Posted 21st December

This is my final blog for 2009 and want to take this opportunity of thanking all who have encouraged me in the writing of this blog (by reading it!)


I played in the Cape Festival over the last weekend and needless to say it was an exceptionally well-run and well-organized tournament directed by Andre Truter and Jan Van Dijken and my congratulations to the committee headed by Kitty Cruise and Pat Truter. The format of having a Pro-am, Master pairs, Swiss teams and Pairs certainly catered to the entire bridge community of Cape Town.



Changes to the Masterpoint Scheme Structure-

After much consultation and running many simulations, with Ann Sturrock, our masterpoints registrar, (who is the architect of our computerized masterpoint programme), the structure has been changed to bring the awards for multiple team events in line with those for pairs events.


See the masterpoint scheme on the SABF website for further details. The changes are in red.


Performance Index (P.I.) : In order to place more weight on current form, we have introduced a performance index made up as follows:
The TOTAL red points plus 25% blue points earned over a 5 year cycle = the Performance Index. The P.I. will now place some value in blue points earned and will be an indication of a player’s current form.
This will in no way affect a players current masterpoint status and will feature alongside the masterpoints earned on the masterpoint schedule.



In closing I wish to thank everyone for the encouragment and support I have received over the past months and would like to wish you and your family

Season Greetings and a healthy, happy and safe 2010

Blog 14 / 3-December

The great news from San Diego, California (USA Nationals) is that Craig Gower and Alon Apteker playing in the Board-A-Match teams event finished 2nd out of a field of 60 teams. They are currrently lying 57th in the big-field pairs event. We can be so very proud of our South African players.


A reminder that the close of entries for the commonwealth games trials is the 15th December. Only when we have all the entries can we decide on the format.


The biggest money tournament ever held in South Africa is to take place at Sun City on the weekend of the 15th-17th January 2010. The prize money sponsored by Sun City totals R100,000 which will be spread over the field. Entries close on 15th December.


I had the pleasure of playing in the Intercape Tournament over the last weekend.
It was so great to play in a teams event so ably organized by Jenny Myburgh. My congratulations to all.

I was made aware that this tournament was the brainchild of Morris Joffe and in the early days this event was known as the Intercity Tournament.

It is with deep regret that we note the passing of Morris who dedicated so much of his time to bridge. He was regarded as ‘the father’ of modern bridge in Cape Town and captained the South African Team 8 times. He also represent S.A. in Maccabi and a winner of many national/district titles. Our condolences to Jeanette and his whole family.

Warm regards,
Helen

Trials / Conventions Control

Blog 13 posted on 22nd November

After my last entry I was thrilled to hear from so many interested parties regarding our trials format. Remember you have until the 30th November to share your views and after that all comments will be collated and a further meeting with the original team to draft the final document and then this will be discussed in committee and we will have our new trials format!!!!! Sounds easy doesn’t it. Huh!

In the meantime we will be holding trials for the Commonwealth Games on the first weekend in February. Probably from Thursday the 4th until Sunday the 7th. The Commonwealth Games will be held in New Delhi from the 3rd to the 14th October 2010 and at the same time the World Pairs will be held in Philadelphia USA from the 1st – 16th October 2010.

We have been invited to send one team to New Delhi and the SABF have offered to pay the entry fee, but the rest of the cost will have to be borne by the team. Needless to say the format will only be decided once we have received all the entries. It will be held in Johannesburg unless a particular province has the majority of entries. Entries will close on the 15th December 2009 to facilitate us making the necessary arrangements timeously.


Regarding our convention controls, I have been in touch with the newly appointed chief tournament director of the African Bridge Federation and I’m attaching his reply, so please be patient whilst we await changes in our Convention controls.

"Thank you for your e-mail and for your congratulations as CD for the "African Zone BF". I shall come back to you with my opinion in relation to the South African regulations and Conventions and will do my best to help you. As for ABF, we shall be working together in our NBO's on having a well defined regulations and conventions in agreement with the WBF regulations and the international laws of bridge 2007,and to be consistent with the rest of the world.
With best regards.

