WBF WOMEN’S BRIDGE
NEWSLETTER
ONWARDS FOR THE FUTURE

September 2025
Editor Mary Kelly Rogers

Building on the success of theinaugural
WBF Online Women’s Teams
Two minute video of Inaugural WBF Online Women’s
Teams February 2024

On January 3-5 2025
This time Transnational
Without the cost of travel andaccommodation
With all the Rules
Procedures & Regulations of Faceto Face

Click on this link
https://realbridge.online/wbf-womens-teams-2024-info.html

Winners receive Free entry to thenext WBF Transnational Women’s
Teams
WBF Online Masterpoints will beawardedPage | 1

Contents and Thank you to Contributors

Page

January 2025

1

WBF Online Women’s
Teams

2

Editorial

3

Contents

4-5

WBF Online Women’s
Teams 2025

6

Anna Newton
Got married
BBO Festival and Free
Daily Pairs and Daylong

7

Upcoming WBF Events

Mary Kelly Rogers

8-9

Reflections on WBF
Officers’ Seminar
BangkokAaida Abu Jaber

10

Giving Credit where
Credit is Due

Suzi Subeck

11

Cecelia Dwyer Rimstedt

Carina Wademark

12

Rimstedt Sisters at NABC
TorontoCourtesy of NABC
Daily Bulletins
Toronto

13-15

Germany – Gold - 1st
European Online
Women’s TeamsAnnaïg Della Monta16

Job of TD recommended
for Women

Jeanne van den
Meiracker

17-21

The Herning Experience

Mark Horton

22-23Gold – Norway European
Team Championships

Anne-Lill Hellemann

24-25

Like Eating a Whale witha Teaspoon

Lone Bilde

26-28

Meet Sondra Blank from
Montreal

Marc-André
Fourcaudot

29-30

Mixed event give women
an opportunity to star

Kim Frazer

31-32

Playing Open or Women

Sophia Baldysz

33

World Junior U24
Women Winners

35

YCBC Women’s Teams

36

Information WBF Online
Teams Jan 3 -5, 2025

37

Upcoming WBF Events

October 2024

November 2024

Page | 2

Hi All,
Building on the success of the inaugural
WBF online Women’s teams in
February, the WBF Women’s Committee
will organise the event again fromJanuary 3rd to 5th 2025.
USA (Seabass) won the WBF February tournament andGermany won the EBL Women’s Online teams which
followed in June. Annaïg Della Monta reports on the
team’s experience. Sylvia Shi of Seabass gave her accountin our March edition here
Chair of WBF Women’s Committee, Suzi Subeck, writes
here on WBF Focus and has a piece: ‘Give Credit where
credit is due’ and the credit is for Cecilia Dwyer Rimstedt.
This is followed by praise for Cecilia from Carina
Wademark. Cecilia was on the Swedish team that won the
Venice Cup in 2019 and Carina was their coach.
WBF Communications Manager, Anna Gudge, now Anna
Newton, who is well known to all competitive players andmore besides, is congratulated on her recent marriage toMark Newton.
Regular contributor, Mark Horton writes of the Herning
experience and WBF Chief TD, Jeanne van den Meiracker,
who directed at the championships, urges women to
become TDs. It’s fulfilling!
Norway won Gold at the Team Championships in Herning,
Denmark and NPC Anne-Lill Hellemann shares her team’s
thrills and journey. Lone Bilde from Denmark shares the
pride she felt by her Federation’s hosting of the event and,of course, Denmark’s qualification for the Venice Cup.
Aaida Abu Jaber reflects on the successful WBF Officers’
Seminar in Bangkok and reports on her ‘aha’ and her‘yesss’ moments at the Seminar.
Kim Frazer, on behalf of the Australian Bridge Federation,highlights how Mixed has given women the opportunity tostar. Marc-André Fourcaudot profiles Canadian player
Sondra Blank’s path through bridge, playing both Women’sand Mixed, which is fascinating.
Another regular contributor, Sophia Baldysz, writes‘Playing Open and Women’ and suggests that the ‘end
goal’ is to get more and more people involved in this greatcard game’.

Top: Esther Sophonapanich, Aaida Abu-Jaber
Helen Kruger
Centre: Suzi Subeck (Chair), Mary Kelly Rogers (Vice Chair)
Bottom: Sevinc Atay, Wang Yannan Anna Newton

Sophia also shares some highlights from therecent World Youth Championships.
Page 31 lists the winners of the U26 Women’s
Teams and Pairs; Poland won Gold in both. The
U26 Women’s prestigious Joan Gerard award
was won by Ella Rosthoej of Denmark.
The new BBO Free Daily Women’s Pairs andWomen’s Daylong, which are growing fast in
numbers, are featured on Page 6 along with
the WBF Women’s Spring Festival news andresults. Amy Mitura from USA won free entry,with national partner of choice, to the National
Women’s Pairs at the 16th World Bridge Gamesin Argentina in October. The Autumn Festival isplayed 4-10 November 2024.
The WBF Women’s Committee look forward toreceiving entries from across the world for our
second WBF Online Women’s Teams on
RealBridge, January 3rd to 5th, this timetransnational, this time with a microsite andwith daily Bulletins. Mark Horton will be theeditor.
Winners will receive FREE entry to the next
WBF Transnational Women’s Teams and WBF
Online Masterpoints will be awarded.
Thank you to all Contributors who make thisnewsletter possible.
Mary Kelly Rogers
Editor
WBF Women’s Committee (Vice Chair)
Page | 3

UPDATE ON WBF FOCUS

By: Suzi Subeck
WBF Executive member
WBF Women’s Committee Chair

The WBF is forging a serious
effort to make itself better known
around the globe. Jan Kamras,
WBF President, established acommittee under the leadershipof Ben Thompson, Australia, topromote our events and build
enthusiasm for our programs.
Ben is a genius at this and in ashort time, we have begun astrong campaign. The committee
has had assistance (knowingly
and unknowingly) through caring,
devoted players from many
countries. This piece is an
opportunity to thank some ofthose who, like us, are working tobuild awareness of our greatgame.
We thank Sam Punch of BAMSA(Bridge: A Mind Sport for All),
who has been publicizing ourbridge events as well as otherbridge events on her Facebook
website. Sam’s projects are not
only interesting but provide us
with useful statistics and data to
determine our target audiences.
We thank Paul Linxweiler, ACBL
Bulletin Editor, for including
publicity for our upcoming
Buenos Aires Championships inthe daily bulletins at the recent
Toronto NABC (North American
Bridge Championship).
We thank our many NBOs
(National Bridge Organizations)for publishing our banners on
their sites. Working together isthe best way to bring world
bridge back to pre-pandemic
levels using both online and faceto-face platforms.
The WBF Women’s Committee isendeavoring to strengthen
Women’s Bridge through ourannual online competitions. Ourinaugural Teams tournament, thebrainchild of Mary Kelly Rogers
and organized by her, assisted byAnna Newton, née Gudge, washighly successful. Last timenational teams took part fromeach zone and we are expanding
next year’s Competition to beTransnational. (If you liked thoseplayers you competed against thisyear, you can recruit them as
teammates for next year!!) We
are hoping the expansion toTransnational status will forge
more worldwide friendships
online which will give players astronger desire to attend WorldChampionships to meet their
new friends face-to-face.
This year’s Competition drew 64
teams, all enjoying thecamaraderie and comfort of the
field. The feedback was excellent.
We thank Andy Bowles andShireen Mohandes who prepareda timetable to allow for roundthe-world play in sensible realtime. As always, RealBridge
provided a great platform andeverything ran smoothly. The

event was a big success and afeather in our cap!
Our WBF Women’s Festival, withprizes sponsored by both by WBF
and BBO, is going from strength
to strength.
The WBF Women’s Newsletter,under the capable direction of
Mary Kelly Rogers, Ireland, isanother foray toward bringing
back women’s bridge andenhancing the women’s game. It
is designed for and about the
women who play.

