We received the sad news that Graham Burrows passed away last Thursday.

He was a talented and enthusiastic bridge player, representing KZN in the annual Inter-Provincials on a number of occasions

He was the Chairman of the KZNBU for many years and served on the SABF Committee

Rest in Peace, Graham.

Eastern Cape - The Sunshine Coast - Thursday 15th May 2025

The diagramed hand indicates that the only makeable slam is in clubs, declared by west

The bidding is not relevant but could be along the lines of:

2NT  3♣

3♠    4♣

5♣   6♣

The way to make this one is by using a coup called Morton's Fork based on the hisorical figure, Cardinal John Morton 

You draw trumps in 2 rounds and lead a heart towards dummy (east)

If north rises with the ace, it's all over for the defence, as the diamond loser eventually goes on the ♥Q

No need to try the diamond finesse

If north ducks, you play 3 rounds of spades, discarding a heart and now you throw north in with a heart

With nothing but red cards north has to lead away from the K♦ or give you a ruff and sluff 

Peter Bircher 

Dear KZNBU bridge players

I am reading emails and hearing comments from people asking why we have an SABF and why do we need to pay R250 a year to the SABF to be affiliated.

I have therefore decided to set down my views in writing as your KZNBU representative on the SABF.

The playing of bridge is recognised by SASCOC (The South African Sports Federation) as a sport that qualifies for the awarding of national colours to players representing our country. The SABF is recognised by SASCOC as the national body representing bridge. So, the SABF is the governing body representing competitive bridge in South Africa.

In saying this I accept that some people see bridge as only a social event and see no need for Master Points and participating against Grand Masters in national tournaments, never mind representing South Africa at international tournaments.

There are many aspects to the role of the SABF, which include:

• Regulating the rules under which bridge is played
• Taking disciplinary action against players who cheat and thereby maintaining fair play in our competitions
• Producing an annual calendar to prevent tournament clashes
• Holding the national license for BBO and distributing the 70% of all BBO tournament fees that are returned to the SABF by BBO, back to the unions
• Licensing tournament directors for BBO tournaments
• Organising the national bridge events, such as Congress
• Awarding Master Points and recognising the grading of players from beginner to Grand Master
• Representing the interests of South African bridge through membership of the International Bridge Federation and the African Bridge Federation
• SABF continually offers workshops and other courses to all the  Unions for the benefit of all members 

Recognising the need to introduce new players to bridge, the SABF initiated a programme of online courses for beginners, led by Arie Ridderhof and Carol Stanton. This also involved the purchase of hundreds of copies of the teaching books by Paul Marston, for use in these courses. These courses continue to be offered.

Questions have been raised about the need for affiliation fees when the SABF has R3 million is reserves. The SABF has not increased fees since 2019 and the recent R50 a year increase represents an increase that is way below inflation. The view was taken by the SABF that we should not see competitive bridge as a dying sport, but one that will continue into the foreseeable future. So, to deplete the reserves does not make sense, as then a large annual affiliation fee would be required to continue the work of the SABF into the future.

The SABF has also taken steps to tighten the conditions under which players qualify to be subsidised to represent our country in international tournaments. It is not true that a large part of SABF affiliation fees is still used to pay for these players to travel.

Most of the work of the SABF is carried out by volunteers, but there is a need for administrative support that has to be paid for.

I believe that for a cost of just over R20 a month, we get many hours of enjoyment from bridge and are able to grow our skills by playing with and against those who are better than we are. I accept that COVID changed the face of the game as we moved to online bridge, but that is not how it was intended to be played.

I also accept that we need to grow the game and introduce new people to bridge – the initiative of the SABF needs to be given serious consideration by all of us.

Neil Macleod

KZNBU committee member

FACE-TO-FACE BRIDGE IN KZN

Kloof Bridge Club plays at the Kloof Catholic Church (Our Lady of Mercy) Hall 79 Old Main Road starting on Wednesday, 8th February

They play only on the first four Wednesday morning’s of each month

For details, contact Lyn de Mattos on 071 526 4406

Starting at 9am

The club is thriving running two sections each week; an A and a B section

Visitors are welcome to play at the club, but they need to book in advance. Louise Gibbon has the Le Domaine booking group on WhatsApp. Her number is 082 577 9942. She also requires visitors’ car registration numbers for the security check point at the entrance gate to the estate

Where players can see and talk to each other while playing online

For events, results, and information on the Domaine RealBridge Club website and Le Domaine face to face Bridge Club please click on this link: www.bridgewebs.com/domaine

MANAGEMENT TEAM CONTACT DETAILS:

Administration and ollection

       of playing fees: Louise Gibbon - 082 5779942

Website administrator and

      Technical Advisor: Peter Coombe - 082 9604824

Tournament Director: Rod Pienaar - 079 6735077

THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE BEING RUN:

Domaine Thursday

• A RealBridge pairs tournament starting at 9am every Thursday.
• Cost R25 per player
• Booking essential through Louise Gibbon

Le Domaine Bridge Club: Chairlady Lu Cholerton 082 8411549

• A face-to-face pairs tournament starting at 9am every Friday at the Le Domaine Clubhouse
• Cost R40 per player
• Numbers are limited and booking essential through Louise Gibbon

Domaine Saturday

• A RealBridge pairs tournament at 2pm if there are enough pairs available to play
• Cost R25 per player
• Booking essential through Louise Gibbon/Rod Pienaar

Social Bridge

• A RealBridge social game is open every day of the week and available for play anytime of the day
• 4 players can arrange to meet on the site and play
• Cost R10 per player
• No booking required

 Supervised Play and Teaching

• A supervised RealBridge game can be enjoyed on the social site
• 4 players can arrange for a supervised session with a teacher watching them play and guiding and commenting
• Teachers who would like to teach a group of 4 beginners or supervise the play of a group wanting some input with their game can arrange to meet on the social page for this purpose
• The teacher must contact Louise Gibbon for a link to allow real-time viewing and teaching
• Cost R25 per player (excluding the fees of the teacher)
• Arranging to meet with a group and agreeing on, and collecting the fees is the teacher’s responsibility

Teachers

• Anyone who would like to use this site for the purpose of teaching, please contact Louise Gibbon