E-News December 2014
Edition 4, Volume 1 of 2014
CONTENTS
President’s Notes
Welcome back Jane Walker, wishing you improved health and vigour, and thanks
Tresna Davies for the previous eNews.
We at SPBC have so many helpers I am not going to attempt to name them all,
but a great big thank you to all the volunteers and Directors for making us a
friendly and effective bridge club.
Presidents Notes
Christmas Party
Recent Club Results
Future Events
Women’s Online Tournament
Member Profile
Table Manners (Bridge!)
Christmas in the Southern
Hemisphere
November is my busiest month due to exam supervision duties for Year 12,
Murdoch and Curtin unis. Bridge play (and golf and family time) is put on the back-burner, but other members of
the Management Committee are all competently doing their jobs.
At the General Meeting on November 15 we brought the fees in line with the Constitution (ratified after our AGM).
Thanks to the members who attended and ensured that we had a quorum.
Our Melbourne Cup bridge day was filled with fine food, fun and frivolity. Special thanks to Jenny, Judy and their
catering crew, and to Jan as Director for that extra atmosphere.
This year all our Inter-Club Teams made the finals. Jan Annear and her co-organisers and the teams did a great job.
In the New Year I hope to help compile our club’s proud history, so if Jane or others ask for your recollections
please tell all! The early history from 1984 is well done. With our collation of written and oral histories, we can fill in
the current gaps.
On the down-side, we have not yet had that key meeting with the City of South Perth on the funding formula for
our new SPBC premises planned on the vacated Manning Library site. It seems the council amalgamation issues are
their preoccupation.
Have a very merry Christmas and festive season, and looking forward to lots of friendly competitive bridge in 2015.
Best wishes and pleasant bridging!
Bob
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MEMBERS ONLY
Quick – Get your name in the Red Book and pay a
director $35 if you want to enjoy the full Christmas
Dinner.
No need to book for the fun Red Point bridge session happening
beforehand - doors open 12.30pm, and the game begins at 1.30 with
table money collected as usual.
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Recent Club Results
John Coleman Trophy –
Melbourne Cup Day 4th November
Trophy Winners Margaret Barr and Jim Tully were among a
gathering of sixty who enjoyed a day with a great ambience
and wonderful food
South Perth vs Melville
Interclub Teams of 12
Hosted by Melville Club, this was a very
friendly event. Melville won by a narrow
margin of 3 IMPS
Editor’s Note –
Don’t you just love the way the
photographer
captured
another
snapshot in the making!
FUTURE EVENTS
Festive Open Pairs
Friday, December 19, 2014
South Perth Swiss Pairs
Mondays - 5th, 12th & 19th January 2015
Australia Day Open Pairs
Monday 26th January 2015
12.30 PM
Club Summer Teams
Thursdays – 5th & 12th February 2015
12.30 PM
Club State Masters & Below (<50
Red/Gold Points)
Sunday 22nd February 2015
1.30 PM
Hot Summer Open Pairs
Tuesday 24th February 2015
12.30PM
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12:30 PM
Red Point
7.30 PM
Women’s Online Bridge Tournament
Although primarily aimed at the Pacific/Asia countries, this event, held in
September 2104 and promoted in our August E-News, was open to all female
bridge players. Just for fun, I checked the site again – entrants came in from all
over the world – Bangladesh, Namibia, Turkey, Croatia, Poland, Jordan, Egypt,
Argentina and Spain to name a few, as well as from Australia, New Zealand, the
USA and UK. Overall winners were New Zealand pair Julie Atkinson and Kathy
Boardman with Australians Sheena Singh and Dianne Marlen second and
American Connie Marfell in third place.
Member Profile: Dr Nick Hayter
Life Member Nick Hayter joined our club in 1985, coincidentally enough,
on the day our then brand, spanking new club house opened. Before
that, golf had been his main pastime, but his arthritic knees were forcing
him to quit, and the time he’d previously spent happily on the golf course
now hung heavy on his hands. Wondering how he could fill those hours,
he remembered how much he’d enjoyed the bit of bridge he’d played for
the vast stakes of a farthing a hundred when he was a medical student in
England – and, like a good number of others, rediscovered in retirement
the fun and fellowship that the game can offer.
Born in North London on 30th December 1930, Nick jokes that he was a
true child of the Great Depression – only born because his father was out
of work, and, as his mother put it, “there wasn’t anything else to do!” The
family remained in North London all through the war years, and in 1957,
Nick married his wife Jane before moving to the small Sussex village of
Steyning, where the newly qualified Doctor Hayter began his practise.