Magdy”

Dr. Magdy Shohdy Mesdary
Cairo,Egypt.


Have a good week and a happy Eid to our Muslim friends for the 27th November,

Regards Helen

TRIALS. 10th November

Hi all,

After a fairly unsuccessful year at the zonals held in Egypt, it was felt that we needed to look at our trials format. As a result a 'trials committee' was formed under the chairmanship of Carol Grunder. They were tasked with finding a format that would produce the best possible teams to represent S.A at the Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup as well as the Mind Sport Games(Previously known as the Olymics) and the Commonwealth Games. In fact a four year plan is what we had in mind.

The proposal in this PDF file is for eveyone's consideration. I look forward to all your thoughts and comments but the closing date for such interaction is the 30th November 2009 as trials for the Commonwealth games would have to be run at the beginning of February so time is of the essence.

Please take this opportunity of voicing your concerns or suggestions.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Helen
helenk@telkomsa.net

3rd November

Blog 12

The interclub has come and gone, but what a wonderful tournament.
Seeing everyone from all over the country was great. Hopefully we’ll see more teams entering next year.
Bloemfontein was one of the best venues we’ve had in a long time and very central for all who drove down.
I hope you all enjoyed watching the Inter-Provincial on BBO and my grateful thanks to Carol Grunder for undertaking this project.

AT the Bi annual A.G.M I began my report with the following:
‘I have thought long and hard about what the SABF means to all our members and I’m not sure I have any of the answers.’
Well, after being with everyone and listening to all everyone had to say, I believe I do have the answer!!!

We are here to serve our members! It is not only about masterpoints and international competition, but the running of our clubs successfully.
In order to encourage clubs to affiliate, we can offer so much, such as: teaching programmes, arbitration in times of need, and general administration. We have a wealth of experience amongst our bridge players who have offered to assist.
We want our players to all be part of one big family!
After the meeting, I felt that for once in many a long year we are all working together towards a common goal.

After such a successful interclub, we propose starting a BBO interclub league from Thursday the 14th January 2010. It will be a weekly competition, comprising 24 board matches starting at 19.30 in the evening.

The format will be that any affiliated club will enter a team, (If the club has more than 30 tables - 2 teams may enter) the composition will not matter as long as the club undertakes to field the team on a weekly basis. We will be inviting Zimbabwe and Botswana to join us and in fact I have a Skype conference scheduled for Monday and will ask the other African states if they would like to join. We’ll be truly international!

Please indicate your willingness to be part of this tourney and get encourage your clubs to enter with Carol Grunder at grunder.carol@gmail.com.

Warm wishes
Helen

19 October

The latest news regarding Interclub is that we have 26 teams playing in this event. Our numbers are down from last year when we had 30 teams, but it enables us to play a round-robin of 25 rounds of 8 board matches.

The schedule is as follows:
  • Thursday 14.00 – 17.30 3 matches; 19.30 - 23.00 3 matches
  • Friday 09.00 – 12.30 3 matches; 14.00 – 17.30 3 matches; 19.30 - 23.00 3 matches
  • Saturday 09.00 – 12.30 3 matches; 14.00 – 18.40 4 matches
  • Sunday 09.00 – 12.30 3 matches; 12.45 Lunch and prizegiving

The Bi-annual SABF A.G.M. will take place immediately after the end of the session on Saturday evening.

This programme means that we will have a long and hard tournament, but I am sure a lot of good bridge and hopefully also a lot of fun for all.

See you there,


Helen


#10 - 13 October

Greeting all,

I have had a most exciting week trying to get an answer to a question that has puzzled many players: "Can one open a 1nt with a semi-balanced hand? (including a singleton)" Lots of replies were received from a broad spectrum of local players, mainly from those with International experience.

