Bridge Results 26 Feb 2019

Team 1: Bill        [14   –   6]         Team 6: Caroline

Formatted results:

Bridge Results 28 Feb 2019

Results

Bridge Results 21 Feb 2019

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 14 Feb 2019

Results

Bridge Results 12 Feb 2019

Results

Bridge Results 29 Jan 2019

Well, well, there were some long suits and there were more long suits! Some were played perfectly, some not. There were some very strange results, with some very strange bids. Just an inside bit of humour, which Bill,Jan Ian and myself took part in; sometimes an approach is truly an approach!

On to the results, where Paul and Bridie came in first with more than 70%, followed by Judy and Heather, then a three-way tie for third.

The AGM will take place tomorrow, starting at 1200, followed by bridge at the normal time.
Be there, please!
It’s your club.

Country View is looking like a bit of countryside this morning, blue skies, a promise of rains to come, geese a’gaggling, Flamingos strutting in cadence and Troy has had his walk. All is well. Tea-time has arrived, along with home-made chocolate-chip biscuits. Tomorrow is Thursday, my best day of the week, bring it on.

My quote for today, after listening to Mr Aggrizzi on TV over the last two weeks;

” Hell is empty and all the devils are here”
Shakespeare, The Tempest.

See you all tomorrow,

Roy

Results

Bridge Results 31 Jan 2019

Results

North / South

East / West

Bridge Results 24 Jan 2019

It’s morning in Country View, freshly washed by yesterday’s rain and a gaggle of geese are waddling down the street, conversing with each other about whatever they converse about. All is well, the day is starting off with a fresh breeze, the leaves rustling gently and the light clouds hold promise of more rain to come. Troy is waiting patiently for his morning walkies, pacing silently up and down behind my chair, with the slight click of his nails a constant reminder of what he is waiting for.

Results

Bridge Results 22 Jan 2019

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 17 Jan 2019

Results

North / South

East / West

Hand records

Bridge Results 10 Jan 2019

That title reminds me of a wonderful movie from 1999, called Tuesdays with Morrie, starring the late Jack Lemmon, which dealt with a variety of topics, including love, happiness and death. Excuse me for a moment or two, at the risk of sounding a little maudlin, but in looking around the hall this afternoon, seeing all our friends from last year and many years before, noting also that many of us have been quicker of step, sharper of wit, perhaps a little more svelte, it was also gratifying to see new faces, some like us, some younger, but who’s counting! The common denominator is a love of bridge, so you ‘newbies’ were welcomed with open hearted delight. We are going to share great hands, great competitiveness and good times with you, just stay the course.

Just ponder what Winston Churchill said about America towards the end of World War II.

” America, it is a great and strong country, like a workhorse pulling the rest of the world out of despond and despair. But will it stay the course”

This is so true of all competitive activities. One cannot master a game overnight. You have to put in the effort, compete, analyse, read, discuss results with your partner, practice, and by so doing, exercise your mind every day of your life, because our minds are able to stretch us beyond our self perceived limits.

No more of that, this afternoon was a 12 table Mitchell movement, with Ian and Roy (that’s us) getting in by a close margin to win North /South while the East/West section went to Hans and Albert with a magnificent 70%. If we have more entries next week, we’ll probably play two sections, but let’s see what happens.

Once again, a great welcome to new players and hopefully soon to be new members. From myself and our committee we wish you all a healthy and happy new year and bring on the new week with all it’s complexity and interesting hands just waiting for us to interpret.

Roy and the gang.

Results

North / South

East / West

Bridge Results 15 Jan 2019

I read something that I find very funny and worth sharing with you. I’m sure you will all relate to it, perhaps with a smile, perhaps wincing a little in remembering the last time you did it!

Biltcliffe Coup
(British slang) A sarcastic term applied to a poor result as a consequence of four steps: (1) The opponents are about to play in a part score, when you bid in pass-out seat, (2) the opponents then bid game, (3) you double for penalties and (4) they make the contract!

Can you relate to this? Of course you can! Been there, done that, got the T shirt!

Over now to last night, where the two Precision players had a good night, winning by a margin of 8%. Who? Me and Ian. Then came Deirdre and Helen, followed by Paul and Bridie. Bill and Jan had some issues with their seating alignment in the second half of the evening, but let’s say no more!

Attached are the minutes from last year’s AGM, for your perusal. Remember to advise Caroline of any issue that you would like to raise on the 31st.

Next week, on the 24th, we will be playing a rather special event, in aid of a UNICEF supported appeal for funds. The appeal is to assist in feeding an estimated 11 million starving children in the Yemen. The same hands will be played all over the world and the international results will become known on the Sunday following. You are urged to support this event and give generously.

We’ll see most of you tomorrow,

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 8 Jan 2019

Say no more for us two old guys! We’ve had better days (nights), as have most of us. But the evening was cooler than the past few weeks, beautiful rain outside and we were playing bridge again, so all was well.

Bill and Jan took the spoils last night, with Paul and Bridie second, just edging out the pair of Caroline and Marianne into third place. A good start to the year and we now look forward to Thursday and to our AGM later this month.

I say ‘later this month’ because when I was called last week by club management to enquire when we would be holding our AGM, as they were setting up their diaries, I told them it would be the 24th of January. This would have given you at least a two week notice period, so you might be able to formulate whatever nefarious plans you might have for a coup to take over the club or to nominate a new committee, but I was reprimanded last night because the notice period is, according to the constitution, three weeks. I was informed that there would therefore be an objection lodged, because I had flouted the stipulation in our club constitution.

In view of the above, I will be asking members who attend Thursday afternoon if they would allow us to only give them two weeks notice instead of three, or whatever!

Watch this space! It’s exciting, the AGM might be the 24th or the 31st. We’ll let you know.

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 20 Dec 2018

That’s right everyone, attention shifted to the Synagogue in Woburn Avenue today, where we were very happy to be able to play our favourite game, among good friends and some serious aficionados of the game. Thanks to the members and committee of Jack’s club for the opportunity to play there.

The two old guys, that is Ian and yours truly, came in first, with David and Alana second and Tor and Heather third. The hands were challenging, the bidding was competitive and the defenses didn’t give an inch.