And finally, the Women’s
Committee is encouraging more
female players to consider
expanding their horizons bybecoming tournament directors.
The current ratio of male tofemale directors is extremely
lopsided with males far
outnumbering females. Read
more about this on page 16 in thestory by Jeanne van den
Meiracker, a current star in thisfield.
Stay safe! Keep playing “Bridge
for Peace!”

Suzi Subeck

Page | 4

Purpose of this Teams event:To provide an opportunity
for an international
competitive bridge without
potential limitations of costor travel.
Entries are through
The WBF website

The WBF Women’s Committee invites
women players worldwide toparticipate in a Teams event on
RealBridge
3 to 5 January, 2025

If you need further
informantion
Please make contact

Event Summary

Entry

by emailing
Mary Kelly Rogers

http://championships.worldbridge.org/

Team name and player names need to be
finalised by the closing date.

wbfwomen@worldbridgefed.com

Timetable

Any number of teams may enter, the players
may be from any nation which is a member ofthe WBF.

Players will be asked toindicate availability via a
form.

Not all players will play at
the same time.

For example, you may play 3
matches on Friday evening,
4 or 5 on Saturday, and 4 or
5 on Sunday.

Play will not start earlier
than 9am in your time zone,
and it will end before 23:00
in your time zone.

You may enter your team with your teamname through the WBF website.

Entries close on 7th December 2024.

Entry
Fee

The entry fee will be 60 Euros for the entire
team before 16th December 2024. See
payment method on WBF website under the
Banner for the event.

Format

The format of the Tournament depends onnumber of teams. It will probably be a Round
Robin.

Schedule The tournament is played over 3 calendar
days. Matches are timed so that the teams
will meet others from around the world at
mutually convenient times.

Prize
and
AwardsWinners receive FREE entry to next WBF
Transnational Women’s Teams and WBF
Online Masterpoints will be awarded.
Page | 5

Entering the WBF Online Women’s
Teams
January 3 to 5, 2025
WBF Registration
Each player in the team must be registered in the WBF Database.
If you are not registered in the database please go to:

THE TEAM
Top: Mary Kelly Rogers& Anna Newton -WBF
Bottom: Shireen Mohandes
RealBridge
Marc van Beijsterveldt WBF Chief TD
Dirk de Clercq WBF Accounts

Please email:http://www.worldbridge.org/rulesregulations/competitions/participants-commitment
where you can download the registration form to complete and return toanna.newton@worldbridgefed.com or you can email Anna and she will
send you a copy.

If you are not sure and need to check, you can go to:
http://www.worldbridge.org/people-finder and type in your last
name (you don’t need to enter your country) and you will get a list …
please remember that if you registered some time ago and havesubsequently changed your name you also need to check youroriginal name. If it has changed please emailanna.newton@worldbridgefed.com and Anna will arrange to update
your entry.

WBF Women’s Committee

WBF Commitment form

General Information:

Each player must also have a registered Commitment form in place –if you have played in a WBF Championship event since 2017 you
should already have one, but if not please go to
http://www.worldbridge.org/rulesregulations/competitions/participants-commitment where you cancomplete the form digitally and it will be sent to the WBF
automatically.

Mary Kelly Rogers
Event Coordinator
wbfwomen@worldbridgefed.com

WBF

Systems Card

Registration, Commitment form &Systems Card:

Each participating pair must register their system card in advance, nolater than 30 December 2024. This must be in the correct format andthe main card must be two sided only. Supplementary sheets(maximum 6) may be added to give additional necessary information.
These must be emailed either as the original Word / Excel file or as a
PDF to anna.newton@worldbridgefed.com. Full details and blankcards for completion can be found at :http://www.worldbridge.org/rules-regulations/competitions/wbfsystem-card-editors . Note that HUM and Brown Sticker methods are
NOT permitted for this event.

Anna Newton, WBF Communications
Manageranna.newton@worldbridgefed.com

RealBridge
RealBridge Support
Shireen Mohandes
Email support@realbridge.online

If you have any queries please email
Anna Newton, WBF Communications Manager atanna.newton@worldbridgefed.com

Page | 6

Anna Gudge got
married!
Congratulations
Anna & Mark Newton

Anna is our:••

WBF Communications Manager
Webmaster for Women’s Online World Bridge Club
https://www.wbfwomensbridgeclub.org/••

Proactive for WBF Women’s Festival on BBO
WBF Registrations, System cards and Commitment forms
are all processed by Anna.

New Email Address:

anna.newton@worldbridgefed.com

Anna Newton
WBF Communications Manager
www.worldbridge.org

Page | 7

•
•
•

•

The list of winners can be found by clicking
here and the online Master Point Awards
are here
All information can be found on the
Women’s Online World Bridge Club
https://www.wbfwomensbridgeclub.org/
The Festival in April was the 28th edition in
17 years and is the Brainchild of WBF
Women’s Committee founder/chair Anna
Maria Torlontano
Winners were from across theWorld.Participation was up 50% - Almost
5000 entries; 819 PlayersSponsored by
WBF President Jan Kamras & BBO

Info Link to Free Daily Women’s Pairs
free daily Women's Pairs

Info Link to Women’s Daylong
Women's Daylong Reward game
Page | 8

Aaida Abu Jaber

Reflections on the Days in Bangkok
WBF OFFICERS’ SEMINAR MAY 2024
Jordan delegate Aaida Abu Jaber
Attending the WBF NBO Officers’ seminar in the vibrant city of Bangkok
was truly delightful.
As a representative of Jordan’s NBO, I was there to give an overview of
the Jordan Bridge Federation (JBF) 4.JBF_Presentation 2.pdf(worldbridge.org), acquainting my fellow officers with the intricacies ofbridge in Jordan and the various efforts of our NBO to increase player
participation and enhance awareness. I also pointed out that the JBF
will celebrate its silver jubilee in 2024, having been formally establishedin 1999 under the Jordan Olympic Committee auspices.

Secretary of the Jordan Bridge
Federation
Member of the WBF Women’s
Committee

Back Row Left to Right:
WBF Vice President Eric Laurant
Jordan delegate Aaida Abu Jabe
WBF Treasurer Marc de Pau
President of the Jordan Bridge Federation
Ramzi Goussous.

Front Row Left to Right:
Chair of WBF Seminar Committee KariAnne Opsal
WBF General Secretary Arianna Testa

The thing that most astounded me at the seminar was how all of us,
from all over the world, were dealing with the same issues andproblems: aging players, financial restraints, declining player counts,
ethic matters; yet we were also faced with the same opportunities: theallure of playing online, access to advanced technology, and thepotential for virtual/hybrid championships.

Group that attended the Seminar Bangkok
25 Officers from 14 NBOs Four Zones

ZONE 4 – Bridge Federation of Asia & the Middle East (BFAME)ZONE 6 – Asia Pacific Bridge Federation (APBF)ZONE 7 – South Pacific Bridge Federation (SPBF)ZONE 8 – African Bridge Federation (ABF)

Page | 9

Topics of the Officers’
Seminarheld in Bangkok
WBF President Welcome
Message.pdf
WBF President’s Report.pdf
1. ABF – Online Introduction to
Bridge for Young Players.pdf
2. CCBA.pdf
3. GABSI – Kickstarting Bridge
for All 2.pdf
4. JBF- Presentation 2.pdf
5. MCBA – CHALLENGES FACING
SMALL NBOs.pdf
6. Women’s Bridge –MaryKellyRogers.pdf

I was particularly amazed by the presentation made by mycolleague from the Women’s Committee, Mary Kelly Rogers. In
addition to being delivered in a pleasant and tranquil tone, herthoughts on Women’s Bridge provided me with multiple
epiphanies.
Although I work in marketing and am a big believer in originality
and innovation, I am all for not reinventing the wheel when it
comes to building and enhancing bridge in smaller zones. I like topick up knowledge from others, building on their advantages, andtaking lessons from their mistakes.
So, after Mary established the solution to the existential
question: To Be or Not to Be for women’s bridge, she proposed
various suggestions that worked for women’s bridge in theEuropean Bridge League (EBL) and those were my “aha”
moments.
Brilliant ideas to build women’s bridge worldwide
included creating zonal committees, designating zonal
coordinators, and creating a database.

7. CTCBA.pdf
8. Zone6 Report.pdf
9. WBF Governance & Finances– MarcDePauw.pdf
10. WADA – Anti-Doping.pdf
11. BFI.pdf
12. FRMB – Marrakech World
Bridge Championships.pdf

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I want to recall that"yessss!" moment I experienced at the seminar.

The WBF Council will be considering extending the
Women's Online championships to Open, Seniors,
Mixed, and Youth divisions in order to build on the
success of the inaugural Online Women's Teams 2024,
in which 64 teams from 31 countries took part.

13. Int’l Bridge – Eric
Laurant.pdf
14. Cheating – Eric Laurant.pdf
15. Loneliness The Netherlands– Eric Laurant.pdf

I'm excited to put the seminar's ideas into practice andcollaborate with the Women’s Committee and other NBOs tokeep this lovely game going.

16. Ethic video.pdf
16a. Ethic video mistakes.pdf
Useful links.pdf

Aaida Abu Jaber
Page | 10

Giving Credit where Credit is Due

Suzi Subeck, Member of WBF Executive
Chair of WBF Women’s Committee

In the Semi-Finals of the United States Mixed Bridge Championships in
Schaumburg, Illinois, in May, there was a shining moment for Cecilia
Dwyer-Rimstedt on Board 55. On this hand, Cecilia demonstrated thatwomen are skilful declarers too! She makes women in bridge proud!
Zach Grossack led the  7 against 3 . Cecilia won
her 9 while Botta discarded a low heart. The K was
won with the ace, Zach returning a spade to dummy’s
jack. Cecilia ruffed a club and played a small diamond.
Zach won his jack and exited with a small spade.
Cecilia won the spade and ruffed a club with thetrump ace. She played the 3 to the ace in dummy
and cashed the K felling Zach’s queen. Botta was in
big trouble!!

Dealer South All Vul
Dearer South-

Vul AllQT9764
Q63
T954

KJ64

AT953

A8

J53

92

AT74

87632

K

The Position:

Q872
K2
KJ85
AQJ
Kevin Dwyer
Rimstedt

Giorgia Botta

Cecilia Dwyer
Rimstedt

Zach Grossack

West

North

East

South

1 NT *
P

2

P

2

2

P

3

P

P

P

1NT = 14-17; 2 = Hearts

Poor Giorgia! She can’t pitch her good club. She can’t
pitch from the QT of hearts … After much thought,
she threw the 6. No problem for declarer…
Cecilia countered by discarding her small heart. She
played the 9 from dummy to the Q, A, 8, followed
Page | 11

Star Player
Cecilia Dwyer
Rimstedt

Cecilia Dwyer Rimstedt
Cecilia represented the Sweden women teamthe last time in Wuhan 2019, when wewon Venice Cup the first time.
Before her Venice Cup Gold Medal, Cecilia had
won the U26 Pairs in 2006 and was on the
Venice Cup team that won bronze in 2017, won
silver in the European Championships in
Ostende 2018, was in 2nd place in 1st IMSA
world masters championship 2019 and 2nd place
in Beijing Hua Yuan Cup in 2019. Ceciliia also
won the open mixed pair championship in
Lisbon 2019by the J to Zach’s king. Zach was endplayed indiamond s and forced to yield a ninth trick to theoffense!
Cecilia, part of a prominent bridge-playing family, will
not be overshadowed by her siblings.
Credit to Zach for finding the spade lead, however,against a star declarer, the deuce would have afforded
North/South with a fighting chance that was lost on
the lead of the 7.
It is important that bridge journalists recognize
women players in situations like this. For a long time,
bridge journalism has focused its attention to play bymale players. Giving kudos when earned as often as
possible to women players will build respect for their
game and help promote women’s bridge.

Suzi Subeck

Since then, her achievements have continued.
Here are some and there may be more I do notknow of in USA. In the Open WorldChampionship in Wroclaw 2022 she won Gold in
the Women’s team with team Brody and Bronze
in Mixed with team Donner.
Now she is married to Kevin Dwyer Rimstedt
and has added Dwyer to her name. She lives in
USA and will represent USA for the first time in
Mixed teams in Buenos Aires in October, justlike her sister Sandra.
Cecilia is the third Swedish woman who got
married and started to play for USA, Jenny
Wolpert, Sandra Rimstedt and Cecilia Rimstedt,
all of them world Champions.
Cecilia is a true star!

Carina Wademark was
Coach to the Swedish
Women’s Team when theywon Venice Cup Gold forthe first time in Wuhan in
2019. Sweden’s successcontinued with Carina as
Coach when Sweden won
Venice Cup Gold in
Salsomaggiore in 2022.

Carina Wademark
Page | 12

RIMSTEDT SISTERS AT NABC
Courtesy of the ACBL’s Daily
Bulletins from the Summer NABC
in Toronto🔗 https://live. acbl.org/bulletins/NABC242

WAGER WOMEN’S PAIRSAT NABC

Follow Cecilia and Sandra
At the !6th World Bridge Games
Women’s Teams USA

Winners
Marjorie Mitchelin & Kismet Fung

Runners- Up:
Marjorie Cole & Sandra Rimstedt
Page | 13

GERMANY GOLD –1st EUROPEAN ONLINE TEAMS

After the introduction of the Ladies’ Champion Cup last year, we – theEuropean ladies – were gifted with another new event to support thedevelopment of women’s Bridge: the first Online European WomenChampionship.
Yes, a real European Championship on Real Bridge over 3 days ! The
event was perfectly organised – we can also highlight the great
communication, the very friendly atmosphere, the strict rules toprevent cheating and the emphasis on alerting bids. Furthermore, eachpair had to submit a convention card in advance. It was as close as it
could get to a real event.
Annaïg Della Monta

A Perfect Opportunity
This was a perfect opportunity to finalise our team training for
the European Championship which were scheduled a few
weeks later in Herning, Denmark. The German Ladies teamcomprised of the following players: Karin Wenning and Ingrid
Gromann, Mieke Plath and Susanne Kriftner; both pairs had
played for several years together in the national team, and a
new resurrected pair, Barbara Hackett and Annaïg Della
Monta (we actually played together 15 years ago, after abreak of 10 years, we just started again!). 4 of us would
represent Germany in Herning.
On the first day due to last minute change, Susanne and Karin
had to form a new partnership for 3 matches, which turned
out to be very successful as they won the internal team butler.
It is often the case when you play with a new partner that you
are more careful trying to make your partner’s life easier !

An Important Quality in Bridge
If you have a bad board, you should put it behind you andconcentrate on the next one. Especially in Teams! Here you
are compared with only one result and anything can happen... Here is an example:
Page | 14

The bidding:
1  = at least four
1 NT = 12-14, 4 spades possible
2  = GF Relay
2  = 4 spades, 3 Heart still possible
3  = diamond fit, opener should continue todescribe her hand
3 NT = no 3 Heart4  = conditional key card
4 NT = positive response, 3 (or 0) aces
6 s!

The contract looks good, but with the diamonds 4:0 and the
king of clubs not onside, Barbara was unfortunately quickly
one down. We wouldn't win on this board, - would we?

At the other table, the bidding was slightly different:
Susanne interfered with 1 spade, raised by Karin. South
optimistically passed North's Double. The lead was a heart tothe ace, back came a club: Susanne was then able to develop
the hearts and win the contract. She lost the 2 black aces aswell as 3 tricks in hearts.

The contract is actually 2 down on best defence – East getsforced and cannot develop the hearts.
So: 12 IMPs won despite going down in the good slam

Page | 15

An interesting bidding problem
At the first table, after much thinking, the Belgian lady bid 6
Hearts, which was promptly doubled by Annaïg. After
Barbara's King of clubs (to find out partner's length), the aceof spades and ace of clubs was ruffed, declarer drew tworounds of trumps and lost control. Five down and a nice scoreof +1100 for our team.
You hold the North and are fourth inhand, Non Vul against Vul.
Table 1 : After East's pass, your partner
opens 2 Heart: both Majors weak. To
your left comes X (12-15 or strong),
what do you do?
Table 2 : after two passes, West opens 2
diamonds multi (Weak2 in a major orstrong) - what do you bid?

At the other table, Ingrid bid 5 diamonds, West found another6 clubs bid, which Ingrid then doubled for 2 down and 17
IMPs for the German Ladies
At the other tables, most of the time declarer was in 5
diamonds - often doubled and just as often made as down!

We won the Qualification
After having won the qualification, we still had to play 7
matches @ 7 boards on Sunday in the A Final against several
players that we would meet again a few weeks later inDenmark. After some good actions and a pinch of luck, we
succeeded and won the tournament. Our first European Title !
The only drawback of the tournament was that we could not
hug and celebrate together despite a lot of virtual cheers withchampagne glasses.

Top Annaïg and Barbara, Middle Karin and Ingrid,
Bottom Mieke and SuzanneBest part was to comeAt the EM opening ceremony, the prize
giving ceremony of the Online EM took
place. It was definitely for us the most
exciting part of the tournament, what afeeling to get on stage to get our first
European Gold Medal ! Luckily, there were
only 4 of us, as we could hardly fit onto the
podium…
Thanks again to the organisers of this great
event. With 48 teams competing, withvarious levels of expertise, it was enjoyablefor everyone, and we warmly recommend
you participating next year. We will be backat the next EBL online championship todefend our title!.. and we hope to play inthe 2nd WBF Online Women’s Teams Jan 3-5,
2025.

Gold for GermanyAnnaïg Della Monta
Page | 16

Jeanne van den Meiracker
recommends
the job of TD for women
Jeanne’s story:
I started playing bridge in 1976 at the Bridgekring'35 inRotterdam, the Netherlands. It was a club with 220
members which was regarded as a large club.
In 1988 the club needed directors, so me and my partner
Hanneke Kreijns followed the course for club directors.
I liked it so much, that I ended up becoming aninternational director in the course of 1993. From thatmoment on I directed in more than 50 European andWorld championships.
At that time, I had a full-time job and I used my vacation
days to direct. Most of the time, the directors’ staff isonly men, with occasionally a few women such as
Marieke Quant from the Netherlands and Michaela
Balint from Romania.
But they all gave it up for the moment.
In the beginning it was hard, because it happened thatthe players thought that I was a waitress - (before we
had the jackets!)
I am working as a TD now for 31 years and I still love it.
When we work in a European or World Championship
the TDs are like family.

More Women TDS
I wish to encourage more women to follow
the international TD course. It is a challengethat is very rewarding. Do think about it!
Recently a new element in directing wasadded to my profile when I directed in the
1st European Online Women's TeamChampionship, held in June.
It was a great experience working with
Shireen, Andy Bowles and Jacek Marciniak.
Shireen and Andy supported both the TD's
and the players tirelessly.
It was helpful that we could talk to theplayers because of the presence of soundand image.
48 teams participated!

The 2nd WBF Online Women's
Teams will be held
January, 3rd to 5th 2025.
I will be directing there too, so I hope thatmany teams will subscribe.

Jeanne’s family at the World Championships Marrakech 2023

See you there!

Jeanne van den Meiracker
Page | 17

The Herning Experience, by Mark Horton
Herning proved to be an exceptional
venue for the 2024 European TeamChampionships, which also incorporated
the Senior and Women’s Pairs (there is arumour that it might be the venue forthe 2025 World Championships).

Mark Horton
Mark as well as being perhaps the best-known bridge journalist in the world, is a regular contributor to
our Women’s newsletters. He is a long time editor of Bridge Magazine and A New Bridge Magazine. He
now edits Bridgerama US for 52 Entertainment and is Chief Editor to the WBF and the EBL.

Norway - GOLDAnn Karin FUGLESTAD, Liv Marit GRUDE, Marianne HARDING, Torild HESKJE, Bodil Nyheim OIGARDEN,
Gunn Tove VIST, Anne-Lill HELLEMANN captain, Leif-Erik STABELL, coachFrance - SILVER
Marion CANONNE, Donatella HALFON, Margaux KUREK BEAULIEU, Anais LELEU, Carole PUILLET, AnneLaure TARTARIN, Stephane GARCIA captain, Wilfried LIBBRECHT coach

Türkiye - BRONZE
Asli ACAR, Berrak ERKAN, Ozlem KANDOLU, Eren OZAN, Irem OZBAY, Dilek YAVAS, M.Gokhan YILMAZ
captain, Zeynep YILMAZ coach

Women’s Pairs
Gold: Poland - Cathy & Sophia Baldysz
Silver: Finland - Pia Erkkila & Raija Tuomi
Bronze: Serbia- Jovana Zoranovic & Selena Pepic

Women’s Teams
Gold: Norway
Silver: France
Bronze: Türkiye

Page | 18

Helped on their way

Dearer South A7
None Vul 9
A973
QT9543
J6
J843
K652
872
K4
AKQ62
Q84
KJ6

QT98532
1075
JT
A

B Drnovsek

C Baldysz

T Drnovsek

S Baldysz

West
-

North

East

-

P
P

2*

3
P

South
1
4

6

P

P
1
2
4

11-14 balanced or 4441 (4315/3415)
or15+5+ or 4414 or 18+ any
Clubs
Control

Dearer East JT73
N/S Vul
75
962
KQ96
AKQ


AQJ8432
A
T7
964
9
KJT8543
J8

852
KT6
Q7
A5432

I’m applying a little guesswork as to the meaning of2 and 4, but I am confident about 1 and 6.
West led the J and declarer won in hand and playeda club, East winning and returning a spade. Declarer
won, cashed the K and then played four rounds ofhearts, ruffing. A club to hand took care of theoutstanding trump and the 6 disposed of theremaining small diamond, making dummy high for+920 and a complete top. If North is declarer, adiamond lead is fatal.

No clear favourite
There was no clear favourite in the Women’s Teams.
The reigning World Champions, Israel, wereconcentrating their efforts on the Mixed Teams andthere were new faces in many of the establishedsquads. That was especially true in the case of France,
who almost captured the title after a thrilling lastround confrontation with Norway.
As is frequently the case, the pre-emptive opening
caused a problem for someone. West had a very good
hand, but was facing a passed partner and Cathy
Baldysz settled for jumping to game, +480

Open Room
C Baldysz

HalfonS Baldysz

Canonne

West
4

North

East
P

South
3

P

P

P

In the Women’s pairs, Cathy and Sophia Baldysz
looked set to win by a historic margin, at one point
being more than five tops ahead of their nearest
challengers. This deal from the second session of the
Final helped them on their way:

Closed Room
PuilletZachmucha

Tartarin

Morawska

West
-

North

East
P

South
3

Dble

P

3NT

P

6

P

P

P

With game in her own hand, Carole Puillet doubled.
Perhaps recalling the words of Terence Reese, that Qx
is a good holding for notrumps, Anne-Laure Tartarin
went for the nine trick game, which had the hugeadvantage of suggesting that she had some values.
That was enough to enable West to jump to thelaydown slam, +980 along with 11 IMPs.

