Newsletter - April 2026

OUR MEMBERS - OUR CLUB

Major Results Upcoming Events

Lessons Dear Director

Ask Gary Monthly Winners Masterpoint Promotions

NEW MEMBERS

CLUB NOTICES - BRIDGE

EASTER WEEKEND OPENING TIMES AND SESSIONS

All Open Sessions are Red Point Events over the Easter Weekend

Good Friday

Online: 13:30 Open - Red Points

Easter Saturday:

East Lindfield 09:30 Bridge Fundamentals - Closed

East Lindfield 10:30 Supervised - Closed

East Lindfield 13:00 Open - Red Points

Online 13:30 Open - Red Points

Easter Sunday

East Lindfield Kieser Swiss Pairs Open- Rookie/Restricted/Intermediate - Red Points

Easter Monday

Online 10:00 Open - Closed

East Lindfield 10:00 Rookie - Red Points

East Lindfield 13:00 Open - Red Points

The Willis 13:15 - Closed

Online 13:30 Open - Red Points

Online 14:00 Rookie- Red Points

The AGM will be held at East Lindfield 11.30am on Saturday April 18th . After the meeting there will be the normal 1.00pm Bridge session with Red Points.

So that we can cater for the correct number - would you please be so kind and register. The AGM will start promptly at 11:30am, there will be a complimentary light lunch provided for those attending the AGM.

Not only are Red Points available in April at various events but then follows the NSBC Festival of Bridge where will be Red Points up for grabs in 9 different Events.

See Below in "Upcoming Events" for the full list of Red Point Events with details and opportunity to enter these events

FROM THE PRESIDENT - BRIDGE

It’s been another busy and positive period for the Club, with plenty happening behind the scenes as well as at the tables.

A big thank you to Jo, who has been working tirelessly with the auditors to get everything finalised ahead of our upcoming AGM. With that now wrapped up, we’re all set for the AGM at East Lindfield on Saturday 18th April .

To help us plan catering, please take a moment to register your attendance here: https://www.northshore.bridge-club.org/form/agm-attendance

Membership & Table Fees

I’m very pleased to report that, thanks to the strong health of the Club — through continued growth and careful cost management — we have been able to absorb the significant increases in the cost of living without passing these on to our members.

This is no small achievement and is very much a team effort.

To Jo , for generously giving her time to manage our bookkeeping — saving the Club around $45,000 per year

To Jenny and her team , for securing our fantastic sponsors — helping ensure we’re not funding prizes out of table takings

To our sponsors , whose support we truly value (and I encourage all members to support them in return)

And to Mike and the NSBC team , for their focus on cost control, automation and sustainable growth

Without this collective effort, we would likely be in the same position as many other clubs — needing to increase membership and table fees.

Lindfield Bowling & Bridge Club Transition

The transition into Lindfield Bowling & Bridge Club continues to take up a significant amount of time for Terry, Peter and myself, and now that the audit is complete, Jo will also be fully focused on this next phase.

Progress is going well, and I am very much looking forward to the day when the transition is complete and we are truly operating as one club in every sense.

Beginner Bridge – Growing Our Community

We’ve recently welcomed 40+ new members through our Beginner Bridge programs — a fantastic result.

A big thank you to all members who have recommended these classes to friends. Word of mouth is incredibly powerful and genuinely the best way for us to grow.

Our next courses are now open for registration in May and June : Click here for more information.

If you know someone who might enjoy bridge, please encourage them to give it a go — you are our best ambassadors.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the Club — and at the AGM.

Warm regards, Shaz President

OUR MEMBERS - OUR CLUB

It is just over 3 months since the final vote concluded at the Rollers Meeting where it was agreed to merge the two Clubs – Lindfield Rollers Club and the North Shore Bridge Club to be effectively one Club but with two Divisions, being Bowlers and Bridge Players. Given the passing of time I thought it would be informational to update members with progress. Late in March I had a conversation with both Roger Parks (Rollers) and Sharon Thompson (Bridge) on what has progressed

Both Roger and Sharon (Shaz) acknowledged there had been a lot of work that went into the process of having the merger occur. Shaz complimented Roger on his presentation to the Rollers extraordinary meeting. Roger had explained the way in which they had been operating was not sustainable, 5 Rollers members had been doing most of the volunteering for the last 35 years. There was a small minority who weren’t totally accepting of the merger, but Roger and Ian explained the operational issues and how with the merger they would be able to make the Bowling Club survive longer and grow.