Please take it easy over the next two weeks, avoid unpleasant people, play some bridge and prepare for it’s challenges.

Roy and Pete

Results

Bridge Results 13 Dec 2018

It’s about 2130, the temperature has come down a little, but Troy is panting loudly behind me, tongue lolling, the mosquitoes are gathering, so here I am, fingers ready to type, hoping the little pests will leave me long enough to let me finish this mail. Before leaving the subject of mosquitoes, my belief that they make a beeline for me, bypassing my wife for some strange reason in order to attack only me, is factual and apparently has got something to do with one’s genes. Sheee..! I’d much rather have a long series of good hands being attracted to me, because lately it’s been very sparse. But enough of that, stop the whining, Hayward, play the hands dealt to you, what goes around comes around!

Today was the last Thursday of the year and we had eight and a half tables. With today and Tuesday’s playing fees, coupled with R600 from Lisa’s Monday sessions we were able to donate R2000 towards a Christmas gift for the four staff members who assist us every week, throughout the year. We trust it will make a difference to them and their families over the festive season.

Over to today, the winners were Bill Wilkie and Tor Meyer, with Peter and Neels second and Diana and Vanessa third. Veronica and Gary took the handicap prize,

I’m not finished with mozzies! They’re hovering, like little drones, some minituarised controllers directing their nightly forays into my house, proboscises quivering, hardly able to wait for the opportune moment when my guard is down, then zoom in and feed on me. Out with the Tabard, Peaceful Sleep, whatever does it for you and a big, fat middle finger to them.

Did I mention I hate them. They cause more deaths worldwide than all the snakes. spiders, wild animals put together and have been around for about 226 million years! They have even found 46 million year old fossils encased in amber that still had blood preserved in their abdomens. I hate them!

Goodnight all you great people, my friends around the bridge table, have a peaceful sleep and don’t let them bite you.
PS, they don’t bite, they just penetrate your skin with their proboscis and suck your blood.
PPS. All the best to you and yours for the Christmas season.

Roy

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 11 Dec 2018

Last night when I got home, I was struck by my personal reaction to the events which had just unfolded over the past few hours. There we sat, North/South at table 1, comfortably ensconced in a cocoon of confidence in our ability to handle all the difficult hands that awaited our competence as bridge players. Three hours later we found ourselves in tenth place, against nine other pairs, reeling with a distinct, uncomfortable sense of having under-achieved, massively!

But, you know what? There is often another sense at play here, that of a little bit of masochism. It is so easy to tell yourself that it was all to do with the cards we received, or rather the pronounced lack of quality cards. One is able to wallow in self-pity, bemoaning the constant, never-ending, colourless, pointless, dreadful hands we picked up. It actually becomes enjoyable after a while, you are able to extract sympathy from other players.

But, behind us, at table 2, the table we shared with, the sitting North/Souths received the same cards, but did a lot better than us. There are no excuses, therefore, only a lack of application. You’ll gather that we didn’t enjoy the hands we received! And the way we played the few handouts we did receive! What a night!

The winners last night were Helen and Guylaine, with Di and Barbara second and Paul and Bridie third. Did I mention which pair was last?

Over to Thursday now. It will be the last session of the year, so please bring a plate of either savoury or sweet snacks, one per pair, so that we may all enjoy a little something extra tomorrow.

See you there.

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 6 Dec 2018

Ten tables, enthusiasm all over the room, concentration in Spades, furrowed brows, slight mutters from here and there, the good hands always with the opposition, you know where I’m going with this! And then, without even noticing it, the afternoon and 24 boards had passed us all by, in a brief moment in time.

But, hey, there’s always next week, isn’t there?

Dealing with today, the winners were that industrious pair of Paul and Bridie. Then, a scant 1 point behind, was the pair of Cathy and Danny. That’s correct, 1 point behind! Consider that the next time you get a little sloppy or casual and give a trick away needlessly! One point in a total of 286 points on offer! Gee! Then came Jill and Vanessa in third place, 10 points behind.

Nothing more to report from The Sandpan today, apart from the alarmingly low levels of the water, shrinking the perimeter inexorably, day by scorching day. Even the Seagulls have quietened down, not being as noisy as usual, in fact missing from their normal haunts on the middle sandbar. We need rain, buckets and buckets of it, pouring down from above, for at least a week or more. Don’t ever complain about incessant rain again, it’s life giving. The alternative is too terrible to contemplate.

OK, Hayward, enough of all that serious stuff, next week is the last week of competitive bridge for the year, then we celebrate the festive season, the new year, and everything that comes with it.

To those of you who won’t be playing next week, we wish, firstly, our Jewish members a Happy Hanukkah, and our Christian members a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year. Remember that those of us playing next week should bring a plate of snacks, one per pair.

Goodnight all, love you guys.

Roy and Troy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 4 Dec 2018

Good morning to you all from Rynfield Close, in Country View. I would have written earlier, but I’ve been struggling for a few hours to get a Vodacom signal, therefore no Gmail, no blank sheet to accommodate my ramblings, no results, no cerebral musings, nothing till the much advertised service provider actually provides! Forgive me if I’ve mentioned this before, but they sent me a questionnaire, wherein they asked me to rate their service. I replied, with venom dripping from each keystroke, a reply that they would definitely not be using in their advertising. The trouble was, the damn reply didn’t and couldn’t get through to them, so my acerbic comments got lost in the ether. Say no more!

And now to last night, where we contested the session with four and a half tables. The very competent pair of Wilkie and Verberck did it with 62,7%, followed by Di and Barbara, then Vaun and Guylaine. Then came the rest of us. Oh well, another day, another dollar, something like that, Thursday comes around two days after Tuesday, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Some information about next week, the main club’s closedown. Those of you playing on Tuesday and Thursday next are asked to bring a plate of snacks, one per pair. The prizegiving for Teams, 2018, will take place on Tuesday night, so those of you who participated should please attend. We will be playing on Tuesday and Thursday therefore, then the club closes down until the 7th January. Those of you who might be looking for a game over this period are welcome to pop into Jack’s club, which will be running their normal Thursday afternoon session on the 20th. They have extended an invitation to our members.

