NEWSLETTER No. 13  August 2013

   

After a very busy summer and before what promises to be a busier August and September I have finally managed to produce Newsletter No 13. Following my plea at the AGM for more feedback and input I am happy to say that I have received several articles and there are lots of  events to report, so read on…….

MEMBER’S NEWS

I am happy to report that Denis Angove is home after eight weeks in hospital and is looking forward to getting back to bridge in a few weeks. Marjorie Davies one of our longest serving, and a founder member is moving this month to a residential home, ‘Tehira’, Moultrie Road and would be delighted to receive visitors and phone calls (she is keeping her old number).

It was good to see Peter Harris back at the club after an absence due to illness.

CAWSTON COMMUNITY CENTRE

The decision by Rugby Borough Council in July to grant planning permission for the new centre  was a significant step forward. However Cawston Parish Coucil are having some internal debate about the best way forward and are not yet in apposition to sign the Agreement we negotiated with them. We are doing all we can to move things forward and will continue to keep our members informed of any developments.

Peter Langley

EVENTS & PAST and PRESENT

RUBBER BRIDGE TOURNAMENT 

The 2013 Rubber Bridge Tournament is proceeding very well with a record entry of 39 pairs.  This, together with a few donations from some generous folk unable to take part, has raised £425 for Myton Hospice.

Progress to date has been excellent with all Round1 and Round2 ties together with seven of the eight Round 3 matches having been completed already.  The eighth has been scheduled.  In addition three of the of the four Quarter Finals have taken place leaving a total of only five matches remaining so we’re very well-placed to hold the Final within the objective timescale of end-September.  This is a major accomplishment during holiday season.  Thanks to all taking part for your efforts..

Congratulations are due to Elisabeth + Owen Davies, Wendy Pattinson + John Bolton and Maria Smyth + David Owen becoming the first three pairs to qualify for the Semi-Finals.

Finally it has been very rewarding that so many of you reported back on how much you have enjoyed the Tournament!  I hope that this continues for those left in but many thanks to everyone who has participated.

Terry Bradbury

THE START of a new era

Monday 22^nd July 2013 saw the inauguration of the much awaited trial run of the Rugby Bridge Club’s (RBC) pair’s competition organised by Graham Lightfoot in liaison with a club sub-committee, the venue Clifton Hall Farm.

National Director John Pyner acted as a guide and Tournament Director (TD).

It was a warm barmy evening attended by 18 pairs split into three divisions and three sessions.  In each session each pair played 9 boards against a second pair which was then scored with the other two pairs playing in the opposite orientation to themselves in the division.  Play was quick and scoring was at times a little tricky bordering on manic but John’s assistance proved invaluable.  The results were:

Div A – Pam Southern and Anne Pettitt

Div B – David Owen and Maria Smyth

Div C – Richard Smith and Lo Tolbutt

The participants enjoyed an excellent format and are eagerly awaiting the next pairs competition.  RBC wishes to thank Graham Lightfoot for organising the event; Robert & Jenny Spencer of Clifton Hall Farm for a superb venue; John Pyner for directing the event, Richard Smith for the administration; Marion & Claire Dixon for preparing the boards and again to Robert Spencer for helping Graham set up the event.

EBU TEACHING COURSE

Most people recall what they were doing when Kennedy was assassinated or when England won the world cup and we can now add “what were you doing when Andy Murray won the Men’s singles at Wimbledon?”

Mt answer is driving along the M1 between Milton Keynes and Daventry. “Why?” you ask?

I was returning from an EBU teaching course in Edgware.

A likely story!!

Edgware is one of the more appealing of the London suburbs and certainly our host Harold Shogger made the group welcome – there were 15 participants rather than the usual 12 so things were a little on the cramped size.

Harold provided us with learning materials so that we could give a structure to our lessons and an insight to the way that different people learn. We had a long discussion on the EBU’s guidance regarding opening One No Trump with a 5 card major.

On the Sunday, we were shown various materials we could use to give presentations from PCs and associated paraphernalia to board markers (remember to use non-permanent ones). In the afternoon we gave individual presentations. It was interesting to see different styles and personalities, most of us made some major mistakes (failing to say what we were going to talk about, trying to cover too much, failing to some up, being monotonous or lacking humour) but Phil Shorey and Wendy Pattinson agreed with me that Sue Osborne was an absolute star with a witty and pithy presentation.

