The Bridge Club has had a successful summer with increased attendances at most sessions. Thursday, at the Hillmorton Ex-Servicemens’ Club, has proved particularly popular with 11 tables at some sessions. Some of us can remember when three or four tables were the norm.
In addition our Friday afternoon bridge session is becoming very popular. Lately we have had 5, 6 and 7 tables - which is a record. We run a very friendly and fairly relaxed afternoon, which more and more people are enjoying and are returning to play. We are downstairs at Clifton, and it runs from 1.30 to 4.30pm, and sometimes a little later. We use the bridgemates and email the results out after the event. Why not come and give us a try? We look forward to seeing you there.
PAST AND FUTURE EVENTS
We have two away matches planned for the autumn, one against Daventry on Monday,
26th September, and the other against Kenilworth on Saturday, 8th October. We are still looking for pairs to complete the teams so if you are interested in playing please contact Peter Langley as soon as possible.
Christmas Social 14/15 December, venue to be arranged.
Annual Dinner to be arranged.
AGM January 17th 2012
The Rugby Rokeby Lions are holding their annual Charity Event on Sunday,
2nd October 2011 at the Railwaymen’s Club. Please see Chris Malthouse for tickets.
On 10th August we played the annual friendly match against Coventry, and lost as usual. We were pathetic in the first half but after some delicious cakes and biscuits (no alcohol) we did much better in the second half. There is always next year.
The following two events took place during the summer which were well supported and hopefully will be repeated next year.
RUBBER BRIDGE COMPETITION
A Rubber Bridge tournament was held over the summer, kicking off in May. The tournament embraced both RBC and non-RBC players and attracted a total of 19 pairs - a significant increase on 2011. It was held on a knock-out basis rather like the FA Cup! We have so far achieved one pair - Patti Jarvis and Judith Kleiner - for the Grand Final. The
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other Finalists will be decided on September 2nd when Peter Langley and Val Wormleighton meet Debbie Welch and myself in the other Semi-Final. I think that it's fair to say that all who have participated have enjoyed the experience and that there is value in mixing together all sections of our local bridge community. We also raised £100 for Myton Hospice on the way.
My thanks to all who took part and good luck to those contesting the last two matches. Looking forward to next year when I hope that even more of you will get involved.
Terry (Up the Villa) Bradbury
RUGBY AND DISTRICT BRIDGE LEAGUE SUMMER EVENT
At Hillmorton Ex-Servicemen’s Club on Sunday, 24th July, 11 teams played two twenty board sessions following a simple Howell movement. Between the two sessions a high tea was provided to sustain the participants. Thanks go to Wendy Pattinson, Cassie Shaw, Petr Malish, Jane Carrington and other contributors for the catering.
The raffle raised £67.00 towards the League’s funds for next season. Many thanks to everyone who contributed towards the prizes.
Congratulations go to the winning team of Marion Dixon, Helen Foster, Chris Malthouse and Val Wormleighton with 85IMPs who took home wine and chocolates as prizes. In second place were Petr Malish, Sue Osborne, Wendy Pattison and Cassie Shaw with 80IMPs. In third place was a new team with players Clare Dixon, John Drake, Hugh McClean and Phil Shorey gaining 74IMPs.
Full results, hands and positions are available on the League website to be found at http://www.bridgewebs.com/rugbyleague/.
Our special thanks go to Graham Clarke, non-playing Tournament Director, who gave up his day to support us and ensured that the Bridgemates worked for this double session. Thanks to Graham the event ran very smoothly and results were available promptly.
Dave and Wendy, our hosts at the Club, made sure that the venue worked smoothly despite the Arctic/Saharan subtlety of the air conditioning. Those of you who took up the Sunday lunch offer at the Club beforehand will have been handicapped by having difficulties staying awake in the first session!! A splendid lunch, Wendy, with the hot chocolate pudding providing important brain food.
THE SEARCH FOR NEW PREMISES
I am sorry to report that, following two meetings with Rugby Town Football Club, it seems that sadly we cannot continue to pursue the proposal for Rugby Bridge Club to fund the construction of a hospitality suite within the football ground and then use it over a period of many years.
There was a lot of goodwill on both sides and in theory the hospitality suite could have met our needs quite well. What proved to be an insuperable stumbling block, however, was that neither party could think of an effective way of safeguarding our very large initial investment. This would become important if, for example, problems arose during the construction of the suite which caused the design to change; or the football club went into
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liquidation or was taken over by another organisation during our period of occupation. We simply could not take the risk of losing some or all of such a large upfront investment.
This is a preliminary assessment pending further consideration by the Board, who will no doubt want to consider other possibilities too. Whatever happens, it seems likely that the search for new premises will continue.
Peter Langley
PAY TO PLAY BRIDGE AT HOME
Looking at the EBU website the other day I discovered that they are trying to get more money out of bridge players by extending the pay to play system to leagues such as our Rugby and District Bridge League. They tried this in 2009 when P2P was first proposed, but players turned around and said “Why should I pay the EBU when I play bridge with friends in my own house?”. On this occasion the EBU backed down but not without withdrawing the opportunity for leagues to obtain any EBU benefits. They did however condescend to allow leagues such as ours to register masterpoints. This was done with a blanket charge of £75, which was actually double what we had paid under the previous registration system and was only of relevance to EBU members.
Having got P2P accepted with Clubs sheepishly going along with it, Rugby Bridge Club being a notable exception, they are trying again. Look on the EBU website for a document entitled “Changes to the P2P, Masterpoint & Licensing framework”. These changes are to take effect from 1st April 2012. This document says: All Teams Leagues and team K/O matches will be subject to a P2P fee at 50% of the prevailing rate. Non-EBU members will pay the full national rate. Our members who play in the league will all become de facto members of the EBU simply by playing for a league team.
