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Success for Debs 

Havelock North’s Debs Smith has won the recently completed WBF On-Line Autumn Bridge Festival, the third time she has won one of these events. which are held bi-annually. She is a regular in these events and has finished inside the top 10 in each of the last 8. Her winning score was 13.80 with her best 10 scores coming from the Robot Individual Category, where she also came first.

She made the following comments after her April 2023 success “I love the fact that there are various types and times of play available. "Initially, I intended to participate in games that fit my daily schedule, but as the competition progressed, my competitive spirit took over, and I found myself engaging in more games. Since it only occurs twice a year, why not make the most of it if you can?”

Deborah enjoys the challenge of playing against robots, saying, "Playing against robots was not the biggest challenge for me. I appreciate their distinct playing style, just like human players. I leverage their accuracy in counting points and shapes, which actually works to my advantage. While they might occasionally make peculiar moves, it doesn't bother me too much; it's all part of the unique experience of playing against robots.”

Family life still keeps Debs away from the bridge table in our country though she is certainly one who benefits from being able to participate in on-line bridge.

This is a truly international event with the top 5 this year coming from New Zealand, Norway, Australia, USA and Lithuania. Congratulations once again to Debs.

Friday November 15^th 2024 (evening). Loveblock Wines New Zealand Wide Pairs reminder. Support our young bridge players….

                                                                     

and take part in the Loveblock Wines New Zealand Wine Pairs. If you are not familiar with the format, the same 24 boards are played at 53 bridge clubs around New Zealand and are then combined to give an overall result, which occurs extremely quickly. For a list of clubs, see here: https://www.nzbridge.co.nz/loveblock-nz-wide-pairs.html 

The overall results should be available first thing Saturday morning, or very soon after, and there are wine prizes for the top 5 overall, top 2 Restricted Open, Intermediate, Junior and Novice pairs and for the nearest score to 50%. There are also A and C points available based on the across the field scores. 

Every player contributes $10 towards the New Zealand Bridge Foundation’s support of Youth Bridge.

This means Youth Bridge at all levels and includes sending 8 of our most promising young players to the Australian Youth Week in January 2025 in Canberra.

So, if you are not yet playing, most participating clubs will, I am sure, still accept your entry. Have a great night and a worthwhile one too. Oh, as well, you will get a booklet reviewing the hands you have played.

Richard Solomon, Event Organiser

  

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