Page 34 - ABF Newsletter February 2025

Letters to the editor
PLAYOFF FORMAT
After the ABF discontinued PQPs (Playoff Qualifying Points) for the Women’s
and Seniors’ Playoffs, the number of teams in ABF Women’s and Seniors’
Teams has declined. No surprise there. These Playoffs with semi-finals
and finals take place after the qualifying rounds of the National Women’s
Teams (NWT) and the National Seniors’ Teams (NST), events which can include
non-qualifying teams. Would it be a better and fairer scheme to hold Women’s and Seniors’ Playoffs akin to the Open and Mixed Playoffs?
How about restoring PQPs to Women’s and Seniors’ events and thereby leading to a probable increase in the entries for these events (and adding revenue for the ABF). Then, hold the playoffs for four teams based on PQPs, with semi-finals one day before the start of the NWT / NST. Losers can then compete in the NWT / NST as separate events. The NWT / NST Playoffs final takes place on the first day of the NWT / NST (which carry PQPs) and the winner and the loser can then join the NWT / NST on Day 2 of the qualifying.
THE JOHN ASHWORTH BRIDGE LIBRARY
John Ashworth was from the 1960s into the 2000s one of the leading players in Western Australia, and was well known as a player nationwide. At the same time, he was also an avid collector of bridge books. He dragged his poor long-suffering wife round the world’s second-hand bookshops in the search for important volumes not yet in his library. As a result, he built up one of the best collections of bridge books in Australia. There are around 1800 volumes, ranging from some early books on whist and auction bridge to a quite comprehensive collection of books on contract bridge published up to the early 2000s.
Before he passed away, John said he hoped a good home could be found for the books, and indeed it would be a tragedy if the collection had to be broken up. So, we are asking whether any bridge club feels it would benefit from offering a home to the collec- tion. There would be no financial charge involved, but there would be two conditions. First, John’s main concern was that the collection should not be broken up, so we are looking for a home for the whole col- lection. Second, I think there should be some form of recognition of John’s role in building up the col- lection. If any club is interested, please contact Tim Wright (timwright1906@gmail.com) and I would be happy to provide a full list of the books and to re- spond to any further queries.
Tim Wright
NORTH STAR
Chris Depasquale’s splendid article about the Open Playoffs gave me pause for some personal reflec- tions. Here they are.
The Playoffs to determine the 2025 Australian Open Team finished on 21 November. It had been a hard
Ron Klinger
slog – 360 boards over six days. The winners were Sophie Ashton - David Wiltshire, Joe Haffer - Phil Markey who defeated runners-up Stephen Burgess - Phil Gue, Ron Cooper - Jon Free, Michael Courtney - Chris Depasquale by 11.1 imps over the final 120 boards.
Those of us who followed proceedings on BBO saw a lot of good bridge from a lot of good players. It was difficult for most of us to decide who was the star. For me, however, it was no contest. My choice for “Star of the Tournament” was Chris Depasquale.
Chris lives in Darwin and is a home-club member of the Arafura Bridge Club – membership 36 play- ers. Total membership of the three Darwin clubs is little more than 100. So, it is impossible for Northern Territorians to get regular exposure to tough com- petition. It is reflected in their masterpoint holdings. Chris entered the Playoff final with 890 masterpoints which was far fewer than the holding of any of the other nine finalists.
In the Playoffs, Chris partnered his close friend Mi- chael Courtney. As a pair, they played (i) six 15-board stanzas in their quarter-final, winning 245-223 imps; (ii) four 15-board stanzas in their semi-final, win- ning 133-119 imps; and (iii) five 15-board stanzas in the final, winning 161-144 imps. That equated to an overall winning total of 539-486 imps. It was stirring stuff.
Chris Depasquale is the first Northern Territory res- ident ever to contest an Australian Playoff final. His outstanding performance is a matter for pride, not just for himself but for every other bridge player in the Top End of Australia. Chris is a North Star.
John Brockwell
Page: 34
Australian Bridge Federation Ltd. Newsletter: February 2025