All April and remaining March bridge sessions are running.
Many of you would benefit from attending some or all of the weekly improver classes. You have 2 choices - 10am Tuesday or 7pm Thursday. The cost is £12.60 per session.
Thursday 28th March - Cue bidding
Tuesday 9th and Thursday 11th April - Defence to 1NT: Landy
Tuesday 16th and Thursday 18th April - Bidding 4441 opening hands
Tuesday 23rd and Thursday 25th April - The UCB
New Beginners course Wednesday evenings from 10th April
We will be starting a new beginners course on Wednesday evenings (7-9pm) from 10th April. There are places available for additional people. Contact me or Sandra Webb for further details.
Intermediate to Advanced Training Sessions
We are trialling a new series of intermediate to advanced training sessions. These are aimed at players with NGS 9 or above. However, anyone can attend.
Steve Green will be running the sessions. He has a fantastic reputation in the bridge world.
Steve has been a Warwickshire member for over 40 years; having graduated from Warwick University.
He has played for England as both a Junior and a Senior and has run Masterclasses mostly at West Midlands Bridge Club, but also at Coventry and Rugby.
He is currently Vice-Chair of the EBU Laws & Ethics Committee. More details of Steve’s biography can be found on the
EBU Website.
The dates for the 3 trial sessions are:
1.30pm Wednesday 17th April - Competitive Bidding - When to sacrifice and competing over 1NT
10am Friday 26th April - Competitive Bidding - How to use 2NT
1.30pm Wednesday 8th May - Competitive Bidding - How to support partner
The interactive sessions last 3 to 3.5 hours and comprise a presentation, followed by the play of example hands which put into practice the topics presented.
For this reason it is beneficial, but not essential, to sign up in partnerships. Handouts will provided at the end of each session.
The cost for each session is £26.40; payable on the day via the card machine.
If you are interested please put your name (& partner’s name, if applicable) on the sign up sheets at the club or email me. The event has been advertised at other local bridge clubs. There are still places available for all 3 sessions.
Social events - Save the dates
We have 3 afternoon social events planned for this year:
- Saturday 8th June - summer social with pizzas
- Friday 6th September - Festival of bridge - charity event for cancer research
- Friday 13th December - Christmas social
Partner finding WhatsApp group
There are 50 people on the partner finding WhatsApp group. It is being used successfully to find partners for ad hoc bridge sessions. If you want to be added to the group,
please send Alan a WhatsApp message with your name.
Marketing / Advertising experience?
Do you have any experience in marketing or advertising? Could you help us to improve the material produced by the bridge club? Contact me for more information.
Thursday afternoon 18th April - Teams event
Thursday afternoon 18th April will be a one off teams event. You can enter as a team of 4 or just turn up as a pair and be teamed up on the day.
Anybody can enter, but to eligible to win, no more than 2 team members can have a NGS of 10 or higher at 31st August 2023.
Normally, Roger & I act as host pair. We would appreciate another pair to volunteer as a host pair. If you get to play you would play for free. If you don’t, you will each get a free ticket for any future bridge session.
Pairs competition - Sunday 21st April - Rugby
Rugby bridge club are running a two session pairs competition with a mid-afternoon break with a fabulous buffet, at The Railway Club, Hillmorton Road, Rugby, CV22 5AL.
It runs from 12.30pm to approximately 8pm. The cost is £19 per person, which includes the buffet supper. Profits are being donated to The Rugby Speech therapy unit.
See our website or club notice board for more details.
Mentored Teams - Sunday 28th April - Coventry Bridge Club
Coventry Bridge Club are running a fun mentored teams event at their club on Sunday 28th April.
Teams need to consist of a mentor from our club and 3 ‘novice’ players. A novice player is someone who has been playing bridge for up to 4 years and has less than 2,500 master points (below the rank of county master).
If you’re interested please put your name on the sign up sheet at the club; or email me. So far, we have 4 teams, but there is room for more teams.
Championship Handicap Pairs - Thursday 16th May
Thursday afternoon 16th May will be a one off Championship Handicap Pairs competition at our club. Anyone can enter.
Play without the experts festival - 8th to 11th September - Preston
As part of the EBU festival of bridge week, to raise the profile of bridge and money for cancer research,
Oliver Cowan is running a 3-day residential ‘play without the experts festival’ Sunday 8th to Wednesday 11th September at Barton Manor Hotel & Spa, Preston. All profits are being donated to the charity.
Only people with an NGS grade of 10 or below are entitled to attend. Therefore this excludes ‘experts’. All sessions are hosted so no partner is required.
As well as bridge there will be two teaching seminars; one is being run by our very own Adam Hickman, who has an excellent reputation teaching at our club.
This is a great opportunity to attend a relaxed bridge congress. If you’ve never been to a congress before, this is the first one you should attend.