In This Issue - Tauranga Bridge 2 July 2015 Issue 340 Tauranga Bridge Club ... Warren Buffett ... because the games offer intellectual and social stimulation on a routine basis

Tauranga Bridge Club July 2015 Issue 340 Page 1 © Copyright 2015

252 Ngatai Road, Otumoetai, Tauranga P O Box 8037, Tauranga - Phone 576 5022

Website : www.taurangabridge.co.nz Editor: Mike Parker, Phone: 027 353 5563

E-Mail: [email protected]

In This Issue:

From the Committee 2

Support Event Sponsors for June/July 2015 3

Masterpoint’s Top 100 (6 Tauranga Club Members) 4

Fringe Benefit of Bridge - Brainpower 6-7

Helpful Tips 7

Tournament and Club Results 8-11

Page 2 July 2015 Issue 340 Tauranga Bridge Club © Copyright 2015

The online survey has stopped, but a paper version is at the club and we want to see more results from people who do not come to the website. Please encourage friends to fill it in.

Below are the compiled results (updated 9th July)

Do you like our new website ?

Yes 55 96.5%

No 1 1.8%

No answer 1 1.8%

Have we got the website content right ? Have we got the website content right ?

Like to see more 5 8.8%

Just right 51 89.5%

No answer 1 1.8%

Do we stop printing our newsletter "Finesse" once a month ?

Yes 47 82.5%

No 10 17.5%

No answer 0 0.0%

If Yes, do we publish Finesse on the website once a month ?

Yes 36 63.2%

No 12 21.1%

No answer 9 15.8%

If we stop producing Finesse, will you go to the website to get all the news ?

Yes 43 75.4%

No 4 7.0%

Sometimes 10 17.5%

No answer 0 0.0%

if yes, how often will you visit the website for news ?

Once a week 6 10.5%

Twice a week 35 61.4%

Once a fortnight 3 5.3%

Once a month 6 10.5%

Rarely 3 5.3%

No answer 4 7.0%

Did you find this survey interesting and relevant ?

Yes 53 93.0%

No 3 5.3%

No answer 1 1.8%

TOTAL in survey 57

Many gave constructive comments and some wonderful compliments about the club. We will discuss this as a committee. Thank you again.

Updated

The committee has discussed these results and at this stage have decided to leave Finesse unchanged at this time.


Please help the club by supporting all our sponsors on pages 8-9 in the 2015 programme.

Your Club Sponsorship co-ordinator is Lyn Bailie

Thanks to the following sponsors supporting these June 2015 events.

Travelcom - Don Menzies - Intermediate Championship Singles (Monday) Harcourts - Don Gordon Singles (Monday) Blomquist’s Bakery - Baguette Handicap Pairs (Tuesday) No 8 Tours - Junior Championship Pairs (Wednesday) Sommerset Cottage Restaurant - Championship Teams (Thursday) United Video - Movie Time Pairs (Thursday) Shelley’s Hair Design - Stylish Handicap Pairs (Friday)

Thanks to the following sponsors supporting these July 2015 events.

Fraser Manor - Restricted Pairs (Monday) No. 8 Tours - Tallis Tray Handicap Singles (Monday) Cherrywood Shoes - Stiletto Handicap Pairs (Tuesday) Fraser Manor - Double Dose Pairs (Wednesday) Brookfield Unichem Pharmacy - Healthcare Handicap Pairs (Thursday) Travelcom - Don Menzies - Daytime Championship Singles (Friday)


6 of our members are in the top 100 of the all time Masterpoints earners list. Well done to the following:-

A Points B Points Total

4 ALAN TURNER 4977.17 2122 7099.17

34 KENNETH YULE 2570.02 1097 3667.02

63 JUDY MCLEOD 1540.20 1424 2964.20

74 KATHY YULE 1959.34 868 2827.34

86 NORM SILCOCK 1125.87 1550 2675.87

100 CHRISTINE GIBBONS 1429.41 1022 2451.41

3 past members are also on the list

9 MERLE MARR Australia

12 BRUCE MARR Australia

90 SUE WEAL No longer playing

No. 1 is Michael Ware from Auckland, a massive 1400 Masterpoints ahead of Alan

A Points B Points Total

MICHAEL WARE 6665.20 1829 8494.20


Get your Master Points details at www.nzcba.co.nz

July 2015 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31


Warren Buffett (second from left) and Bill Gates (right) are among those for whom bridge plays a role in staying mentally sharp.