Although lacking a little in depth, the course was well worthwhile for many reasons; the main one was to know that we teachers are not on our own and don’t need to reinvent the wheel, as there is plenty of help available from the EBU and other websites and information sources. I would recommend all current and aspiring teachers to go on one of these courses

Chris Malthouse

MASTER POINTS COMPETITION

Over half way through the year and the new Master point competition is gathering pace and producing some good results each month.  The results are on the website LHS menu under competitions.

Although regarded by some initially that the competition would be too biased in favour of our  stronger players and yes it can  favour those that regularly play at each Tuesday, Thursday and Friday session, however at the end of July over 100 members have received master points and this equates to about 2/3 of our entire membership.

Notably good results can be achieved, without attending all the sessions as for example Ken Miles nearly won the January top spot and yet only plays once a week, so this is encouraging for others.

Monthly winners to date are :

July – John Drake 162 MP’s

June – John Drake 156 MP’s

May – Marion Dixon 159 MP’s

April - Chris Malthouse 198 MP's

March - John Drake 144 MP's

February - Pam Southern 165 MP's

January - Marion Dixon 150 MP's

John Drake is currently in the lead having accumulated an impressive 918 Masterpoints with Val Wormleighton in second place  chasing John with 858 MP’s.

On average nearly 70 members each month receive master points. 

It would be interesting to hear opinions on this new competition.

Over 70’s Club –  Well done to all those that have had a result this year of 70% or over – this has been achieved 6 times so far with the highest result going to Craig Hutton and John Drake 75% during a Friday afternoon session, and twice Brian Richardson and Keith Lodge have had over 70% during the Wednesday session. 

Liz

TROUGHERS

What do you do on a Saturday night? Do you socialise with friends and acquaintances? Do you eat good homemade food in a warm friendly environment?

About 40 of us do this regularly at our “Troughers” event. This is held on the 3^rd Saturday of each month. We meet up at Clifton Memorial Hall, usually upstairs, about 5.50pm. We bring our dish, whether it is salad or homemade quiche, as suggested by Janet Chappell. The buffet opens at 6pm and then we sit at one of the large tables (3 tables pushed together) and chat to our bridge friends.

Seconds are usually available, especially the homemade desserts – if you dare with all the calories!

By 7pm we are ready, seated, to play bridge. All the washing up has been done and put away – lots of helpers. We alternate between pairs and teams depending on which month.

All in all, it is a lovely way to spend time on a Saturday night.

 Anne

SUMMER BRIDGE

The teaching team offered some weekday Summer Bridge tuition and were delighted to have such a positive response from our members.

The inaugural session was held at Wendy’s house where 10 keen Bridgers enjoyed a very sociable lunch followed by 2 hours of supervised play.

These sessions will continue during the school holidays and possibly longer if there is sufficient demand.

Do let us know if you would like to join us to practise any aspect of bidding or play or if you have any suggestions for topics for the Saturday morning session.

We will try to arrange sessions at a time to suit you and are happy to provide set hands on a . particular topic or just supervised play of dealt hands.  

Sue

FUTURE EVENTS

Rugby Pairs League (RPL)

1. Summary of Competition   

a. The RPL is a competition for pairs, but scored using Teams IMPs. A key aim is to encourage players of all abilities to enter and to play against opponents of a similar standard. The same computer-dealt hands are played by all divisions, with hard copies available at the end of each evening. A Commentary is available via email to compare your performance.   

b. Two Series (September-January, February-June) are run each season with promotion/relegation at the end of each Series.   

c. Five Sessions per Series are to be held on the 3^rd Monday of each month. 

It may be necessary from time to time to change to avoid public holidays etc.. 

Full detaila are available on our website.

TEACHING COURSES

New courses will start in September.

We are offering a free, two week intrductory course beginning on Saturday,14^th September at the Townsend Memorial Hall starting at 10am. This is for  those who know nothing about bridge but would like to know what it is all about. Please encourage your spouses, children, neighbours anyone  you know who would be interested, to come along

Following this we are running a 30 week Beginners Course starting on Saturday 28^th September, same time, same place. The cost will be £75  in total, £25 payable in advance for 10 lessons. Not bad at £2.50 a lesson!

For more advanced players the Improvers’ sessions will also commence on 14^th September. The topics to be covered will be published on the website

ROD LARTER MEMORIAL EVENT

Plans for the Rod Larter Memorial event are well underway, and at the moment 32 bridge players and non-bridge players are attending. What a wonderful response!

