Newsletter - September 2026

CLUB NOTICES

COMING SOON – NEW ROOKIE SESSION AT THE WILLIS

We are excited to announce that we will soon be starting a new Wednesday morning Rookie

session at The Willis.

Starting Wednesday 16th September

Free Lesson: 9.15am

Rookie Game: 9.30am – 11.30am

The Willis

Tell your friends and come along and support this new session. It will be a fun, friendly game

and a great opportunity for our newer players to enjoy Bridge.

No booking required – just come along.

FIVE ESSENTIAL CONVENTIONS - NEW LOCATION – EAST LINDFIELD

Starting Wednesday 16 September

Please note that these lessons have moved from The Willis to East Lindfield.

Taught by Liz Wilkinson

Ideal for players returning to Bridge after a break, or those who have completed our Beginner

Program and have been consolidating what they learned in Supervised Bridge.

This series will help build your confidence and prepare you to take the next step into our Rookie

games.

Click here for the topics and dates of each lesson.

No booking required – just turn up with or without a partner.

AND FOR MY NEXT TRICK

East Lindfield | 10.00am – 12.00pm

Lesson 1 has already happened, but there are still three exciting lessons to come!

Learn where your tricks come from with Liz Wilkinson.

The remaining lessons in this popular 4-part series are:

Don't miss out on the rest of this great series.

No booking required – just turn up with or without a partner.

FROM THE PRESIDENT - BRIDGE

Club Health – Keeping the Belt Tight

The Club continues to be in good health, but as I explained in last month’s newsletter, we are keeping the belt tightened as far as it will go without making it too tight to breathe!

Every little saving helps, and one of the easiest ways members can help us is by moving to Auto Topup if you haven’t already.

Auto Topup makes paying for your bridge sessions simple and, importantly, reduces the administration involved in chasing low balances and processing payments. The more members who use it, the more efficient our systems become and the more we can keep our costs under control.

So, if you haven’t made the move yet, please consider switching to Auto Topup. It really does make a difference.

Talent Register – We Know You’re Talented!

Last week I sent an email asking members to let us know about their skills and talents.

Behind the scenes, this is helping us build a Talent Register – a database of members who may be able to lend a hand when we need a particular skill.

Perhaps we need a fence painted, some tablecloths sewn, a sign made, a computer problem sorted, some gardening done or a particular job tackled that one of our members happens to be very good at.

We may never need your particular skill – but then again, we might!

The thinking is simple: why pay someone to do something when we have a member who can do it just as well?

Using our members’ skills where appropriate will help us keep costs down and, at the same time, give members another opportunity to contribute to the Club.

So, if you haven’t completed the Talent Register yet, please do. You never know when your hidden talent might save the Club a few dollars! Click here to add your skills.

One Month of the New PrePay System

Our new Member PrePay system has now been operating for a month, and I’m pleased to say that, so far, it is working really well.

Both members and staff seem very happy with the new system, and we’ve appreciated all the feedback we have received along the way.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to tell us what is working well and, just as importantly, where we can improve. New systems always have a few wrinkles to iron out, but this one appears to be settling in nicely.

Our Strategic Plan – Our Compass for the Future

The Board has now approved our Strategic Plan for 2026–2029, which will guide the decisions we make as a Club – including our upcoming Clubhouse renovations.

Our focus is simple: a thriving community, great experiences and a strong future.

The Plan sets out eight key priorities covering membership growth, player development, member engagement, our Clubhouse, financial sustainability, strong governance, community leadership and promoting our Club.

Importantly, it gives the Board a framework for deciding where we spend our money and what projects we undertake.

Before we make a decision, we will ask:

Does it help grow our Club? Does it improve the member experience? Does it strengthen our community? Is it financially sustainable? Is it aligned with our Strategic Plan?

The Clubhouse renovations will be guided by these principles, but we also want to hear from you. Watch out for our Wish Jar in the Clubhouse.

The Second Bowling Green

By the time this newsletter lands in your inbox, the second bowling green should be complete.

The project has been severely impacted by the weather, along with the rather unexpected discovery of a water table underneath the green. Not exactly what was on the project plan!

