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Canterbury News with Max Robb
A Gold Grandmaster for Canterbury.
Recently John Skipper of the Christchurch club attained the status of Gold Grandmaster for our game. He joins the ranks of a select few from this region.
He started tournament play in 1980 and thinks that his first tournament success was winning the Waimate All Grades. He became a Silver Grandmaster only 9 years ago, which attests to the number of tournaments he has played in since, and to the success he must have enjoyed in those.
John said that his most pleasing success was as a member of a team that won the New Zealand Teams, a pinnacle to which many tournament players aspire.
This year John and his wife Jane represented New Zealand in the Asia Pacific Bridge Congress. They have also represented New Zealand twice in the Commonwealth Nations Bridge Congress.
Over a number of decades, the Skippers have been regular attenders at our own New Zealand National Congress as well as the Gold Coast Congress.
You are looking at Gold
John Skipper
It is this dedication that brings the Skippers to this high level, but when I asked John if there were other factors, he said that reading books on the game, staying abreast of new developments, and always being critical of systems that they have employed have played an important part too.
We congratulate John on attaining this prestigious goal.
Team Success in the Region
In line with the article above I should mention an item of national success. This month a Canterbury Regional team of John Skipper, Jane Skipper, Michael Johnstone and Paula Gregory triumphed in the Senior Teams of the Interprovincial Trials. They started the tourney strongly and never faltered to come out top. How us individuals must envy the long-standing success generated by these two husband and wife teams.
I have been reliably informed by the regional committee that Jane Skipper has now been a member of the winning team in each of the three disciplines of the I.P.s – the Open, the Women’s , and now the Senior Teams. A great feat.
Timaru Anniversary Pairs November 1st
From the morning session no pair stood out from the field, with Frances Sheehy and Peter Mountain 58% edging out Paula Gregory and Michael Johnstone. And in the East/West seats, Brad Johnston and Glen Coutts 60% were 3% ahead of Neville Newburn and Bill Mecchia.
In the afternoon session, Rosemary McLauchlin and Kay Robb won their way with a stellar 67%, followed by Brad and Glenn with 63%, Neville and Bill 61% and Kay and Leslie with 60%.
%
1st Brad Johnston/Glenn Coutts 123
2nd Neville Newburn/Bill Mecchia 118
3rd Kay Nicholas/Leslie Andrew 117
Canterbury Charity Pairs December 1st
“Isn’t it nice that quite a few of the club’s grandmasters are playing with new partners today”, Pam Tibble said to me before play started. This sentiment was shared by a few others during the day, and the club members appreciated that Neil Hawkins, Max Morrison, Pavla Fenwick and Mehboob Chiba shared their wealth of experience.
92 players turned out for the Charity Tournament run to raise funds for Youth Hub, a charity that provides support for disadvantaged youths in our society.
In the morning only 5 pairs –
Sarah Garland- Pavla Fenwick, Jane Skipper- Jane Lennon, Max Robb- Max Morrison, Theo Smits- Andrew Purves and Caroline Caseley-Mehboob Chiba scored more than 60% but it was the two Maxes who had a 3% edge.
The afternoon session saw some fresh names among the five pairs -
Leon Meier- Neil Hawkins, Catherine Fitchett- Julia Thomas, Julian and Pamela Glyn, Caroline Caseley- Mehboob Chiba and Max Robb-Max Morrison scoring above 60%. Max and Max scored the highest percentage again.
The best performances of the day though were those of Caroline Caseley and Leon Meier.
I was wondering if Caroline Casey had just scored her first A points in a pairs event, and on looking up her results I discover she started 2019 with a bang earning 3 A points in January’s Holiday Pairs!
But it was Leon who stole the day. In his first tournament, he collects an A point as a session winner. He now has exactly 1.00 A points – how exciting is that? He only started playing bridge in August this year.
Max Robb and Max Morrison Sarah Garland and Pavla Fenwick Mehboob Chiba and Caroline Caseley
% %
|
Spades |
1st |
Max Robb- Max Morrison |
127 |
|
Hearts |
1st |
Caroline Casely- Mehboob Chiba |
120 |
|
|
2nd |
Sarah Garland- Pavla Fenwick |
118 |
|
|
2nd |
Pamela and Julian Glyn |
119 |
Jan Stupples and Sam Gurney Bernard Chidgey and Julie Parkinson Leon Meier
|
Diamonds |
1st |
Jan Stupples – Sam Gurney |
104 |
|
Clubs |
1st |
Bernard Chidgey- Julie Parkinson |
97 |
|
|
2nd |
David Sewell- Debbie Seddon-Sewell |
100 |
|
|
2nd |
Maryke Bignault – John McDonald |
96 |
Canterbury Regional Competitions
Intermediate
1st David Sewell 245
2nd John McDonald 218
3rd Judy Parkinson 191
David played an impressive 21 tournaments in 2019, mostly with John McDonald but also with his wife Debbie, a Junior.
Prizes are based on the top 10 scores only, and David was still well clear. Giles Hancock as the Canterbury Regional Chairman was able to present David with the Intermediate trophy at Christchurch’s Charity Tournament. 
Giles Hancock and David Sewell
Junior Championship
1st Karen Walker
2nd= Chris Clark
2nd= Lin Clark
In the Junior League there was a 3-way tie on points going into the last tourney. None of the top three players entered the Charity Pairs - if they had they would have been lone winners of the League. As it stands, Karen Walker come out jointly on top as she played one more tournament.
The top 10 place-getters in both these Leagues all win free entries to Canterbury tournaments in 2020, which I feel is a very impressive policy to encourage our newer players to participate at a challenging level.
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