The timing of this event  coincides with Rod’s first visit three years ago to this area. It is also the date of the Velke Bilavice Hody, a South Moravian festival. We will see some of the celebrations and the tree raising event. For more information about this festival go to http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kermesse(festival)

It is not too late to attend…some of our members are going by car!

Petr has set up a website with all the information needed www.friendsofrod.info

It promises to be a great weekend.

OUR PARTNERSHIP – Richard Holland and Graham Clarke

We have now been playing together at Rugby Bridge Club since 1986. Other than Sheila & Malcolm Taylor and Alan Webb & Dennis Angove, we are one of the longest surviving partnerships. We came together after my wife Rhona started playing bowls at Thornfield on Tuesday evenings. The club at that time was playing at Giovanni’s in Regent Street and Graham happened to be playing there with his sister. She was not a regular partner so we decided to start playing together. Both of us are competitive players and to improve our bidding we bought two of Eric Crowhurst’s books, ‘Precision Bidding in Acol’ & ‘Acol in Competition’. One of the conventions we took up was the strong 2 Diamond bid. This shows a strong three-suited hand (5440 or 4441) with a minimum of 17 points or a strong single suited hand with eight playing tricks in any suit. We believe we are the only ones using  this convention which unfortunately doesn’t  turn up that often.

As most people know, the club has travelled around Rugby playing at various venues including the Polish, Irish and Regency clubs and when these were not available, the  Dunchurch W.I. hall. Our partnership success can be seen in our finishing position at the end of each year, hardly ever failing to finish out of the top four. Our main adversaries in the old days were Ivan Beniston and the late Derek Allott. A very formidable pair – Derek was difficult to play against as you never knew if he was psyching or not. Now of course we have to take on Marion Dixon and Chris Malthouse to name but one pair out of several.

I suppose our most notable achievement was to qualify for the Corwen Cup in 2010. This included two sessions at the Solihull Bridge Club where we came fourth in the final qualifying stage. Then to Hinckley for the all England finals where we were one of the four pairs representing Warwickshire. Needless to say, we finished nearer the bottom than top but it was very enjoyable.

I think our partnership has survived because we never argue over our mistakes but talk through them sensibly – something a lot of partnerships could do more of. In the meantime we are trying to maintain our place in this year’s table though we need to improve on our last performance. What we are looking forward to is moving to our own premises and to this we give our thanks to the committee for their constant hard work.

Richard Holland      

OUR ROVING REPORTER

Yes, he’s been at it again and this time the victim was David Owen. Settle back to hear what he had to say…

1.      When, why and in what circumstances did you start playing bridge?

As a child growing up we entertained ourselves reading, listening to the radio, playing sports and indoor games which focused primarily on cards, quizzes, dominoes my favourites were playing cards and quizzes.

During my college days one evening on a whim I visited the student bar something which I could rarely afford to do; in truth I was seeking out a particularly attractive female Psychology student I had previously spoken to there.  I purchased a beer, regrettably no female, but I noticed four people sat around a table in the lounge playing cards.  Being an inquisitive type, a euphemism for a nosey so and so, I sat down close to one chap.  At an appropriate time in the play I casually enquired what the name of the game was since it was nothing like I had ever seen before, he replied bridge.  The student introduced himself and he was an effervescent character and so effusive that he proceeded to download his bridge knowledge most of which after a few libations went right over my head but it did spark my interest.  Of course in those days there was no internet so I did the only thing I knew how to find out things and took a trip to the local library.  It was there I found books by Flint, Goren, Reese, Culbertson, Mollo etc. who are the only names my duty neuron can recall in my dotage and I found the more I read the more I wanted to know.  Now after a couple of month’s avid reading burning the midnight oil and virtually deserting my engineering studies plus generally falling behind with my work I felt confident enough to play.  I invited three other guys who expressed an interest in playing bridge and so we started during the lunch time.  I don’t profess to be a teacher but since I was the only one who had done any research it befell me to be the font of all knowledge which of course I was not.  I resolved to return to my studies particularly since I was under serious threat of being sent down which meant I had to put bridge on the back burner for a couple of years.

Soon after my working and married life started I resumed reading/learning about bridge.  I was lucky enough to play Rubber Bridge at work during lunch times 2/3 times a week and once a week in the evening with three other people at our respective homes.  After a few months I decided it was time to take the next step to improving so I joined Bolton Bridge Club in Lancashire playing Duplicate Bridge for the first time.  My personality is such that I can only do things 100% or not at all and with the birth of my first son and all that entails combined with trying to forge a career Bridge went on the back burner again until 38years later in 2012 when I decided to start again.

