Malcolm Allen

Dr. Malcolm Allan: Life Member of the Rockhampton Bridge Club

The Rockhampton Bridge Club recently celebrated Malcolm’s extensive, illustrious and occasionally controversial presence at the Club. The occasion marked his imminent departure from Rockhampton, relocating to Oxley, Brisbane.

Malcolm has been a member of the Club since 1972, and his dedication skill and generosity has been a hallmark of his membership. A Silver Grand Master, Malcolm has a long list of Championship wins over his fifty-three years at the RBC. His earliest achievement at the State level, was a win in the Plate section of the Qld Teams Championship in 1980. One of his favourite memories is winning the Queensland Pairs Championship with Pat Buch in 1989. His most recent achievement at the State level is as a member of the 2025 Capricornia Zone team which went on to represent Queensland at the Nationals.

As well as claiming numerous championship wins over the years, Malcolm has always had the well-being of the club at the forefront of his mind. He served as President in 1980/81 and again in 1990 and 1994. He has offered countless courses of lessons over the years, and continues to tutor both beginners and more advanced students on Bridge Base Online. In more recent years, he has actively supported the club’s program for beginners and novices, with offers of resources, tutoring and mentoring. He continues to be the ‘go to’ person for answers to bridge problems.

With opportunities to play in many more Red and Gold point events in the ‘big smoke’, we could see him flying up the chart to attain the next level – Gold Grand Master. The Rockhampton Bridge Club extends a fond farewell to Malcolm and wishes him many successful sorties in the Brisbane Clubs.

Fran Limmage, President,

Rockhampton Bridge Club, 2026.

Excerpt from Malcolm Saunders’ farewell address:

We are here to farewell The Guru, so we might as well learn why he’s called that

This moniker or nickname was got up by the late Dr William Renton-Power (or WRP), another long-term Bridge partner of mine and, of course, a former president of this club

I can’t remember exactly when WRP came up with this name but I can remember where he did. It must have been 25-30 years ago on an occasion when I was playing with WRP at Table 5 – Webmaster Goddard’s table – when WRP first used the expression. Since then, all I’ve done is help popularise it

Is the moniker deserved? No question about it! Apart from his near-consistent success at the tables, The Guru has been, from the very beginning of his connection with the Rockhampton club, its “Bridge intellectual”. Many members confronted with a Bridge problem have gone to him rather than consulted a book. Why spend time looking it up when The Guru will give you the answer in a matter of seconds?

Moreover, The Guru’s reputation as the club’s “go to” person extends far beyond Rockhampton and Central Queensland. When partnering The Guru at congresses and other major events in Brisbane and Townsville in the nineties and noughties, I was several times impressed by how far his fame had stretched

The membership of any Bridge club anywhere is never static. People are coming and going all the time. Consequently, only the very few who’ve been in the Rockhampton club for many years could truly appreciate how much service The Guru has given it as teacher, director, president, committee member, consultant, and benefactor (Just recall the extraordinary amount of wine he has supplied the club!)

You aren’t asked to agree with everything I’ve said here. But it would be hard to deny that, with The Guru gone, ordinary sessions especially, will be noticeably different. They won’t just be quieter; they’ll also be less interesting. Think about all the people, when their concentration has flagged during a session, who’ve relied on The Guru to restore them to a state of optimal tension, sometimes even red alert. Think about the interest, even the sense of excitement, The Guru has aroused in us on each of the several occasions he’s been suspended from the club!

Seriously though, the role he has played in the club for over a half a century (1972-2026) will soon become apparent. There’s an expression we are all familiar with” “You never appreciate something until it’s gone”.

Malcolm Saunders