If you thought Friday evening had lost its sparkle, think again!

Responses to our recent poll showed that lots of you are keen to see a return of Friday night bridge. So, based on your feedback, we’ll be making various changes over the next few weeks until we get the recipe just right. We do hope you will join us, and that Friday night will be bridge night once again.

We will restart Friday night sessions on 27^th February, and our regular Duplicate Pairs session will feature wine available in the Café Bar from 6pm. From the first week of March these sessions will also feature a limited number of mentored pairs. Alongside our usual playing pairs, a number of our more experienced players have offered to mentor recent graduates and less experienced players.  If you would like to take advantage of this mentoring opportunity on Friday March 6th, please email manager@cheltenhambridgeclub.com, to be paired up with your mentor.

We look forward to welcoming lots of you for wine in the Café Bar from 6pm on Friday 27^th.  Play will start promptly at 7pm.

On 21st February, a CBC team

Lindsay Stewart & John Amor, Gundi & Steve Bunker

brought home the Rank Xerox trophy.

Congratulations!

It is with great sadness that we have learned that Gerry O’Driscoll passed away earlier this month after a short illness.

Gerry graduated from  the CBC 2-year bridge training course  in March 2025. He was fond of the social side of face-to-face play, and was a popular regular at the Thursday morning gentle bridge session in particular. He was always a gentleman with a friendly and wry sense of humour that he kept with him through all the vicissitudes of play. Recently he had competed with his bridge partner Ian Jones in the winning 9-high team in the Midlands County league game against Leicestershire.

He was an active member of the Gloucestershire Ramblers, and an ardent supporter of Middlesbrough Football Club.

Our best wishes and condolences to his family and friends.

Details of his funeral which will be held on 25^th February may be found at: https://www.dignityfunerals.co.uk/funeral-notices/04-02-2026-gerard-george-odriscoll/

The Cheltenham Bridge Club Annual General Meeting will be held on 11^th April  at 6pm at the Club, followed by free bridge for attendees. One of the agenda items will be the election of Management Committee members. Club members have a huge range of skills, experiences and insights that could benefit us all, so whether you are new to the club, or have years of experience, you can be sure of a warm welcome! Joining the Committee is a chance to make a positive impact and contribute to the success of our Club. If you are interested, please contact Mary Woolley, Vice Chair with responsibility for Volunteers, Tel 07812 488709 or email qcwoolley@outlook.com.  We are particularly keen to hear from people who may be interested in the roles of Treasurer or Secretary.  More information on the rest of the meeting agenda will be available next month.

For many years the Midlands Counties Working Group (MCWG) has organised three leagues in which Gloucestershire has participated. After the pandemic, these moved online. To make sure that there were enough online games for all club players, not just the expert players, the MCWG established a quarterly online cross-county game on RealBridge, restricted to less expert players based on their NGS grade.  There are now a series of NGS-restricted games (9 high and Jack high events) run by the English Bridge Union (EBU), with participation from all over the country.

The most recent EBU  introduction is a cross-county national championship, for players with a maximum NGS grade of 9. Each county is allowed a limited number of pairs.  In 2025, the GCBA introduced our first 9-High Championship to select the pairs to represent Gloucestershire. This year’s event takes place on Saturday 18th April, at Cheltenham Bridge Club. Anyone with a suitable NGS grade (either at the start of the year or at the time of the event) is welcome to play.

We are nearing the end of the 2025/6 Year 2 programme taught by Martin Renshaw and Mark Giard with cover from Kate Maxwell and Lesley Harrison. This year’s student cohort is impressive not only in number – 41 – but also in enthusiasm and engagement. We build on the Year 1 foundation supplied by Kate and Ruth Thomas to introduce or expand on defence (including leads, signals and discards), declarer play (including planning), bidding (transfers, weak twos, unassuming cue bid, losing trick count, slams, barrier/reversing, doubles and 4441 hands) and etiquette.

Of course, the teaching is only effective if consolidated by practice. Alison Nicolson runs practice sessions in parallel with lessons and Teresa Thomas, Jackie Saitch and Jan Bailey have organised Learners Duplicate as a transition between lessons and Gentle Bridge. We are also  indebted to all the helpers at these lessons and sessions.

Some of the Year 2 students are already playing Gentle Bridge and even open sessions. Please be welcoming and kind. They are part of our club’s future.

A great time was had by all.

Read the full report and see the pictures of what we got up to.

Safeguarding is not just about children. It matters to us all regardless of our age. If you have any concerns about the safety of any of our members please email safeguarding@gcba.org.uk.

Passing on your concern allows our safeguarding officer, Ro Kaye, to build up a picture of what might be happening to a person. For more information see the EBU’s safeguarding policy.

Whether you are you new to Bridge or wish to refresh your game, Cheltenham Bridge Club offers a wide range of courses for beginners through to experienced players.

Please see our learning and development page  for more information and details of contacts who can help you choose the best path for you.

Do you ever play a hand, think you have done really well, and then when you see the results find you are in bottom place?  We know some of you like to study those hands at home, but still end up scratching your heads and wondering what you could have done differently. 

Help is now at hand with our "Ask the Experts" service.  Find it on the club's home page under the "Learn Bridge" menu item.  This will give you instructions on how to use the service.

Once you have sent in your query, an expert Bridge player will get back to you with some answers which will also be published in an Ask the Experts - Answers section (also on the club's home page under the "Learn Bridge" menu item)