When asked about current progress, Roger was positive – these things take time - we had a hiccup with the name change, but eventually it came through. One of the key things which we've really got underway is the renovation of the greens. It will only take another 3-4 weeks to complete. Once the first green is completed the contractors will have a week off and then begin the second green.

When asked about the third green Roger indicated we will continue maintain it for a while, but we’ve got no long-term plans for it. We’ll continue to mow, and we might play bowls on it but it won't get major renovations. At which, Shaz said with a smile – unless the numbers grow. Roger indicated the major cost in greens is not just mowing and rolling them but the need to renovate each year - you've got to scarify, top dress and re-fertilise them. We won't be doing that.

Shaz then spoke some of the things the Bridge Club has had to do - we've had to migrate the 1600 members over to LB&BC which is now a licensed club. We had to have them sign and to accept

some terms and conditions. That process has been done, we had seven members who refused to sign -that's the only negative I’ve seen.

When asked about the change from turf Greens, Shaz indicated they had initially considered Astroturf. Gary Foster from the Rollers had done the research and organising and researched alternative green options. The final decision was to not use Astroturf but an environmentally friendly alternative – a type of carpet. Roger indicated it wasn’t done purely for environmental reasons but mainly to do with maintenance. The carpet is a lot cheaper to maintain. When it wears, it can be flipped and used again. With the Astroturf, once it's worn out, you've got to throw it away and replace it.

Both Roger and Shaz explained the makeup of the new Committee - there are initially 3 members of the bowling club, 4 members from the bridge club, the chair is from the bowling club and the deputy chair is from the bridge club. The deputy clubs members elected on to the board would serve for two years and then it'll be an open election in 12 months’ time. The Rollers and Bridge Clubs will continue to have their own Committees elected at their respective AGM’s while the overriding committee – the registered club committee will manage the overall direction of the Club.

Shaz indicated the idea is for the bowls and the bridge club to operate as they have done over many years. The facility and the stewardship of both clubs will sit at this governing body - we want the bowls club and the bridge club to be autonomous in running – they will submit a budget, and if they are operating within their budgets, the board will be happy. On top of that, there's a facility to look after and that's the job of the registered club.

Shaz indicated the registered club will be assisting and enabling both sub Clubs.. The board will have marketing expertise that will assist the Bowling Club, the same marketing expertise that assists the Bridge Club -we're going to have shared resources at the top level.

When asked what both saw as a success of the merger Roger indicated he would like to see more bowling members. Previously we've had about two or three people receiving coaching and coming into the club - but with Shaz's influence we've probably now got 25 people scheduled for coaching instruction for Bowls.

Roger indicated the main committee had had several meetings to work through some of the technical issues – Shaz has done a huge amount of work on getting us a new system for the bar. We'll have that up in the next week or so after carrying out some training. We're looking to consolidate the website and the telecommunications contracts. Our finance people are working with the Bendigo bank to consolidate our accounts at a couple of banks.

On the sponsorship side Jenny Madden runs that part of the committee for the Bridge Club. We’ve got to resolve a couple of things to work out how the sponsorship is going to work in the future. Jenny has agreed to take on sponsorship for the merged entity and she's busy writing a term of reference so we can go to sponsors at different levels, for instance for the Rollers Club and the merged club.

Shaz indicated several areas where costs have been saved through consolidation, like internet, porting the phone system over, and then closing one of the Internet providers. With the finance side, Jo and Ian have been working hard on trying to merge the accounts. Alan has done a whole heap of work registering the new organisation. Terry is the new secretary and he's been busy training, doing his RSA. We've been writing and agreeing policies. There was a very messy process for dealing with new members to the Rollers, paperwork-wise and now that's all been automated.