Unfortunately, neither of these things could be helped, so I would like to thank everyone for being so patient while the work has been going on around the Club.

The good news is that the building site should now be behind us for a little while – and I think we can all agree that’s very welcome! And….. the grass parking area will be open to all in 4 weeks time once the grass has grown a bit more. All that we ask is that the last person to leave the car park puts the chain across the entrance.

Next Up – The Clubhouse Renovations

Our next major project is the Clubhouse renovations, and Gary Forster is heading up the Sub Committee, ably assisted by Peter Marshall, who has some fantastic ideas.

The Strategic Plan gives us the framework, but we also want the renovations to reflect what our members actually want and need. That’s why we will be adding a Wish Jar in the Clubhouse.

Have you always thought we should have something different? Is there something that would make the Club more comfortable, welcoming or useful? Have you spotted an improvement we could make?

Put it in the Wish Jar!

I can’t guarantee that every suggestion will be implemented – there are, after all, only so many dollars in the piggy bank! – but I can guarantee that suggestions will be considered against our Strategic Plan and our available budget.

So when you see the Wish Jar, have a think and put your ideas in.

This is your Club – now is the time to speak up or forever hold your peace!

Thank you, as always, for your patience, support and willingness to help make Lindfield Bowling & Bridge Club a great place to play bridge, bowl and spend time with friends.

Warm regards,

Shaz Thompson

OUR MEMBERS - OUR CLUB

In a Club with over 1600 members (and combined club with over 1800 members) there is a constant source of people with interesting backgrounds coming from a variety of backgrounds and heritage very willing to be members of the Club and willing to offer their expertise to the running of the Club. This month's conversation is with a willing volunteer who has established a considerable niche in her place in the Club.

This month I had the pleasure of a conversation with one of our stalwart volunteers, one who volunteers on a regular and ongoing basis – Felicity Wolf.

As I hadn’t met Felicity previously, I asked her to give me an introduction to her background.

Felicity immigrated to Australia from South Africa in the late 1990’s due to the difficult political circumstances of her homeland. She initially came for three months to help her eldest daughter Linda who arrived to live here with two small children. Felicity and her husband David purchased an apartment in Turramurra during the initial visit knowing they intended to return permanently.

From the day of arrival Felicity always felt that Australia was home and when it comes to sports teams, she supports Australia.

Her three children came to Australia as adults after completing university degrees in South Africa. She has 8 grandchildren all of whom were born in Australia except for the two that came here with Linda. Unfortunately, her husband David passed away during Covid from dementia.

Now that her children and grandchildren no longer need regular assistance she has more time for Bridge. Felicity started learning bridge in 2000 with Lynn Kalmin when the Club was in Lindfield opposite the station on the first floor. She has moved with the club through various locations and has been a member for well over 20 years. She and her partner Lesley Morris both met at the lessons and are still playing together after 26 years. Her other regular partners are Joyce Gordon and Lynette Breeze. Felicity has a strong preference for face-to-face play over online because of the social interaction and prefers the home club environment.

Felicity has a long history of volunteering dating back to age 18 and doing meals on wheels with her mother. She has previously volunteered at Ku-ring-gai Neighbourhood Centre driving elderly people to appointments and she currently does one-on-one companion work with an elderly lady.

At the Bridge Club she and a number of others help with catering for Congresses and events under Sue’s very capable and competent direction. Felicity’s specialty is

baking meringues. This year for the NSBC’s Christmas parties she will have to make 350 meringues which will be done in batches and placed in the freezer. A question that Felicity is asked constantly is what she is doing with the egg yolks.

The yolks get collected and a friend of Felicity’s who works with the Homeless people collects them once a month and takes them to a shelter where they make custard. Of course meringues aren’t the only things that are baked. Felicity also does cakes and biscuits.

The core catering team consists of June Straw, famous for her date loaf and lots of other yummy treats, Lynette Breeze for her gluten free slices as well as Janet Crocker (does not like baking) but comes in early and helps with all the preparations and hands out ice creams at lunchtime. Also in the kitchen is Josh who helps in many ways and also helps clean up the mess.