On the cusp of his 90th birthday, Leonard Melander passionately pursues a lifelong love affair with bridge, that sophisticated and complex grande dame of card games.

In 2007, at 82, Melander became the oldest player to win a U.S. national duplicate bridge championship; he did it again in the senior division four years later. The game remains a rewarding, if sometimes vexing, pursuit for the retired physician from West Bloomfield, Mich.

"It is the intellectual challenge, the problem-solving satisfaction" that makes bridge so attractive, said Melander, 89, who finished runner-up in the Super Senior Pairs at the Fall North American Championships last December in Providence, R.I. "Let's put it this way: Any activity from which you derive pleasure prevents the onset of classic depression."

Playing your cards right can help keep you sharp long after retirement

by Jon Saraceno, AARP Bulletin, March 2015

"Bridge," added Melander with an audible sigh, "is the equivalent of a narcotic high."

Benefits of mental gymnastics

The game has a similar allure for an estimated 25 million players in the U.S., including such fanatics as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. The majority of them are over 50. Researchers have discovered that mentally challenging games such as bridge are well suited for older people because the games offer intellectual and social stimulation on a routine basis.

Bridge's intricacies make it particularly appealing for those who want to sharpen acuity with mental gymnastics. A study in 2000 at the University of California, Berkeley, found strong evidence that an area in the brain used in playing bridge stimulates the immune system. Researchers suggest that is because players must use memory, visualization and sequencing.

"When I first started playing in my late teens, I could not remember the cards played," said Burt Saxon, 67, a retired teacher from Milford, Conn. "By my 50s, I pretty much recalled every card. Now that I am older, I have to work at it. I believe bridge helps prevent my short-term memory from completely declining."

Keith A. Josephs, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said, "It is soft data that says, 'Boy, perhaps playing these games and being socially active result in better performance.' Patients are less likely to be depressed; hence they sleep better, tend to exercise more and have a better life in general. They do better from a cognitive standpoint."

Josephs stressed there is scant medical evidence that "playing any of these games is going to prevent a degenerative process or the onset of Alzheimer's. Rather, it might delay the onset of symptoms so that the individual can function at a higher level," he said.


Bidding Tip #2

If you hold two five-card suits:

1. Open with the higher ranking suit 2. Respond in the higher ranking suit 3. Overcall in the higher ranking suit. Do not worry about which is the stronger suit !

You hold: ♠x ♥J10xxx ♦AKQxx ♣Kx

1. Open 1♥, not 1♦

2. Respond 1♥ to an opening 1♣ bid

3. Overcall 1♥ if the opening bid to your right is 1♣ (or consider using a Michaels cue bid in this situation)

Come to the Improvers Night on the 4th August to learn how to show two 5 card suits when overcalling.

Heather Snyder, director of medical and scientific operations at the Alzheimer's Association, said one thing that is lacking in Alzheimer's disease research "is the recipe of what is going to reduce someone's risk or delay the onset."

Last year, the Alzheimer's Association shared the results of a large-scale clinical trial in Finland that demonstrated the benefits of combining cognitive training and social activity — two of bridge's chief benefits — with other lifestyle elements: that multiple changes in lifestyle can improve memory and thinking in those at risk for cognitive decline.