Page | 19

One of the deals of the tournamentThis same match between Poland and France included
one of the deals of the tournament.

Dearer North T876
N/S Vul AT
J7654
K5
 J954
 763
 KT98
 J3
Q32
J92
2
A98742

Locating the heart fit proved to be a poisoned chalice.
Marion Canonne led the 2, and when dummy’s eight
was not covered declarer played a heart from dummy.
North took the A and returned a diamond for her
partner to ruff. Two rounds of clubs saw North win andgive South another diamond ruff and then a third cluballowed North to score the 10, three down, -150.

AKKQ854AQ3
QT6Open Room
C Baldysz

HalfonS Baldysz

Canonne

West
1
2*
3
4

North

East
1

South
P

1NT*

P

2NT*
3

P

1
1
1NT

P
P
P
P
P

P

P
P

11-14 balanced or 4441{ (4315/3415)
or 15+5+} or 4414 or 18+ any
0-6, any or 7-11 minor(s) or 16+ balanced
18-21 balanced

Closed Room

2NT

PuilletZachmucha

Tartarin

Morawska

West
3*
3NT

North

East
2NT
3
P

South
P

P
P
P

(19)20-21?

PP

In the Closed room East’s 3 did not promise five, so
the nine-trick game was reached.
Ewa Morawska led the 7 and the defenders played
three rounds of the suit, South exiting with the 9and North discarding a diamond. Declarer took theQ, played three rounds of diamonds ending indummy and heart for the ten and queen. Now she
exited with a low heart and although North could win
and cash the J that was the last trick for the
defence, +400 and 11 IMPs.
If North had pitched a spade, declarer would need tocross to dummy with the Q and then play on hearts.
Given that South is known to have six clubs, you
would be inclined to place North with the heartlength and many players went down in 3NT by justplaying the heart king, hoping for three hearts to theace with North.
It can't cost to go to dummy with a diamond and playa low heart to the king. When you see the 10,
restricted choice comes into play, suggesting that you
should override the thinking about the heart lengthand continue with a low card. You need to keep inmind that if North was dealt AJx or A10x he must
put in the jack or ten to give declarer a second-roundguess. If you thought North was capable of pitching theA from A10/AJ, you might go wrong, but as thediscard is so difficult to find you should play as Tartarin
did.
However, if North had discarded the A on the third

Would you have found the winning round of clubs, even Houdini would have been unable
to score more than eight tricks!
defence?
There is no need to worry, as across East was known to hold 19-21 points and North could
see 13 between her hand and dummy. Partner had
all four series no one did.
produced the A, leaving at most 4 points
unaccounted for. You need to find an entry topartner’s hand, and you might imagine that the  K is
the best hope. However, partner is more likely tohave the  Q than the king.

Page | 20

Aggressive pre-empting style
Dearer West KQJ2
All Vul T9
KQ75
872
 765

 KQJ875
 92
 J6
A
A642
JT86
KQ54

There is no doubt that adopting an aggressive preempting style can pay dividends. Here is anotherexample featuring the eventual champions, Norway
and their Swedish neighbours:

T9843
3
A43
AT93

Open RoomHarding

M Johansson

FuglestadSivelind

West
3

North

East
P

South
P

Y Johansson

Vist

Hallqvist

Heskje

West
2

North

East
2*

South
P

P

3NT

P

Closed Room

P
P

2
2

P
Dble
P

P

Multi
Pass or correctWest’s 3 was enough to silence everyone.
North led the  K and South won and switched to theJ, followed by the 10, declarer taking dummy’s aceand playing two rounds of hearts, collecting North’s
109 as South won with the A and returned adiamond. Declarer ruffed, drew trumps and ran the
J, South winning and exiting with a diamond.
Declarer ruffed and took another club finesse. Whenthat lost South had to return a club to dummy, but asdeclarer had thrown the 3 she was left with a losing
spade and was two down, -200.
West led the K and relaying on her to have a six-card
suit declarer won, unblocked the A and played on
diamonds. East won and switched to the 3 andwhen West could not beat the K declarer cashed her
winners in diamonds and spades before playing asecond club to score 10 tricks along with 10 IMPs

Marianne
Harding
A successful
aggressive bid!

GOLD FOR NORWAY

Page | 21

Dearer South 7654
N/S Vul 94
K987652
 AK9
 Q8763
 AJ
 T76
T32
KJT
T4
J9852
Open Room

One of the most discussed
European teams have won the last three Venice Cupcontests. They have a strong hand for 2025, so don’t
be surprised if one of our teams make it four in a row.

QJ8
A52
Q3
AKQ43Israel dismantled their 2023 Venice Cup winning team
to concentrate on the Mixed Teams, and it paid ahuge dividend as they were convincing winners.
This deal was one of the most discussed across all
four events.

PierceBareket

Rees

Saada

West
-

North

East
2*
3*
4*

South
P

P
P
P
P
P

1NT*
3
3
4
5*
1NT
2
3
3

14-16
Puppet Stayman
5/Asking

P
P
P

4NT*

P

6

All Pass

4
4
4NT
5

Control
Control
RKCB
2 keycards +Q

The Play in Open Room
North led the 6 and declarer won with the  A andplayed two rounds of hearts, ducking when Southfollowed with the J followed by the 10. That gave
declarer a second trump loser, but even if she had
played the Q she would have been one down on thislayout.
How should this heart combination be played?

Closed Room
AsulinPlakett

PachtmanDeschepper

West
-

North

East
2*
3
4

South
P

1NT*
2
3*
4
5*
1NT
2
3
4NT
5

P
P
P
P
P

P
P
P

4NT*

P

6NT

All Pass(14)15-17, could be semi balanced
Non-forcing Stayman
5
RKCB
2 keycards + Q

The principle of restricted choice has a role to play. If
South started with J109 then she can play her cards
in any order, but give her KJ9 and she is unlikely todrop the J on the first round of the suit. The odds
are slightly in favour of playing the Q on the second
round, but it’s partly a question of table feel.
In the Closed Room, perhaps East’s 4 bid persuaded
North to lead the 9 (18 players led a diamond from
North’s hand against a slam) and that ran to declarer’s
jack. A club to the ace disclosed the 5-0 split andwhen declarer played two rounds of hearts South
took the king, sparing declarer a guess. The 3-2 split
meant there were 12 tricks, giving 14 IMPs to Israel.

