NZBridge - Complaints Officer

 

Farewell to Jeanne Wardill

As many of you will already know, Jeanne Wardill is leaving the club and moving to Tauranga to be nearer to her family.

We're planning a farewell gathering for Jeanne, which will take place on Thursday 29th October, commencing at 4.30pm following play.  In keeping with Jeanne's wishes, this will be a "low key" event, with a free glass of bubbles, and speech making kept to a minimum.

All members of the club are warmly invited to come along to say goodbye to not only one of our very best and most successful players but also one of the nicest people any of us could have ever hoped to know.

31 Years

Before play began on the evening of  Tuesday 13th October we marked 31 years of the bridge partnership of Jeanne Wardill and Graham Cheater.  

As a pair, Jeanne and Graham have won the Tuesday Pairs alone on more than 18 occasions, plus countless other events, and have been perhaps the dominant partnership in the club over many years - a remarkable achievement, not least because they’re still speaking to each other!

Many congratulations to them both on a great milestone.

Bridge Regulations

Graham Cheater has kindly contributed the following synopsis of practical guidelines from the new Tournament Regulations, which as of 1st October have superseded the NZBridge Manual published in 2022.

The Regulations are not available in written form but may be found on the NZBridge website here.

Graham writes:

There have not been any significant changes that will impact regular club bridge sessions and most tournaments.

It is however an opportunity to identify a number of issues of which players can be reminded.

1.  A call is not complete until the full bid has been written.  If, for example, a player wishes to make a bid at the 1 level they must write ‘1’ immediately followed by the appropriate symbol viz :

11.3 Players must decide their call before commencing to write (on the bidding pad). Any vacillation among calls may convey unauthorised information and restrict partner’s actions according to Laws 16B1 and 73C.1

2.  If a player holds a hand of undisclosed strength ( i.e. not a passed hand ) and makes a bid that is non-forcing but would, in most natural systems, be considered forcing then that bid must be alerted viz :

11.3.2 Alertable calls over an opponent’s takeout double:

(a) Any bid in a new suit which is non-forcing (except by a passed hand)

(b) Conventional fit-showing jumps

11.3.3 Alertable calls over an opponent’s suit overcall:

(a) Any bid in a new suit which is non-forcing (except by a passed hand)

b) Any natural NT bid which does not promise a stopper in the opponent’s suit

(c) Lebensohl type responses after interference over your 1NT

Slow play

Players are reminded that slow play can adversely affect the concentration and enjoyment for players. Directors, in the interest of harmony, are reluctant to impose penalties but if necessary the recommended procedure dealing with slow play is as follows:

• 1st infringement: a warning is given
• 2nd and all subsequent infringements: a penalty of 25% of the available matchpoints for that board can be applied.

Multi 2 diamonds

This convention is not permitted to be used in tournaments restricted to Novice and Junior players.

5-Year Strategic Finance Plan

At its meeting on 12th October the Committee approved a 5-Year Strategic Finance Plan for the club:

The document is also available here.

The Committee will be holding a special budget planning meeting in November to discuss the implementation of the Plan and the financial forecast.

"Juniors only" Initiatives

At its meeting on 12th October the Committee unanimously decided to cancel the Friday evening "Juniors only" session with immediate effect.  

I'd like to thank those of you who have supported the trial, but it's been clear for some weeks that it was not an attractive option for the majority of the Club's junior players.

I'm pleased to be able to tell you, however, that following the success of last weekend's event there will be a Junior/Novice half day tournament next year.  

Additionally, the Committee has agreed to facilitate the "Summerset" social bridge group and is also looking at other options for supporting our new learners going forward. 

Director Qualifications 2027

See below for the 2027 Club Director examination and Tournament Director assessment key dates: