Newsletter September 2016 Issue 3

As Summer moves towards Autumn we find Team Captains thinking about their fixtures for the coming season.  In this Newsletter you can find details/links to forthcoming competitions/events including AMENDED ‘teams of 8’ Rules.  Jane Hall and Chris Clark (NCBA Committee) worked tirelessly to grapple with necessary changes, which covers convention cards, dealing machines, nominated players and ‘squads’. Please take a look.

Remember that there are various events and competitions in the yearly programme and there is something for everyone. It is true that not everyone likes raising the competitive stakes. A gentle game at a club or a social/charity drive suits many just fine. But others like to test their mettle! Its horses for courses!   Have a think about joining in some of these events- once you’ve attended one you will find it is ‘NO FEAR BRIDGE’ and it’s a fun way to improve your game! Look at the calendar on the NCBA website.

We also focus in this issue on Training opportunities for Nottinghamshire Bridge Players.  Many of us have been playing for many (too many to remember??) years and may not recall our first fumblings at the table. It can be traumatic but with experience and knowledge comes confidence and enjoyment. As part of the aims of NCBA are to promote Bridge across Nottinghamshire, we want to help raise standards and levels of enjoyment in the game through increasing knowledge and confidence via a range of development opportunities. Some of these are subsidised by your County Association and by EBU, and by local clubs too.  Why not ask your club if they are subsidising these courses? 

We have arranged them to be delivered locally at the excellent Nottingham Bridge Club (NBC) venue for your convenience and thank NBC for thus supporting these initiatives. So folks, do take up the offer to join in on these events- they need to be supported to justify our investment in putting them on for everyone’s benefit. 

Remember if your club runs activities such as training events, or social/Charity drives etc let us know so we can publicise it for you. In particular there is a new initiative: we are creating a NOTTINGHAMSHIRE CLUBS PAGE on our NCBA website to help signpost people to Nottinghamshire clubs. This will be updated quarterly.  Any club information you’d like sharing, whether lessons, social activities, celebrating great results, please just email them into the Editor by 31 October for the first posting.

Editor

Enjoy your bridge in 2016-17

MASTER CLASS FOR ISSUE 3

Here is a hand for this issue by courtesy of the famous Willie Crook, one of Nottinghamshire’s premier players.

The bidding has gone like this and as West you are now on lead. Your hand is below. WHAT DO YOU LEAD? Willie’s answer is show later in this months Newsletter but don’t look until you have made your own decision!!

2016/7 COUNTY MATCHES

Keith Rodgers Needs YOU!

Keith Rodgers is Nottinghamshire County Team Captain. He is currently arranging teams for the County matches. There are 3 Divisions and Keith is aware that there may be some players who would like to be included but he does not have their details. Can anyone wishing to be considered email Keith with their contact details. Keith tries to get people a game where possible and the season goes on into 2017. Dates for these Sunday events are on the NCBA website, the first few are:

11 September Worcs. Home                                10 October Oxford Away

13 November Derby Home                                 11 December Leics. Away

Summer Teams of Four Summer 2016 marked a fresh approach to the Teams of Four League. In the attempt to attract more teams, it was felt that running the T04 and the T08 in separate seasons might reduce the time commitment for folk and entice more people to enter. At this point the T04 competition is coming towards completion and things are getting close. Current results can be found on the NCBA website.  Its close and nearing the end of the competition.  Exciting!!  Unfortunately some teams missed the start date; it was indeed a short deadline to announce the start of the new League and our apologies for that. BUT make a note for next summer- the DEADLINE TO ENTER THE 2017 SUMMER To4 is 1st May 2017 T04 are a great social way to enter into competitive Bridge- games can be played at any venue and time to suit - even in the afternoons and all standards are welcomed. If we get a few more teams entering we could run two Divisions. For more information contact me, Keith, the T04 Convenor: keith.m.spencer@btinternet.com

New Rules for NCBA Teams of Eight League - 2016

A new version of the Rules has been produced and has been distributed to all team captains within the League.

The main changes to the Rules were required because of the elimination of squads from the League. It was necessary to remove the concept of squads (groups of players from non-affiliated clubs) to comply with EBU legislation which requires that all teams competing in a County League must be playing on behalf of an EBU Affiliated Club. There have, therefore, been some changes and clarifications under the "Eligibility" section of the Rules to reflect these requirements.

Also under the "Eligibility" section of the Rules (item 9) there have been some clarifications to the Rules covering multiple teams from a single club and the usage of nominated players - often referred to as "starred" players.

Various clarifications have been added and grouped together under a "General" section at the beginning of the Rules (items 1 to 5).

An additional section has been incorporated at the end of the Rules entitled "Rules of Play" with two paragraphs (items 22 & 23) covering computer generated hands and the requirement for pairs to have convention cards.

No significant changes have been made to the section entitled "Matches and Results".