Mark Horton

Page | 22

CELEBRATIONS - EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - GOLD for NORWAY

Leif-Erik STABELL, coach, Torild HESKJE, Gunn Tove VIST, Bodil Nyheim OIGARDEN, Liv Marit GRUDE,
Anne-Lill HELLEMANN captain, Marianne HARDING, Ann Karin FUGLESTADCELEBRATIONS
Anne- Lill
Hellemann(NP Captain)
Describes
The path tosuccess

We came to Herning with the intention to play bridge
more competitively than we did in Marrakesh. Our
goal was first to qualify for the Venice cup, but
honestly our real goal was aiming for a medal.
The Norwegian ladies have been playing together for
many years, making the team strong through working
hard on the systems and a lot of practice.
The results have thus slowly improved over the years.
The team was full of confidence. We started out inthe championship with teams we considered strong
and the women played very well. After round 5 wewere leading and we kept the leading position
through most of the rounds ending up only to befollowed by France.
Before the last round only these two teams, Norway
and France could win. Amazingly for an exciting finish
both for us and the spectators, we played the lastround against France! It was like a final, and theNorwegian ladies could afford to lose by 20
IMPs. With two boards to go, France was leading by 6
IMPs, and it looked like a done deal for Norway. But
in a nervous finish, France won 5 IMPs on the
penultimate board and 11 on the last, to win by 22.
However, in the open room, it was a 5 minutes break.
That was when the director came to the table andannounced that there would be an adjusted score on
board no.5:
In the closed room, Gunn Tove opened 3 second in
hand, and Torild jumped to 5. South cashed her two
Aces, but that was it. Norway +400.
Open room:
Contract 3NT – West is Declarer
Page | 23

Closed RoomHeskjeCannoneVist

Halfon

West
-

North

East
3

South

P
P

5

P

P
P

Open Room
PuilletFuglestad

Tartarin

Harding

West
-

North

East

South

X

P
P
2

P
1
P

P
P
P

3NT

P

P

P

1

Ann Karin (North) led 10, and Marianne (South)wonA and returned 6 (standard current count) toQ and K. Ann Karin cashed 9 and Marianne
followed with a "neutral" 4. She could havesignalled for a heart with 7, but was worried that
West had something like:
Q852
Jx
AKQJxAKwhen a passive defence would have left declarer with
8 tricks only. Ann Karin thought for half a minute andreturned a club. West claimed the rest, France +430.
However, there was a problem. East explained to
North that the double of 1 could show a number ofdifferent hands, including 3-card hearts or 18-19
balanced. When West jumped to 3NT, she explainedthat she had shown a strong hand with 3-card hearts not necessarily balanced. On the other side of thescreen, West explained to South that 3NT denied 3card hearts.
With this explanation, it was impossible for Ann Karinto find the Q switch. Instead, she "knew" that a clubswitch had to be safe - declarer had to be 4315 or
4342, and would be a trick short even if she had AK.
The director polled a number of other players (which
he has to do) and ruled that North would have had a
50% chance of finding the Q switch with the correct
explanation. Thus, the score was adjusted to E/W+200 and 5 IMPs to Norway.
This meant that France won the match 35-19, butthey would have needed 5 IMPs more to take thetitle. So finally we could celebrate the victory.

Anne-Lill HellemannGOLD for NORWAY

Page | 24

European Championships in
Herning, Denmark
Like Eating a Whale with a Teaspoon

Lone Bilde
Member of theDanishWomen’s Team
Qualified for
Venice Cup
2025

For the first time since 1977, a European championship took
place in my home country. The joy of playing in a town
where the main language was Danish and where we were
proud to flag our national team shirts in the streets and be
cheered for - could not be underestimated. Our team for
Herning consisted of the usual suspects, Trine Bilde &Charlotte Koch-Palmund, Anita Buus-Thomsen & Dorte
Cilleborg Bilde, Helle Rasmussen and myself, spiced up with
the new faces Rico Hemberg (NPC) and Marie Henriksen(coach). Our ambition was to qualify for the Venice Cup in
2025 and as history later revealed, we made that goal,
qualifying in a comfortable 8th seat. And the bit of nerves
and excitement about our qualification which may havelooked as if it were in jeopardy towards the end of thechampionship only provided extra entertainment for our
local supporters. At least so we can say afterwards.
Our Northern friends from the Faroe Islands, also
participated in Herning. When we met their women’s team, I
asked my screen mate how it was to participate in the EC for
the first time. “Well you know”, she said, “It is like eating apilot whale with a teaspoon”. With a hint to the extremely
difficult task of winning imps against other nations.

Herning, in the middle of the heathlandof Jutland, is well reputed in Denmark fortheir big conferences, sports and music
events. Herning also turned out to be an
excellent host for a big bridge event: Fine
venue, many restaurants and shops justoutside the door, and a smooth andefficient organization with more than 300
volunteers who gave hours of hard work
to make the championship a goodexperience for all participants.

Page | 25

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vulnerable.
♠♥AQJ2♦542♣AT8542♠K7♥KT98653♦Q86♣6♠AQ8653♥4♦KJT93♣9♠JT942♥7♦A7♣KQJ73

Helle (North), me (South), played against Tina Dogani (West)
and Lina Mamadaki (East) from Greece. At our table, I foundmyself quite distracted from something (maybe the lastboard), so I by coincidence got to press “confirm” on thetablet, without even looking at my hand. And that meant that
I started the bidding in South by a pass. What a state of shock
I was in when I realized that! The bidding then went Pass (3hearts) pass (pass) ? and now my turn.
What to do? I ended up bidding 4 hearts (spades and aminor) - so at least now Helle could no longer pass 3Hdoubled. She chose to bid 5 clubs (Pass or correct) (I guessher intention was for me to manage the assumed shaky 5
diamonds myself as a declarer). But she was quite surprised
to see me pass and table a hand that was fit for a grand slam.
My ears are still red for passing, but the fun is that the board
was a win of 8 imps for us.

A lot of pairs across all teams in the EC had
difficulties with the north-south hands andmost pairs ended up defending against 3
hearts (sometimes doubled) but with agrand slam in clubs this was not very
profitable. Both Faroe Islands teams madeit to a slam in clubs (in the open teams evento a grand slam). The bidding went 1 (3)x (pass) 4 (p) 7clubs - all pass.

So, this board swallowed
a big mouthful of thewhale.

Big congratulations to
Norway, France andTurkey for their medals andthanks for a great
championship.

Lone Bilde
Captain & CoachRico Hemberg (NPC) andMarie Henriksen (coach)

Page | 26

By Kim Frazer

Kim, a player of renown, is perhaps
more well-known for her articles on themental side of bridge which appear
regularly in Australian Bridge Magazine.

Pele Rankin

Mixed events give women an opportunity to star
The Australian bridge National Circuit features several premier
tournaments which are held in all parts of the country throughout theyear. When I first started playing in these events several years ago,
more than 50% of the field were women players yet almost none weremembers of the winning teams or pairs in the open categories.
Women’s pairs and teams’ events featured in most of these events.
Since the rise in popularity of mixed pairs events, women’s pairs
events have almost disappeared from the national circuit. In 2024,
women have been starring in these prestigious mixed events albeit
with a male partner at their side and have also taken podium finishes
in Open teams and pairs events.

Women who star
Earlier this year, Pele Rankin took out a national event double when
she won both the mixed and open pairs events at the Australian Swiss
Pairs championships in partnership with George Kozakos. Pele has
been representing Australia internationally in women’s events since2011, and more recently has focused on the newer mixed pairs/teams
events.

Made their mark

Lauren Travis and Sophie Ashton

Lauren Travis and Sophie Ashton have also made their mark in 2024
narrowly missing the teams’ final at the Autumn Nationals (withteammates Sartaj Hans and Dave Wiltshire). Lauren has graduatedfrom the youth ranks to be a very strong open player achieving
selection in 2023 on the Australian Mixed team which competed at
Marrakech. Sophie has been particularly prominent on the national
circuit for a few years now winning multiple open national
championships. This year she won the Jim & Norma Borin Mixed Pairs
in Melbourne (with Liam Milne) and was 3rd at the River City Gold
Mixed Pairs in Brisbane and 2nd at the National Open Teams in
Canberra.