The catering requirements are quite an operation with food coming in which needs to be assembled by those in the kitchen and served to the Players in a short space of time. A recent improvement was to move the tea and coffee service outside the kitchen to the player’s lounge to reduce kitchen congestion. Major events like congresses sometimes require a full day commitment as this year the numbers have grown at all the events to well over a 100 players.

The catering team is very much at the heart of a great community club like the North Shore Bridge Club. If you feel like volunteering, you will be very welcome.

Felicity also shared her meringue recipe for those who have been asking for it.

3 eggs – room temperature

1 ¼ cups castor sugar

Pinch salt

Vanilla (optional)

3 tsp Baking Powder

Beat whites stiffly. Sift and add two thirds of the sugar gradually. Beat until very stiff. Add vanilla. Sift remaining sugar with baking powder and fold in gently.

Drop spoonfuls on unglazed paper on an oven tray. Bake in a cool oven until dry.

Bake at 110 deg for one hour

Decrease temperature to 90 deg and bake for another hour.

Switch off the oven and leave meringues in overnight.

September Wine of the Month - Archery Road Longbow Shiraz 2021

A wine which established wine judges/critics have awarded 95/96 points, making it a very well regarded wine in current release and is available from our bar.

With a complex finish, this is a gem of a Barossa shiraz! All the lashings of character we as adults have grown to become obsessed with, in one neat package. From the prized southern part of the sun-drenched Barossa, steeped in quality grown shiraz. A blend of hand-selected low-yielding parcels, you’ll find generous flavours of black fruit, olive and pepper spice, backed by silky tannins, yet the wine is intense on the palate, with a great depth and length.

Selling for $80 a bottle from the vineyard, an absolute steal from our bar at $34 a bottle.

MAJOR RESULTS

While there weren't a huge number of events during the month of August, we certainly held our most auspicious event, recognising Club Treasure John McIlrath with a Gold Medal event. John played a huge part in the start and development of our Club and his background and contribution were discussed in the June Newsletter.

The event attracted a very large and top line group of Bridge players

John with the Trophy which was to be presented to the winners of the event. In addition, their names are to be inscribed onto the trophy, and they are also invited, with a free entry to the Metropolitan GNOT finals at Bridge NSW.

This prestigious event was strongly supported by Teaminvest

The winners of this years John McIrath Gold Medal Trophy, Warren Lazer and Pauline Gumby. Pauline is the only Diamond Grand Master in Australia and Warren is not very far behind in Masterpoints

Second in Open and a great result were Colin Thomas and Kevin Davies

Fourth in Open were Jane Beeby and Elizabeth Neil

First in Intermediate but in a very well done Third in Open were Sherlock Shao and Kelsey Chen

Second in Intermediate were Patrick Jiang and Hui Li

First in Restricted were Elena Rochtchina and Oleg Glushchenko

Second in Restricted Peter Taylor and Anne Taylor

Many areas in NSW held their GNOT Regional finals in late August.

The Sydney Metropolitan GNOT final for 2026 qualified five teams to the National Qualifying stage to be held online from 18 - 20 September.

Congratulations to the "NSBC 2" Team, who remained unbeaten after 4 knockout rounds of this event.

Team members are Wayne Zhu - Bob Sebesfi; Ian Maclaren - Mark Moskow

In the final knockout round, they beat another team from NSBC - "NSBC Direct 2" consisting of 2 members from Easts Bridge Club and 2 from NSBC

Nicoletta Giura - Nick Hughes, (Easts BC) Peter Jefferey - Colin Clifford

The "NSBC 1" Team, who came 3rd in the Swiss Repechage, will also play in the National Qualifying Finals. Team Members are

Alex Yezerski - Steven Bock; Colin Thomas - Kevin Davies

The 2026 NSBC Club OPEN Pairs Championship has just completed. This was also a qualifier for the State Pairs at Bridge NSW. This year Bridge NSW have introduced new categories to the State Pairs championships and now will include divisions for Under Grand (1000 masterpoints) and Under National (150 Masterpoints).