This charge will fall on the League. The League may choose to recover it from the individual players, but just think of the administrative effort required. The alternative is that the charge is recouped by a substantial rise in the registration fee for the individual teams and therefore a charge on the Clubs which pay for teams which represent their Club. The Clubs pay for their teams believing that it offers an extended bridge playing experience to Club Members, but leagues, as with county events, take members away from their own Club sessions where they would be paying the Table Money that is the life blood of the Club.
None of this affects the League for the season 2011-2012 and the changes will only affect the Leagues for the 2012-2013 season. Nothing should be changed within the League until discussion has taken place at the AGM in July 2012 when members can vote on the decision as to whether the League remains within in the EBU (simply to get masterpoints) or whether we play as a friendly League with no masterpoints - thus saving a lot of money.
Pete Augustus
Thanks Peter. This is an interesting piece of information and I am including this article as the vast majority of players in the League are members of Rugby Bridge Club and may well have strong views about this. I asked the League Secretary, Cassie Shaw, about this and she emailed me the following reply.
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“The League Committee is aware of the changes proposed by the EBU regarding the introduction of P2P fees for club matches. For the League any changes would not come into effect until September 2012. Therefore we have time to evaluate all options, consult with members and continue to have discussions with the EBU.
We would like to reassure League members that no decisions will be taken during the coming season but that opinions will be sought and members will have the opportunity to vote on any proposals at the AGM in July 2012.”
TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR’S CORNER
Stayman
I understand that some members assume that the use of Stayman specifically means that the enquirer has at least one four card major suit. This is not necessarily so and the Orange Book states that an artificial response of 2♣ to 1NT, asks the 1NT bidder to name a four card (or longer) major if he holds one, or otherwise to rebid 2♦, 3♣ over 2NT may be played similarly.
Please note that nothing more than the above is to be understood by the term Stayman. It is open to partnerships to have additional agreements, such as whether 2♣ promises a four card major, which suit is shown if both majors are held, what the rebids after Stayman are, or whether Stayman applies after 1NT or 2NT overcalls or rebids. Two agreements are shown below.
Promissory Stayman:-
The 2♣ response guarantees four or more cards in at least one major. This can be shown on convention cards as ‘Prom’.
Non-promissory Stayman:-
The 2♣ response does not guarantee four or more cards in at least one major. This can be shown on convention cards as ‘Non-P’.
Many people, including me, often refer to Non-promissory Stayman as Stayman in Weakness because the ideal hand for this request contains few points, a Club suit void, a five card diamond suit and two four card majors. Consequently any reply can be passed and defenders should recognise this. It can also be used as a transfer if responder is considering game in diamonds.
Malcolm Taylor
LETTER TO EDITOR
Incorrect Challenge- A one trick penalty?
I was listening to “Just a Minute” on the radio the other day and realised that in that game, if a player makes a challenge that is not substantiated, i.e. not accepted by the referee, in this case Nicholas Parsons, the challenge is thrown out and the challenger is penalised. Comparing “Just a Minute” with the game of duplicate bridge it becomes clear that in Bridge the challenger has nothing to lose, he might gain a penalty trick if he is successful but he is not risking anything by making the challenge. Perhaps our Tournament Directors could find a way of penalising malicious challengers.
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What I find particularly obnoxious is the type of challenge that implies that a partnership is “cheating”, supposedly intending to pass information through actions such as hesitation. This is very difficult to substantiate by the TD and is against the spirit of the game. We rely on players respecting the “Spirit of the Game”, just as it was in cricket. It is interesting that in our league matches we do not have this problem, but of course there is no TD there to be called.
Peter Augustus
EDITOR’S COMMENTS
Despite my pleas for contributions/letters to the editor, few have been forthcoming. Please let me know your thoughts, criticisms, suggestions which will remain anonymous if you wish. It will make this newsletter so much more interesting. If you wish to contribute by email, would you please send articles as attachments, and preferably in Times New Roman font 12pt, to thepattinsons@hotmail.com.
COMPUTERS, EMAILS AND ALL THAT
I am aware that some members do not have computers and maybe would like to be introduced to the world of word-processing, emails, Google and the like. If this is the case please contact me and I may be able to help.
CONDUCT AT THE BRIDGE TABLE
The Board of Directors has tried this year to emphasise that bridge at our Club should be played in a friendly pleasant atmosphere at all times. It is very off-putting for new and/or inexperienced players to meet unpleasant, argumentative members. Players should be civil not only to their opponents but also to their partners. In fact over the years we have lost members due to the unpleasant behaviour of some individuals. Sadly over recent weeks some players have been upset by the attitude of players who should know better, and I would urge those guilty to watch their behaviour in future.
MEMBERS’ NEWS
I am happy to learn that some of our members, who cannot play at the moment such as Marjorie Davies and Jane Smith, down in deepest France, enjoy reading the newsletters.
I am sure that you will be pleased to learn that Lionel Franklyn, who is a founder member of the Club, is recovering well after a stroke and has been on a Mediterranean cruise which he enjoyed immensely and is starting to play bridge again.
We also wish to welcome three new members, Tony Pickering, David Symon and John Leaviss. We hope you enjoy your bridge with the Club.
My thanks to all those who have contributed, with particular thanks to Chris Cooper who puts the finishing touches to the newsletters.
Wendy Pattinson
Editor
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