This is beginning to read like a novel rather than a short pithy introduction but hey that’s me all over!

2 Do any other members of your family play?

The simple answer is no but my youngest grand-daughter, who was 3Y and 9months old last year when she and her older sister came to stay with us for a short holiday was so inquisitive I decided to show her the cards.  During the visit we spent several relatively short periods of 20-30 minutes during which we played a game which involved her having to remember the suit names and names of the honour cards she already knew the numbers.  It is my intention to encourage her to play cards during their visit starting Monday next 05^th Aug’13 and to develop the learning and who knows one day to start her on the path to playing the game.  Like all young children she is like a sponge waiting to absorb any and all knowledge and being particularly bright I hope with the right mentoring she will become hooked on the game just like her Granddad.  Recounting this time reminded me of a moment during the girls visit; one evening when I saw a particularly interesting hand on the RBC web so I dealt the four hands and proceeded to bid them; my 12Y old grand-daughter upon seeing me quietly went into the kitchen and enquired of her Nana if Granddad had no friends because he was playing on his own and talking to himself, out of the mouths of babes or what?

3. You are a relative newcomer to Rugby Bridge Club.  What were your first impressions of the Club, and in what ways could we improve the welcome we give to new members?

I could not have felt more welcomed; it seems just like yesterday when a tall slightly portly but very charming and polite chap introduced himself to me as Chris.  One week later I had joined the club and I am once again finding the experience just as challenging and rewarding as I ever did only now remembering the number and key cards played in all four suits does not come so readily.

I believe people the club select to greet potential new players should be good at interfacing with the public and of course have excellent people skills.  I know RBC does possess those people and uses them so keep up the good work and maintain the high standard set.

As a newcomer to the area I found some slight difficulty finding the locations, I suggest if new members could be given a hand-out detailing the places including post code; timing of the sessions and say three contact name(s) with email addresses and telephone numbers.  I also think we should provide some recommended reading materials say two or three authors and/or web sites to research.

4. You have taken an interest in the proposal to move our activities to Cawston Community Centre.  In what ways do you think this would help the Club to develop further?

The first obvious plus is not having three separate locations and the potential for improved security.  Also it will make organisational matters simpler to administer and people could bring and leave personal items e.g. cups/mugs/glasses to use.  Furthermore the health aspects should be improved significantly particularly compared with the Clifton venue.  A rota could be introduced to take tea and hand towels home to be and washed after each session and as and when required replaced by the club.

I would hope that having one prime location will mean we can leave the room set-up to use thus negating the need to keep putting everything away each time the venue is used.  It has become very obvious to me that the majority of people just want to come and play and it is the same few who frequently do the bulk of the work before and after each session although recently I have noted that there has been an improvement.

The future of bridge is in the hands of the young of today and we have discussed the possibility of developing this aspect via school visits or mini-bridge although I confess I do not know anything about the latter process.  What I do know though is if it is fun kids of all ages and abilities will enjoy it and hopefully they will be the club’s future and it will continue to prosper and grow.  I suggest using the venue to hold a trial mini bridge event then depending upon the success a frequency decided say when it is ‘Troughers’ the morning/early afternoon period could be used.

The club could also hold/host advertised bridge events, the recent advent of the pairs comp is a good example, hopefully from these we can find and encourage more players to join the club knowing we have the necessary infrastructure in place, well at least for the first 15Y.  It is perfectly feasible that other new initiatives may come along in the future and RBC will be in prime position to take advantage of these.

5. Do you have any favourite bidding conventions that you would recommend to others?

My personal favourites are Benji-Acol; Roman Key Card Blackwood thanks to Val; card strategy thanks to Peter and Lebensohl thanks to Chris and the excellent training provided by all three, although I confess to a senior moment on Friday last 02^nd Aug’13 when I completely missed his Lebensohl bid which is ironic since I spent time earlier in the week reviewing his notes and making changes where appropriate.  I did mention earlier that the duty neuron was close to expiration due to overuse!