In 1966, after some six years in Steyning, the Hayter family immigrated to
Australia and settled in Perth, where there was a significant shortage of general practitioners. They bought a house
in Applecross, and Nick practised in Brentwood before opening a practise in St George’s Terrace.
Whilst Nick was busy with his practise, his wife Jane was equally busy raising their four UK born children, three boys
and a girl. Jane remained a focal point for the family throughout her life, becoming a very active granny as the
children grew up and began having children of their own. Now, Nick has seven grandchildren, two stepgrandchildren and a one year old great, great grandson. His three sons still live in Perth, the eldest, after being a
teacher, is now in his own brand new business, the middle son is a “fly in, fly out” plumber whilst the youngest son
is an accountant. Nick, who says he’s hopeless at such things, is very happy to have this son manage his financial
affairs. His daughter, who now lives in Melbourne, chose a more adventurous career path which has taken her all
over the world working for gender equality, women’s rights and development programmes for women. Today, she
is CEO of the International Women’s Development Agency, founded in Melbourne in 1985.
Nick’s wife died some ten years ago, and since then he’s been on one or two cruises, during one of which he had a
remarkable reminder of just how small our world can be. Seated for dinner with strangers, making general
“getting to know each other” conversation, he asked one of the ladies whereabouts in England she lived.
“Oh, just a little Sussex village,” she told him. “You wouldn’t know it, I’m sure.”
Nick pressed her, saying he too had lived in Sussex before moving to Australia. She told him she’d lived in Steyning
and had had her first baby there.
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Suddenly, Nick recognised her and asked “And how is Rudolf?” Stunned, the lady asked how on earth he knew her
son’s name.
“He was the first baby I ever delivered in Steyning,” replied Nick, “and I remember the name because it was, at the
time, such an unusual name.”
The woman stared at him wide eyed for a minute or two before exclaiming “Of course! Dr Hayter. But you’ve
changed!”
Laughing, he agreed. It was, after all, some fifty years earlier that he’d helped deliver her baby. Needless to say, the
group thoroughly enjoyed the cruise.
These days, Nick only plays bridge on Saturday afternoons - his grandchildren keep him quite occupied from time
to time, and besides, his memory plays the odd trick on him. “I’ve never played for anything but the fun and
challenge of the cards and the social side of things,” he says. “I only ever played in one red point event and was so
horrified by the bad manners displayed by some players that I refused point blank ever to play in competitions
again.”
It’s all a far cry from the often hectic days of the mid 80’s when, as a fairly new member, Dr Hayter was invited to
join the committee, at a rather hectic time when the young club was carrying quite a large overdraft. He threw
himself into the work with a will, and within a few years became the club’s third President, serving a full two year
term. He resigned from the committee and has never taken an active part in running the club again because he
firmly believes that a Past President should stay out of things to give the new people free rein. It’s small wonder
then that the Club rewarded his wisdom with Life Membership.
Table Manners and Bridge Communication
At the start of every round, players should inform opponents of their basic system,
opening 1 bid style – i.e. ACOL with 5 card majors or Standard with 5 card suits
except Clubs. If you make it a habit to do this at the start of every round, your
opponent will usually respond – if they don’t, you just ask!
When I first moved from supervised to normal sessions, I thought some players too picky about “proper etiquette”.
After three years, I’ve understand this attitude better. The writing style of a short article on the ABF website may
seem old fashioned, stuffy and even patronising – but take it to heart. Ethics and good table manners are what
keep bridge fun and friendly as well as competitive and challenging!
“Bridge enjoys immense popularity partly because of the high standards of ethics and etiquette
which are observed by the players who are expected to conduct themselves in a highly civilised
manner.
Violations of proper etiquette are quite common from inexperienced players, either through ignorance
or inadvertence. A well-mannered opponent who is the victim of a violation by such a novice player will,
if comment is considered necessary, be at pains to make it clear that the comment is intended to be
helpful and will never make a newcomer feel ill-at-ease.
Bridge is an extremely ethical game. All good players strive to ensure that their bridge ethics are
impeccable and no more serious charge, other than outright cheating, can be made than to accuse a
player of bad ethics. Unlike poker in which all sorts of mannerisms, misleading statements and bluff
tactics are part and parcel of the game, bridge is played with a ‘poker face’! Beginners are, of course,
excused for their lapses and in social games nobody minds very much, but in serious competition your
bridge demeanour must be beyond reproach.”
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Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere
Having researched and reported various Christmas related events at the North Pole in the past it seemed
worthwhile to investigate the Yuletide situation at the South Pole. The first question that came to mind is why
Santa Claus would choose North over South in the first place. After all, there is solid ground down South; only
frozen water up North. A continued global warming trend would be a significant problem to the entire Claus
operations.