This morning early I saw a huge Goliath Heron stalking some poor fish at the dam. Did you know that these guys actually steal prey from Fish Eagles, they’re so big that no one messes with them. They are about 1,5 metres in length, weigh 4,5 kg and are the largest of all living herons, also having a wingspan of 2 metres. The literature I just accessed says that they know little about their mating rituals, but that their plumage becomes brighter during mating season. The one that I saw seems very bright, so we should probably expect some action around the Sandpan quite soon!

That’s enough excitement for all you youngsters this morning, so we’ll sign off on that note.

See you tomorrow

Roy

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 29 Nov 2018

The 29th November. Really, December tomorrow! Christmas just 25 days away! The enormity of it, the swift passing of time, a year flitting away in a blur of weeks and months, seamlessly yet real. But, there are still a few weeks of bridge until the year end close down, so let’s enjoy these first and contemplate the year ahead after Christmas.

Yesterday’s bridge was contested by 19 pairs, playing at nine and a half tables, with the missing pair being number 7! Why was the missing pair number 7? I don’t know, myself and Paul came up with it, it just rolled off the tongue, so to speak.Why always only number 20? Why not 7? Enough, enough, let’s talk about yesterday’s bridge.

Mary and Lisa got there by a scant 2 match points, followed by Pat and Judy (does that sound just like Punch and Judy to you as well?), then Peter and Neels in third.

By the way, did any of you follow my hint about how to find the enemy Queen? It didn’t work, you say! Well, why are you so gullible? Shee..some people will believe anything, just imagine, thinking the inanimate King sitting in your hand is capable of actual thought! Anybody with just an average amount of the grey matter would laugh at such a proposition, wouldn’t they? What’s that you say? It worked for you! Hmmm….!

Goodbye and have a great weekend, relax, contemplate, watch a re-run of a re-run of a movie that you’ve seen 15 times before, read a good book, sleep and get back next week to contest another session at Benoni Northerns.

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 27 Nov 2018

Five and a half tables, sit out at table 1, six table Howell. Then the fun began, with some beautiful, interesting hands.When you open the attachment for last night’s hands, just look at, for instance, board 7, which contains latent drama, with potential for 5H or 5S, depending on where you sit! Then there are other considerations, such as sacrificing in 6! Wow!

Then let’s go to board14 !

North
S AJ6
West                     East
S ???                     S???
South
S KT943

Last night we bid 6 Spades, with South as declarer. Either 6C or 6S makes, but you have to find the QS. The almost natural way, without having had any clues from the opposition bidding, would be to finesse the JS, which loses to the Q, sitting in East’s hand. At least one down immediately! What to do? How do you find it, scientifically? Well, it so happens that ‘they’ say that, failing all else, you should look at which direction the K of Spades is looking, which is where the Q will be waiting, like a veritable spider in a web.Well, look at board 14, examine a King of Spades, sitting in your Southern hand, and you’ll notice he’s looking directly East. Say no more! There she sits!

Wow! How about that!

OK, OK, just having fun. But, if you followed this kind of stuff, Tarot cards, etc, etc, who knows? Just saying, you know!

Apologies, some fun, but last night was also fun and the final result was a win for Tor Meyer and yours truly, followed by Paul and Bridie, then Judy and Heather in third.

See you tomorrow, watch out for the Queen and just follow the bidding! You know what I mean?

Roy

And, how about this

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 22 Nov 2018

Good morning all, from a a gloomy day here at Country View, but, hey, that’s good, isn’t it? Rain in the offing? Filling up the Sandpan? It was distressing to walk along the shore of the dam yesterday and see scores of dead fish washed up and many others flopping around in the shallows. It is obvious that the dam needs water, lots of it! The water level has receded noticeably in the last few weeks, because of evaporation I suppose, and now the fish are dying for reasons unknown, but perhaps low oxygen levels in the water are contributing. Bring on the rain, heavy rain, thunderstorms, water, cascading into the dam!

Enough of the gloomy stuff. Yesterday was a great turnout of the faithful, with nine full tables, excitement, competition, good hands, a good vibe, just perfect in so many ways. What was especially good to see was the high attendance of what shall I say, The Newbies?. I just love the fact that we have obviously done something right by, in the first place, encouraging new membership, then managing to draw them into our fold and developing them and encouraging them. We, the old and the very old members who have been playing since before some of our grandchildren were born, were at one time concerned at lower and lower attendance of our Tuesday and Thursday sessions, because, mainly, of natural attrition. That’s right folks! I’m talking about members dying! The influx of new blood has been wonderful and we will continue to grow our membership and continue to encourage everyone to get involved in our club, not only by playing, but also by reading, improving your partnership performance and through this, grow as players.

Yesterday the laurels went to Bridie and Paul, with Di and Trevor a scant 3 points behind in second, then Helen and Barbara in third place. Well bid, well declared, well defended to all of you.

How many Bridge players do you need to change a light bulb?
Answer; Four. One to change the bulb and three to tell him how he could have done it better.

Finally, forgive me ladies!

“My bridge partner ran off with my wife: and let me tell you, I’m really going to miss him”

Have a good weekend and get back refreshed for next week’s action.

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 20 Nov 2018

There were four tables last night, a little quieter after the ten tables of Saturday, no Mitchell movement followed by an Interwoven Howell, no Camembert with walnuts, none of the delicious grapes, the curry and rice!

Oh well, back to earth, but what a pleasant evening of bridge, played in a laid back fashion by friendly people, the hard core of Tuesday regulars.

The winners on the night were Bridie and Paul, followed by Tor and Cathy, then Ian and myself.
There were three slams on offer, with Cathy and Tor bidding two of them, one against us! The hands were interesting, with reasonably good distribution, unlike some of the monsters of Saturday! How about the two hands in succession, where West opened 2 Spades and both times North had all the rest of the Spades, sitting over West like a vulture. Ouch…! Double…!

I’ll see most of you tomorrow, so it’s goodbye for now, time to rest and read a good book. It won’t be bridge today, just a Tom Clancy that I’m reading for the second time. Great writing.