Rising stars

Ella Jacob and Jessica Brake

Rising stars include Ella Jacob and Jessica Brake who have continued todevelop as players from their early days as youth representatives to beserious contenders in the final stages of major championships
throughout the year. Ella won the Bobby Richman Pairs Championshipat the Gold Coast and was a semi-finalist in the Open Teams. Jessica
has had several podium finishes in the past few months – each with adifferent partner. In addition to winning the Butler Open Pairs(alongside husband Shane Harrison), she was 2nd in the Victor
Champion Cup Open Swiss Pairs (with Andy Hung) and was 3rd (withJosh Tomlin) in the Australian Mixed Pairs in Tasmania

Page | 27

Continues to impress

Renee Cooper

Another player who has continued to impress is multiple Australianteam representative - Renee Cooper. Renee is playing a bit less on thelocal circuit this year as she pursues her business career and selective
international bridge opportunities. However, even with her limited
participation, she has shone in being part of the winning team at the
National Open Teams Championships in Canberra earlier this year. She
will also be representing Australia as part of the Australian Women’s
Team at the World Bridge Games later this year.

WBF Chief TD and Author

Laurie Kelso and Kim Frazer

In May Queensland hosts the River City Gold Mixed Pairs which is oneof the few Matchpoint events on the Australian circuit. This very
popular event saw a rare appearance as a player by WBF Chief
Tournament Director Laurie Kelso who paired up in a winningcombination with Kim Frazer (Author of piece)

Three Women on Board

Top: Jenny Thompson
Bottom L to R
Dagnar Neumann Allison Stralow

I should also mention that the five-member Board of the Australian
Bridge Federation features three women – Allison Stralow as
President, Jenny Thompson as Secretary (also a multiple international
representative and wife of WBF Vice President Ben Thompson) andDagmar Neumann. Dagmar has enjoyed several successes on theAustralian bridge circuit, most recently winning the Mixed Pairs at theAustralian National Championships (alongside Maurits van der Vlugt)
and she was also a member of the winning NSW Open team in theInterstate Teams event at those Championships. In 2024 she will be
representing Australia as part of the Australian Mixed Team at theWorld Bridge Games.

Women are succeeding
With the year just over half-way through, it is clear from these resultsthat a variety of women, both younger and older, are achieving
success on the Australian Bridge scene.
No article about women in Australian Bridge would be complete
without mentioning Pauline Gumby. Pauline holds the mostmasterpoints of any Australian on our ranking scheme. She is amultiple Australian team representative in Open, Senior and Mixed
categories and a multiple national champion. This year was no exception
Pauline Gumby
Highest Ranked

as she was a member of the team that won the South West Pacific Teams in
Canberra in January.

Kim Frazer
On behalf of the Australian Bridge Federation Ltd
Page | 28

SondraMeet Sondra Blank from Montreal

Mixed partner and BFF

by Marc-André Fourcaudot( Best Fan Forever)Marc-André ‘The
Fork’ Fourcaudot
from Canada has
represented Canada
on several occasions
in the Open and
Mixed world events.
He was also the nonplaying captain of
the Canadian Open team and the Women’s
team. He is very proud to have been alreadyasked to be a Women’s team captain for 2025,
for our National Trials and hopefully the next
World event.

Canadian Mixed Team Championships CMTC – Gold
Michael Gamble, Kismet Fung
Marc-André Fourcaudot, Brenda Bryant,
Sondra Blank, Ranald Davidson

Sondra Blank began her bridge
journey in 2007 and has been a
prominent figure in Canadian
Women's Bridge for the past 15
years. A lifelong card enthusiast,she finally took her
grandmother's advice to try
bridge while on a cruise.
Sondra feels fortunate to havetaken lessons from Barbara
Seagram while living in Toronto,
which significantly shaped her
game.
I started playing with Sondra in2009, following a
recommendation from Canadian(now US) Bridge superstar Vince
Demuy, who predicted she would
become an exceptional player. He
was absolutely right.

A native Montrealer who spentclose to a decade in Toronto,
Sondra never played junior bridge
officially but often competed with
Toronto's junior players, whowelcomed a young female into
their teams. The writer believes
this experience effectively counts
as junior bridge.
Sondra and Marc-André

Sondra Blank's bridge journey has
seen her transition from playing
with juniors to excelling in
women's and mixed teams. She
has claimed victory in five
Canadian Women TeamChampionships and the last four
Canadian Mixed TeamChampionships since the event's
inception in 2019.

When asked if she identifies morewith Montreal or Toronto, Sondrachooses Montreal for all theobvious reasons.
She explains her attraction todifferent bridge categories bysaying, "All of the above...
Women was the genesis, Mixed
the rise hoping for a better world,
Open could be the future!"
Sondra has represented Canada
in six world championships, andwill again in October in the World
Bridge Games in Argentina.
Page | 29

She also frequently attends North
American Bridge Championships.
She prefers world events for two
main reasons: they feature thebest of bridge and offer travel
opportunities to many incredible
places around the world.

Sondra is also a CrossFit
enthusiast, dedicating 5-6 days aweek and 2-3 hours per day to
her workouts. This rigorous
routine helps her maintain her
health and carry her husband andbridge partners!
Sondra Blank
Before a game, she enjoys a double
espresso, and after a game, shecelebrates with a Vodka Cranberry—doubling the drink if she wins.

The Late Eric Kokish

Sondra Blank is renowned for her
meticulously documented notes,
a habit cultivated under the
mentorship of the late Eric
Kokish.
This dedication has turned her
into a 'notes addict,' completewith an array of gadgets in her
toolkit. Her favorite convention
is Gazzilli, either for its table
results or for having the final say
when challenged by non-Gazzilli
players in a bidding problem
discussion.
Sondra has one bridge
superstition: her lucky pens.
When she's winning and playing
well, she continues using thesame pen. Unlike others with thesame superstition, she has a rule:
she brings at least five pens toevery tournament!

Sondra's greatest satisfaction inbridge comes from making her
partner's life easier, whether
through bidding or defense incomplex situations. According to
her mixed partner, laying down agreat dummy also significantly
makes life easier!
In 2023, after triumphing in both
the Canadian Women and Mixed
teams, Sondra Blank chose tocompete in the Venice Cup in
Marrakesh. She and her partner
became well-known in Canadianbridge circles for prioritizing the
Women's event over their Mixed
partners.

Sondra’s home is like a mini farm,complete with dogs, chickens,ducks, quails, and her best buddy,
a pig named Pancetta. When
playing online bridge with her
camera on, Pancetta's noises
often seem like disapproval of herpartner's bidding!

Sondra now prioritizes Women’s
events in odd years and Mixed
events in even years. Balancing
priorities is second nature to her.
She is a mother of four children(ages 13, 11, 10, and 8) with a 39year-old husband.
Additionally, she is the founder ofa thriving business in the
personalized and promotional
items sector within the
manufacturing industry. Her ecommerce journey began in 2012

Despite her fondness forPancetta, dogs remain her
favorite animals—just don't let
Pancetta know.

https://www.hiboutchoux.com/

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Sondra is also a tattoo enthusiast,with an uncountable number oftattoos adorning her body. She
got her first tattoo at 13 andmanaged to keep it hidden fromher mom until a hospital stay at
16. Her favourite tattoo is ofMedusa, and two others are
inspired by bridge, depicting theQueens of Clubs and Hearts.

Balancing a successful bridge
career with professional andfamily life is something many of
us strive for, and Sondra excels inthis regard. Her passions andenthusiasm span many areas.
Over the past 15 years, she hasachieved remarkable successwhile also overcoming battles
against two cancers. Sondra
strongly encourages everyone to
get regular colon checks.

https://www.who.int/newsroom/factsheets/detail/colorectal-cancer

Here’s an interesting hand playedby Sondra in the 2024 Canadiantrials. She is in 3NT after dummy
showed a 17-19 hand withexactly 5♠s and 4♥s.