Shaz said there had already been a great win for the Bridge Club with a room being set up downstairs which will hold up to another 10 tables for Bridge, and they had agreed to also move the lounge furniture upstairs to increase the number of tables. Overall, however the big win for the Bridge Club was a forever home.

Shaz believes there are massive opportunities. I think everybody's dying to know what we're going to do but the reality is we haven't had time to even discuss it yet. We've thought about it and we have Peter Marshall and Gary Foster, who both have looked after facilities, they're both in building - there's lots of ideas going around. The priority has been to get the greens done, and then, looking at disabled access and having men's toilets on one level, so people don't have to go downstairs.

When asked in their wildest dreams where would you see us in 10 years – Roger’s view for the Bowling Club would be to have many more members and be playing on more days each week and the Club was known throughout the community as a place to go. For Shaz she would want the Club to be a community centre, replacing the shopping centre as a place to go – so we have a café, we’ve got people sitting out on the veranda watching a kid’s programme, we partner with schools and introduce younger people to Bowls and Bridge. It becomes a real point of differentiation to join Lindfield Bowling and Bridge Club.

Great ideas and lots of opportunity – we have a great ensemble of forward thinkers capable of taking this opportunity well into a great future

The NSBC November 2026 cruise aboard Celebrity Edge has certainly been popular, there are less than a dozen vacancies available for the trip as of last week.

The trip is being led by Will Jenner-O'Shea who will organise all Bridge sessions, lessons to suit the skill level range of players attending.

For more details on the trip please Click Here

NSBC AGM to be held on Saturday 18th April at East Lindfield

There will also be a Red Point Session starting at 1PM.

Stay Stronger for Longer with Kieser

We're delighted to have Kieser as the proud sponsor of our Kieser Swiss Pairs Congress this Eater Weekend.

To celebrate, Kieser is offering an exclusive deal for NSBC members - and it's a beauty

- $100 off your initial physiotherapy assessment (bringing out of pocket cost to just $35 before any health fund rebates

- PLUS 2 complimentary sessions with an Exercise Scientist

At our stage of life, strength, balance and mobility aren't just "nice to have" - they're essential for staying active, independent, and enjoying everything we love (including a long session at the Bridge table).

Kieser specialises in Targeted strength training guided by professionals who understand exactly what your body needs - no fluff, just results

Simply visit any Kieser clinic and mention NSBC to take advantage of this offer

Your future self will thank you - and your Bridge partner might too!

MAJOR RESULTS

Congratulations to the winners of the GNOT Direct Entry Championship event for 2026:

1st: - Team MUNDELL:

ANDREW PEAKE -- GISELLE MUNDELL; SIMON ZHANG - YUMIN LI; WILLIAM ZHANG (sub)

2nd: Team EMUL:

CEVAT EMUL - CATHERINE ZHANG; PETER GILL - ROB WARD

3rd: Team CLIFFORD:

PETER JEFFERY - COLIN CLIFFORD; NICOLETA GIURA - NICK HUGHES

The winning team has qualified to play in the National Qualifying stage of the GNOT, to be held online on RealBridge 18-20 September 2026.

The runners up and the winners of the Swiss will be offered entry to the Metropolitan Final to be held at Sydney Bridge Club clubrooms on 22-23 August 2026.

In other news a number of people have done very well with Maurits Van der Vlugt & Dagmar Neumann - made the 2026 AUS Mixed Team and Peter Gill & David Husdon - made the 2026 Seniors Team

Below is a summary of NSBC members who have done well in Other Events during March. NSBC members are in highlighted text - well done

The Annual Monthly Winners Competition was held late in March. While this comeptition is meant to be a fun day it was still very competitive. If you were a Monthly Winner during 2025 you invited to this great event - Bridge plus a lunch

The winners were:

Open - Peter Jefferey & Peter Bock

Restricted: Ian Newton & Linda Cunningham

Rookie: Mandy MacDonald & Vibeke Faurby

Supervised: Kali Lawrie & Andrew Roughan

Peter Jefferey & Peter Bock with Sharon Thompson

Ian Newton & Linda Cunningham with Mike Prescott

Mandy MacDonald & Vibeke Faurby with Mike Prescott

Kali Lawrie & Andrew Roughan with Mike Prescott

FIXED INCOME SOLUTIONS Stratified Pairs Competition Concludes

Over a period of four weeks in March the Fixed Income Solutions stratified pairs were run in conjunction our normal Saturday Bridge Meeting - This novel Championship event was conducted

both face-to-face and online, with identical boards played at East Lindfield and on RealBridge.