I have also written to David Stevenson (Senior TD in the U.K.) and asked him to peruse our Rules and Regulations that are posted on our web site. He has agreed to do so, but has asked for a little time. He did however state that countries can play any rules they wish and the WBF rules and regulations are for international competitions in particular, but many countries have adopted the WBF standard.

We realize that to change the rules will take time as we have to get a body of players together, that have experienced international and local tournaments, to recommend the changes, but in the meanwhile, with the Inter-provincial and Interclub taking place at the end of this month the SABF have decided to allow the opening of 1NT with semi-balanced hands which may include a singleton. If it becomes part of your system it has to be alerted and a full explanation given. Furthermore, your convention card must state that your 1NT opening/overcall can be semi-balanced and can hold a singleton.

As the Interprovincials will be played using screens, Peter Jackson (TD of the event) has requested that you have a written statement stating ‘can have a singleton’ to be flashed by players on both sides of the screen.


I visited Bloemfontein during the past week and I can tell you that the venue is great - airy, lots of light and there is a great pub - and lunches can be ordered on the premises.

The inter-provincials will be broadcast LIVE on BBO VUgraph, so you can have ringside seats to watch your province battle it out.

InterProvincials Schedule (with hospitality half-time breaks):
  • 1st match: Tuesday 14.00 ending 18.15
  • 2nd match: 19.30 ending 23.45
  • 3rd match: Wednesday 10.00 ending 14.15
  • 4th match: 15.30 ending 19.45
  • 5th match: Thursday 08.30 ending 12.45

These times will be strictly adhered to.

We still have place for teams to enter the Interclub and the closing date is the 16th October.
We presently have 26 teams which will enable us to have a 9- or 10-board round robin.


Look forward to seeing you there,

Helen

#9 - 1st October 2009

Greeting everyone,

We are now into October and the Inter-Provincial and Interclub events loom ahead.

For the Medwin and Berkowitz starting on Tuesday afternoon the 27th October, we have 6 teams in each which is most gratifying as there in no head scratching to fit the matches in without a bye.

We will play 32 board matches and the provisional times are as follows:


  • session 1 Tuesday afternoon 14h00 - 17h45
  • session 2 Tuesday evening 19h45 - 23h30
  • session 3 Wednesday morning 10h00 - 13h45
  • session 4 Wednesday afternoon 15h30 - 19h15
  • session 5 Thursday morning 09h00 - 12h45

The closing date for the interclub is the 16th October. Please can we have your entries in as soon as possible as we cannot plan the schedule unless we know how many clubs are involved and only then do we know how many matches and boards to prepare.


The Bi-annual A.G.M. will take play directly after play on the Saturday night.

Once again a reminder that there are many B & B’s in the area close to the Orangia Bowling Club and the Protea Hotel and the new casino hotel are also in the vicinity. There is a list of B & B’s on this website under Free State Open pairs which is being held on the preceeding weekend and is a Red Point tournament.

Look forward to seeing you all there.

Helen

#8 17-September-2009



I would like to wish all our Jewish players Shana Tova a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year and Well over the fast.

To our Muslim players after a month of fasting in Ramadaan we wish you Eid Mubarrak .



I thought this snippet I received from Sid Ismail would be of interest.

From a post in Newsgroups on 15-Sept:

In last month's Spingold quarter-finals, Matt Granovetter and Ron Rubin were hauled before a disciplinary committee and given a 30-day probation for excessively slow play. Their opponents were not disciplined.
(Ref: NABC Daily Bridge Bulletin, Aug 2, 2009
http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2009/02/bulletins/db10.pdf ).


Teams in other national events were twice penalized 3 IMPs for having a cell phone in their possession during play.

Sounds like the ACBL has decided to be some muscle behind the regulations.


0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

#7 - 4 September


News from Brazil (Senior Team)

- might be outdated as it comes from Peter Terblanche (NPC), but great to get the insights from him.