6. What work did you do?  Are you completely retired or does work still creep into your life from time to time?

After graduating as a Mechanical Engineer, more by good luck than anything else, I started work for a company in Bury Lancashire who manufactured ventilation ductwork.  They placed me on a graduate programme and after holding numerous posts in different departments I was appointed the company’s first Quality Assurance/ Control (QA/QC) Engineer in the Mar’83 and promoted to Manager in 1985 working extensively on construction sites in the UK.  I found my true vocation working in QA/QC but due to changes in the company’s management I found myself clashing with several of them so I decided to leave in 1991 and formed my own limited company.  Over the next 20 years I worked in the UK and from the mid 90’s primarily overseas apart from a couple of short periods back in the UK.  I worked in the Middle East – Saudi Arabia 3 times, Bahrain, Dubai and Sharjah; USA –Houston Texas; the Far East – Indonesia and S. Korea, Europe - Milan Italy and finally for a period of six and half years in Kuwait until 30^th Sep’11 when I took early retirement.  Many of the guys who worked with me in Kuwait write to me periodically updating me on their professional and personal lives and often seek my advice regarding career matters.

7. Other than bridge, what are your hobbies and interests?

Participating in and helping during coarse fishing matches with Rugby Pensioners and Disabled club.

As a life long passionate supporter of Manchester United I watch them at every opportunity.  I stopped playing football at the ripe old age of 62 in Kuwait where I coached and managed a team of multi-nationals who shared the same interest and passion for the game.  My wife and I go swimming and walking occasionally.  I enjoy playing ten-pin bowling; DIY and gardening but mainly mowing the lawns and weeding, my wife is the expert in this field.

I thoroughly enjoy the kind of things which challenge my cerebral abilities; my poor old duty neuron does take a bit of a bashing; such as extreme Sudoku e.g. super fiendish in the Times; Kakuro; crosswords; quizzes and reading.  My current reading is ‘Guide to Better ACOL Bridge’ by Ron Klinger in association with Andrew Kambites although a little dated (1996) it is packed full of good material.

I am thinking of taking up golf in the future since I do not do as much physical exercise as I used to.

8. The number of people learning bridge on Saturday mornings seems to be declining.  Do you have any suggestions for reversing this trend?

I think we do not put enough emphasis on the need for continuous improvement which can only be achieved through structured training sessions.  I believe that no matter what level you are at in bridge you can never know enough and the format to practice that these less formal sessions are set in is ideal for learning.  It is my firm belief that all players should attend periodically even those who have achieved a high standard.  I think we should post a training calendar for beginners, improvers and seasoned players detailing the subject matter to be addressed.

9.  What has been your greatest triumph at the bridge table?  Or do triumphs lie mainly in the future?

During the fifth or sixth week of starting at Bolton Bridge Club I was the only player during a Friday evening session to make a seven diamond contract and that gave me immense satisfaction and boosted my confidence to an all time high.  I do believe my greatest triumphs are still to come in the form of the ultimate 7NT or making a seemingly impossible contract and it this allure that will keep me fully challenged for as I think most people in the club know I am an extremely competitive person.

10.  You've recently started writing reports on the Club for local newspapers.  Do you enjoy it, and have you any thoughts on how we could make our reports more readable and interesting?

Yes I really do enjoy writing the reports for the local rags even though I have not been challenging for any honours in the MP comp I found it fascinating how the lead has changed over the three weeks I have been reporting.  I try to write in a conversational style and wherever possible add humorous or interesting facts my biggest problem is that I know the exuberance of my own verbosity can make these too lengthy and therefore put people off.  Conversely it may attract readers who think with so much to report this must be a very active club and spark their interest.

WOW, thanks David.

1NT OPENING BIDS

As a result of a recent query I wish to remind club members about an E.B.U. ruling that:-

          Partnerships agreeing to play a natural 1NT opening which may include hands with a singleton must prominently disclose this fact, and must be careful to provide full disclosure of all agreements as to the use of a 1NT opening, stating when a singleton may be expected.  In addition, such 1NT openings must be announced by stating the range followed by ‘possible singleton’.

Malcolm

As you may know there have been changes to the rules for announcing and alerting and the chart below summarises these rules. This is a useful summary and it should be noted that the main change is that 2NT opening must be announced.

Christine Cooper

EDITOR’S COMMENTS

I am not sure what happened but this has turned out to be one of the most interesting Newsletters yet . Was it what I said? Encouragement and criticism (friendly and constructive) will be gratefully received.

I am always amazed at the amount of material that eventually arrives when I am thinking that there is not much to report and to all of those who have contributed I am most grateful.

It is great that we are trying new ventures, the Master Points and  Pairs Competitions are proving popular. Attendance at all our sessions is increasing, where could one get such a great evening’s entertainment for £2.50 with tea and biscuits included

We welcome  players of all standards  to our friendly non-profit making club and new members will be sure of a warm, friendly welcome at all our sessions.

WENDY PATTINSON