Now the ANC is over - part three

We are looking at Victoria vs NSW, first round robin of the Interstate Open teams: session four

Board 6 we picked up IMPs when Gumby-Lazer bid an ill-fitting 23 highs to 3NT a couple off while our teammates Gold-Sarten stayed in 1NT making the same seven tricks.

Board 7 and 8 were a dull game and slam, more or less flat across the field. Then a couple of IMPs to us on board 9 when Gumby-Lazer played the usual 4♥ in the 6-3 fit while Gold-Sarten reached 3NT, off all the spade suit, but when they were 4-3 the contract couldn’t be beaten and in fact made overtricks.

Board 10
Dlr East
All Vul

		♠	J6
		♥	AQ72
		♦	AQJ8743
		♣	—
♠	J73			♠	AQ1042
♥	8			♥	KJ106
♦	K1062			♦	5
♣	KJ1065			♣	Q97
		♠	985
		♥	9543
		♦	9
		♣	A8432

We were pretty happy in our room to scramble EW to the only making game of 3NT. With 22 highs and a 5-3 spade fit to eschew we were thinking ‘pickup’.

West	North	East	South
		1♠	Pass
2♠	3♦	3♥	Pass
3NT	All Pass

In the other room, however, Sarten tried 5♦ at his first opportunity. The opponents doubled, partner put down just what Sarten didn’t want and that was -1100 and 11 IMPs out.

Stay tuned. The horrors will continue!!!

Now the ANC is over - part two

I thought it would be interesting to take a detailed look at the match my partnership played against the winning NSW team - session four of the first round robin.

Sublime Passion

I’m not talking about last night, either….which I spent on my own. It’s this:

Why is it that so few are knitting this cute pattern? One project on Ravelry!

Is it possible not to love that feather and fan pattern?

Pattern: Passion Feather and Fan Sweater Sublime #603, The most Luxurious Sublime hand knit book
Yarn: Rowan Calmer. This was the first time I’ve knitted with Calmer and I’m so glad I’ve lots more of it in my stash. Lovely to knit, to wear, happy to be thrown in the washing machine.
Modifications: none. I did crochet some flowers in the same yarn which I pin on from time to time.
Thoughts: Sublime take great lengths to make sure their patterns are easily accessible by inexperienced knitters. Thoroughly recommended. Haven’t tried their yarn yet, though I have some in my stash.

Is this just a New Zealand thing? Doing it on your own.

A little while ago I posted this hand:

Now the ANC is over - part one

The lowlight of this year’s ANC was surely the absence of the Northern Territory. One wonders upon whom this reflects badly. It is hard to believe that the ABF could not relevantly assist the NT to field teams. Does it too mean that the NT has simply not gotten out of the ANC what it should? That is, enjoyable bridge and the camaraderie of the friendly rivalry of the States? If so, then this reflects badly on one and all of us who should be bending over backwards to make our newest member most welcome.

The impact of the absence of the NT was severe. The event was already truncated by the number of boards being decreased to 20 from the usual 24 - why on earth was this done? - and was made shorter again by two byes for each team over the course of 5 days. In the case of the Victorian Open team, for example, we had two whole days with only one match and therefore two whole days where one pair did not play at all. It was completely unsatisfactory.

The ABF has to figure out some way of rectifying this situation, the simplest being a triple-round robin or a double-round robin of longer matches, if, that is, it is unable to bring the NT back to the fold. One can only speculate that this means the NT is no longer going to be hosting the Interstate - does anybody reading this know the answer to that one?

The Northern Territory first joined the Interstate in 1987 and over the years have improved from a team that couldn’t win a match to a team which was capable of beating anybody, though not yet good enough to challenge for a high finish. No doubt both its involvement in the Interstate as well as the possibilities opened up by Internet bridge have played their part in the improvement of the NT. One way or another they add a lot of interest to the ANC - PLEASE COME BACK TO US, NT!!