First week of OPL analysis
The Online Pairs League (OPL) Summer event kicked off Monday night with a record level of registrations (70 pairs).
The OPL offers players the chance to play against someone of a similar level and advance their playing skills over eights weeks online using RealBridge. There is one 12-board match per week.
Bridge author and owner of the Trumps Bridge Centre, Derrick Browne, is providing weekly analysis of play for the full eight weeks of the Summer season.
On Monday night, Division 3 caught his attention as it had the most players achieving the 6H slam. You can read his thoughts on this and upcoming action from future rounds on the Online Pairs League page.
If you have any questions or comments about Derrick’s analysis, you can submit your comments on the Bridge NSW Facebook page.
Bridge NSW faithful and greats of the game acknowledged
Bridge NSW’s Spring National Mixed Teams Event will from now on be called the Spring Nationals Gumby Lazer Mixed Teams event, in honour of Pauline Gumby’s and Warren Lazer’s decades of service to the bridge community.
The pair have lifetime free entry to their event, and were given $500 each to go towards entry fees in 2025 as part of Bridge NSW’s celebration of their service.
The acknowledgement was made at an ABF event in Canberra last night celebrating Pauline Gumby’s achievement of becoming Australia’s first Diamond Grand Master with over 15,000 masterpoints.
Warren, an Emerald Grand Master, is second to Pauline on the national all-time masterpoint list with nearly 13,600 MPs.
Decades of service
Both members of the Sydney Bridge Centre club have committed countless of volunteer hours to the NSW Bridge Association and Bridge NSW over the decades.
Pauline did an invaluable job running the old NSW Bridge Association website to perfection for 25 years. As calendar coordinator, she ensured the fair and equitable distribution of congresses and championships for decades. Another achievement was her co-creation with Matthew McManus of results presentation software that is still in use today.
Warren initially joined the NSW Events/Tournament Committee and went on to chair it for many years. It was a momentous effort, with NSW events like Monday nights running like clockwork under Warren’s watch. Warren also had a leadership role on the NSWBA Council.
Without their efforts and passion, bridge in NSW and Australia would not be what it is today.
Both Pauline and Warren oversaw the Bridge NSW transition from NSWBA. While they are no longer directly involved with Bridge NSW, they remain a treasured part of the Bridge NSW family.
Outstanding players
Pauline started playing bridge in 1968 and qualified for her first Australian National Championships (ANC) in the Women’s team in 1973.
Warren, a former NSW junior chess champion, started playing while studying at the University of Sydney and partnered with Peter Gill through the late eighties, representing the NSW team for the first time in 1987.
Their first tournament together was the ANC Butler Pairs in Brisbane in 1992. The partnership remained firm from 1995 onwards.
Pauline, who goes under the nickname of “Gumdrops”, represented Australia twice in the Venice Cup and the Olympiad, and the formidable partnership donned on the green and gold for the Bermuda Bowl and the Mixed World Championships. Last year, they won the national seniors championship (ANC) in Orange.
Both received lifetime membership of NSWBA (the former Bridge NSW): Warren in 1997 and Pauline in 2014. With the creation of Bridge NSW, lifetime memberships are now recognised in an Honour Roll.
Summer Festival of Bridge begins
The nation’s largest summer bridge event got underway yesterday at the Canberra Rex Hotel with players from across Australia participating in a range of events until the festival’s close on 19th January.
Winners have already been announced for the under 20 masterpoints, under 100 masterpoints and red masterpoints events, including Margaret Cusack and Rhonda Kong from Ballina Bridge Club (pictured on the homepage).
Today is the second of three competitive days for the highly anticipated national Seniors’ team, Women’s team and Life Masters team trials.
Other highlights of this year’s festival include a four-day under 20 masterpoints development and play program, a club development day, and the prestigious National Open Teams event.
The popular and highly competitive TBIB Open Swiss Pairs Championship starts Monday 13th January, while the three-day South West Pacific Open Teams event kicks off Friday 17th January. There are also pairs and teams events for under 300, 500, 750 and 1,000 masterpoints.
If you’re tempted to join in the fun, most events accept entrants up until the day before the event. You can join on the My ABF platform.
You can also review results as they happen on the Bridge Australia website.
Bridge expert to provide weekly OPL analysis
In a major coup for players in the Summer season of the Online Pairs League, prolific bridge author and expert, Derrick Browne, will share his weekly thoughts on play for the full eight weeks, helping players to advance their bridge skills.
The OPL Summer 2025 season runs from 20 January to 17 March on Monday nights from 7:30pm. Derrick will provide an analysis of interesting play every Tuesday, which will be published on the Bridge NSW website and the Bridge NSW Facebook page.
Learn from a master
A renowned mentor of bridge players and owner of the Trumps Bridge Centre, Derrick will offer expert analysis players in the OPL can learn from.
OPL is a great way for developing players to compete against people of a similar skill level and boost their playing confidence.
Players are allotted into divisions where they play online using the RealBridge platform, which is very similar to face to face (F2F) play. The platform records players’ hands so players can review them in the days following with Derrick’s input in mind.
Or perhaps a local and experienced club mentor might partner with you in the OPL or offer to review your hands after each Monday? A great way to learn from those with more knowledge.
Absent one week or need a partner?
It is only one game per week, and players should finish by 9pm. But if you cannot make it, OPL allows you to call in a substitute player for up to three of the eight games.
Ideally, the substitute player should be of a similar or lower skill level, but the organisers are flexible. If you don’t have a partner, we can attempt to find one for you. Email us in advance and we will do our best.
Discounts on offer
The entry fee is $50, $40 for players with 100-300 masterpoints, and $25 for players with less than 100 masterpoints and youth players (under 25 years).
You can get 50% off your entry fee if you refer someone who hasn’t played OPL before or hasn’t played for at least one year. Just tell us in advance who your friend is.
Register now
Register before 17th January to join the OPL Summer league. You can register on the My ABF platform.