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 15 Nov 2018

Good evening to you all from Country View, where we’ve just had “sound and fury, signifying nothing” from the Highveld weather.( Apologies to Macbeth). But the thunderstorms will come, the rain will bucket down, the Sandpan will fill up and everywhere nature will respond in kind. This morning when Troy and I were taking our daily walk around the dam, I was delighted to observe scores of young Flamingos among the adults, still without their pink hued plumage, but that will come as they mature.

Tomorrow is forecast to be 33 degrees, even warmer than today. Keep out of the sun, hydrate and take it easy. Drink something different, try something new. Hydrate!

Today’s winners were Sid and Roz, followed by Pat and Deirdre, then Helen and Barbara in third. Well done all of you. The two old guys didn’t do too well today, but we’re keeping the best for Saturday. Watch this space!

Saturday’s two sessions will be structured in such a way that we will ensure that each pair will be playing each other pair, during the day. Remember that play will start at 0900 sharp, so please be there on time. Remember also to bring one plate of either sweet or savoury snacks per pair.

Goodnight to you all.

See you Saturday,

Roy

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 13 Nov 2018

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” ― Ernest Hemingway
With the Club Pairs Championship being played on Saturday, I got to thinking about several people who have spoken to me over the past year, particularly with reference to their own play. I often hear comments such as ” We have no chance against so and so”, or ” We’re never going to win here”. I have heard exactly this concerning the Pairs Championship and I get frustrated when I know that everyone has the innate ability to be able to improve. Yes, some of us, myself certainly, will never win the Bermuda Bowl, one has to be realistic. Well, not at this stage of my life! But all I’m trying to say is that we can constantly improve, we can analyse our results with our partners, we can adopt new conventions, we can eliminate some of the mistakes and by so doing, move up the ladder and compete with more and more success.

Good luck on Saturday, We start play at 0900, so please register by 0845, latest. And remember to bring a small plate of either sweet or savoury snacks, one per pair.

And now to last night, where Tor and Cathy reigned supreme, with Ann and Diana in second place. It was one of those nights where it was difficult to score well if your opponents just simply bid the correct contract and other pairs, at other tables didn’t! You all know where I’m going with this, don’t you? It’s frustrating, in the extreme, when your opponents simply bid and make a modest part score, but at other tables chaos reigned, so you end up with a bottom, having defended well and having done nothing wrong!

But that’s just the way it is and therefore the fact that we are playing 48 boards on Saturday, with ten tables competing, will tend to smooth out the vagaries that arise out of 5 table events over 24 boards. It’s just a lot fairer.

“Copacetic”
Adjective. North American. Informal
Meaning: In excellent order
Where am I going with this? There was a discussion last night over something or other at Table 4, between us and Guylaine/Vaun, where yours truly used the word to describe something that was in order, and it was met with bemusement.

Everything on Saturday will be Copacetic!

See you there, in Spades!

Is it a rude word? No. It is part of the strange form of English that is spoken there, no more than that.

Roy

Results

Good morning

Hand Records

Bridge Results 8 Nov 2018

This weekend, Sunday, the 11th November, 2018, is the 100th time that this day, called Remembrance Day, will be observed. As most of us are of an age that would relate to it much more than our children or younger acquaintances, I felt it would be befitting for us to observe a moment’s silence at 11 o’clock on Sunday. This was, of course, the exact time agreed upon for the complete cessation of hostilities between the Allies and Germany in World War 1, “The Great War”.
The Armistice of Compiegne ended it all.

” They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them”

And now to the events of yesterday, which I was unable to attend. My congratulations to our very competent members from the other side of the Jukskei River, Hans and Albert, for winning with 64.12%, followed in second by Paul and Bridie, then Pat and Deirdre.

Our entries for the Club Pairs Championship now stand at 10 tables, which is what we will now take as final.

That’s it for now, all you good folks. Amongst all the fun and camaraderie that we enjoy, I just felt it fitting to insert the Remembrance Day comments, as a reminder to us all.

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 6 Nov 2018

We woke up to a chilly Wednesday morning here in Country View, with the maximum temperature being forecast as 19 degrees. It didn’t stop the Mallard ducks and their chicks in their early morning wanderings around the estate, neither the morning gaggle of noisy geese. Business as usual! Nature in all it’s beauty.

Last night’s hands were interesting as usual, with a preponderance of part scores, therefore requiring more than usual concentration with various possibilities often available. Only one slam was biddable, with board 3 offering either 7 Spades or 7 Diamonds. These are the kind of hands that require careful bidding and defense and lots of patience.

The two Precision guys did it, with Deirdre and Helen second. I know that Ian won’t mind me saying that he was taking some strain as a result of his medication, but he played some of his best bridge, especially as declarer on a few hands. Well done to you, Ian.

Entries to the club championship are still open and we’re trying for 12 tables. We will be talking to all of the Thursday players tomorrow and pushing for more entries. Please support this, our premier pairs tournament. Only R80 for a full day’s bridge, with morning and afternoon tea, lunch in between, what could be better on a Saturday in Benoni. What indeed?

Bridie and Paul were back from Durban and reported on what happened at the Interclub Teams, where they, plus Bill and Clyde, finished 9th overall out of 15 teams. They said that they had one or two little mishaps, therefore costing them some valuable IMPS, but we still congratulate them on representing us at this high level and therefore keeping the flag flying for Benoni Northerns Bridge Club. Well done to the team!

The committee will be meeting at 1200 tomorrow in order to make final arrangements for the 17th.

It’s going to be a great day on the 17th! Be there!

Your very modest chairman, with Troy snoring loudly next to me, dreaming about some or other past glory, gee, what a dog’s life!

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 1 Nov 2018

It’s a little cold now, 2145 on a Thursday evening, supper is almost forgotten, the news on TV is much the same as this morning, no different really from yesterday, The crooks are still doing what they do, only the amounts change from time to time, with a zero either added on or subtracted, but who’s counting. Their lips are moving, so they’re lying. The rain was very welcome this afternoon, there was excitement down at the Sandpan, the Seagulls were squawking away, the Geese were honking, Troy was hiding away from the thunder and we were playing bridge.

