ANC Canberra 2017

Thanks to the ACT and to the Tournament Organiser, Elainne Leach, and her team for a very well-organised and enjoyable ANC. Congratulations to South Australia for winning the Open Teams and to NSW for winning the Women’s, Senior’s and Youth. We also congratulate the winners of the various Butler events.

ANC Review

Ben Thompson was at the ANC on 21^st and 22^nd July to talk with ANC players about the progress of the ANC Review he has been conducting on behalf of the ABF. The results of the review are on the ABF web-site at https://www.abf.com.au/anc-review-main-changes-and-survey-outcomes/.

We hope that many of the popular proposals can be included in the 2018 Hobart ANC, subject to consultation with State & Territory Associations about changes to the Interstate Teams and proposed re-introduction of an Interstate Pairs event.

Succession Planning

The MC reviewed State and Territory nominations for a Succession Planning Committee for key ABF roles. A committee comprising Bruce Neill, David Morgan, Therese Tully and Julia Hoffman has been appointed to develop procedures and recommendations to be put to the next ABF Council meeting in November. 

Playoffs for 2018 Teams

Currently there is no target event for 2018, since in view of ABF Travel Policy there is no World Championship or Asia Pacific event where we can send an Australian Representative Team.

This means entrants to the playoffs will not need to commit to be available for a specific event. Instead we will be offering high-placed pairs the option to participate in the Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championships and the World Bridge Series in Orlando, USA.

Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championship (CNBC) 2018

Australia intends to send 4 teams to the CNBC: Open, Women’s Seniors and Youth. Two teams will be Australian representative teams and two teams will be non-representative teams.

The MC has agreed that the Open and Youth teams will be the contending teams for the CNBC, with the Women & Senior teams non-contending.   The MC agreed we should use this opportunity to provide youth players with more competition exposure to assist with preparation for the World Youth Teams later in the year.

Pianola

The ABF is now piloting the use of Pianola at ABF and ABF licensed events.

2017 LAWS OF BRIDGE

A reminder that the new 2017 Laws of Bridge came into effect on 1 August.

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The Management Committee welcomes feedback and suggestions on these or other subjects. The next MC meeting is 23th – 24th September in Sydney.

ABF Management Committee:
Bruce Neill (President), Allison Stralow (Secretary), Roy Nixon (Treasurer),
Dallas Cooper (MC Member), Kim Frazer (MC Member).
Russel Harms (General Counsel), Jane Rasmussen (Executive Secretary).