6 Jun Te Puke Intermediate Pairs 5B

1st

Bruce Ballard & Hattie Curtis (Katikati) 2

nd Rosalind Phillips & Garth Robinson (Taupo)

4th

Gilda Rowlands & Tina Dudley (Mt Maunganui) 5

th Janice Simpson & Eric Burnie (Whakatane)

14 Jun Bay Pairs Round 3 – Mount Maunganui

1st

Christine Gibbons & Jenna Gibbons (Te Puke) 3

rd Kate Terry & Judy Pawson

4th

Liz Simpson & John Laugesen

5th

Pat Ware & Muriel Evans

20-21 June Waikato-Bays Inter Provincial Trials

Teams Selected

Open

Yuzhong Chen (Hamilton) & Hank Ping

Jenny Millington (Hamilton) & Barry Jones (Hamilton)

Women

Amanda Smith & Judy McLeod

Christine Gibbons (Te Puke) & Jenna Gibbons (Waikato)

Senior Malcolm Smith (Hamilton) & Ian Clayton (Hamilton) Tom Henwood (Whakatane) & Tom Winiata (Rotorua)

Intermediate

Liz Wilcox (Rotorua) & Liz Penhale (Rotorua) Hattie Curtis (Katikati) & Bruce Ballard (Katikati)


01 July Save the Children Charity Pairs (Tauranga) 8B

1st

Pat Rutherford & Judith Malcolm

2nd

Karen Martelletti & Julie Sheridan

3rd

Liz Bristow & Leo Duyvestyn

05 July Rotorua Restricted Pairs 8B

Junior-Junior 2

nd Pamela Pedersen & Brenda Birss

Intermediate-Junior 1

st Joe Brown (Te Puke) & Tina Dudley

No events completed

Power Cleaning Spit & Polish Handicap Pairs

1st

Beverley Reid & Alison Boyd 167.99

2nd

Pat Rutherford & Heather Melville 165.18

3rd

Mary Smith & Jan Jefferson 161.47

Blomquist’s Bakery Baguette Handicap Pairs

1st

Rosalind Phillips & Karen Martelletti 118.58

2nd

Yvonne McRae & Gwenyth Edwards 116.62

3rd

Doreen Kerwood & Miriam Heeney 116.61


No 8 Tours Junior Championship Pairs

Best 4 of 5 Scores to Count

1st

Erika Schofield & Brian Schofield 250.93

2nd

Joanne Munro & Kathy Goodwin 234.48

3rd

Jennifer Davies & Tim Torr 225.81

United Video Movie Time Pairs

1st

Jo Simpson & Sam Simpson 123.81

2nd

Karen Martelletti & Rosalind Phillips 111.51

3rd

Stephen Francks & Alan Turner 108.33

Somerset Cottage Restaurant Championship Teams

1st

Yule 124.38

Jo Simpson, Sam Simpson, Kathy Yule, Ken Yule

2nd

Martelletti 117.77

Karen Martelletti, Julie Sheridan, Marion Kelly, Hank Ping

3rd

Turner 107.44

Judy McLeod, Christine Gibbons, Henry Levy, Alan Turner


Shelley’s Hair Design Stylish Handicap Pairs

1st

Liz Bristow & Leo Duyvestyn 122.10

2nd

Lorna Pearson & Lois Kelly 118.97

3rd

Margaret Jones & Lois Kelly 113.03

Te Puna Comes to Town Pairs

1st

Margaret Wakelin & Leo Duyvestyn 128.13

2nd

Heather Melville & Ruth Sweatman 122.29

3rd

Raewyn de Cleene & Margaret Oakly 119.42

Mid-Winter Christmas Pairs

North-South

1st

Liz Simpson & Cam Fisher 64.42

2nd

Barbara Haseltine & Jocelyn Langdon 61.33

3rd

Margaret Oakly & Raewyn de Cleene 61.08

East-West

1st

Judy McLeod & Pat Ware 65.14

2nd

Graham Young & Stacey Hilton 63.94

3rd

Lynne Corbett-Foy & Eileen King 62.74

Tue 16 Jun Rosalind Phillips & Karen Martelletti 75.21%


Have you logged onto the Tauranga Bridge Web Site ?

www.taurangabridge.co.nz

Results, information and links.

Tauranga Bridge Club - Mission Statement

To provide a bridge club with a friendly, supportive and challenging environment in which players of all levels can learn and enjoy a

great competitive game - and have fun !

Documents

In This Issue - Tauranga Bridge 2 July 2015 Issue 340 Tauranga Bridge Club ... Warren Buffett ... because the games offer intellectual and social stimulation on a routine basis