And what a beautiful afternoon for bridge that it was. Eight full tables, the usual suspects were there, ensconced in some of their favourite seats, waiting for the start like Romans at the Coliseum, eager for the feel of the cards in their hands, the thrill of picking up a hand in a million, or not, as it often is. Ah, the excitement of it! There’s nothing else like it.

Pat and Deirdre did it, with Jill and Peter second and Hans an Albert in third. Well done all of you.

News from Durban is that we were lying 6th out of 16 teams after today’s opening sessions. I’ll keep you up to date with how we do as the daily results come through. Thus far, we have 19 pairs registered for our Pairs Championship and we’re trying for 12 tables, therefore another 5 pairs are needed. It’s going to be a wonderful day of bridge, so those of you who haven’t registered yet, please get your entries in.

I’m going to bed now, to sleep the sleep of the innocent, which I am, so there it is!

Goodnight from Country View,

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 30 Oct 2018

Before I get to the results of last night’s activities, let me briefly address something that occurred during the last three boards, late at night!

I speak for both Ian and myself when we apologise for our somewhat loud ‘ discussion’ about the hand which we had just played. The argument was unnecessary and certainly not in the spirit of what I am always talking about. It was a misunderstanding, We are still partners.We agree to differ. Sorry. Put it down to the first six numbers of our ID’s, it was late, whatever!

OK, that’s enough! On to the events of last night. That consistent pair of Bill and Jan came out on top, but only by one matchpoint. Second was Paul and Bridie, then came Lisa and Trish.

I’m now going to take a much delayed walk with that very patient dog of mine, who just lies at my feet and expects very little, apart from the morning walks, his daily food and water and a pat on the head. We should all learn something from our animals. Patience is the first virtue they pass on to those of us who are stressed.

Roy

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 26 Oct 2018

What a beautiful day, a day where you can truly say it’s great to be alive. When I walked down to the Sandpan this morning early, the trees and the reeds were as still as any lyrical expression you could think of. Not the slightest stirring. Only the slight ripples from fish nibbles close to the surface and, of course, the constant squawking of Sea Gulls and honking of Geese. The level of water in the dam is decreasing day by day, so the coming rains will soon return it to it’s full splendour and new life in all it’s forms.

What about yesterday? There were eight full tables, some really strange hands with distribution straight from bridge fiction, but also the mundane, hands that were contested at the one to two level, providing the lesson to all of us that bridge at this or any higher level is not only about slams, but about accuracy and consistency. If any of us are guilty of complaining about a dearth of good hands, where I am certainly one of those, then we should all realise that better results are obtainable by embracing the fact that good players still get good results at times of point shortages, simply through good defense and competitive bidding, regardless.

That ever consistent pair of Helen and Barbara came out on top yesterday, for the umpteenth time, because of exactly what I wrote in the paragraph above. Then came Diana and Vaun, followed by Lisa and Mary. Well done ladies!

We’re still taking entries for the Club Championship. I finalised the lunch menu with our caterers yesterday, with two choices for lunch including vegetarian, for those who aren’t carnivores. This comment is for you, Devan and Nisha! And, we welcome two new members in the form of Hans and Albert, who will be competing for the title as members for the first time. Only a few weeks away now, so please get your entries in.

A pleasant weekend to all of you.

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 23 Oct 2018

It’s 0730, a beautiful day outside at Country View and I’ve already walked the old guy around the side of the Sandpan. The old guy? Troy, of course! He turned 11 on the 25th of September and creaks a little when he gets up in the morning, the same as his old friend who walks him every day. But he loves the dam and splashes around in the shallows, chasing down some stick that I’ve thrown and relives his past youth in short bursts of energy that dissipate all too soon, as the toll of the passing years slow him down gradually. The walk homewards is always a little less exuberant now, ending in him flopping down on his bed and dreaming of past glories. What a life!

Thank you for allowing me to share the above with you. As we get older, we all reminisce on our passed youth and so do our pets, I suppose.

Now to last night and the events of the evening. The hands were of a certain appeal, with not everyone getting what they would have liked. But we all tried our best and dealt with the vicissitudes of the strange distribution and how to bid the contracts on offer, also the meddling types of competitive bids from competitors who weren’t going to just lie down and get run over. That’s the nature of our game and that’s what makes it so interesting.

That quite competent pair of Bill and Jan came in with a flourish towards the end and won it with an excellent 62.7%, followed by the reasonably competent pair of Hayward and Lowdon in second place. A feature of the evening was the closeness of the results, with only 2% separating the following four pairs.

Just a reminder or two. Our Club Pairs Championship is only a few weeks away, so get your entries in as soon as possible. There will be an entry form at Priscilla’s table tomorrow. We also wish our Team of Bill, Clyde, Bridie and Paul all the best for the upcoming Interclub Teams and look forward to a stellar performance from them.

I’ll see most of you tomorrow.

Roy

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 18 Oct 2018

As I write to you from Rynfield Close, I see there are two bars showing on the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) at the bottom of the laptop, in this case for Vodacom. I often have to wait until the next morning before I am able to send the results, because the signal is so weak. In fact, this morning a funny thing happened when I received an SMS from Vodacom, one of those irritating marketing questionnaires that asks you to rate their service and quality of signals, etc, which must have slipped through the ether by accident. I was brutally honest and rated them 1 out of 5 on each of three questions. The only problem with that was the fact that the message couldn’t get through, so they’ll never know! Oh boy!

I think I’ll organise someone to deliver it in a cleft stick.

Enough Hayward, enough. It is what it is, so just go to the results.

There were 11 full tables today, a complete about turn from Tuesday night’s two and a half! Sid and Ros won with 67.9%, followed by Jill and Vanessa in second and those two perennial achievers Helen and Barbara third.

Remember to enter for the Club Pairs Championship! We had a number of entries today, but we are aiming for 12 tables, so keep the entries coming in. The entry list will be displayed at every session, with the closing date quite a few weeks away.We are also going to firm up the menu with the caterers in the next few weeks and have had an indication of two persons asking for a vegetarian lunch, which we will be able to provide. I will organise for an alternative form to be printed, which will contain space for such requests, so no problem.

