2010 - Blog 4

I am on my way to Port Elizabeth to play in the SAWBA Congress but wanted to share the news that Dr Magdy Mesdary the Chief Tournament Director for Africa will definitely be joining us at Congress. Besides directing he will run a seminar on the Monday night for all interested parties who wish to know a little more about the laws and convention control that pertains to us in South Africa. So make sure that you can be there.

Furthermore, he will be running a T.D. course in Johannesburg on the Saturday and Sunday following congress before he returns home. He will also advise us on the accreditation of our T.D.’s. So anyone wishing to do this course must please let me know ASAP so that we can make arrangements to accommodate any players from out of town to avoid any unnecessary expense.


I will be away until the 22nd March and will only be able to keep you in the loop with any further announcements when I get back.


The dates for Congress are on the web, but please note that there is a travel indaba in Durban the same week, so book your accommodation as soon as possible.
We will start the teams on Friday the 7th at 14.00 and the pairs will start on Tuesday the 11th at 14.00. We can only publish the times of play once we have all the entries as everything is depends on the numbers of pairs and teams that enter.


Warm wishes

Helen

2010 - Blog 3

I have had many queries regarding the times for Congress this year.

• We are having a ‘congress’ meeting on the 14th Feb and I will be able to give you more details thereafter, although everything depends on how many teams and pairs actually enter.
  
• The entry form will be on the web soon after the 14th.
  What is certainly disconcerting is that accommodation is at a premium in Durban due to the fact that there is a ‘travel indaba’ the same week, so I strongly urge you to do your bookings early.
  
• I estimate that the teams will start at 14h00 on the 7th and the pairs are planned to begin on Tuesday the 11th at 14h00 and finish at 12h00 midday on the 14th followed by a prize-giving lunch.
  
• But the very, very good news is that The Chief Tournament Director of Africa, Dr Magdy Mesdary will be our chief T.D. for congress. I am trying to arrange a T.D. course or seminar whilst he is here. For me to do this, I urgently need to know who would be interested in such a course so that we can plan his itinerary and whether to hold it in Durban or Johannesburg depending on the number of serious participants that would like to direct in the future. We have a serious lack of T.D.’s in this country and this is a wonderful opportunity for all.

A very big ‘thank you’ to Tim Cope for running a bridge clinic in East London over the last weekend in January. Barbara Brown has written to me lauding Tim and stating what a successful weekend it was and that there were 68 members attending including 5 from Port Alfred. Her most telling statement was that it made the players of the area ‘feel not so isolated’.



Wishing you all a very good week and I will keep you posted.

Helen

2010 - Blog 2

There has been much discussion regarding opening 1nt with a singleton and players are getting very agitated, as all clubs seem to have a different take on the subject.

I felt we needed greater clarification and wrote to our Chief Tournament Director of Africa Dr Magdy Mesdary and I am printing his reply verbatim:

If 1NT is opened occasionally with a singleton, then it is not a convention, as
long as partner is not aware of.
Ref. Law 40C - C1: A player may deviate from his side's announced understanding always provided that his partner has no more reason to be aware of the deviation than have the opponents. REPEATED DEVIATIONS LEAD TO IMPLICIT UNDERSTANDINGS, WHICH THEN FORM PART OF THE PARTNERSHIP'S METHODS AND MUST BE DISCLOSED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REGULATIONS GOVERNING DISCLOSURE OF SYSTEM. C2: Other than the above no player has any obligation to disclose to opponents that he has deviated from his announced methods".

So if it is a convention and partner is aware of and they have means to discover it , then it is a convention and has to be disclosed to the opponents; you may also disallow such convention if you decide to. However, if it is made occasionally without prior agreement then it can fire both ways, however, repeated deviation lead to implicit understandings which then form part of their methods.

I believe this certainly clarifies the use of 1nt with a singleton and as it is acceptable all over the world, I wish to confirm that we will continue to open such hands accordingly, without prejudice. However, I must reiterate that if it is used as part of your system it must be disclosed on your convention card and alerted at the table.

Commonwealth Games
We will not longer be holding trials for the commonwealth Games as we have had a pair withdraw. Therefore the team that will represent South Africa is:

Larry Chemaly and Joe Israeli-Zindel
Krishna Malani and Ashok Samjee
Desiree Pieters and Nelonia Vorster


We wish them a great tournament and a safe journey to and from New Delhi,

Best wishes

Helen

2010 - Blog 1

Greeting everyone,

Due to no phone lines and no ADSL, I have been unable to communicate, but all is well now and hopefully we are into an exciting year beginning with our BBO InterClub Teams tournament for which I must thank Carol Grunder for her amazing ability to get this off the ground and her unbelievable patience and commitment to this project.

For all the clubs over the country, to be able to play bridge with each other regularly, is I’m sure, the start of many great things. This is a report that I received from Carol today:

BBO Interclub teams got off to a great start on Thursday 21st January. Thirteen teams from around the country and one team from Kenya are taking part in this round robin event which will run until the end of April. The team captains have put in a lot of effort in finding players, setting up matches and entering results. Kibitzers are welcome so come and support your club on Thursdays at 19:30. At one stage on Thursday evening there were 96 South African players online. The match results are available on the Google Website To download Bridge Base Online (free), click on http://www.bridgebase.com’

Another very exciting development is that Tim Cope has offered his services to give seminars to clubs around the country that do not have access to bridge and bridge players other than their own small community.

He will be visiting East London on the weekend of the 30th January and I cannot thank him enough for understanding our needs across the country of bringing bridge to all the smaller communities and ensuring that they are all part of the broad family of the SABF.

The trials for the Commonwealth games will take place on the 6th and 7th February
We will be sending a team of 3 pairs to New Delhi. Our entry is very small, in fact we only have 4 pairs that have entered and I wish them all well and I must say I regret that we can’t send two teams of 2 pairs so that all could go!

Congress will take place in Durban at the Greyville Racecourse from the 7th till the 14th May, 2010. We will begin the event with teams and then the pairs. The Interprovincial will preceed this event beginning on the Wednesday, 5th May.

We will advise the actual times as soon as the programme has been finalized.

Interclub dates have been changed to 11th till 14th November due to a clash with the festival of Divali, and is to be held at the Italian club in Milnerton Cape Town.

Wishing you all a wonderful year of bridge.

Helen

Posted 25 January 2010

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