The event took place during all the Saturday afternoon sessions in March. To be eligible for the competition, pairs had to play in at least 3 sessions at either venue (you could mix it up if desired). Everyone was welcome to play in these otherwise normal afternoon sessions. The top 3 scores determined the overall results so the more sessions played improved the chances of winning.

The Fixed Income Solutions Stratified Pairs has now come to a thrilling conclusion, and we are able to announce the overall winners across our four categories: Open, Intermediate, Restricted, and Rookie.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship from Fixed Income Solutions, we were able to offer, in each category, these fantastic prizes: 1st place – $200 per pair 2nd place – $150 per pair 3rd place – $100 per pair

and as a result were able to attract very good attendances to the event both Face to Face and Online

OPEN:

Winners - BEVERLEY PETERS - CHRISTINE VINSON

Second - TINA STRICKLAND - LYDIA GIBBS

Third - LEO GOOREVICH - HELEN MILWARD

INTERMEDIATE

Winners - BOB LYGO - JOHN ACKERMAN

Second - FELIX SHTEYMAN - SUSAN FEENEY

Third - PETER ROBINSON - ESTHER LEE

RESTRICTED

Winners - RON MEYER - TOM CROMER

Second - MARGOT LANDER - JUDY SHARP

Third - ANNE SMITH - DELIA DAN

ROOKIE

Winners - JAKE LIN - KEVIN WU

Second - CAMERON WEBB - STEPHEN SHARP

Third - PETER TAYLOR - ANNE TAYLOR placing third.

Weekly Session Winners ($50 per pair)

Each week, we also had an overall session winner who took home $50 per pair:

Week 1: Jake Lin and Kevin Wu Week 2: Helen Lowry and Mischa Solar Week 3: Bob Lygo and John Ackerman Week 4: Jake Lin and Kevin Wu - remarkable effort from Jake and Kevin for getting the top score on two weeks - from the Rookie section. It's a safe bet that these guys won't be Rookies for long!

A Big Thank You to Our Sponsor – Fixed Income Solutions , a company dedicated to providing secure, fixed-income investments with healthy returns.

Highlights of NSBC Members in other Competitions in March 2026

Tony Nunn - made the 2026 AUS Open Team

Michael Courtney & James Coutts, Bruce Neil - made the 2026 NSW Open Team

Maurits Van der Vlugt & Dagmar Neumann - made the 2026 AUS Mixed Team

Peter Gill & David Husdon - made the 2026 Seniors Team

Congratulations on your selections in these Major Teams

UPCOMING EVENTS

NSBC Kieser - Intermediate/Restricted/Rookie Swiss Pairs - East Lindfeild Sunday, 5th April, All Day, starting 10:00 NSBC Sunday | Pairs | F2F| Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

NSBC Kieser - Open Swiss Pairs - East Lindfield Sunday, 5th April, All Day, starting 10:00 NSBC Sunday | Pairs| F2F | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

NSBC - Mixed Pairs (State Qualifier) - Online 2 seperate sessions 16th & 23rd April starting at 19:00 NSBC Thursday Nights | Pairs | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Morgan's - Intermediate/Restricted/Rookies Swiss Pairs - Online Thursday, 7th May, 14th May, 21st May, 28th May & 11th June, starting each night at 19:00 NSBC Thursday Nights | Pairs | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Morgan's - Open Swiss Pairs - Online Thursday, 7th May, 14th May, 21st May, 28th May & 11th June starting each night at 19:00 NSBC Thursday Nights | Pairs | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Mother's Day - Intermediate/Restricted/Rookie Swiss Pairs Congress - Online Sunday, 10 May, All Day starting 10:00 NSBC Sunday | Pairs | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Mother's Day - Open Swiss Pairs Congress - Online Sunday, 10 May, All Day starting 10:00 NSBC Sunday | Pairs | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