With reference to previous mails when I wrote about long hesitations when bidding the following comment was recorded during a recent game:
When asked to acknowledge that his partner had broken tempo to have a long think before taking action he said ” There was a hesitation, but I’m not sure there was any thinking involved”

Yes, well, say so more.

Goodnight all, see you next week.

Roy and an ever sleeping Troy

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 16 Oct 2018

Last night we had a huge turnout, with two and a half tables, complete with bustling action, periods of inaction, with sitouts of five boards, tea and coffee being taken on the run, or during 5 board sitouts.

Bridge Results 11 Oct 2018

Good evening all of you. Before I get going with today’s results, I would just like to enquire whether all of you receive my emails. I ask this, because I conducted a small experiment today, where I asked at least ten people what they thought about yesterday’s mail,in particular what they thought about the hand from Tuesday night. To my absolute disappointment, there were only three out of the ten who had read the mail and I was also told that they looked at the results before leaving, so they didn’t need to see it again!
I now realise that the above paragraph doesn’t make sense, because if you don’t receive it, then you wouldn’t know about this enquiry, would you? I give up, I’ll just continue sending them and if you don’t read it, just delete, or tell me, so I can delete your address from the data base. Whatever!

Well done Bill and Cathy, the old Precision player and his convert to the system. Then came Vaun and Diana, followed by Margaret and Ann.

And, a welcome back, from all of us, to Ian, who walked in today a little slimmer(?) but looking as if he’d just been on holiday for a few weeks. Well done Ian and may I say it was a pleasure to play with you again today.

That’s it for now, have a good weekend, those of you who read these mails, also to those who don’t.

Roy, the scribe whose words seem to fall on deaf ears, but who knows?
But if they don’t reach the ears in the first place, then there would be nowhere to fall? And if those people …..? Whatever!

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 9 Oct 2018

There were several very interesting hands last night, none more so than hand 7, where 6C, 6S and 6NT were makeable. Look at it on the attached file of hands from last night. A truly remarkable hand, which, ultimately, relies on instinct rather than accurate bidding only in order to reach the correct contract. Ian and I, along with input from Bill, discussed how we might have bid it in Precision. Look at it. Discuss it with your regular partner and tell us how you would have bid it, without resorting to just instinct or conducting a seance at the table. The following sequence is that which would be used by experienced Precision players, where they aren’t using transfer bids over a 1C opening.

First, here’s the hand;
North
S 942
H 4
D A
C AQJT9765

South
S AQJT83
H K7
D K763
C K

Bidding

S 1C* N 2C
2S** 3H***
4C**** 5C*****
6S

Explanation of above bidding
1C 16 Pts, not necessarily Clubs
2C Natural, at least 5 cards, 8 or more pts.
2S ‘Alpha’ bid, new suit by 1C opener, asking for support in that suit and total controls, where an Ace is 2 and a King is 1.
3H Showing support with 4 or more controls
4C Gamma bid, asking about Club suit.
5C Showing at least 6 Clubs, with 2 of top 3,
6S Natural, enough information to bid it.

Confused? Well, it’s the wonderful world of bridge, with it’s billions of hand variations, it’s vast array of bidding availability, with all the various conventions, the blood and guts of combat across the table, the play of the hands. Such bidding is what is being used by top players, it is actually not that difficult to learn, if you’re prepared to read and research a little.

Enough of that, the very capable pair of Bill and Jan won with 63.5%, followed by Paul and Bridie, then Diana and Anne. My thanks, as usual, to Tico for a very pleasant 24 boards last night.

We will be holding our annual Pairs championship on Saturday, 17th November. We have a target of at least 12 tables, and it will be an all day event, over 48 boards, with morning and afternoon tea and biscuits, lunch and great camaraderie. We will put up an entrance form and display it at all coming events, at the table where you pay your entrance fees and urge you to get your entries in as soon as possible. It will be open to non members as well, but the Championship itself can only be won by a fully paid up member of the club.We will be subsidising the cost of lunch and therefore the entry fee will comprise of the normal R25 per player per session, plus a contribution of R30 to cover some of our cost, a total of R80 per player, R160 per pair.

Goodbye for now, see most of you tomorrow.

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 4 Oct 2018

Good morning all of you good people. I tried to send the results out last night, but the ether wasn’t kind. I couldn’t get enough signal strength from Vodacom to even open Gmail, let alone for it to last long enough for one of my long emails to you!

I’m happy to be back home after our seaside jaunt, and even Troy is showing some residual effects after having to breathe such highly saturated oxygen down there. But that’s over now and we’re back in business, bridge-wise.

When I walked into the hall yesterday afternoon, it really felt good to see all your young and not so young faces after 10 days and may I just say it was good to see you all and feel the atmosphere of my second home, Benoni Northerns Bridge Club. I think of you when I’m away and wonder who’s doing what, whether there is improvement, whether you’ve adopted a new convention in your partnership, and so on and so on.

With the above in mind, I cannot help noticing a few interesting results from yesterday. In particular, my normal congratulations go to the deserving winners, Paul and Bridie, but a huge well done goes to Geoff and Pauline for second place and to the winners of the handicap, Charles and Len, who, co-incidentally, came in 12th overall, with nearly 50%. I’m thrilled to see such improvement and urge you guys to keep it up.

That’s all for now folks, love you all,

Roy and a sleeping Troy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 2 Oct 2018

Results

Bridge Results 27 Sep 2018

Results

Bridge Results 25 Sep 2018

Results

Bridge Results 20 Sep 2018

Something I would like to share with you, before I get to today’s results, is a development concerning bridge in Wattville. Some months ago, I received a call from someone from Wattville, concerning a program to teach bridge to people in that Township. As we were not equipped to deal with something that could prove to be a massive project, I decided to rather involve the Gauteng Bridge Union, alternatively the SABF itself. I’m pleased to be able to tell you that the program kicks off next week, and a number of us will be involved in developing the teaching of bridge to whom at this stage look likely to be retired people. It’s exciting and promises to be very rewarding. I will be accompanying Sid Ismail and Lisa on Wednesday to pay our first visit to them. It goes without saying that any bridge tables at your homes that are not being used would be very welcome donations, indeed anything relevant would be warmly received.

