Bridge on Sydney's Northern Beaches

The Margaret Smith Memorial Teams 2010 congress will be held on Sunday 28 November 2010 at the Manly Leagues Bridge Club in Brookvale. With $3,000 in prize money this is one of the richest one-day bridge congresses in Australia, and is now in its third year.

Narrabeen Bridge Club won the title in the 2010 Manly Daily Northern Beaches Pairs championship played on Sunday 18 July at the Peninula Bridge Club.

Narrabeen pair, Jocelyn Bertram and Mim Gadd, took the victory over the two sessions, after running second at the half way point. Both players were thrilled with their win for the Narrabeen Club.

The win takes the title away from the Manly Leagues Bridge Club which held it for the first two years of the regional competition.

The Australian Bridge Federation's July 2010 Newsletter has been published electronically and is now accessible. Previous editions can also be accessed online.

This premier regional event is open to pairs nominated by any of the ABF affiliated bridge clubs on Sydney's northern beaches. Each club can nominate up to eight pairs of their regular players to represent them.

In 2010 it is being hosted by the Peninsula Bridge Club and will be run as two sessions on Sunday 18 July. The wiinning pair and their club will be determined by a simple addition of the session percentage scores. Read on for how to enter!

Enjoy this superb social mind game! The Manly Leagues Bridge Club invites you (and your friends) to join our small groups learning this great game of bridge in a friendly environment, with lessons on:

• Thursday evenings from 6-9pm, and
• Sundays from 11am-2pm (numbers permitting).

The intakes normally start on in the first week of February, the third week of May and the first week of September, subject to getting minimum numbers (about 8).The Group will continue with a regular Improvers/Supervised Session to allow you to consolidate your playing skills for as long as you like until you choose to play in the open sessions. We also offer a range of Improver and Intermediate Lesson topics whenever we get a small group that is interested.

Check the Beginner Group Lessons flier for all the information, and feel free to ask any questions to David Farmer by email or phone on 0415 715 743.

Northern beaches bridge clubs did well if not brilliantly in the 2009 State Wide Pairs. Manly Leagues and Narrabeen clubs were amongst the 28 participating clubs this year, and had four pairs in the top 30 in the state.

First of these, coming 19th, were Jan McLennan and Bev Menzies, of the Manly Leagues Bridge Club. Jan and Bev won the 2009 Manly Daily Northern Beaches Pairs event in August. Close behind, coming 21st, were Linda Abbenbroek and Carolyn Dowling, also of the Manly Leagues Bridge Club.

Narrabeen pairs, Lynn Baker and Yong White, and Sue and Rodney Scotford, came 28th and 29th in the state. Lynn and Yong came second state-wide in the first of the three sessions and won a prize for doing so.

Additionally Patricia Matheson and Marcia Sawyer, frequent players on the northern beaches, came 13th state-wide, playing at Trumps.

The Manly Leagues Bridge Club retained its title in the 2009 Manly Daily Northern Beaches Pairs championship played on Sunday 9 August at the Peninula Bridge Club.

MLBC pair, Jan McLennan and Bev Menzies had a clear victory over the two sessions, despite some treacherous misfit hands. "We have learned to recognise situations where the safest course is just to stop bidding," said Bev Menzies, after their victory.

McLennan and Menzies have been a strong partnership for twenty six years, and never a cross word between them according to the pair. "Our partnership works because each of us thinks the other is the better player," according to Jan McLennan. "That and founding our partnership system on many round table discussions with a bottle of wine - or a quick brandy for total recall."

Do you want to learn and master the main tools used in club duplicate bridge? The Manly Leagues Bridge Club is offering small group lessons on a range of specific improver and intermediate level topics and invites you (and your partner/friends) to improve your bridge bidding and play in a friendly environment. The cost is only $6 per lesson.

You can nominate your interest in individual topics and the times you are generally available and we will let you know when they are being scheduled. The classes are offered on Thursday evenings 6-7pm, Sundays 11-12noon or Wednesdays 1.45-2.45pm - with these time slots adjacent to our normal open and supervised duplicate sessions.