Make Your 2018 Great

A new year, a new start! We wish you a successful and glorious Happy New Year.

We are waiting for some congresses to submit their report and will soon announce the Congress Players of the Year 2017. The winner of each division (Open, Intermediate, Restricted and Novice) will be awarded a $30 voucher towards a 2018 congress of their choice in New South Wales.

The results for the UHMP (Under Hundred Master Points) Championships have been finalised. Congratulations to Barrie Prior and Brian Goldman from Maitland who were the winners on handicap and to the non-handicap winners Marieta Borthwick and Heidi Colendbrander from Peninsula. Check for all the results HERE.

The Open Interstate Teams Selection will be held over 2 stages. Stage 1 will start from 22nd January over 4 Monday nights. Don't miss this opportunity to earn the honour of representing New South Wales and compete with other states representatives in the Australian National Championship. The 2018 ANC will be held in Hobart in July/August. ENTER now.

The NSWBA Matchpoints Swiss Pairs on Sunday 28th January offers a great opportunity for players to have a practice game for Gold Coast. Check out the details and enter online now!

Trumps Bridge Centre followed their tradition and hosted the Festival of Bridge during the holiday seasons, which attracted a lot of players who were spending their christmas in Sydney:

Trumps Festival of Bridge
– the perfect celebration for the New Year: Seven Hearts!

Results and photos of all congresses can be found HERE.
Congratulations to the winners in Trumps Festival of Bridge: (Left) Winners of the Festival Teams – Alex Kemeny, Michael Draper, Aleks Milovanovic and Alessandro Gado. (Middle) The Australian Bridge Teams was won by Ellena Moskovsky, Matt McManus, Christo Moskovsky and James Coutts. (Right) Winners of Festival Pairs – Julianne Rocks and Mischa Solar.
Congratulations to the winners in Central Coast Summer Teams: (Left) Winners of the Open Division – Axel Johannsson, David Weston, Kim Morrison & Steven Bock. (Right) Winners of the Novice/Restricted Division – Rhonda Nix, Mary McFadden, Jon Nix and Jean Moran
Congratulations to the winners in State Open Teams (cum Country Open Teams) and NSWBA Summer Swiss Pairs: (Left) Winners of the 2017 John Arkinstall State Open Teams – Pauline Gumby, Warren Lazer, Peter Gill, Tony Nunn, Martin Bloom (absent) (Middle) Winners of the 2017 John Arkinstall Country Teams – Gary Lynn, Marjorie Askew, William Powell, Eric Hurley. (Right) Winners of Summer Swiss Pairs – Jessica Brake and Colin Baker.

Upcoming Events
Events highlights from 10th January to 11th February. Click HERE to view congresses in the full year.

Congresses In NSW Local Clubs
Jan 28 (Sun) NSWBA Matchpointed Swiss Pairs Congress
Event Details > 

Feb 3 – 4 (Sat – Sun)  Hawkesbury Bridge Club Congress
Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 


NSWBA Events
Jan 22 – Feb 12 (over 4 Monday nights) NSWBA Open ITS
Stage 1
Event Details >


National (ABF) Events
Jan 10 – 21 (Wed – Sun) ABF Summer Festival of Bridge
Event Details > 

Feb 16 – 24 (Fri – Sat) QBA Gold Coast Congress
Event Details > 


Holidays
Feb 4 – 9 (Sun – Fri) Finesse Narooma Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 



Featured Articles
We sometimes underestimate the influence of little things. Rakesh Kumar explains the importance of part score swings in "Sweating the small stuff" with some interesting hands in Wollstonecraft Swiss Pairs.
 Read the full article >
Congress Player
of the Year
Your Association is pleased to acknowledge this 2017 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 September 2017.

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.
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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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