NSBC - Board A Match Teams - Online Thursday, 18 June, 2nd July, 23rd July starting 19:00 each evening NSBC Thursdays | Teams | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Two Men and a Truck - Intermediate, Restricted Teams - East Lindfield Friday, 19 June, All Day starting 10:00 East Lindfield NSBC Friday | Teams | F2F | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Two Men and a Truck - Intermediate, Restricted, Rookie Pairs - East Lindfield Sunday, 21 June, All Day starting 10:00 East Lindfield NSBC Sunday | Pairs | F2F | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Fixed Income Solutions - Swiss Matchpoint Pairs - Intermediate, Restricted, Rookie - Online Thursday, 25 June, All Day starting 10:00 NSBC Thursday | Pairs | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Fixed Income Solutions - Swiss Matchpoint Pairs Open - Online Thursday, 25 June, All Day starting 10:00 NSBC Thursday | Pairs | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Watermark Swiss Pairs - Intermediate, Restricted, Rookie - East Lindfield Friday, 26 June, All Day starting 10:00 NSBC Friday | Pairs | F2F | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Watermark Swiss Pairs - Open - East Lindfield Friday, 26 June, All Day starting 10:00 NSBC Friday | Pairs | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Fixed Income Solutions - Swiss Teams - Intermediate, Restricted, Rookie - Online Saturday, 27 June, All Day starting 10:00 NSBC Saturday | Pairs | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

Fixed Income Solutions Swiss Teams - Open - Online Saturday, 27 June, All Day starting 10:00 NSBC Saturday | Teams | Online | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

TBIB Swiss Teams - East Lindfield Sunday, 28 June, All Day starting 10:00

NSBC Sunday | Teams | F2F | Red Masterpoints Click here to enter via MyABF

LESSONS

Will Jenner O'Shea - Online Sessions April - May

What's Included in Will's Online Sessions

Recorded Video Lesson

2 hours of recorded video lesson, firstly covering the theory. Then Wills shows us the theory with real hands. Lastly Will gets Students to play the hands.

Recorded Video Lesson

2 hours of recorded video lesson, firstly covering the theory. Then Wills shows us the theory with real hands. Lastly Will gets Students to play the hands.

Downloadable Notes

The Presentation, Hand Notes, plus PBN and LIN files for you to upload to BBO for practice with friends or practice with Robots.

April 16 0930 - 1130

Showing Stoppers After Minors

The Fundamental principles of normal bidding. New suits are forcing; old suits are passable. When to Jump and when not to.

Zoom Link will be emailed evening before lesson. Can't attend, lesson recording will be uploaded on the same day the lesson is held.

Level of lesson: This lesson is about How to use the bidding space to find 3NT when your only fit is in a minor.

How to find 3NT when you aren't sure.

Trying to get to 3NT when it doesn't seem obvious.

April 23 0930 - 1130

Pre-empts and the Rule of 20

Zoom Link will be emailed evening before lesson. Can't attend, lesson recording will be uploaded on the same day the lesson is held.

Level of lesson: This lesson is about Which hands open a Weak Two, Which hands open a Pre- empt, and which shapely hands open at the one-level with less than 12 points

Will's Workshops

Jacoby 2NT Raise & Slam Bidding

Friday, 24 April, F2F at East Lindfield starting at 10:00

Slam Bidding, Keycard (14/30) Evaluating Hands for Slam Introduce the Jacoby 2NT and follow-ups. Interesting Play Hands for Slam. The Game Forcing Jacoby 2NT Raise, and Responses Slam Bidding Using 4NT, Keycard (14/30) How To Value Hands for Slam (Shortages, Honours) Examples Of Control Bids, And Asking for Kings

Improve Your Doubles & Overcalls

Friday, May 29, 2026, 10:00 AM

Improve Your Doubles. Sharpen Your Overcalls. Sacrifices and Scoring.

All of the hands have opportunities for good defense to have an effect on the outcome.