I was unable to resolve this question. No one with relevant information was available for comment and the
literature is strangely silent on the subject. One is left to speculate. It is well known that penguins do not fly.
Perhaps reindeer and other workers such as elves were simply not available to support the complex Santa Claus
enterprise at the South Pole. Having struck out in my inquiry I switched to a less difficult, if no less interesting
question for us northern hemisphere residents: How is Christmas celebrated in Australia? There is no winter
wonderland - it can be downright hot during an Australian December.
Many facets of Christmas celebration are the same in Australia: carols by candlelight, greeting cards, exchange of
gifts, Christmas trees (maybe a Christmas bush or just a branch), and lots of delicious food. There might be
quandong pie, riberry jam, muntrie berries, and Victoria River plums. There is no consensus on Santa's dress or
mode of travel. Some claim that when Santa crosses the equator he stops at Christmas Island to shed his heavy
coat. He is said to switch out his sled for a cart with wheels (after all, there is no snow on which to make rooftop
landings) and the reindeer give way to eight kangaroos. There is no direct evidence of these changes. And there are
at least three different Christmas Islands.
I did come across a tale of a holiday time bridge tournament. It seems there was a controversial occurrence at the
1934 Launceston Congress. The last round of the Swiss team event saw first prize being contested by two allmarsupial teams. At the table of interest Claude, a long-nosed potoroo was North, partnered by Whitey, a whitefooted dunnart. West was a Tasmanian devil whose name has faded away over the decades. He was paired with
Theo Lacine, an older, irascible Tasmanian tiger. It wasn't clear if the disposition trait was the result of age or simply
the nature of the beast. After a few relatively quiet deals a challenge arose for both declarer and the defenders.
South deals, North-South game
Claude
Q54
104
KJ9753
72
Theo
7632
J763
A102
64
Whitey
AK8
AKQ52
Q
KJ95
5
The T.D.
J109
98
864
AQ1083
South
West
North
East
Whitey
The T.D.
Claude
Theo
2
Dbl
2
Pass
2
Pass
3
Pass
3NT
All Pass
The T.D. led the obvious J, won by declarer in hand. Whitey could see that the contract was cold if hearts split
evenly, otherwise there was little chance; West's double of 2 had indicated that almost certainly the missing club
honours were to his left. In any event another trick would be needed to go along with the three spades and hoped
for five hearts. Accordingly, declarer led the Q which held, West giving count. There was no rush to try the main
chance so declarer decided to try the effect of the K. This was won by the T.D.'s ace and a second spade was led,
won in hand by declarer. Whitey decided to try a second club honor from his hand. This might squash the 10 in
the West hand but the important consideration is that communication in the club suit between the defenders
would be eliminated.
The T.D. won his Q but Theo did not produce the hoped for ten, instead giving count with his second low club.
West exited a third spade. Whitey gave the situation careful consideration. If Theo began with 3-4-4-2 distribution
including the A he could be forced on play with the fourth round of hearts and would have to concede two
diamond tricks to dummy. If he began with 4-4-3-2 shape instead and held both the A and the J he could end
play by leading dummy's K. Dunnarts are well known for great instinct with regards to both play of the hand
and the location of edible spiders. Backing his judgment, Whitey led the K from dummy. East cashed his long
spade but was then in a hopeless situation. Even leading the J to prevent the run of the suit would not help, for
the 10 would be an entry to the good diamonds. The game contract was made on the nose.
Theo began railing against the T.D. almost immediately for his failure to cash his 10 before leading the third
round of spades. The discussion was not long one-sided for the T.D. was soon responding to the insults being hurled
at him. The tournament director had to be called to insure that the last board could be played, a meaningless 2
contract.
Although Theo and the T.D. did not exit the playing area together they met again a short distance from the
entrance and the confrontation began anew. Exactly what happened then is not clear. Bystanders were not
forthcoming when the incident took on increasing importance a few months later. One reluctant witness stated
that he heard Theo explain to the T.D. exactly where all devils belong. Another said that he had heard strange
noises coming from the brush a short distance away. The tournament was held at a resort near Turners Marsh and
much of the area was undeveloped.
The T.D. did not bother to claim his second prize nor was he ever seen at another bridge congress. The dénouement
for his partner is more striking. Not only was Theo Lacine never seen again, nor was any other Tasmanian tiger.
The investigating committee at Hobart inquiry in June of 1935 made no judgment about the incident at Turners
Marsh, but who is to say....
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