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, making use of what little technology was available to her. 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
A former teacher and market researcher, Pauline started out in Women’s Bridge in the 1960s and first appeared in the NSW Women’s team in 1973.
Warren, a former NSW junior chess champion and chemistry lecturer, 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 were inducted into the NSWBA Honour Roll; Warren in 1997 and Pauline in 2014.
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.
State Youth Champs won by 15 year olds
The second annual State Youth Champs Team event took place in Sydney over the weekend, with participants ranging in age from 10 to 29.
The teams event on the Sunday saw the wining team reach 69 VPs with an average age of 15. Seven newcomers joined the teams day, bringing the total newcomers across the weekend to fifteen.
A pairs event was held on the Saturday with five new players joining and two of them achieving a remarkable second place. You can view the full results here.
Bridge NSW Executive Officer, David Havyatt, slotted in last minute as director and was effortlessly reliable, as always.
All participants who didn’t secure a win were awarded book vouchers or a handcrafted crochet item made by one of the players’ mothers.
The NSW State Youth Champs were held at the Sydney Bridge Centre in Surry Hills. The SBC will be the location for next year’s championships in December.
State Novice and Restricted Teams Championship
Eighteen teams contested the State Novice and Restricted Teams hosted by the Illawarra Bridge Association on 9-10 November. Wth an odd number of entries in each field it was played as one round robin of 17 six board matches. One benefit of having the event played as one field is that a Novice Team can win the Restricted Championship.
The team of Ngaire Meehan, Bevan Clouston, Cath Gregory and Lucy Cowen (pictured with organiser Jillian MacRae) from Illawarra did just that. Bevan and Cath came to the club’s beginner class early this year. We hope to hear more from this team in future events.
State Mixed Pairs Championships
State Mixed Pairs Winners – Sherlock Shao and Catherine Zhang
State Mixed Pairs Best Country Pair – Alan Bustany and Di Coats
State Mixed Pairs Runners Up – Jeanette Reitzer and Terry Brown
State Mixed Pairs 3rd – Michael Courtney and Joan Butts
Autumn Swiss Pairs Winners – George Fleischer and Lorna Ichilcik
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