Grandslam #16 Dec02/Jan03

THE GRANDSLAM
SRC BRIDGE SECTION NEWSLETTER

DEC02/JAN03 ISSUE #16

Issue Highlights : SRC Annual Pairs Results
Tarot Cards and Bridge (with links)

1. Message from the Convenor – Carlton Parker

Holistic Bridge
We love the game, and we love playing it. We savour the moments when we have a "top" board, or when a successful finesse allows us to make a slam hand. We look back at our own errors in judgment and tell ourselves we will try and do better next time.

When we view the game in retrospect we almost always see the “Big Picture” and fully appreciate the immense pleasure we derive from the cards, the challenge, and the company of other players.

But sometimes, in the heat of the moment, we react to a questionable bid, a bad play, or some other annoyance too quickly and, perhaps, less than kindly. A dear friend and master player once told me, “a happy partner always plays better than an unhappy one.” Could it be that one of the secrets of a good partnership is to be faster with praise, and slower with criticism?

2. SRC 3rd Annual Open Pairs Tournament

After a light lunch and struggling to solve the crossword puzzle, 20 pairs settled down to the business of playing bridge. What an exciting day! You could cut the tension with a knife! Bridge players maneuvering and trying to outwit each other to claim the Moledina Challenge Trophy and take home the beautiful “jumping dolphins” prizes with built in colour changing lights.

When the dust settled, Zain and Shamim once again wrested the trophy for SRC for the third time running. Peter and Anna were runners up with SRC members Dorothy, Richard, Convenor Carlton and Chris close behind. Mr. Richard Yong, Chairman, Social Sub-Committee, accepted the challenge trophy on behalf of SRC.

This year’s tournament had many highly distributional hands, which favours the more experienced players who have more bidding conventions to deal with them.

OPEN SECTION
1st Shamim & Zain Moledina 68.4%
2nd Peter & Anna Arnett 63.7%
3rd Lawrence & Yew Chung 55.8%
4th Alan Chua & Lena Tan 54.7%
5th Kanan Bala & Greg B. 51.7%
6th Ee & Foo 48.7%

SRC SECTION
1st Dorothy Wong & Richard Lim 60.0%
2nd Carlton Parker & Chris Wong 57.3%
3rd Mr. Leong & Pat Leong 50.6%
4th Adelene Sheperdson & Helen Tan 46.6%

CROSSWORD PUZZLE WINNERS
Open Section : Peter Arnett (100% correct – well done!)
SRC Section : Pat Leong

Special mention goes to our brand new SRC bridge section member Cheyenne Foo who sportingly joined the tournament even though she has yet to finish the beginner’s course! With her partner, Chia Kim Ser, they managed a credible 17th position.

The Bridge Section would like to sincerely thank and acknowledge the following people’s involvement in this event as well as all the management and staff of SRC for their support and hard work.

Jolene (PR) : Prizes, Budget, Facility, Food, Scoring and so many other details that made the event a success. Thank you Jolene!
Richard Yong & Captain Francis Koh : Trophy Presentation
Carl : Program Development, Stationary, Computer, Scoring
Zain : Crossword Puzzle, Bridge Director, Prizes, Attendance.
Shamim : Attendance, Pair Matching, Prizes.
Dorothy : Food.
BK Tham : Budget.
Jason Teo : Scoring
Boon (F&B) : Table Setting, Food (Yum Yum). Thank you Boon.
Rahim : Assistant Director

3. Changi Beach Club Open Pairs (26th Oct)

This annual competition attracted 28 pairs from all over Singapore. The final result had our SRC regulars Lawrence and Yew Chung emerging as champions with SRC member Chun Yee and SRC Instructor Rahim coming in second, beating heavyweights such as Murugasu and I. N. Lui. All in all, SRC put in a good showing taking 2nd (Chun Yee), 7th (Zain), 13th (Leongs) and 15th (Helen/Adelene) – all attaining over 50%.
With such a good showing from so many SRC Members and regular SRC supporters, the high standard of our Monday practice sessions is no longer in doubt.

4. Chinese Swimming Club Annual Bridge Tournament

After so many recent successes by SRC players, this event was a humbling experience and a timely reminder that a lot of work, training and effort is continuously required to perform well.

This grand affair on saw 42 pairs from all over Singapore competing for the title. The match was divided into 2 sessions of 24 boards each with a lavish buffet dinner in between. Surprisingly, beer was also served but the wise abstained so as not to compromise their concentration. SCBA dominated the results while the best showing from SRC was from Zain/Rahim who could only manage 17th out of 42. C’est la vie.

