With the Christmas season rapidly approaching your committee has been actively involved in planning the holiday period and finalizing the details for the upcoming Tasmanian Festival of Bridge being held in mid March 2024. They have also been progressively assessing the results of the recent members survey and reviewing ways in which suggestions can be implemented in the TBA. Details of a couple of these plans are announced later in this monthly update.
EVENT WINNERS
The 2023 Australia-Wide Restricted Pairs was held at the end of October and the TBA had some stand-out results. Erica McCoull and Jeremy Reid came 1st locally and 6th nationally (out of 890 pairs in the national field). They were also the top placed Victorian or Tasmanian pair, and the top placed pair in the under 100 masterpoint category. More details are below.
The TBA Club Open and Handicap Teams was held in November. Twelve teams competed over two Monday evenings. The winners were the Webber team - Judy Bills, Ann Paton, Wynne Webber and Hilton Francis. Full results are available here.
The TBA has been very well represented in the Australia-Wide Club Knockout Teams at all levels. The semi-finals have just been held and the TBA team in the Open category has made it to the finals which are to be played in December. More details about this event and the TBA teams are available below.
MASTERPOINT PROMOTIONS
The following members earned Masterpoint promotions in October:
Congratulations to these members.
TRAINING WEEKEND
The recent weekend training session with Will Jenner-O�Shea was extremely well received by members with 50 plus members attending these sessions. The committee was pleased to see this strong response since the session was heavily subsidized by the club in order to provide members with the opportunity to learn new skills. Ongoing member training and education was a major request by survey responders.
BRIDGE EDUCATION SUB COMMITTEE
As just mentioned, Training and Education in a variety of forms was a major request in the survey and the committee firmly believes that Bridge education is one of the most vital elements for the health, longevity and success of our club, as well as improving the enjoyment of members play.
As a result the committee has agreed to create a special subcommittee of members, under the supervision of Sue Falkingham. The committee is calling for membership of this group from all club members who feel that they can contribute in the development and progression of learning in the club at all levels. If you are that person please talk to Sue or any club committee member.
The group will be responsible for all lessons, workshops, teaching and training undertaken by the TBA and will periodically report their plans to the Club Committee.
REQUIREMENT FOR NEW TREASURER
Unfortunately for personal reasons, our current treasurer Ian Bailey has indicated that he will not be standing for reelection in 2024. Ian has been an outstanding example of a club member prepared to commit his personal time to assist in ensuring that the TBA, and all club members have the proper environment in which to enjoy this wonderful game. Ian has worked assiduously in bringing the accounting systems up to date and simplifying procedures in line with the myABF developments. He also has lobbied successfully in ensuring that the agreement with MyState Arena for the ongoing TFoB Congress is advantageous to the TBA.
Personally, I am very sorry to see Ian leave this important position but understand fully his desire to achieve other goals. On behalf of the committee and members we say �Thank you Ian for a job performed in such an enthusiastic and professional manner.�
So we need a new Treasurer, who will be ably trained by Ian. Please forward potential candidate names to me.
TABLE CLOTH WORKING BEE
We have taken the suggestion of members to update some of our bridge environment and have decided to make some new tablecloths. We need a group of keen needle workers to assist. Please advise Pam Murphy or Malcolm Sherlock if you are able to assist.
SCORING METHODS
Many members are confused and uncertain about the variety of technical terms used to describe events, and as a result are reluctant to enter in some events. To assist in overcoming this reluctance this month we discuss �Butler� events.
Events are often describe by a combination of the scoring method, the type of draw (who plays who) and whether it is pairs or teams. "Butler" refers to a scoring method. In a Butler event the score for a board is based on the difference between the score achieved and a datum. The datum is an average of the scores for that board, often with some outliers excluded (details vary). This 'net' difference is then converted to IMPs (International Match Points) using a simple table. You can score between 0 and 24 IMPs on a board (0 for a net of 0 to 10, and 24 for a net of 4000 or more). The IMP table is normally in the event scorebook or scoresheet for reference.
For example, you play a board in 4S going one off vulnerable for a score of -100. If at most other tables the contact was 3H making 9 tricks in the opposite direction, the dataum for the board may be 170 (ie -170 in your direction). The difference is +70, which is converted to 2 IMPs.
Butler scoring is often used in Swiss Pairs events, although Swiss Pairs can also be scored in other ways (eg matchpoints). Butler scoring can also be used in other formats, such as round robin pairs events.
CHRISTMAS BRIDGE SESSIONS
The annual Club Christmas Lunch and Bridge Session will be held on Saturday December 16, with lunch and drinks at 12.00 followed by bridge at 1.15pm. All members are asked to bring a plate for sharing.
Sessions planned for the Christmas - New Year Period are as follows:
- Monday 25 December - No sessions
- Tuesday 26 December - Daytime session only
- Wednesday 27 December - Daytime session only
- Monday 1 January - Daytime session on. Evening session to be determined based on indications of interest before the day
All other regular sessions continuing as normal
The Annual Colony 47 Christmas Appeal will be operating again this year. More details as to types of gifts preferred will be displayed on the notice board and website. The gifts will be collected by Colony 47 on Monday December 18.
Please give generously to this special Christmas appeal.
Regards
Graeme