NSW Players vie for State Honour

18 pairs will progress to the Open Interstate Teams Selection Stage II in a week's time. This year, players have to go through competition in 2 stages (each of the stage contain 3 - 4 nights) to reach the final on 17th - 18th March. Follow the results HERE. Starting from Stage II, there will be an event ITS Swiss Pairs running parallel to it, which is open to all. You will play the same hands as these 18 top players do, but not playing against them - what a golden opportunity to have a high level game and be able to compare your decisions directly against theirs without the real pressure! Enter NOW.

Congratulations to the NSW Congress Players of the Year 2017. Courtesy of NSWBA, each Division Winner wins a $30 voucher towards a 2018 congress of their choice in New South Wales.
Open Division
David Weston
NSWBA (trades as Sydney Bridge Centre)
Intermediate Division
(<750 MPs)
Yumin Li
North Shore Bridge Club
Restricted Division
(<300 MPs)
Rachel Rich
Armidale Bridge Club
Novice Division
(<100 MPs)
Paul Dalley
Kings & Queens Sydney
Congratulations also to Warren Lazer, the winner of the McCutcheon for 2017. He is also leading in the Open Interstate Teams Selection. I am sure we will hear of more great achievements from him this year. For all McCutcheon lists please visit the National Masterpoint Reports.
Winner of McCutcheon 2017
Warren Lazer
NSWBA (trades as Sydney Bridge Centre)
Certificates and prizes were sent to the 2017 UHMP (Under Hundred Master Points) Championships winners. Photos can be found HERE.

The Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championships has made The Gold Coast Congress even more special this year. It will be held just before the Gold Coast Congress from 14th - 18th February. Australia has sent 4 teams to compete, follow the competition on the championship wesbite. Following is the Gold Coast Congress from 16th – 24th February. There are programs for all different levels from super novice to grand master. Check it out and be a part of it!

If you are looking for more interstate travelling and gold point events, don't miss the Tasmania Festival of Bridge in March (this year it is held in Launceston), Autumn Nations in Adelaide in May and Victor Champion Cup in Melbourne in June.


The NSWBA Matchpoint Swiss Pairs
– There are a lot of different forms of scoring in bridge competition, do you have different strategy for them?

Results and photos of all congresses can be found HERE.
Congratulations to the winners in The NSWBA January Matchpoint Swiss Pairs (Left) Winners – Julian Foster and Maurits van der Vlugt. (Middle) Steven Bock and Axel Johannsson came second. (Right) Third place were Paul Dalley and Peter Gill.
Upcoming Events
Events highlights from 5th February to 10th March. Click HERE to view congresses in the full year.

Congresses In NSW Local Clubs
Feb 10 – 11 (Sat – Sun) Great Lakes Bridge Club
Swiss Teams Congress
Event Details > 

Mar 3 – 4 (Sat – Sun) Griffith Ex-Servicemens Bridge Club
Swiss Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

Mar 4 (Sun)  Forbes Bridge Club
Swiss Pairs 
Event Details > 

Mar 4 (Sun) Trumps Bridge Centre
March Teams 
Event Details > 

Mar 9 – 11 (Fri – Sun) Batemans Bay Bridge Club
Walk-in Pairs, Swiss Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

Mar 10 – 11 (Sat – Sun) Armidale Bridge Club
Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 

Mar 10 – 11 (Sat – Sun) Ballina Bridge Club
Swiss MP Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

Mar 10 – 11 (Sat – Sun) Wellington Bridge Club Congress
Swiss Pairs and Teams
Event Details >


NSWBA Events
Feb 26 – Mar 12 (over 3 Monday nights) NSWBA Open ITS
Stage 2
Event Details >

Feb 26 – Mar 12 (over 3 Monday nights) NSWBA ITS Swiss Pairs
Event Details >


National (ABF) Events
Feb 16 – 24 (Fri – Sat) QBA Gold Coast Congress
Broadbeach
Event Details > 

Mar 22 – 25 (Thu – Sun) Tasmanian Festival of Bridge
Launceston
Event Details >

May 3 – 7 (Thu – Mon) Autumn Nations
Adelaide
Event Details >

Jun 7 – 11 (Thu – Mon) Victor Champion Cup
Melbourne
Event Details >


Holidays
Feb 24 – Mar 11 (Sat – Sun) Helane K Tours India, Sri Lanka, Asia Bridge Holiday
Event Details > 

Mar 19 – 22 (Mon – Thu) Bridge with Beauchamp Hunter Valley Experience
Event Details > 

Apr 5 – 16 (Thu – Mon) Bridgefolk South Pacific Bridge Cruise
Event Details > 

Apr 6 – 16 (Fri – Mon) Watermark Freshwater Bridge Club in the Name of Bridge – Southern Explorer
Event Details > 


Others
Mar 11 (Sun) Peninsula Bridge Club Margaret Smale Sydney North Interclub Teams Challenge
Event Details > 



Featured Articles
How to score well at Matchpoints event? Rakesh Kumar believes style, system and small discretionary choices matter. Find out more from his article "Matchpont Swiss Pairs – Breaking rules and getting away with it".
 Read the full article >
Congress Player
of the Year
Your Association is pleased to acknowledge this 2018 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 December 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 former 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
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