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| No Fear Bridge at Congresses |
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The next county event for No Fear Pairs is being held in Cheltenham and organised by Cheltenham Bridge Club. Two sessions of pairs on Friday 2nd of May, with the first session starting at 2pm. The evening session starts at 7.45pm and you can choose to play either or both. Entry fee £5 per session. Pairs who play in both sessions will be eligible for the 'Rolf Garside Trophy'. The cup holders are Megan Davis & Gillian Grant Duff. The venue is The Chase Hotel, Shurdington Road, Brockworth, Gloucester, GL3 4PB.
Please ring Anne Swannell on 01452 760228 for more details.
Next month, it's the turn for players in the Oxford area. The next event is the ‘Sandra Landy Trophy’ (holders Alan Snell & Eve Barwell) on Saturday 28th June at Steventon Village Hall, The Green, Steventon, OX13 6AA. This is a two session event. The entry fee is £16 to include afternoon tea between the sessions. I’ve been told it’s worth going just for the tea!
Entries to Alan Grunwald (AlanG@nurdglaw.demon.co.uk) 1 Elm Tree Cottage, Grove Road, Wantage, Oxon OX12 7BS.
Both of these congresses have Swiss Teams on the Sunday which are also a good starting point for aspiring county players. (sees next article to find out about Swiss Teams)
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| Swiss Pairs and Swiss Teams Events |
These may sound a bit continental but the Swiss idea comes from chess. As there is insufficient time to play against everybody there has to be a sensible way of finding opponents other than by drawing lots or tossing a coin.
Starting positions. In the first round it is decided by drawing lots. You play a match (usually of seven or eight boards) against your opponents which is more than you play in the club where rounds are normally two or three boards. But it means you get the chance to learn more about your opponents - whether they are any good. At the end of the round the final score is calculated. A ranking list is produced based on your total score for all matches so far.
Now this is where the Swiss element comes in - for the next round you are matched against a pair/team with the same score as you. Now you play another match and carry on for as many matches as there are in the tournament, moving up or down the field at the end of each round. The higher you get the tougher your opponents should be.
The other element in a Swiss event is that you only play against another pair/team once; so even if you are leading the field you cannot place against the pair/team lying second if you have played them before. You will be drawn against the leading contestant you haven't previously played.
At the end of the tournament the pair/team with the highest score wins.
Scoring
Scoring in Swiss Pairs events is done by the TD and the official scorers; scoring in Swiss Teams is easily done by the players. But in either case each match is played for 20 Victory Points. You share the 20 VPs between you and your opponents. You might win your match 20-0 or 14-6 or lose it 1-19.
You might even draw it 10-10. To win 20-0 in Swiss Pairs you have to score about 66% of the available Match Points whilst in Swiss Teams you have to win by 30 or more IMPs.
Swiss events are great fun and even if you are fairly new you will soon find your own level in the field.
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| Cambridge Novice Pairs Event |
If you live in Cambridge you might have just played in their very successful Novice Pairs competition. There was a really impressive turnout of 14 full tables.
Congratulations to the winners Geoff Burbidge & John Frampton who maintained a high score of 67.05% over two sessions.
Full ranking list here.
If you would like to find out more about Bridge in the Cambs and Hunts area go to http://www.cambsbridge.org.uk/ |
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| Holidays |
| Keep looking under the left-hand side headings, for Bridge breaks, County events etc. The ones advertised here are all suitable for beginners and/or advanced beginners. Latest addition are the Sandra Landy weekends with bridge and walking. Trevor King currently arranges 4 weeks of Ski and Bridge in the winter months. |
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