As a result of the new Covid variant in circulation the Committee strongly recommends that all players wear a mask at face to face bridge on Tuesday.

This reflects the current uncertainty about the impact of the new variant and we will return to normal as soon as possible.  However this is a time to be more cautious and more vigilant.

Master Point Promotion - October

Congratulations to Margaret O'Malley who was promoted to Club Master in October having been promoted to Local Master in September.

There is a provisional list below of special events for next year.

February 15th - Tuesday -  Major and Minor Championship
March 8th - Tuesday - Club Stratified Sim Pairs 2022
April 7th - Thursday - British Spring Sim Pairs
June 9th - Thursday - Mens and Ladies Pairs
July 27th - Tuesday - EBU Summer Sims
September 6th - Tuesday - Burrows Cup
October 13th - Thursday - Autumn Sim Pairs
November 8th and 10th - Tuesday and Thursday - Children in Need

November 9th and 11th - Link to website:

Link to National Results and Commentary

The EBU waives its charge for these events and the whole of the table money is sent to Children in Need.  If you want to make an additional donation this can be done at:

Children in Need donations

On your behalf the club has donated £200 to Children in Need.

If you click on this link you will see a short video of the process for making a reservation - no sound:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gWauFEyGQDYwfybf5wB86XmEPLXZzcBk/view?usp=sharing

It will not autostart - you need to press the play button.

Tested on a Windows Laptop and a Chromebook

Accessing your payments account details

Choose the menu option Membership.  You will be asked for either your email or your name or your EBU number.  Once you have entered your password a horizontal menu will be shown and the third option is "Payments" which will display a summary of your account.

If you don't have a password instructionss for creating one can be found here:

https://www.bridgewebs.com/guideus/page183.html

This process requires you to receive and respond to an email.  Some email systems seem to be putting these into spam or rejecting them as suspicious.  If you don't get an email get in touch with Paul (morris.dpaul@gmail.com) and I will set up a password for you.

With the start of colder weather we need to adjust the safety protocols at Buckingham Park.  This is aimed at improving the balance between the need to provide enough warmth for bridge to be played and the need to ventilate the room as recommended by the government.  In future we will aim to maintain a temperature in the range of 16-18 degrees centigrade.  Changes to achieve this may include: shutting the external door, shutting one or both windows and turning on the heating.  These changes could cover the whole session or part of it.  We need to experiment to establish the best combination.  Internal doors will continue to be left open.

The recommendation to wear warm clothes is unchanged.

Whatever solution is found it will be a compromise and we need to treat each other with respect and kindness.

AYLESBURY ACES BRIDGE CLUB

COMMITTEE 2021 - 22

Madeleine Bowden        Chairperson

Yvonne Black             Secretary 

Pat Green                Treasurer 

Linda Button             Membership secretary

Paul Morris               Website / online administrator 

Christine Bufton     Fiona Scriven     John Rogers.     

The first Face to Face meeting at Buckingham Park on Tuesday September 7th was a success and Tuesday meetings will continue to be face to face.  To ensure that the room is not too full you must book a place in advance.  Booking opens at 9am on the Wednesday before the session.

In the menu to the left there is a new entry with the description Face to Face Bridge.  If you click on this it will give you access to:

Summary of safety protocols

How to Book

Club Risk Assessment

FAQ - not available yet as no questions asked

Currently Aylesbury Aces is hosting two Club Sessions each week.

On a Tuesday evening at 7:30 pm there is a Club Night which follows the full EBU online rules and is Face to Face at Buckingham Park

On a Thursday evening at 7:30 pm there is a Club Night which follows the full EBU online rules and is on Realbridge.

On a Wednesday morning at 10:00 am there is a Relaxed Bridge Session for learners and improvers.  This is restricted to players or partnerships with an NGS grade of 6 or less.  It also uses Realbridge. 

If you want to join any of these sessions please contact Paul Morris on paulbridgelessons@gmail.com.

If you are interested in learning how to play bridge, improving your game or returning to playing bridge after a gap of a few years please contact Paul Morris on paulbridgelessons@gmail.com.

From now on the link will appear under the calendar entry on the right hand side of this screen.  The session will open at about 18:00.

The links to previous events now appear as part of the results calendar - in the list of pairs and scores it is the final item in the menu above the table.