Now to today’s activity. My thanks to Claire for a most pleasant afternoon of bridge. Even though we didn’t cover ourselves in glory, we had fun, we didn’t have great hands, most of the time, but made the most of what we did get. Well, to be honest, not all the time either. You’ll gather from all that obfuscation that we’ve both had better days! But, we played bridge!

Another good day’s work for Sid and Roz, winning with 65,91%, followed by Bill and Clyde with 65,1%, then Helen and Barbara third.

It’s cooled down a little now, Troy is sleeping the sleep of the innocent right next to me, twitching now and then when dreams of canine nirvana stir his subconscious.
He turns 11 on the 25th, a somewhat senior member of his genus now. We love the old guy.

Good night to you all. Please read my comments in Tuesday’s email again, because the way in which we treat each other at the bridge table is so important in maintaining the culture of friendliness that runs through all our activities. We will never be intolerant of others, dismissive or gloating of nature. We play this game for the mental stimulation it provides and the camaraderie that ensues. That is what Benoni Northerns Bridge Club represents.

All the best, have a wonderful weekend, see you next week.

Roy and a sleeping Troy

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 18 Sep 2018

On this beautiful, slightly windy Spring day, as I contemplate what I would like to share with all of you friends, first let me apologize about what happened last night, regarding the computer, what else! This time, it had nothing to do with anything else except, perhaps, the first two digits of my ID number. When I set up the program, I got sidetracked by something and neglected to plug the charger in, so the computer went to sleep before tea time, resulting in very few results being received.

Nevertheless and notwithstanding, the results were all retrieved and they are as per the attached file. Well done indeed to Diana and Anne, who won with an excellent 62.5%, followed by Vaun and Guylaine. My thanks also to Caroline for an enjoyable partnership last night.

Over the past few weeks I have been observing the goings-on in our club with a degree of concern. I refer to a few incidents concerning some decisions that went against some players and some plain unpleasantness that took place between some of us.

Firstly, concerning the Laws of Contract Bridge. As it is with any other sport you might participate in, there are rules, laws, call it what you like. In rugby, when you drop the ball forward, it’s called a knock-on and a scrum is called. In Golf, when you play out of a bunker, you cannot ground your club. And so on and so on. These laws of the game are there to ensure equity is maintained, that everyone can compete on an equal basis.

If you have a need for a ruling by the appointed Tournament Director, this person is called, she or he gives a ruling and the game goes on. If you are not happy with such a ruling, you always have a right to contest it at a higher level, such as the Gauteng Bridge Union. Normally the type of rulings that are delivered concern revokes or leads out of turn, insufficient bids or bids out of turn. There have been a few incidents of late, which I know I have referred to, concerning hesitation, or unnaturally long delays in bidding, which have also caused some tension when ruled upon.

The TD has undertaken courses about the Laws of Bridge, she is extremely well versed in such matters, so we expect her rulings to be accepted in the spirit of the game. She rules according to the information given to her, in a neutral, equitable fashion, so that equity is always maintained. We expect that these decisions are accepted as such. They are not personal, directed against you because you had an argument five years ago!

Last, but not least, I must admit to also getting a bit grumpy at times, where I might react to someone else that I perceive as having slighted me. I’m human, the same as you. I am just asking all of us to come together on Tuesdays and Thursdays as members of a band of bridge lovers who are able to play the game in a good spirit, friendly to all we play against, acknowledge the good play of the opposition, enjoy our successes without gloating and thereby enjoy the greatest game played with all one’s clothes on!

There ends today’s sermon. See you tomorrow. Keep cool! Think. Compete.Be nice!

Roy

Results

Hand Records

Bridge Results 13 Sep 2018

I would like to share something with all of you friends this morning. I am privileged to be living next to the Sand Pan, which lies between Country View and Boat Lake Village. I walk Troy around the Pan every day and this morning at 0700 there were hundreds of Sea Gulls circling, roosting and producing a cacophony of shrieks and calls, there was a Redknobbed Coot making a nest right on the water’s edge,the ducks and geese were waddling and paddling around. Around the next corner a Flamboyance of Flamingos were strutting in stately order and through all this magnificence Troy was entirely unmoved, just wanting to take an early morning dip. He’s just a dog! A Philistine! Say no more.

Thanks for indulging me, but you had no choice anyway. You’re a captive audience. I have some latitude in these matters, so there!

The results? Of course. Wait for it!

Do you know who came in first on the result of the very last board? Jerome and Priscilla! That’s right, a little last board ‘sneak-in’. Very well done you two, with myself and Helen a close second and Lisa and Mary third.

On a slightly more serious note, there were have been three incidents this week where a ruling was called for because of a long delay by a player and a subsequent bid by the partner being contested as unfair. The rules of bridge are clear on this subject. Law 73 of Duplicate Bridge states, in section A2, that ” Calls and plays should be made without undue emphasis, mannerism or inflection, and without undue hesitation or haste”. Please understand that you are expected to play in a smooth tempo, without long pauses, because such a pause passes on information to one’s partner. Feel free to discuss this with the Tournament Director at any time in order to fully understand the rule.

That’s all for now, have a great weekend and come back next week for more of the same.

Roy

Results

Hand records

Bridge Results 11 Sep 2018

Last night was one of those nights. But, you know what? When I got home, I was pondering about the reason for the system not wanting to accept names from you and the rolling screen showing that all boards had been played, and that when we had not yet picked our cards up on the first board!

Well, I have told you, from time to time,about just how finicky the program can be, so, after some involved detective work, I deduced that I must have moved the mouse pad a fraction, or, even worse, adjusted my chair while typing an instruction. I did also sneeze once. Hmm. I wonder?

After all that, what I did do was to capture all the results, board by board, pair by pair, so here it is!

That struggling pair of Bill and Jan struggled once again and managed to win with 63.54%, followed by Lisa and Trish, then Vaun and Guylaine.