♥8 was led and won in dummy.
♣K and a ♣ to the Ace reveal thebad news when East pitched a ♥.
Prospects are poor, Sondra needs
to find a way for the defense to
mis judge what they must do.
After a successful ♠ finesse, sherealized that establishing the suit
can’t be a success since defense
can cash 1♠ 1♣ and 3♦.

When this 6-card ending wasreached, Sondra played a ♦ fromdummy. East had no solution. At
the table ♦K was won and exiteda ♥ won in hand with the 10. ♦was played to allow East to cash
the Ace and the 10 but was
endplayed for the second timeand had to give the last two tricks
in dummy.
Note that when a second ♦ wasplayed from dummy cashing top♦ does not help the defense,
declarer can always come to 9
tricks at this stage.

Marc-André Fourcaudot

She instead ran the ♦9 when East
ducked smoothly. West was at
the crossroad and reluctant tocash his ♣Q establishing two
tricks in declarer’s hand. ♠ wasreturned. Sondra read the handcorrectly at this point, and cashedthe other top ♠ to strip East handof this suit.

Page | 31

Sophia Baldysz

writes on

Playing Open and Women

In the past couple of years there have been questions raised whether the
u26W category should still exist. What if we just kept the open teams – u16,
u21, u26, u31?
I’ve had the opportunity to play in open and girls teams – u21, u26W and thisyear u31. Let’s have a look at what it looked like in the u31 at this year’s
European Youth Teams Championships in Wrocław, Poland:
Of the 13 teams that played 5 of them had at least one woman player. And of
those 5 teams 2 of them were awarded medals, which shows that women can
perform well in a male-dominated field as well as in a women-only field.
However, based on experience at the table I think it benefits girls greatly thatthey have the opportunity to choose whether they wish to play in the open or the girls team. It also gives
them a great opportunity to prepare for a future career in women’s bridge – this was my case as well, since
I played in the junior girls and then simultaneously in the women’s at the same time.

I would go against my principles if I wrote a
Declarer Playbridge article without at least one hand, this time
we’ll go into a declarer play:
Board 19. Dealer South. E-W Vulnerable.
♠KJ3
♥2
♦Q9
♣KQJ8743♠AQT965♠72♥K♥QT765
♦AT4
♦K763
♣962
♣T5
♠84
♥AJ9843♦J852♣ASouth opens 1 heart, West bids 1 spade, I settle for
3NT with the soft values and a source of tricks. I get
the 7 of spades lead.
I can’t make it legitimately. Even if hearts break I haveno entry and with the clubs blocked I can’t enjoy 7
tricks.. Or can I? West sticks in the 9 of spades, so I duck
– if he plays A of spades and a spade I can throw theace of clubs on the king of spades and as long as clubs
break, I’m home. We now turn our attention to West…
ace of spades and a spade. Whew! I pitch the ace ofclubs, cash my 7 club tricks and hope for a tenth if
opponents pitch all their hearts. They don’t, so I justenjoy the 400 of making the contract.

And what did it look like in the girls
categories
Let’s hand it over to Natalia Suszanowicz and Dominika
Lucka, gold medallists in the World Youth
Transnational Women’s Pairs and Teams in Wroclaw:
Gold Medallists
Natalia Suszanowicz & Dominika Lucka“In bridge you also have to take advantage of thechances given to you, as on this board. I was given achance to make 3NT after the 1st lead, so I took it. “
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Board 23. Dealer South. All Vulnerable.
♠JT942
♥A95
♦T4
♣954
♠AQ
♥QJ74
♦Q62
♣J763

♠K8765
♥K3
♦K75
♣AK2
♠3
♥T862
♦AJ983♣QT8

9 of clubs lead, I ducked, queen, small. 8 of hearts shift
to the king. I continued with hearts and North won myjack with her ace and switched to the 10 of diamonds,
I took it with the queen in my hand. Now I cashed AKof clubs, returned to my hand with the ace of spades,
cashed the queen of spades and the jack of clubs andthe queen of hearts. South is now going to be
endplayed, I throw her in with my last heart and she
had to lead into my king of diamonds for my 9th trick”.
All I can add is: well done Natalia!

And what did players say about the girls
category?

“It’s a comfortable environment for women to enjoy
and learn bridge”
Amber Lin – USA - bridge
player and junior coach“A lot of women would like to play in an area where
Olivia Schireson – USA - they will not be put down and can raise theirconfidence”
bridge player

Final word
I think the end goal is to get more and more people
involved in this great card game. And with the girls
category more players will be playing. And as far as
what happens in the girls category at the table? Just
look at Natalia and Dominika’s board for reference.
Sophia is profiled here
Page 12 in the March 24 newsletter
Her medal accomplishments are amazing
From Junior to Women’s, Mixed and OpenSophia Baldysz
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U26 Women
Poland wins
Gold in
Women’s Teams andPairs

Medallists U26 Women’s Teams

Denmark
wins
Joan Gerard Award

1. Poland
Ewa BAGROWSKA, Matylda BRZYZKA, Dominika
LUCKA, Ewa MORAWSKA, Maria NIKLAUS,
Natalia SUSZANOWICZ, Rafal MARKS (npc)
2. France U26W
Constance BELLOY, Margaux KUREK BEAULIEU, EliseNUGUES, Wilhelmine SCHLUMBERGER, Wilfried
LIBBRECHT (npc)
3. Poland 2
Wiktoria FORYS, Natalia FRECHOWICZ, Milena
GRYZLO, Magdalena KAPALA, Kaja PUSTULKA, MajaTROJANSKA, Rafal MARKS (npc)

Medallists U26 Women’s Pairs
Winner: Ella Rosthoej
Pictured with Gianarrigo Rona
WBF President Emeritus

Ella turned 18 on October 7th 2023 and on
the same day made her debut in theDanish 3rd division. She also graduatedfrom high school this summer.

The Joan Gerard Award is presented
to youth players who demonstrate
aptitude, fair play, goodsportsmanship and a friendly
international spirit

1. Natalia SUSZANOWICZ – Dominika LUCKA (POL),
2. Maren Idland SAEGROV – Erleta PLANA (NOR),
3. Dido COLEY – Lily KEARNEY (ENG)

http://www.worldbridge.org/awards/joangerard-youth-awards/

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is delighted to announce its eighth

Women’s Teams Weekend in London
Date: 12–13 October 2024
Saturday 12th October – Qualifying Rounds (starting at 10:30am)
Sunday 13th October – Final for top 6 teams. Consolation event for others.

Entry fee for weekend: £320 per team (FREE for junior teams) includes a buffet lunch
on both days and prize giving drinks on Sunday

Entry fee if playing on Sunday only: £160 per team (FREE for junior teams)

Holders: Debbie Sandford, Kath Stynes, Sally Anoyrkatis, Venetia Anoyrkatis
Register your entry online via the website at ycbc.co.uk or emailorganizer Paula Leslie at paula2012leslie@gmail.com

35 | P a g e

EntryYou may enter your team with your team name through the WBF
website. http://championships.worldbridge.org/
Team name and player names need to be finalised by the closing date.
Any number of teams may enter, the players may be from any nation
which is a member of the WBF.
Entries close on 7th December 2024.
There can be 8 players in a team.
This is a transnational event

Entry Fee

The entry fee will be 60 Euros for the entire team before 16th December
2024. See payment method on WBF website under the Banner for the
event.

Format

The format of the Tournament depends on number of teams. It willprobably be a Round Robin.

Schedule

The tournament is played over 3 calendar days. Matches are timed so thatthe teams will meet others from around the world at mutually convenient
times.

Prize

Winners receive FREE entry to next WBF Transnational Women’s Teamsand Awards

WBF Online Masterpoints will be awarded

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UPCOMING WORLD BRIDGE EVENTSGO TO http://www.worldbridge.org/ THEN Click on Banners for Information
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