The Rules are available for viewing on the County's website:- http://www.bridgewebs.com/nottinghamshire

 and are available for downloading if required.

Chris Clark

Secretary, NCBA Teams of Eight League

TRAINING AND COACHING

Here is a list of developmental opportunities for this season.

STOP PRESS:  A great opportunity for all bridge players (not just EBU registered players) to get a short crash course (no assessment) summarizing the basic bridge rules and etiquette.

As it is being generously subsidized by NCBA, NBC and EBU, this is a great investment to help further your enjoyment and understanding of this great game. In what other sport (sic) can you play and not make the effort to learn the Rules??  Come and get an insight into what your TD does. This course will benefit everyone- its not threatening but illuminating! (NB: this crash course is the start of the TD refreshers day referred to above)

This is an EBU delivered seminar. Date: 30 October. Venue: Nottingham Bridge Club. For more details or to book contact Toni at tonitsmith@tiscali.co.uk.

♥ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ ♠

CRASH COURSE AND TD REFRESHERS AGENDA

9.30 for 9.45 Welcome refreshments

9.45- 11.15  Session 1:  Introduction to the Role of the TD and the key ‘Bridge Rules’ concepts  FREE BUT MUST BE BOOKED IN ADVANCE DUE TO LIMIT ON NUMBERS (FIRE REGS). (TD’s must attend the full day).

11.15-11.30 Tea break (refreshments included: people may depart or remain for session 2)

11.45 – 1.30 Session 2: Review of the main Book Rulings (£5)

1.30- 2.00 lunch – not included  (all non TD’s/directors depart)

2.00- 5.00 Session 3:TD’s/Directors remain for in depth review of the more complicated TD calls e.g. Judgments/hesitations etc £25 full day

TO BOOK CONTACT Toni: tonitsmith@tiscali.co.uk  

WILLIE CROOK’S MASTER CLASS FOR ISSUE 3

HOW DID YOU FARE?

Graham Kirby found a scintillating defence in the semi-final of the Notts Teams Championship He reasoned that as they hadn’t bid 3NT and partner hadn’t doubled 3C for the lead then partner was suggesting an alternative so he led the H5 !!!! which went to the King and a heart to the Queen and Ace and the Jack cashed on which partner discarded the spade 4 - he now found the heart 3 and when dummy ruffed with the D5 his partner over ruffed with the Jack which promoted  his Queen for one down.
What’s this about leading away from an Ace? Never say Never in Bridge!!

The full hand:

SPOTLIGHT ON:     EAST BRIDGFORD

Like many Clubs, East Bridgford BC prides itself on being a ‘friendly’ club. Nestling in the heart of this beautiful village, in the East of Nottinghamshire, EB Bridge Club attracts beginners as well as County players.

 Secretary Lisa Toohey informed me that it was a typical ‘village club’, very jolly with a great Xmas party and regular pub visits after club night open to all! How often do you get that?

 It has a varied membership of about 60, and probably has the record for the Nottinghamshire club with the most qualified TD’s!

East Bridgford are currently looking to expand their membership and are researching types of dealing machines and scoring software as a further attraction. With teams in the To4 and To8 Leagues for many years EB BC has lots to offer. BUT the best bit quips Lisa, ‘….is the tea break. We all stop for tea and very special biscuits- Waitrose, no less!’ . 

EB BC has a sister unaffiliated club on a Monday.  Look on the EB BC website for more details.

 And who is this Man? The Chair of East Bridgford BC Steve Crawford, no less, showing off his winnings, sadly not in Bridge, but in Vegetable Growing!!   One of the prestige band of Qualified TD’s in EB BC, Steve regularly directs and takes his Bridge marginally less seriously than his veggies! (I don’t think!!)

Editor

2016 NCBA Committee members and Officers (and their home club)

President Gordon Fullerton (Keyworth)

Chair John Auld  (Nottingham)

Secretary Clare Batten (Nottingham & Keyworth )

Treasurer Ian Dovey (West Bridgford & Keyworth)

To4 convenor Keith Spencer (Woodborough & Nottingham)

T08 convenor Chris Clarke (  )   

County Captain Keith Rodger (Nottingham)

Communications & Promotions Toni Smith (Woodborough & Nottingham)

Website Keith Spencer (Woodborough & Nottingham)

County TD Tim Anderson(West Bridgeford)

Other committee members: Anthony Pettengell (Phoenix & Nottingham & Woodborough) Jane Hall (Woodborough)

          Any comments on this newsletter or related issues are welcome.  Please contact Editor Toni or Secretary Clare or any NCBA Committee member.

Any articles or bridge information for inclusion in future Issues happily received. Editor: tonitsmith@tiscali.co,uk

Dear all

 Since I have the role of ‘Communications/Promotions’ with Notts CBA Committee, I now have the pleasure (sic) of being the link to EBU to draft any information we wish to be included in the EBU magazine.