Doubles And Responding to Doubles. Overcalling In different Situations.

Bid More, Bid Less.

How To Judge Sacrifices & How the Scoring Works.

DEAR DIRECTOR

Sue Crompton after contributing to the Newsletter for quite a number of years and doing a wonderful job (thanks Sue – well done) shas decided to pass the baton to another Director - Garry Viner.

As an introduction to himself Garry forwarded the following: I started playing at 19 when I realised a good game of cards was more interesting than attending lectures at university. I did reasonably well, the highlight of which was representing NSW in youth bridge tournament in NZ, but played only casually for many years and then not at all for a long period when life and then kids got in the way.

I reconnected with the game around 5 years ago, first socially and then with NSBC, where a chance conversation with Sue led to my sitting the Director's exam. Since then, I've filled in for her on those rare occasions when she is away, but have discovered to my surprise that my real passion is teaching. I've created two courses for new players that I teach through the club on Saturday mornings and have run Supervised sessions for a couple of years. Recently after almost 30 years in partnership with two great friends, I exited the digital marketing company we had built together and now in semi-retirement am looking to increase how often I play and teach.

As Garry has indicated he is quite passionate about teaching bridge. He is contactable through the NSBC.

This is my first column for the club so I might as well introduce myself by sharing something stupid I did yesterday.

My partner and I had bid to 6H after a simple auction. After opening 1H and 1S response, I jumped to 3H and with 17 HCP my partner went straight to Blackwood. We play Keycard so my

5C response showed one, and knowing we had 4 of the top 5, my partner jumped to 6H.

Dummy came down and things looked great. There were tricks to burn - at least 3 spades, 5 hearts, 2 diamonds and 3 clubs. The only missing card was the King of trumps. After winning the diamond lead in dummy, I could almost guarantee my contract by playing the Ace of trumps and giving up a trick to the King, and that’s exactly what I would do if we were playing for IMPs. But at match points every overtrick is important, so I figured it was worth going back to my hand and trying the heart finesse. It’s a pretty low chance of success - for it to be better than just playing the Ace I’d need the King with West, and only two cards in her hand (about a 13% chance). Not a great chance, but worth taking, particularly given it looked safe to come back to my hand with a club - after all, the chance that these were split 6-0 is less than 2%.

So I lead a small club to my hand, and what do you know? They split 6-0 and I lose to a ruff and later to the King as well. What an idiot! What made it even worse was that a) if I had just taken the safety play and cashed the Ace of trumps, the King would have fallen singleton, and I would have made my overtrick after all and b) if I had not won the opening lead in dummy but overtaken my winning King of diamonds with the Ace, I would not have had to even test the clubs.

There’s nothing more annoying than bidding to an excellent slam and then throwing it away. The moral of the story - don’t be greedy. Even when playing for match points, bidding and making a successful slam is likely to get a good score even without the overtrick.

Later in the session, this one came up. I opened 1C as South, and W bid 1H. Partner made a negative double to show 4 spades and at least 6 points. East bid 2H, I went to 3C and whether or not we should have been there, we ended up in 5C.

The opening lead was the A of hearts. Most people know not to lead unsupported aces (those without the K as well) as they usually allow declarer to set up her suit, but when partner has supported your suit it can be tempting. After winning this trick, she shifted to what looks like the safe lead of a trump.

Things did not look good. We’d lost the first trick, were missing the AK of spades, and you’ll often find that when you have a 7-card side suit missing the AK that you lose a ruff as well. But at least W had given us a sporting chance by not finding the spade switch.

With 7 clubs off the top, plus 2 diamonds and the now-promoted K of hearts, that was 10 tricks. We needed 11 with no obvious ways to make an extra. But perhaps the defenders could be tricked into

giving us the 11th trick.

After drawing trumps and ending in dummy, I played the K of hearts and threw out the Q of spades. Was it possible that I had started with a singleton heart AND a singleton spade? That would mean based on the bidding that I had started with 7 clubs, 4 diamonds and 1-1 in the majors - not impossible. Then I played 6 rounds of clubs.

