March Newsletter
Summer in Perth finally delivered some hot weather but not at WABC, those new air conditioners had no trouble keeping the players cold. Some club members travelled to the Summer Festival of Bridge in Canberra and others went to the 63rd and final Gold Coast Congress. If you stayed in Perth there were plenty of competitions to play at WABC and other clubs.
1:15pm AFTERNOON SESSIONS
From and including Easter Monday 21 April 2025 all afternoon sessions at WABC will start at 1:15. No more trying to remember which day of the week starts at which time.
RESULTS
The Wednesday Night Swiss Pairs was won by Gwyneira Brahma - Stella Steer from Brenda Campbell - Jonathan Free.
The all day WABC Mixed Swiss Pairs Congress was won by Pauline Collett - Martin Doran from Kaiping Chen - Sue Gammon. These two pairs had quite a break on the rest of the field.
Over East, a number of our club members clearly played some good bridge in between the parties, dinner dates and sight seeing. Others perhaps got side tracked.
Jonathan Free made the Seniors Semi Final in Canberra playing with Ron, Ron Klinger, Attilio de Luca - Geroge Smolanko.
At the Gold Coast Congress, Brenda Campbell - Sally Savini won the E Final in the Restricted Section. Eve Clarkson - Sandy Veling and Jeff Veling – Jamie Luxton were runners up in the Restricted Teams. Jennifer Andrews - Meredith Goodlet won the Saturday Butler Swiss Pairs for under 500 Masterpoints.
It can be entertaining as well as instructive to watch some of bridge on BBO with your bridge partner and discussing what is going on, and of course, how you would have done better! Some players are slower than others but you can always hop over to watch another table if the action is too slow. You may also get to see how two or more tables cope with a difficult board.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
It’s hard to believe that it’s now been over 100 days since the October AGM. It’s certainly been a busy 100 days with construction of the Hospice underway, partial completion of the Norn Bidi Trail in front of the bridge club and the resignation of Andy, just to mention a few matters that the various committees are dealing with.
Club Professional
It’s common knowledge that Alex Smirnov had sought to take over from Andy Hung. Alex is not an Australian citizen and as such needed a visa, and the club would have to advertise for a club professional with a minimum salary of approximately $73,000 pa plus 11.5% superannuation. The Management Committee did not feel it appropriate to commit the club to the myriad complexities that became apparent after an extensive due diligence period. As such Alex has been advised that his application has been unsuccessful, although we would be happy to reconsider this decision at some later time, should his citizenship status change. We wish Alex all the best in his future endeavors.
WABC Bridge Lessons 2025
Jodie Basham will be offering lessons for beginners commencing 10 March 2025.
Beginners Part 1 is a ten-week course consisting of two five week modules designed to have the participants playing their first supervised sessions. These lessons start on Monday 10 March 2025 with a choice of morning or evening classes and cost $150.
Beginners Part 2 is an eight week course building on the participants' knowledge. Lessons will run on Mondays with a choice of morning or evening classes. These lessons start in June.
These lessons have been developed with the guidance of Peter Smith and are based on Peter’s lesson material. To date there has been an excellent response.
The Management Committee will provide an update on lessons for higher level players once arrangements have been completed.
Movements
Following feedback from playing members, the Directors have been instructed to avoid the use of a Roving Mitchell. Playing a 2 or 3 board round with a sit out is preferred over a Roving Mitchell.
The Directors have also been asked to consider players’ desire to play in a movement reflecting their playing experience and choice rather than prioritizing the avoidance of a short walk at changeover. It is not appropriate to stratify a movement over 3 rows.
Membership Committee
Formerly the Marketing Committee, the rebadged Membership Committee has Ronnie Ntoumenopoulos as chairperson. A major focus going forward will be improving player participation.
PLANNING AHEAD
Monday Red Points: 3 March. If you're not down at the Albany Congress then come along and play for Red points in either the morning or afternoon session or both if you're really keen.
WABC Super Novice, Novice & Restricted Congress: Sunday 9 March, Morning & Afternoon. Depending on numbers there will be separate fields.
Women's Pairs Championship: Tuesday Afternoons 11 & 18 March. Usually a very popular event. There is a normal duplicate session for those not playing in the championship.
Handicap Pairs Championship: Friday Afternoons 4 & 11 April. Your chance to play against anyone and have a good chance of winning. Learn from the better players and beat them at the same time.