1st Letter
Despite the fact that the team results are not what we would have wished for at this stage, the team is working really well together and we are all enjoying the cut and thrust of World Championship bridge. We had our best result earlier today against hosts Brazil with Chris Bosenberg, Neville Eber, Brian Marcus and Nick Buratovich scoring a 24/6 win. We are lying near the bottom of the table but are looking forward to the climb up the ladder. We play one of the favourites Australia tomorrow (their team includes the famous bridge author Ron Klinger) and are hoping to emulate the performance of the Boks in
Perth last Saturday. Then on Wednesday we play both the USA1 and USA2 teams so we have a couple of interesting days ahead. The Round Robin stage ends on Saturday and we will need a lot of good wins to qualify for the Quarter Finals.

Besides my role with the SA team I have also taken the opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world at close quarters. This afternoon I sat watched a Bermuda Bowl match between the USA and Morocco. I sat behind the great Eric Rodwell and can only hope that some of his genius rubbed off onto me.

The three sessions of 16 boards each are over and scored by 8pm so we have had time to sample the fare at the local restaurants and discuss the interesting hands of the day. We have found the beef quite outstanding and of course the coffee is some of the best in the world.

Hope that all is well back home, and we will all be keenly awaiting the rugby result on Saturday - as we expected the local TV stations give no coverage to any form of football where the ball is not round.


2nd Letter
The fortunes of the South African Seniors team have turned around since I last emailed you. You have no doubt seen the results on the internet. Yesterday promised to be one of the toughest of the tournament with us playing both of the USA teams. In the first match Neville, Chris, Brian and Nick had a very good draw against USA2 - we actually beat them by 2 IMPS for a 15/15 result. I watched the next match sitting behind Neville and the 8 times world champion Bobby Wolff. The highlight for me was when Wolff was playing in a 3NT contract and Chris falsecarded causing declarer to abandon the obvious winning line of a H finesse through Neville. He tried to execute an endplay that caused him to go down in a contract that was easily made in the other room by Maureen and Val. We won the match 19/11 and I played the same combination in the final match against Argentina which worked well - we won 20/10. We have moved up the leaderboard but are still a long way off 8th spot and a place in the quarter finals.

The match against Japan is on at the moment and after 11 boards Neville, Chris, Brian and Nick are 16/14 up. Hold thumbs for us for the rest of the qualifying matches. Team spirit is high and we are all enjoying the tournament and Sao Paulo. Will go back to the Vugraph Theatre now to watch the end of our match.

0-0-0-0-0

#6 - 1st September

I discovered Port Elizabeth’s best kept secret!
The P.E. Mini congress hosted 30 teams and 62 pairs and what a successful event! It was their 37th Congress and my congratulations to the organizers of a fabulous weekend.

The most exciting part of this for me was that there are so many bridge players and tournaments in places that I have never ever heard of: Mcgregor, Bedford and Cradock to name a few. I am certainly going to try to make it my business to discover all the bridge that we have in our country and get to know our players that put so much time and effort into offering bridge to all.

Interclub 2009
We are beginning to receive entries for the Interclub and it promises to be a great bridge weekend. All affiliated clubs can send a team and if the club hosts more than 30 tables 2 teams can enter.

For clubs that don’t have as much exposure to bridge as in the bigger centers, it is a wonderful opportunity to play against varied opposition. So get your entries in as soon as possible as we will probably have to limit the event to 30 teams. Remember that there is a list of B & B’s in the area on the SABF website under ‘Free State tournament’.

School Bridge
Carol Grunder in Gauteng has started teaching Mini-Bridge to Grade 6 and Grade 7's, (ages between 11 and 12 years old) at Gordon and Ikage Schools in Alexandra once a week.
Within a couple of lessons the children have learnt to do the following :-
  1. Shuffle, sort and identify the ranking of the suits.
  2. Count the points between the two hands. The pair with the most points declares the hand and dummy is put down before the lead.
  3. Decide on a trump suit and estimate the number of tricks the partnership expect to make.
  4. We reinforce the following:
    - lead low from an length/honour or top of a sequence
    - 2nd hand plays low, 3rd hand plays high
    - lead back partner's suit

So, in effect the children are able to play bridge, without the bidding. Teaching these children is a very rewarding experience and the classroom often resembles a market with laughter, shouting and 'high-fives' !


