Hunt for Success

NSW players have come home with success from the Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championship and Gold Coast Congress in February! Team Australia Gold came 2nd in the Commonwealth games. Most of the team members are familiar names to New South Wales, including Phil Markey - Joe Haffer, David Wiltshire - Max Henbest, Pauline Gumby - Warren Lazer, congratulations. It is also encouraging to see a lot of NSW players achieved great results in the Novice and Restricted Divisions, well done! For full results please visit the official website HERE.

Want to follow the steps of these Novice & Restricted high-flyers? Plan your trip now to Mittagong for the State Novice & Restricted Pairs Championship on 28th - 29th April. This is a state event hosted by the Southern Highlands Bridge Club and you will be competing among players of similar level.
The NSWBA GNOT Direct Qualifying Competition will be held over 5 Monday nights from 19th March to 23rd April. This event will qualify two teams directly to the GNOT National Finals to be held at Tweed Head on November 30th – December 3rd. Don't miss it and ENTER now.
The Open Interstate Teams Selection is now in its stage II qualifying and the highest scoring 4 pairs out of 9 of each field will progress to the Final on 17th - 18th March. Learn more about ITS and follow the results HERE.

Together with the Open Team, New South Wales is also sending the Women's, Seniors' and Youth teams to the Australia National Championship (ANC) to Hobart in July/August this year. The Women's ITS will be held from 6th - 8th April with Friday as a one-day qualifying and the weekend as Final. Enter now to earn a place in the Women's Team! The Seniors' ITS will be held over 2 weekends, with a one-day qualifying on 22nd April (Sun) then a weekend Final on 28th - 29th April. The Youth ITS will be held on the same Sunday on 29th April. Details can be found by clicking on the names of the events.

A side event WITS Swiss Pairs will be held parallel to the Women's ITS Final on 8th April (Sun). This event is open to all and is not gender specific. You will be playing the same hands as the Women's ITS Finalists, a golden opportunity to compare your judgement to theirs. Check it out and enter HERE.
If your passion in bridge is more to teach or to direct, we have not forgotten you.
Peninsula Bridge Club has invited Joan Butts, the ABF National Teaching Coordinator, to present "Modern Competitive Bidding" on 18th March (Sun). This is a FREE professional development day for bridge teachers who wish to update their skills for intermediate to advanced lessons. Details can be viewed HERE.
For those who would like to become directors, or who would like to understand more about directing to help their games, the next Director's Course (Club Level) will be held on 12th May (Sat) at NSWBA by Tony Howes, the Head of State Director Accreditation. Find the details HERE.
Hawkesbury Bridge Club Summer Congress
– A lot of laughters in this friendly congress, maybe there is something in their Guinness? Let the photos tell the story.

Results and photos of all congresses can be found HERE.
Congratulations to the winners of Hawkesbury Bridge Club Summer Congress! (Left) Pairs winners – Lee Andrews and Alec Gillespie (Middle) A creative way of using Guinness cans. (Right) Teams winners – Pauline Gumby, Warren Lazer, Peter Gill and Paul Dalley.
Upcoming Events
Events highlights from 9th March to 8th April. Click HERE to view congresses in the full year.

Congresses In NSW Local Clubs
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 > 

Mar 17 – 18 (Sat – Sun) Port Macquarie-Hastings Bridge Assoc March Congress
Swiss Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

Mar 18 (Sun) Kiama and District Bridge Club Novice Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 

Mar 18 (Sun) NSBC@Lindfield
Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 

Mar 23 – 25 (Fri – Sun) Central Coast Bridge Club Super Congress
Swiss Pairs and Teams
Event Details > 

Mar 30 – Apr 1 (Fri – Sun) Trumps Bridge Centre Easter Festival
Good Friday Pairs, Swiss Pairs and Easter Teams
Event Details > 

Apr 7 – 8 (Sat – Sun) Tamworth Bridge Club
Teams
Event Details > 
 
Apr 8 (Sun) NSWBA WITS Swiss Pairs
Event Details > 


NSWBA Events
Mar 17 – 18 (Sat – Sun) NSWBA Open ITS Final
Event Details > 

Mar 19 – Apr 23 (over 5 Mons) NSWBA GNOT Direct Qualifier
Event Details > 

Apr 6 – 8 (Fri – Sun) NSWBA Women's ITS
Event Details > 


National (ABF) Events
Mar 22 – 25 (Thu – Sun) TBA Tasmanian Festival of Bridge
Event Details > 


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


Featured Articles
Rakesh Kumar will be very pleased to know so many readers try to find and meet him in Gold Coast once they realised he was there! For those craving for his stories, you can always revisit all his articles on the NSWBA website.
Follow Rakesh Kumar's column HERE >

 Thank you for sending the topics you are interested in. We appreciate it and Matthew McManus will filter these queries and answer them in his column later on. In the meantime, please follow Matthew McManus's column HERE >
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 and current Treasurer, 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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