We were invited to join Waiheke Bridge Club for the Loveblock Nationwide Pairs event held at the Catherine Mitchell Centre on Friday, the 15th of November. It is a tournament held throughout New Zealand at exactly the same time. Everyone plays the same hands which have been put together by top Directors. This event is scored Nationwide and you receive a detailed booklet of how one could have played the hands at the end of the night. There is also detailed analysis of how others bid and played each hand NZ-wide on the website: http//www.compassmate.bridge-centre.org/results/monthly

Nine of our members played in the Novice section of this tournament. Rob and Sati were our stars coming in at 8^th with 49%. The rest of our pairs came in around the 40% result range which was a pleasing result at our first competitive event. Kath was partnered with an intermediate player from WBC and they got 53%.  There were 27 boards played, across 3 hours, and it was quite an experience! We all learned (quickly!) how to use the bidding box, thanks to Claire for bringing one along to Club play the night before. There were refreshments, cheese platter and conviviality at the end of the night!

The event is for a great cause - supporting Youth Bridge in New Zealand.