The response to her plea for teachers has been very encouraging but needless to say there is always a need for more help. If anyone wishes to assist her in this worthwhile project she can be contacted at grunder.carol@gmail.com



Warm wishes,
Helen

#5 - 19th August

Greeting all,

A summary of what’s been happening in the bridge world:

Firstly Rob Stephens, one of our junior players, is competing in the World Junior Championships in Turkey with a Bulgarian partner. He played in a 13 round 10-board Swiss and acquitted himself admirably. His team was called T42 and they came 12th out of 40 teams!! He is receiving great support from the players at the Links and we feel sure he will go from strength to strength.

Our Seniors team, namely: Chris Bosenberg, Val Bloom, Nick Buratovich, Neville Eber, Maureen Holroyd and Brian Marcus and non-playing captain Peter Terblanche are leaving for Sao Paulo next week to compete in the Seniors Bowl. We wish them every success and a safe return.


A ‘trials’ meeting was held 2 weeks ago and after much discussion the following proposals were tabled:
  • All trials would be held at least 8 months before the event to allow for coaching and practice as a team.
  • Requirements for entry into trials:
    South African Passport
    Attendance at national events
    Regular partnerships or committed pairs
    Entrants to be regular club players
    Four year results in major events.
  • Open Trials format:
    Bermunda Bowl – Teams Trials
    World Mindsport games – Pairs trials with 10 or less pairs then pairs trials with teams format.
  • Womens and SeniorTrials and Commonwealth Games:
    With 10 or more pairs – Butler format of 16 board matches with a teams playoff for the 1st 5 pairs. If less then pairs trials with teams format.
  • A trials sub committee is to be formed to take this project further.

All these proposals are in their infancy, but at least we have a starting point to work from.


Next year the Commonwealth Games and the World pairs is to be held in Philadelphia; both take place in October 2010.


Wishing you all good bridge

Helen

Post 4 - 12th July 2009

Details for the Inter-provincial and Interclub are emerging and the dates and provisional times are as follows:
Interprov: starts Tuesday 27th at 14.00 and ends Thurs 29th at approx 12.30
Interclub: starts Thursday at 14.00 and ends Sunday 1st Nov at approx 13.00

The venue is the Orangia Bowling Club - it has all the facilities we need; and our hosts will be the Bloemfontein Bridge Club ladies headed by Ria Louw. There are 3 hotels in the vicinity including the new casino hotel. As previously mentioned there is a list of B & B’s on the SABF website and those prices range from R180 per night upwards.

The hotel rates are as follows:
  • Windmill Casino R890 per double room and R600 in you have a MVG card. Tel no. 051 410 2000
  • City Lodge R840 per double room. Tel no. 051 444 2974
  • Protea Hotel R1246 per double room. Tel. 051 412 5400 (busy negotiating, so hopefully will improve)

I believe that Roger Wilson’s negotiations are almost concluded and that we can look forward to Congress being held at Greyville in 2010. The dates still to be confirmed are the week of 7th till 14th May 2010.

For the past 2 years we have held the Interprovincials together with the Interclub and I would like your thoughts on whether we should once again hold the interprovincial with Congress. The format was changed to shorten congress, but now we need a week for the interprov and interclub so I’m not sure we have gained anything timewise. I must admit that I think that the interprovincial has lost some of it’s prestige with this move and I personally would like to see it back where it belongs.

Comments welcome.