What would you do if you were West? It looks like you’ll need to win 2 tricks in diamonds to beat the contract so you need to keep all 4 of them. You can throw out all your hearts but that means on the 6th club you need to throw out the ten of spades.

From East’s side it’s a little easier. She can throw out her hearts and a couple of spades. But I got very lucky. Figuring there was no value in her spade suit she threw out 3 of them!

All this meant that when I go down to my last few cards and led a small spade from my hand with fingers crossed, W had only the K left and E the A. Hurray - this meant my Jack of spades was the 11th trick!

I’d like to say that this was brilliant play from me and I gave the defenders no choice with a well- delivered squeeze. The reality is that East could have comfortably kept a spare spade in her hand and taken me down. But sometimes you make your own luck, and the misdirection of the Q of spade discard at the start gave me a chance, and made me feel much better about going down in a hand earlier in the week where a defender fooled me, throwing away her K when she didn’t need to, and convincing me that a suit was not going to break kindly.

ASK GARY

Understanding Board Scores, IMPs and VPs in Competition Bridge

The Bridge scoring system can seem complex to newcomers. In competition bridge, three distinct layers of scoring are used: board score, IMPs (International Match Points), and VPs (Victory Points). Each serves a unique purpose and ensures fairness and comparability across matches.

Layer 1: Board Score – The Raw Result

Every deal in bridge produces a board score, such as +620, –200, or +170. This score reflects the outcome of the hand, but in team events, raw scores are problematic. They fluctuate wildly (a vulnerable game is worth 620, while a partscore is just 110) and aren’t comparable across different matches. As a result, board scores alone aren’t used to decide matches.

Layer 2: IMPs – Filtering Skill from Noise

IMPs convert raw scores onto a logarithmic scale, rewarding significant swings and ignoring minor fluctuations. For example, a 10-point difference becomes 0 IMPs, while a 620-point swing is worth 12 IMPs. This system ensures that normal fluctuations (like overtricks or small part score differences) don’t decide matches, highlights genuine skill swings, and makes results comparable within a match.

Layer 3: VPs – Comparing Across the Field

IMPs determine who wins a match, but don’t allow comparison between matches of different lengths or IMP spreads. VPs solve this by normalising results into a standard 0–20 scale, adjusted for match length. This makes outcomes comparable across the entire event and enables fair rankings in Swiss, round-robin, and multi-stage competitions.

Why All Three?

Each scoring layer is essential:

Board score : the actual outcome of each deal. IMPs : measure the significance of swings and remove noise. VPs : normalise results for fair comparison between teams and matches.

The flow is: Board score → IMPs (fair within a match) → VPs (fair across matches) . Without this layered approach, bridge events couldn’t be reliably or fairly scored.

The Takeaway

Board score shows what happened. IMPs reveal how much it mattered. VPs indicate how well you performed compared to the field.

Why is a Draw 0-2 IMPS?

The 0–2 IMP draw range exists because IMP scoring is designed to ignore minor fluctuations and reward only significant differences. These small swings, often due to routine plays or random chance, are treated as statistical noise rather than meaningful results. A margin of 3 or more IMPs typically signals a genuine swing based on skill or judgement, while anything less is likely just variance. This system, established in the 1960s after extensive statistical analysis, ensures that matches are decided by real skill rather than trivial, random factors.

MONTHLY WINNERS

Congratulations to the following players who were the overall Monthly Winners for their session.

East Lindfield Monday 10.00 AM Rookie - TESS MULVENEY / JENNY CLARKE East Lindfield Monday 1.00 PM Open - FRANCES GARRICK / BRUCE DAGLISH East Lindfield Monday 7.00 PM Rookie - PETER TAYLOR / ANNE TAYLOR East Lindfield Tuesday 1.30 PM Rookie - DAVID DALLEY / DALE DALLEY East Lindfield Wednesday 10.00 AM Open - LOIS CHAMBERS / MARIA REMEDIOS East Lindfield Thursday 9.45 AM Rookie - PHILIP RAYMOND / JUDI RAYMOND East Lindfield Thursday 9.45 AM Supervised - SAM SHERIFF / SEETHA SHERIFF East Lindfield Thursday 1.00 PM Open - NICK FAHRER / GARRY VINER