The top pairs will be offered entry to represent NSBC in the State Pairs Championships.

Winners of the Open Section were Michael Courtney and Joan Butts

Second in Open were Kelsey Chen and Sherlock Shao while third were Chris Haman and Martin Clear

Under Grand Winners were Deanna Stuart and John Stuart

Under National Winners were Russell Spear and Jo Ampherlaw

The Winners were Mike Prescott & Jeanette Cao

Runners Up were Felix Shteyman & David Craig

Jeanette Cao - no photograph available

Third:

Joan Giacometti & Trish Harrison

Congratulations to:

Cevat Emul / Bob Sebesfi who won the Peter Pan Plumbing Open Swiss Pairs.

Lucy D'Ambrosio / Shannon Queree who won the Intermediate section of the event.

David Craig / Sharon Thompson who won the Restricted section.

Martin Curtis / David Rieser who were 1st in the Rookie section.

Our Thanks to Peter Pan Plumbing for their fantastic support of this Event

The Prizes were presented by our Club Secretary Robyn Rogers

First in the Open Section were Cevat Emul and Bob Sebesfi

Second in the Open section were Liz Wilkinshaw (not in photograph) and John Scotford

Third in the Open section were Jeanette Cao (not in photograph) and Michael Prescott

First in Intermediate were Shannon Queree and Lucy D'Ambrosio

Second in Intermediate were Felix Shteyman and Susan Feeney

First in Restricted were David Craig and Sharon Thompson.

Second in Restricted were Ian Newton and Jo Ampherlaw

First in Rookie were

Martin Curtis / David Rieser

Second in Rookie were Jenny Clarke and Gerladine Halley (not in photograph)

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UPCOMING EVENTS

LESSONS

Will Jenner O'Shea - Online Sessions, September

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.

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.

Practice Hands

The choice of two tools to practice what you have learned. You can practice on your own, with Will's guidance throughout.

Escaping from 1NT Doubled

Thursday 3rd September from 0930

Running from 1NT when Doubled. Systems are off, but how to get to the best contract. When running shows a five-card suit, and how to run when you don't have a long suit

Book here as a member

How To Handle 1NT Overcalls

Thursday 10th September from 0930 - online

Here are some special bids that Responder can use when there has been a 1NT Overcall. How Responder can show a strong hand, and how they can effectively compete with a weak hand.

Book here as a Member

Weak Raises Cue Raises

Thursday 17th September from 0930 - online

In a Competitive Auction, raising a Major suit is best played as showing the amount of trumps. You Raise to the two-level with 8 trumps and the three-level with 9 trumps. This lesson shows you how to invite as well and compete and how to know the dif

Book here a Member

Redouble for Strength

Thursday 24th September from 0930 - online

Create effective wills with our comprehensive template. This course guides you through the key components to ensure your wishes are honored.

Book here as a Member

Wills Workshops - Face to Face at East Lindfield

Forcing Or Not

25th September from 10:00 till 3:30 - East Lindfield

Which bids are Forcing for each player. When do you need to jump or change suit. How to show a good hand in a competitive auction

Click here to Book

Simple Useful Conventions

Friday 30th October from 10:00 till 3:30 - East Lindfield

Find Your Best Contract. Improve Your System. The Game Forcing Cue Bid. The Gambling 3NT Opening. Improve Your Responses to Weak Twos

Click here to Book

DEAR DIRECTOR - GARRY VINER

This hand appeared on Monday the 27th of July (board 11 - EL Mon 1:00pm Open) and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was going to be perfect for this column.

After S passed, W opened 1D and N overcalled 2S. As E, my spade stopper would seem to be weak, but nothing ventured nothing gained, and I bid 3NT.

The lead from S is clear - JS being top of the doubleton, and it turns out that partner had one of the missing spade honours, which was nice. So the first question is, should you play low or high from dummy? And as it happens, it doesn’t actually matter. The key here is that N is marked with 6 spades, meaning that S has at most 2. For that reason, we only need to duck the first round - if we win the second (or third) round, we can be sure that S will have no more spades to return to partner if they ever get in.