Apparently there are 3 headings we could place information- County Results, County/Local News and Obituaries. 

There are word limits so I can’t put everything in, but I think it would be nice if any Club has an event or a club member success somewhere that we could celebrate it as well as our County results.

Can you all please note this and share with your committees so it is widely known and so if you are on holiday say, another member can forward any useful information on as it happens- I will retain until the next edition. 

Keep it as an on-going invite for you to email me any information you think is worthy of inclusion- advance notice or results in retrospect.  Of course I can’t guarantee it is included- EBU do edit and I guess it’s about what space they have but I will happily draft or use your wording if you prefer anything that is of interest and value to Nottinghamshire bridge players.

For the Oct issue I need to respond by early August. So any information/articles can you let me have them asap.

Kind regards and I trust this on-going way of progressing, avoiding the need for a reminder, will be time saving for all of us!

Toni

PS: you will have seen from the Bulletin sent out previously that some training is to be arranged. There is a half/one day gentle session to introduce people to Rules and Regs. Useful for newcomers as well as experienced folk.  This will be in November.  Can you share and give me numbers so I can see what the cost will be per head- (trying to keep to the minimum)- and where best to place the venue & date to capture the majority.   EBU are costing it out now and will offer dates.   Also we have half a dozen folk wanting to do the TD course pretty quickly so I will push for that to be held in Nottinghamshire asap but again likely to be Nov onwards as EBU are pretty booked.  Any more takers to make this a viable event - please share widely and let me know asap.  Any other ideas welcome- want a dialogue!

PPS.  If anyone is missed off this cc list please let me know and I will add them on- 

Dear Club Secretaries

In line with our remit to promote and support Bridge for all in our County, we are writing to inform you of 2 new events for our Improving Bridge players, and also some Training which we will attempt to organize if there is sufficient interest.  Please see the attached flyer and the information below and if you are interested, contact either the named person, Clare Batten NCBA Secretary or myself.

Regards

Toni

NCBA Communications & Promotions

Improvers’ events:

1. Aimed at the developing bridge player, a Wednesday afternoon drive is being arranged, hosted by Graham Brindley at the Nottingham Bridge Club. You do not need to be an EBU or Club member, nor come as a pair. No Fear Fun with Support to help you make the transition from beginners lessons to joining a club. Please see the attached flyer- this starts from 22 July. Just turn up!

2. Midland Improvers Competition

If you have been playing bridge for less than five years and have less than 5000 master points then you can enter this completion.  It is a new regional event across national venues and the EBU have donated the trophies.

NCBA has agreed to PAY the entry fee for one pair from each of its affiliated clubs to go to the event at Spondon on 3^rd July.  Of course more couples can attend. We would like Nottingham to be well represented at this new event. 

Further details can be found on the NCBA website which has a link to the event webpage.  The results from all the venues taking part will be merged to provide overall winners but each venue will award a pair of the trophies above.  There will also be a detailed commentary on the hands played similar to that provided at a SIMS event.

Each club is invited to determine which pair they will pay for but hopefully support other pairs to attend. If Clubs wish to split the payment NCBA will make across pairs that is down to them. Please contact Clare for more details and the payment.

Training/Coaching

We know from the NCBA survey last year that there about 5 clubs in the County who do not use qualified directors. It is always useful for players to know and understand the Rules of our exacting game, whether they wish to continue developing their knowledge and become a qualified Tournament Director (TD) or not. EBU put on TD courses but the closest ones we have found are Sheffield and Solihull which is not attractive to many due to the distance. This may be putting people off attending these useful courses. Accordingly:

1.                          We will seek to put on TD courses hosted by EBU in Nottingham if there is sufficient interest.

2.                         We will put on a day or evening bespoke course for players of all levels to enhance their understanding of the basic rules & Regulations.  Open to all including developing players.

3.                          We will secure a refresher course for qualified TD’s in Nottinghamshire- there are about 30 TD’s in our County although not all of these currently undertake TD duties. This refresher course is a good precursor for attempting the County TD course as well as just a knowledge top up.

4.                          We will support a few more qualified TD’s attempt the next level EBU qualification, the County TD’s course. This is only held once a year and is costly, but the County is prepared to support this if there is interest.

For all of these events, please contact Toni by 31 July for further details or to lodge an interest in one of the events.

And finally….

Nottingham University Bridge Club

 NCBA has agreed to support a foray into Nottingham University. The aim is to support the set up of a Bridge Club with some teaching , mentoring and playing with the hope that more young people can be supported  to learn and play bridge in Nottinghamshire. We already have some players willing to support this venture but need more. We want to have a small working group meeting shortly to take this forward- time is of the essence-we need to have this organized before the new University Term commences. If you can spare some time to help, even irregularly, at a Uni club drive or with mentoring/teaching, please contact Toni.