East Lindfield Saturday 9.30am Supervised - POOKIE VAN ROOYEN / LAURA RIDDELL East Lindfield Saturday 1.00 PM Open - JAKE LIN / KEVIN WU The Willis Monday 1.30 PM Rookie - KAY FINLAYSON / KAREN PUDIG The Willis Tuesday 12.30 PM Open - MARGARET OWEN / CAROL MCMURRAY The Willis Wednesday 9.30 AM Supervised - GAYE BANNAN / SUZANNE STEINGOLD The Willis Wednesday 12.30 PM Open - MIKE MURPHY / PAUL FRANCIS WOODS Online Mon 10.00 am Open - JULIANNE ROCKS / KEVIN DAVIES Online Mon 1.30 pm Open - GARY LANE / LEO GOOREVICH Online Mon 2.00 pm Rookie - PETA MCELHONE / MARINA CLARK Online Tue 1.30 pm Open - GISELLE MUNDELL / RENA KAPLAN Online Tue 2.00 pm Rookie - MARG DARIDIS / ROBYN WALKER Online Tue 7.00 pm Restricted - WENDY MILSTON / JOHN MILSTON Online Wed 1.30 pm Open - STEVEN BOCK / DAVID OSIE Online Wed 2.00 pm Rookie - MARGARET PARKER / PETER CASSIN Online Wed 7.00pm Open - KEVIN DAVIES / STEVEN BOCK Online Thu 1.30 pm Open - JUDY OSIE / RENA KAPLAN Online Thu 1.30 pm Restricted - MARINA SHTEYMAN / JACK ABRAMS Online Fri 1.30 pm Open - ALEX YEZERSKI / STEVEN BOCK Online Sat 1.30 pm Open - HELEN LOWRY / MISCHA SOLAR

MASTERPOINT PROMOTIONS

Congratulations to the following members on their promotions.

Jeanette Cao to Bronze Local Master Yulanie Harris to Bronze Local Master Anne Beaumont to Bronze Local Master Heather Low to Local Master Genevieve Hunter to Club Master Karen Murphy to Club Master Catherine Crouch to Club Master Jeanmaree Sexton to Club Master Alison Main to Club Master Robyn Chapman to Graduate Master Di Lewis to Graduate Master Wendy Milston to Silver Local Master David Dalley to Silver Local Master Karen Pudig to Silver Local Master Dale Dalley to Silver Local Master Peter Burton to Silver Local Master Bernie Egan to Silver Local Master Maxine Foster to Bronze Local Master Janet Kessler to Bronze Local Master Mushfiqur Rahma Mohan to Local Master Cameron Webb to Local Master Lis Sexton to Local Master Jim Altman to Local Master Michelle Seale to Local Master Bruce Davis to Local Master Rose-Anne Manns to Local Master Marillyn Stewart to Club Master John Anderson to Club Master Karin Schulz to Graduate Master Gill Ross-Edwards to Graduate Master Kate Loxton to Graduate Master Louise James to Graduate Master

NEW MEMBERS

A warm welcome to our new members this month.

Isabella Allan Jennifer Bernard Janice Cox Brad Dean Sharon Dubos Judy Edwards Glenda Emslie Carol Field Lou-Anne Folder Julia Gardoll Sally Giles Judy Gowland Trudy Green Hunter Hellen-Ford Christine Hundy Helen James Helen Johnson Jim Johnson Gemma Kovaloff Allan Lawson Samantha MacNally Carolyn Marjoniemi Robin McInnes Lyn McLean Andrew Myles Nick Nedyalkov Sandra Nelson David Niven Sue Niven Fiona Notley-Lund Andrew Nutting Kathryn Poole Peter Poole Ann Prentice Fiona Scott David Smith Gretel Spiegel Veronica Turner Riva Tworetzky Justin Walsh Therese Walsh Penny White

North Shore Bridge Club Inc, 2B Carlyle Rd, East Lindfield NSW 2070, 325A Eastern Valley Way, Middle Cove NSW

2068, NSW

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