Goodnight folks, sorry it’s so late, almost 20 hours after the last hand was played, but I had things to do, places to go to. You know what I mean.

Roy

Results

Bridge Results 6 Sep 2018

I’m writing to you from my dark lounge, lit only by the light of a little emergency light that Elaine bought from Crazy Store a few years ago. That’s right, there’s a blackout, thanks to Eskom, that totally honest purveyor of electricity, that amazingly well-run organization that has good connections all over, especially Dubai and India. Lately their preferred suppliers of coal have moved on and live somewhere North of here and are practicing to speak Arabic.

Oh, you want to know about today’s results, don’t you.

I was watching the rolling screen today, which, by the way, wasn’t rolling, and up to the second last round there was nothing to choose between Diana and Vaun and the pair of Paul and Bridie. It was neck and neck, then, Paul and Bridie ran headfirst into Geoff and Pauline on a good day for them, and walked away with two zeros. Such is life, the ups and downs of this great game, say no more!

Congratulations to Diana and Vaun, therefore, with Helen and Barbara second, Paul and Bridie third.

I’m going now, because the batteries in my light and the laptop are doing an Eskom on me. Gooddnight all you happy people out there.

PS Any spelling mistakes and typos are just to be accepted for what they are. I can hardly see anything now.

Goodnight. What’s that you say. Elaine> Where’s the damn questionmark? Oh now I see it.

Roy

Results

Bridge Results 1 Sep 2018

With the totally competent Priscilla’s help, we were able to retrieve the full data from the system back up files and give i to you in detail, as usual. Thanks also go to Arie Ridderhof, the supplier of our Bridgemates, all the way from Port Alfred, who was able to point us in the right direction.

Here they are!

Hooray !

Goodbye till Tuesday.

Don’t ask what happened, we don’t know, but at least we always do a back up of the data, so it was a matter of retrieving it.

Enjoy, peruse, analyze, whatever, see you all on Tuesday

Results

Bridge Results 30 Aug 2018

There are no results.

There has been a glitch in the system, because when I opened Scorebridge last night, there was no result file for the 30th August. The backup file is sitting there in the system, but despite Priscilla’s best efforts, we have been unable to recover the file.

The only information I am able to give you is that Diana and Vaun came first. I also know that Bill and I had a score of 49%, plus a decimal point or two, approximately 11th or so, that Lisa and Mary came 4th, thereafter there is nothing more I can tell you. Apologies for this, but it is what it is.The rolling screen was there, in all it’s detail at the end of play, with all boards shown to be captured. If only I had just written it down, or collected all the travellers, but that is history, too late, too late!

The hand records are attached. I’m going to have a liquid lunch of some sort and find a good book to read, sleep a bit this afternoon and contemplate my navel.

Good news is that Ian seems to have come through his operation in good shape, according to what I’ve been told and I will keep you updated as more information comes through.

Roy

Hand records

Bridge Results 23 Aug 2018

Yes, well, there were definitely problems this afternoon. You might have noticed the sweat breaking out on my brow, the flushed look on my face, the white knuckles, the red face, the irritation.

Let me share with you. We had 11 full tables at exactly 1328 this afternoon, so I set the program to run on those parameters and hit the enter key. At that moment another pair appeared, wanting to play. I made a wrong decision in allowing them to play, knowing that I would then have to delete the event and restart it as a 12 table movement. Amidst the pressure of the moment and knowing that everyone was anxious to start, I used a Double Howell movement instead of a Mitchell, which meant that we would need to have movement cards on the tables to avoid mistakes with people who hadn’t picked up their numbers from the Bridgemates and were also getting confused about where to go next round. Upon looking for the movement cards, we found them to be missing. Chaos reined, suggestions were being made by all and sundry and I was picking up comments from here and there that I didn’t find pleasant. Eventually we managed to sort out a semblance of order and managed to run the event without any other significant problems, except for table 11. On this table, the Bridgemate was frozen, apparently from the first board played, but I was only advised about it at tea time. I replaced the two batteries in it and that should have been that, but for some reason it was not used at all after tea, so no information was forthcoming at all from that table. The computer didn’t register any problem with this and showed that all boards had been played. As there are also gaps in the results written down on the travellers at this table, where 4 boards were not recorded, instead of the 2 that were sit-outs, we have scrapped all the results from table 11.

This afternoon was very stressful, especially as we were ready to roll, but I can assure you that in future we will cut off entries at no later than 1325, no exceptions. In addition, when you find that the Bridgemate isn’t working, call me. If it still doesn’t work, call me again and ensure that all the entries are filled in correctly.

Attached are the results for both North/South and East/West. Congratulation to Cathy and Bridie in North/South for winning their section and to Hanneke and Ursel for winning East/West.

Roy

Update

So, after much detective work, I was able to decipher the travellers and recreate the scores for table 11. The final winners of NS and EW remain the same, but (damn!) myself and Ian now move from second to 4th in NS, while Rod and Pat Norton move down one slot to make way for Jerome and Priscilla in EW. In NS, therefore, Helen and Barbara now share second place with Bram and Tico, who were the sitting pair at the infamous table 11.

I’m now going to have something to drink, perhaps alcoholic, perhaps just coffee, we’ll see.

Remember that Tuesday night is the final Teams event of the year, so there won’t be any Pairs event.

Goodnight all, see you next week.

Roy

Results

North / South

East / West

Hand Records

Bridge Results 21 Aug 2018

It wasn’t that good for us last night, but, do you know what, Summer has almost arrived, well I suppose Spring has almost arrived. I’m getting a little confused now, but you know what I mean.

There were some great hands, most of which we either didn’t have, or didn’t do justice to them. But some did, with Wilkie and Verberck coming out top of the five and a half table pile, followed by Vaun and Guylaine, then Diana and Anne.

I cannot indulge myself this morning and regale you with some witticisms or deep thoughts about life, because I’m having problems with the Internet connection here, therefore having to borrow the neighbour’s wi-fi connectivity.

Have to go now, see you all tomorrow, or at least most of you.

Roy the unconnected.

Results