Welcome to the Colchester Duplicate Bridge Club website.
We play at St Johns & Highwoods Community Centre, Colchester (CO4 9SR) every Tuesday evening. We have a Host system and visitors are welcome as individuals or pairs. Scoring is with Bridgemates and we have duplimated boards so hand records are on the website after each game.
If you explore this website you will find details of this club and information regarding forthcoming club and local events.
We are affiliated to the English Bridge Union and play with 19 other clubs in the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association.
The Club supports the EBU's Best Behaviour at Bridge (BB@B) policy - click on the tab on the left for more details.
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| AGM |
It's the AGM next week, November 1.
The meeting is at 7.00pm, followed by regular Bridge at around 7.30pm.
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| Stepping Stones for Novice Players |
We have started a second "Improvers" section at this club just for newcomers to Bridge. Initially it will comprise students from local classes. As they progress, it is hoped that they will integrate with the regular players and be replaced with others who have yet to start learning the game.
We look forward to welcoming them to our Club.
The first sessions of the Stepping Stones Section at the Colchester Bridge Club have been a great success. Everyone really enjoyed the evening. We look forward to seeing these and other new players in the coming weeks.
We play every Tuesday, please be there for 7.00pm. You can come in your regular partnership, but if you haven't got a partner you can come along by yourself and we'll find you a partner or you can play with one of several hosts who will be looking after the Novice Section!
Table money is £3, which includes refreshments. There is no 'coffee break', you go and make yourself (and your partner!) a drink when you're Dummy. We will be playing 18 boards in the course of the evening, and should finish between 10.00 and 10.30pm.
Hope to see you there!
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| Learn to Play Bridge |
Interested in Learning to Play Bridge?
There are at least two local teachers.
[Other local teachers wishing to have their classes promoted here, please contact the Club Secretary]
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Vicky Potter runs the Colchester Bridge School - click here for details on www.bridgewebs.com/colchesterschool.
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Peter Bushby runs the Tendring Bridge School - click here for details on www.bridgewebs.com/tendringschool.
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| Upcoming Competitions |
Several Suffolk Bridge competitions are being held in the next few months.
To see all details, click on Upcoming Suffolk Bridge Events on the left.
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| Looking for a Partner? |
Although the Colchester Club operates a host system, members are strongly encouraged to look for a partner before coming along - wouldn't you rather choose your partner beforehand rather than playing with whoever is there on the night?
To use the Find a Partner system on this website, click on Membership, on the left, then enter your email address and password where requested. If you don't have a password, click on Forgotten Password and one will be sent to you. Two of you sharing an email address can still use this feature by following these instructions and setting up different passwords.
Once you are in the Membership section, click in the Partner Required box for the appropriate date.
A note will appear in the Calendar on the Home Page showing that someone is looking for a partner. When another member goes into the system, they will find your name and contact details.
If you have any questions regarding this process, please email the Secretary: paulandchrisrickard@gmail.com
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| Upcoming Suffolk Bridge Events |
To see details of upcoming Local Suffolk Bridge Events, click on the appropriate tab on the left.
To see the brochure listing all the 2016 Suffolk Bridge events, click on 2016 Competitions Brochure and to see a one-page summary, click here or on 2016 Events Summary.
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| X-IMP Scoring |
There hasn't been much enthusiasm for playing Teams each month so it's been decided to revert to playing Pairs every week.
But, to provide a little variation, we are going to score by X-IMPs a few times a year - specifically on any 5th Tuesday in a month. The next such dates are May 31 and August 30.
What are Cross-IMPs? Click here to see full details but, in summary, your points score (+620, -50 or whatever) is compared with each other table's result on that board - the differences are converted to IMPs, just like in Teams, and the average of all those IMP numbers is your score on that board. As usual, the computer does all the arithmetic! You just have to play to maximise your points score on each board. Making Game (or Slam) is valuable, making overtricks much less so.
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| Director, please! |
There is a distinct difference between invoking the Laws of Duplicate Bridge and acting in an overbearing manner. The former is playing the game in a firm but fair manner - the latter contributes to some, often less experienced, players being put off playing at our Club.
A gentle reminder of one of the Rules (paraphrase of Law 16B for those who would like to delve a little further):
"If a player hesitates or asks a question which may suggest a certain bid or play, their partner may not choose from among logical alternatives one that could have been suggested by that action."
Hesitating or asking questions is not illegal, but players should be aware that both of them compromise partner's next action. It is strongly recommended that, if you plan to Pass whatever the opponent's bid means, you delay asking questions about their bids until the auction is completed.
To see the full text of The Laws of Duplicate Bridge, click on Useful Links>EBU>EBU Information: Documents>Laws & Ethics Publications>2007 Laws of Duplicate Bridge.
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| 2016 Host List |
It has been agreed that there should be a Host every week. Accordingly a rota has been developed - click on Programme and Host List on the left or look in the 2016 Club Booklet. Hosts should note that their names now appear approximately every 10 months, not every 12 months as in the past. Thank you to all those who have volunteered to host.
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| Summer League |
Colchester won the Summer League Division 1, winning all four of their matches..
All League results may be seen on www.suffolkbridge.co.uk - on the Home page click on Summer League.
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| AGM Minutes |
To see the minutes of the 2015 AGM, click here or on the appropriate tab on the left.
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| Allocated Seating |
We now allocate seating randomly. Just take a card when you arrive and go to your assigned table.
Of course, if you need to be stationary (or to move) for medical reasons, you can have an appropriate seat.
Thank you for your cooperation.
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| Children in Need Sim Pairs |
We raised £138 for Children in Need at last November's Children in Need Sims. Thank you all very much.
To see how you fared nationally, click on Useful Links, ECats then Simultaneous ... and select the Tuesday session.
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| Why has my Sims result changed? |
An explanation of why you did better or worse nationally than in the club can be found on the EBU website - click on Useful Links, then EBU, then Sim Pairs at the top of the EBU home page then Sim Pairs Scoring on the right.
The overall National results can be reached from the same Sim Pairs page.
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| Honours Board |
A Club Honours Board has been created and can be seen by clicking on the Honours Board tab on the left. Many gaps remain and historical information to fill them is welcome. If you know any missing names, or know what events the trophies were played for in the past, please contact the writer by email on paulandchrisrickard@gmail.com.
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| Revised Rules |
ANNOUNCING AND ALERTING
With effect from August 1, 2013, improvements have been made to the Announcing and Alerting Rules. Key changes are:
1C/1D opening:
If suit could be as short as two (or one or none, according to your agreement), Partner announces "Could be as short as two (or one or none)".
If suit is at least three cards, Partner remains silent.
If suit is a conventional bid (e.g. Precision), Partner Alerts.
2NT opening:
Handled as for 1NT opening: Point count range, Stayman and Transfers are announced.
Full details can be seen if you click on
>Rules>Announcing and Alerting 2013 on the left of this page.
PERMITTED CONVENTIONS
You may be aware that bridge events are classified according to the complexity of the permitted conventions. Level 2 allows Simple Systems and is used primarily for Novice events, Level 5 is the most open and is used in International and equivalent competitions. Levels 3 & 4 were very similar and have now been amalgamated into a new Level 4 which will typically be used in all Club, County and National events.
The revised list of permitted Conventions is published in a new Blue Book - > (means "click on") Useful Links, >EBU, >Laws & Ethics, >Blue Book and White Book.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The EBU White Book, which discusses technical issues primarily for the benefit of Directors, has been rationalised and republished. To see this, >Useful Links, >EBU, >Laws & Ethics, >Blue Book and White Book.
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