Four of us from Bathurst travelled to Cowra last Sunday to play in their congress in the teams.

This was Cowra’s first congress. Numbers were down because of the weather, however, for those who attended a nice time was had by all, even though we didn’t set the world on fire.

The teams were won by a combination team of a pair from Dubbo and a pair from Canberra. They played well and deserved the win.

Next Sunday Bathurst will host the regional final of the Grand National Open Teams (commonly known as the GNOT).

Seventeen teams will compete, coming from Richmond, the Blue Mountains, Dubbo, Bathurst, etc. Good luck to the local teams.

It was lovely to see Janet Thomson returning to bridge again this week after a long illness. And to the other members of the club who are on the sick list, please hurry up and get better; we miss you.

On reading the Australian Bridge Magazine this week, the following hand was very interesting and I thought I would share it with you (Dealer W – NS Vul):

The bidding went:

West    North    East    South

Pass     1 S      3 D       X (Double)

Pass      4 C*    Pass     4 S

* Natural 4 card club suit.

They can make four spades on a diamond lead, but if East changes to a club after the diamonds, then they can make either five spades or five hearts.

The latest Australian Bridge Magazine has a good article by Mike Lawrence on why he doesn’t use Gerber. It is very interesting and shows how cue bidding (something that most players don’t do enough) can cut out the need for ‘A’ asking.

Hope you all have a good weekend and enjoy the regional finals.