If we play the K and N wins her A, then it’s a simple matter of winning the Q on the return and knowing that communication between the defenders has been severed. But if we play low from dummy and N plays low as well, we’d need to stay aware, and resist winning the trick with the Q. In that case if S got in again he could lead his second S, the K in dummy would fall, and N could run the suit.

Note that if N had not bid, we would not know about the 6-2 break, and would want to protect ourselves against the most likely bad-case scenario, being 5-3. In this case we would not have the option of playing the K from dummy, which would be too risky in case S had started with AJ sitting over our Q. We would have to hold up til the third round, by playing low from both hands.

Anyway, that aside, how are we making our contract. We have 7 tricks off the top - our S winner when we choose to take it, and the AK in each of the other 3 suits. The remaining tricks will have to come from one of the minor suits, and both are promising, with a 3-2 break in either giving two more tricks. So what’s the problem?

The problem is that we will almost certainly have to lose the lead in order to set up one of the suits, and if N wins the trick then she will now take the rest of her spades. If that happens, we will not make our contract, and therefore we need to maximise the chance that when we do lose the lead, it’s to S. That being the case, take a look again at those two minor suits and ask yourself which one is the right suit to work on.

Let’s look at the diamond suit first. If we play off the top two cards, either N or S could be left with the high card. Likewise if we decide to lose the lead early, there’s no way to guarantee that it’s to S. You might be happy with a 50% chance of losing the lead to the right hand at this point, but is there something better?

How about the clubs, then? They looks pretty similar - slightly better in that we have the ten as well as the top honours, but the main difference here is that our honours are AFTER the danger hand, rather than before. That means that if we lead towards our honours we can choose whether or not to play a high card based on what N has played. And that makes all the difference.

Imagine being in dummy and leading a club towards our strength. If N plays low, we can just put in the 9 or T. There’s a small chance this might win (if N had both J and Q) but even if it loses, it’s to S who cannot hurt us. We can regain the lead, then cash our AK, and assuming the suit breaks nicely, we can now take our four tricks in clubs.

What if N doesn’t play low? Simple - just beat the card they played, go back to dummy, and repeat the trick. If N plays high both times, we can win twice and take 5 tricks in the suit. Otherwise just insert one of those intermediate cards and you’re fine.

Does this mean the contract is guaranteed? No - we still have to rely on a friendly break in the clubs. If N had started with 4 we might still be in danger, but in that case there’s still the diamonds to fall back on. With N having length in one minor, S is more likely to have the length in the other, so this is the order in which I would (and did) play the cards.

This is a great example of what we call a “safety” play. When there is one hand that can hurt you, and one that cannot, see if there is a way to ensure that you lose the lead to the safe hand and not the danger hand. This scenario often occurs when playing in NT, particular once you have held up a winner at the start to sever communication between the defenders.

ASK GARY - GARY BARWICK - OUR ONLINE MANAGER

For Restricted and Rookie players, this is a unique chance to earn gold points without needing to play against Open‑grade experts.

The bottom line

If you’re keen to advance your bridge, meet new partners, and play meaningful, enjoyable competitive sessions, the Sydney Spring Nationals are the perfect next step. You’ll learn more in one well‑structured congress than in months of regular club play — and you’ll be doing it alongside players at your own level.

Want a Q&A session?

If you’d like me to run a general Zoom Q&A session about entering congresses, choosing events, understanding categories, or how gold points work, please email me and let me know:

online\@northshorebridgeclub.com.au

MONTHLY WINNERS

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

 East Lindfield Monday 10.00 AM Rookie - HAITAO CHEN / JENNY CLARKE

East Lindfield Monday 1.00 PM Open - BILL BOULTON / HAMID SADIGH

East Lindfield Monday 7.00 PM Rookie - PETER TAYLOR / ANNE TAYLOR

East Lindfield Tuesday 1.30 PM Rookie - RON HOBBS / SUBH GURSAHANI

East Lindfield Wednesday 10.00 AM Open - JEANETTE CAO / MICHAEL PRESCOTT

East Lindfield Thursday 9.45 AM Rookie - KALI LAWRIE / ANDREW ROUGHAN

East Lindfield Thursday 9.45 AM Supervised - TIMOTHY ROSE / KAREN ROSE

East Lindfield Thursday 1.00 PM Open - MARLAINE GAHAN / COLIN THOMAS

East Lindfield Saturday 9.30am Supervised - KAREN ROSE / TIMOTHY ROSE

East Lindfield Saturday 9.30am Beginner Supervised - JANE RICH / SALLY GILES

East Lindfield Saturday 1.00 PM Open - JEANETTE CAO / MICHAEL PRESCOTT

The Willis Monday 1.30 PM Rookie - JAN FREEMANTLE / MOYA BARNETT

The Willis Tuesday 12.30 PM Open - LESLEY MURRAY / KEVIN MURRAY

The Willis Wednesday 9.30 AM Supervised - KIM WILLIAMS / SARAH GORDON

The Willis Wednesday 12.30 PM Open - PETER FITZMAURICE / ROB HOLGATE

Online Mon 10.00am Open - JUDY MARKS / ADAM RUTKOWSKI

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 - HELVE BEALE / IAN NEWTON

Online Tue 7.00 pm Restricted - ANDREA FRANKEL / FREDERICK KRUGER

Online Wed 1.30 pm Open - LYNN KALMIN / JUDY OSIE

Online Wed 2.00 pm Rookie - PIERRE TENNANT / KAY TENNANT

Online Wed 7.00pm Open - PRUE SIEMSGLUESS / THOMAS SIEMSGLUESS

Online Thu 1.30 pm Open - MARGARET GIDLEY-BAIRD / DONALD CARTWRIGHT

Online Thu 1.30 pm Restricted - NONI GLEW / JUDY CHAPPLE

Online Fri 1.30 pm Open - HELEN MILWARD / LES GREWCOCK

Online Sat 1.30 pm Open - GISELLE MUNDELL / RENA KAPLAN

MASTERPOINT PROMOTIONS

Congratulations to the following members on their promotions.

David Burton to Silver Life Master

Kit Meyers to Silver Life Master

Felix Shteyman to Bronze Life Master

Heather Lane to Bronze Life Master

Chris Hamam to Life Master

Ian Newton to State Master

Jill Johnson to Bronze Regional Master

lauren Ehrlich to Bronze Regional Master

Anita Jordan to Regional Master

Harry Haberlin to Regional Master

Jeanette Cao to Regional Master

Marian Carey to Regional Master

Mark Lakota to Regional Master

Peter Cassin to Regional Master

Susan Ahern to Regional Master

Anne Bannister to Silver Local Master

Gwynn Boyd to Silver Local Master

Janet Kessler to Silver Local Master

Kerrie Haig to Silver Local Master

Cameron Webb to Bronze Local Master

Cathy Magi to Bronze Local Master

John Farrar to Bronze Local Master

Lois Hamlin Lewis to Bronze Local Master

Michelle Seale to Bronze Local Master

Yen Heng to Bronze Local Master

David Bavin to Local Master

Don Lange to Local Master

Liz Ewen to Local Master

Patrick Lockley to Local Master

Sarah King to Local Master

Tess Mulveney to Local Master

Toni Fitzgerald to Local Master

Vicky Jorgensen to Local Master

Andrew Roughan to Club Master

Brenda Nicolson to Club Master

Christina McKinnon to Club Master

Colleen Shailer to Club Master

Margot Gladman to Club Master

Christine Craig to Graduate Master

Gina Rowe to Graduate Master

Madhu Dhingra to Graduate Master

Sue Smale to Graduate Master

Suzie Winch to Graduate Master

NEW MEMBERS

A warm welcome to our new members this month.

Christopher Cullen Perth

Graham Tors Willoughby

David Hart Lindfield

Joan Hart Lindfield

Jenny Michael Surfers Paradise

Tomoko Nakamatsu Mount Lawley

Mimi Packer Mosman Park

Warwick Potter Currambine

Daryl Shaw Eastwood

Gail Steele Warriewood