists of the Inverell Pairs! (Left) Winners – Eric Baker and Brian Glover. (Middle) The Plate winners – Helen Ditchfield and Helen Loveday with director Nick Hughes. (Right) The Zelma Manning Shield Award went to the Best Local Pair Jan Anderson and Pat Yee.
The State Restricted and Novice Pairs Championship was held in Mittagong on 23rd – 24th April. (Left) Winners of the Novice Pairs Paul Roach and Ken Cahill. (Right) Winners of the Restricted Pairs Richard McAuliffe and Matt Smith.
(Left) Winners of the NSWBA WITS Swiss Pairs Warren Lazer and Pauline Gumby. (Middle) Winners of the Peninsula Teams Fraser Rew, Sartaj Hans, Sophie Ashton and Susan Humphries. (Right) Winners of the Maitland Teams Hope Tomlinson, Barry Foster, David Snow and Martin Johnson.
Upcoming Events
Events highlights from 7th May to 5th June. Click HERE to view congresses in the full year.

Congresses In NSW Local Clubs
May 14 – 15 (Sat – Sun) Coffs Harbour Bridge 
Teams
Event Details > 

May 14 – 15 (Sat – Sun) Leeton Soldiers Bridge Club
Swiss Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

May 15 (Sun) NSWBA SITS Swiss Pairs
A side event of SITS open to all
Event Details > 

May 22 (Sun) NSWBA Autumn Congress
Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 

May 28 – 29 (Sat – Sun) Port Macquarie-Hastings Bridge Association
Autumn Swiss and Teams
Event Details > 

May 29 (Sun) Canberra Bridge Club Flight Centre Southern Tablelands
Teams
Event Details > 

May 29 (Sun) Strathfield Bridge Club
Teams
Event Details >

May 29 (Sun) Twin Towns Bridge Club Birthday Congress
Teams
Event Details > 

Jun 5 (Sun) Ballina Bridge Club 
Teams
Event Details > 

Jun 5 (Sun) NSWBA Teams of Three 
One of the most popular fun events, only 34 spaces left!
Event Details > 


NSWBA Events
May 9 – 30 (4 Mondays) NSWBA ANC Butler Pairs
Event Details > 

May 14 – 15 (Sat – Sun) NSWBA Seniors' ITS
Event Details > 

May 15 (Sun) NSWBA Youth ITS
Event Details >

May 21 – 22 (Sat – Sun) NSWBA State Mixed Pairs Championship Event Details > 
May 21 – 22 (Sat – Sun) NSWBA State Mixed Pairs Championship Event Details > 
May 21 – 22 (Sat – Sun) NSWBA State Mixed Pairs Championship
Event Details > 


National (ABF) Events
May 14 – 15 (Sat – Sun) BAWA Western Seniors Pairs
Event Details > 

Jun 9 – 13 (Thu – Mon) VBA Victor Champion Cup
Event Details > 


Featured Articles
We all love to have a slam contract, and bidding a slam is crucial to short matches. Rakesh Kumar explains the concept with his experiences in "The Central Coast Teams".
 Read the full article >

The bridge law is designed to protect players to enjoy the game in a fair environment. Don't let these common misconceptions get in our way. Matthew McManus continues to shatter the myth with his "Just Because" series.
 Read Part II of the series >
Congress Player of the Year
Your Association is pleased to acknowledge this 2016 Award. There will be four categories.

• Open
• Intermediate < 750 MPs
• Restricted < 300 MPs
• Novice < 100 MPs

Click HERE for our current "interim" list, as at 31st March 2016.

This award is based on masterpoints earned at NSW Congresses held under the auspices of NSWBA during the year.

So how are masterpoints updated? Why haven't they been processed yet? Julian Foster, the Chairman of NSWBA, answers players' common question "Why haven't I got my masterpoints yet?"
Read the full article >
Congress Psyche Register
The NSWBA has decided to establish a central psyche register for all congresses held in NSW.

The laws permit players to deviate from their systemic agreements so long as the partner of the player who does so has no greater reason to be aware of this deviation than the opponents. Once your partnership has a history of deviating from its agreements in a certain situation you are required to inform your opponents of this tendency.

If you feel that your opponents have psyched against you, please email details of the hand to the psyche register – no action will be taken against players who are reported to the psyche register but once a pair has multiple entries in the psyche register, congress directors will be informed so that they are aware of this history when making their rulings.

A form which can be used for submissions is available HERE.
About the eCongress
The eCongress is a monthly newsletter published by the NSW Bridge Association. It updates you with the latest congresses in the month, interesting hands and analysis from events, and tips regarding the bridge laws.
 Subscribe Now >

NSW Bridge Association
+61 2 9264 8111
office@nswba.com.au
www.nswba.com.au
1/F, 162 Goulburn Street,
East Sydney 2010
Send us your stories
Do you have a story to tell or a photo to share after playing in a congress? Let us know, we will be pleased to publish them.
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