5. SRC Bridge Results – 7th Oct to 25th Nov 2002
DATE Pairs FIRST SECOND THIRD
7 Oct 10 Jane/SohHong Rahim/ChunYee Lawrence/YewChung
14 Oct 7 Lucy/Koh Zain/Shamim Carl/Chris
21 Oct 11 EngChoo/Veron Carl/Chris Mr/Mrs Leong
28 Oct 10 Zain/Rahim Lawrence/YewChung Shamim/ChunYee
4 Nov 11 Lawrence/YewChung Zain/Rahim Stella/Wong
11 Nov 13 Lawrence/YewChung EngChoo/Veron Zain/ChunYee
18 Nov 10 Zain/Ron EngChoo/Veron Dorothy/Richard
25 Nov 8 Koh/Rahim Carl/Dorothy Jane/SohHong
Welcome and congratulations to newcomers Lawrence and Yew Chung and to Eng Choo and Veronica for their steady performance and to outsiders Jane and Soh Hong for topping 7th Oct. Well done!

6. Beginner’s Course at SRC

A Beginner’s course by Rahim is currently under way with 10 members and guests. Of particular note is 13 year-old Kay Tai who is the son of Mr. Choy, who took the course a couple of years ago.

7. A Profile on 2 Young Bridge Players

9-year-old crew cut Ng Jing Xian recently won the SGCC Blind Pairs Bridge Tournament. While Jing was giggling away and excitedly displaying his first championship trophy, his parents and sister (all bridge players) were beaming proudly at his remarkable achievement against players who were up to 9 times his age!

His partner in that event was Zain, who had this to say, "He pulled his own weight in the match and was not intimidated by big names and reputation of others. He has shown both discipline and confidence."

Jing is a 95th percentile student at Rosyth School in the Gifted Education Programme. When his mother learned bridge, she felt that this intellectual game would be a good outlet for his creative and mental energies. He also enjoys chess, soccer and basketball.

While Jing can be described as "bubbly", another budding player is his emotional opposite – cool and calm 13-year-old Sean Lee. Sean is now in Sec 1 Special Stream at St. Joseph's Institution and also a 95th percentile student. He was also prompted to play bridge 3 years ago by his bridge-playing parents. With several solid achievements in in-house matches, he is well on his way to be a force to be reckoned with. His dislike for losing has spurred him to excel in all the sports he plays – chess, scrabbles, basketball and soccer.

"Bridge teaches me to plan before I do anything," says Sean. Like all students, Sean has to prioritize and balance his time among his various interests – playing more during his holidays and cutting back when his exams approach.

8. Tarot Cards (see picture at top) and Bridge

Would you believe that the rational and intellectual game of bridge had its origins in the irrational and superstitious Tarot cards? It’s true!

Tarot Cards most likely originated in northern Italy during the late 14th or early 15th century. The oldest surviving set, known as the Visconti-Sforza deck, was created for the Duke of Milan's family around 1440. The cards were used to play a bridge-like game known as tarocchi, popular at the time among nobles and other leisure lovers.

The cards' fanciful images—from the Fool to Death—were inspired by the costumed figures who participated in carnival parades.

The game of tarocchi eventually spread to other European countries, including southern France, where it was renamed tarot. The cards were not regarded as mystical until the late 18th century, when the occult came into vogue. A man named Antoine Court de Gébelin wrote a popular book linking the cards to ancient Egyptian lore, arguing that tarot symbols contained the secret wisdom of a god called Thoth. Around the same time, Jean-Baptiste Alliette, writing under the pseudonym Etteilla, published a treatise on using tarot cards as divination tools.

9. New Library Books – correction
The order of the 3 bridge books (mentioned in Grandslam #15) was cancelled, as budget funds could not be transferred to other categories. The Bridge committee apologizes for any inconvenience caused.
10. How’s That Again?

"The difference between an excellent bridge player and an incompetent bridge player is that excellence has its limits.”

11. Man versus Machine

Remember, if you can't beat your computer at bridge, don’t give up --try kick boxing.

12. Feminine Logic

The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think.

13. Word from the 2nd Richest Man in the World

Billionaire investment wizard Warren Buffett said that "any young person who doesn't take up bridge is making a big mistake."

Perhaps an exaggeration, but it's hard to overestimate the endless fascination of this game, which involves a phenomenal blend of logic and deduction together with intuition, imagination, creative flair and communication. However skilled you become, there's always more to learn. Many older people have perhaps warded off Alzheimer's disease by honing their brain cells with this challenging game.

14. Unfamiliar Partners

"Unfamiliar partnerships often can reap big rewards. The reason? No understanding -- no misunderstanding!"

15. Problem Solving?

Novice : For a long time I was ashamed of the way I played Bridge.
Friend : So you have finally improved – that’s wonderful
Novice : No, I finally got over being ashamed.

16. Novice’s Lament

Novice : Is there a way I can win easily?
Expert : No, but there is a way to lose more slowly

17. Movie Quotes

Bad (bridge) table manners, my dear Gigi, have broken up more households than infidelity.
-- From the movie Gigi 1958

(My partner) is as sharp as a pound of wet liver
-- Foghorn Leghorn 1949

Editor: Zain Moledina
1st December 2002