Warm regards

Helen

Post 3 - 30th June

Greetings,

We held our first executive meeting last weekend and the following might be of interest to you:

The Interprovincial and Interclub will be held in Bloemfontein from the 27th October till 1st November. The Free State was chosen so that it could be accessible to all the provinces. There is presently a list of B & B’s posted on the website under the Free State Tournament. The interprov will begin on Tuesday afternoon and run until the Thursday morning. That afternoon the interclub will begin with the final matches being played on the Sunday morning. The schedule of play will depend on the number of teams entered but I will keep you posted.

The Entry Fees are as follows:
  • Interprovincial: R750 per team
  • Interclub: R1200 per team.

One of my plans of action for this year is to meet with as many players as possible so that we can exchange ideas and generally work together. I was thrilled to be invited by Knysna to play in the Oyster Festival and the Lagoon tournament. So please let me know when I can visit and meet your members.

Pat Truter is our masterpoint secretary and my thanks go to her for an excellent job of work. She has to masterpoint in the region of 5,000 different events annually and that’s no mean feat. In order to assist her, it was decided to relieve her of all the queries and that Ann Sturrock will be the Communication Liaison Officer regarding masterpoints, so in future please address such to her at annian@iafrica.com. Masterpoints have always been around but I think we need to exploit it further. It was decided that now that we have monthly promotions (thanks to Pat), we would be able to issue certificates to our members achieving the next rung of the ladder.

The different grades are as follows: SABF MASTERPOINT RANKINGS

Masterpoint ranking boundaries as defined and approved at the AGM during the 2002 SABF National Congress.

  • Member: Below 200 local points (2 Blue points)
  • Club Master: 200–1000 local points (2-10 blue points)
  • Local Master: 1000-2500 local points (10-25 blue points)
  • Master: 2500-5000 local points Provincial Master: 5000-15000 local points (50-150 blue)
  • National Master: Above 150 total points (Red + Blue) (75 of which HAVE to be RED) and below 300 total points
  • Life Master: Above 300 total points (150 of which HAVE to be RED) and below 600 total points
  • National Life Master: 600-1200 total points (300 of which HAVE to be RED)
  • Premier Life Master: 1200-2000 total points (600 of which HAVE to be RED)
  • Grand Master: 2000 total points (1200 of which HAVE to be RED)

Keep warm and enjoy your bridge,

Helen

Post 2 - 13th June

Trials in Egypt

Our teams are all safely back from the African Zonals held in Egypt.

Our Seniors team did us proud finishing second in the zonals and will be representing South Africa in Sao Paulo, Brazil at the end of August.

If you wish to see our players in action, photos have been posted on the SABF website.

Post 1 - 21st May 2009

Greetings to you all,


2009 CONGRESS

The A.G.M of the SABF was held at the Protea Hotel, The Wilderness, during congress last week.

I accepted the position of President with much trepidation but also a great deal of excitement, at the opportunity of trying give something back to bridge, the game that really changed my life!

We had 315 pairs playing in various tournaments, which was a terrific entry so thanks to all who were there. There is nothing to beat the sense of excitement and comeraderie amongst all and the renewing of old friendships. Perhaps next year we will be able to attract an even bigger entry.

Craig Gower and Alon Apteker ran away with the awards, being the overall winners in the Pairs Championship and winning the Teams event together with Tim Cope and Glen Holman.


We are now looking for a venue for the 2010 Congress so if you have any ideas please let me know!


AFRICA TRIALS

Our 3 teams: Open, Women’s and the Seniors' teams leave for Egypt to compete in the African Zonals starting on 31st May. 2 Teams in each category (from Africa) will qualify to play in the Bermuda Bowl (Open), Venice Cup (Women) and Seniors Champonships in Brazil later on in the year and we wish our teams every success!



COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010

The SABF have been invited to send a team to the Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championships to be held in New Delhi, India from 25th to 31st October 2010.


PLEASE TALK TO ME I look forward to hearing from you, our fellow bridge players, either as comments to posts here on this blog, or via email and my committee and I will endeavour to answer any questions/suggestions from you.


Regards,

Helen