Six of us from Peninsula (Susan Eason, Sandy Carter, Sandie Rooke, Andrew Ikin, Sarah Young and Gayle King) travelled across the Blue Mountains to Orange for two days of bridge at the NSW State 2019 Novice and Restricted Pairs - March 23-24.
The countryside was very dry once we left the Blue Mountains and then we hit some heavy rain so let's hope it is a beginning of a good Autumn rainfall for the tableland farmers and gardeners.
Sandie and Andrew played in the Restricted (less than 300 MP) section. The rest of us played in Novice (less than 100 MP).
Everyone at the Orange Bridge Club was very friendly and there was lots of food from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. One pair didn't turn up and one pair hadn't paid (even by the Sunday morning) but that didn't cause a ripple with the country hospitality.
All six of us got together on the Saturday night and had a great meal at an Asian Fusion restaurant.
On Sunday we encountered for the first time the Barometer Movement where the boards don't move from table to table after each round. All pairs play the same boards at the same time and so scores for a given set of boards are available as soon as the round is over. This must have kept the dealers group pretty busy. Sarah and I tried not to look up at the ongoing results in case it either made us too careless or too depressed.
Lots of interesting hands although hardly any Bergen raises, the occasional slam and Drury (game invitational over partner's 3rd/4th seat major opening) which I'm afraid I often forget. Thankfully I have a very charming and forgiving bridge partner.
Sarah and I came second with 55.32% (winners were 55.79%) followed in third place by Sandy Carter and Susan Eason with 52.08%. We'd love to repeat our success in the State Novice Teams later this year in Wollongong and have already registered as a team (Sarah, Sandy, Susan and Gayle).
