Rubber Bridge Competition for the Dan Gifford Trophy

The Dan Gifford Trophy for Rubber Bridge is contested at Congress every year between a pair from each region.
The Waikato-Bays representative will be the winner of the knock-out competition which is expected to conclude by August 20.
To enter contact Nick Whitten by email nickwhitten@xtra.co.nz or phone 07 889 7831.
Players will be expected to arrange between their opponents where and when to play, and to make sure their match is completed before the date indicated on the draw.

Systems:
Only simple systems similar to those allowed at Junior tournaments are allowed. For details refer to pages D7 to D9 in the 2022 NZB Manual

At the start of the match, cut for Dealer, after which Dealer rotates clockwise. The pack used by the dealer is shuffled by one opponent and cut by the other opponent.
All matches will consist of 30 deals. A passed in hand constitutes a deal.
If a deal is faulty for any reason (cards not dealt correctly, card turned up during the deal, player picking up the wrong hand, etc), that deal is cancelled. The cards and shuffled and cut again, and the SAME DEALER deals again.

The pair with the higher total score at the end advances to the next round while the other pair is eliminated. In the event of a tie a further two deals will be played – then a further two etc until a winner is found.

The winners of each match are to contact Nick Whitten by email nickwhitten@xtra.co.nz
or phone 07 889 7831 to advise the result as soon as possible after the completion of the match.
The draw will be updated regularly on http://www.waikatobays.bridge-club.org/rubber

For more details on the laws refer to the NZ Bridge Manual (2022) pages D3 to D9 or
https://cdn.acbl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Laws-of-Rubber-Bridge.pdf

Ethics:
No table talk is allowed.
Each player should keep score. All players must be aware of their side’s score at all times.
It is a SERIOUS OFFENCE to draw attention to partner the score (such as they have a part-score and therefore a lower target for game).
Scores may be compared and brought up to date at the end of each hand but no comments should be made as to future tactics in bidding to take account of the score.

Tactics:
Similar to teams; don’t worry about small score differences.
If declaring play safe to make the contract. If it is a difficult contract take risks to make it; don’t worry about extra undertrick(s) if it doesn’t work.
Similarly if defending take risks to defeat them; don’t worry about giving them overtrick(s)
When your side has a part-score don’t bid further than you need to make game unless the opponents force you to (which is quite likely) or you are looking for a slam.

NKW Feb 18 2024