Alerting and Announcing
For Tuesday bridge on BBO you need to self alert and announce.  On Thursdays on Realbridge you should alert and announce your partners bids as you would face to face.  If you are having microphone issues please use the chat.  There is a full list of what needs to be alerted and announced in the menu to the left under Conventions Explained - Convention Cards.  The most frequent announcements are for 1 Club when it doesn't mean clubs, point count for 1NT and 2NT, stayman and transfers.   Alerts include any artificial bids on the first round of the auction - e.g. Landy.  If your partner makes an artifical bid you should press the alert button and provide an explanation if requested by your opponents.  If you partner wrongly gives an explanation of their own bid this is unauthorised information and you should bid as though they hadn't said anything.  

Undos are not permitted except in exceptional circumstances and if authorised by the director.

Every hour please click the redial button - two arrows (next to the eye).

Each session costs £2-50 and you will be billed at the end of the month.

There is a list below of special events for the year.  Lets hope we can play some of them face to face.

March 9th - Tuesday - Major and Minor Championship
June 10th - Thursday - Mens and Ladies Pairs
July 27th - Tuesday - EBU Summer Sims
September 7th - Tuesday - Burrows Cup
October 14th - Thursday - Autumn Sim Pairs
November 9th - Tuesday - Children in Need (?)

Dear Friends

Thank you all so much for supporting the Strawberry Bridge last week, whether by playing, buying raffle tickets or making donations.  Thanks to your generosity we made a whopping £4,600, every penny of which will be spent on giving Oxford Mencap’s members a lovely break at Hill End Camp after what has been a horrible fifteen months for them.  The holidays are now in full swing and going wonderfully well.

Very best wishes

Krzysia Gossage

Robots as Partners

All members that play online bridge need to be aware that the policy decided by the Committee is that it is not permitted to play with a robot if you cannot find a partner through WhatsApp or another method.

Congratulations to all the cup winners this year, announced at this year’s AGM.

Congratulations to the winners of the Mens and Ladies Pairs

Ladies: Norma Moore and Pat Lindsey

Men: Graham Arnold and Paul Morris

On-Line Competitions

Aylesbury Aces are now holding on-line competitions on Tuesday and Thursday, in line with the face-to-face club.

If you want to join in please contact Paul Morris at paulbridgelessons@gmail.com.

Burrows Cup - weighted results below

I am very sad to inform you of the death of Peter Jordan having contracted Covid 19 at his care home.  I know that some of you will have known Peter through his work promoting bridge in the area through Cafe Bridge, lessons and Really Easy events.  I am sure we would all want to send our sincere condolences to his family and friends

We have had the following message from Barbara:

Dear Friends

In light of the current situation we are not be able to come together in person to commemorate Peter's life. We will aim to do something when circumstances allow and we will let you know the details, but we don't know when that will be. In the meantime, we have created an online memorial page which you can visit, and leave a message on if you would like to. We have also set up a Just Giving page in Peter's name. We've already had so many lovely flowers there isn't much room for many more so if you would like to make a small donation instead that would be lovely. We'll donate any money evenly between Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust and the Towersey Playing Fields Fund. 

Thanks you again for all your kind wishes

Barbara

Links

https://www.mykeeper.com/momentos/PeterJordan/#96085

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/peter-jordan-thame

Click on the menu item 'Lockdown Ladder' to see how you are doing during these strange times.

Every Wednesday morning session and the new Tuesday evening sessions are included. To get onto the ladder you have to play at least 25% of the sessions. The 'random players' that Paul sometimes has to bring in to make up the numbers don't count but may appear on the list.

Bridge Club Live (https://www.bridgeclublive.com/) are now accepting new members after halting new applications for a short while.  If you are on the waiting list you will get an email describing how to join.  Don't forget there is a special trial memebership for EBU members on the EBU website page:  under the heading ​​​​ "A special offer for EBU Members - try BCL for free".  Instructions covering the way to register and play have been issued by the club.    

Funbridge is another option and I'm not aware of any capacity issues.  They offer daily competitions against three robot players including ones awarding EBU masterpoints.

Please contact me if you need help on paulbridgelessons@gmail.com or 07956442273.

Other ways to play online are shown on the EBU website: https://www.ebu.co.uk/.

Tuesday March 10th

Congratulations to 

Major Pairs champions : Paul Morris and Martin Wright

Minor Pairs champions : Norma Moore and Sheila Sylvester

Trophies will be presented at the AGM in October

We meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Community Centre, Prince Rupert Drive, Buckingham Park, Aylesbury.

Sessions start at 7.25 (for 7.30) and finish around 10.30.

Our aim is to provide Duplicate bridge with an emphasis on enjoyment in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

We are affiliated to the EBU and use pre-dealt boards and BridgeMate scoring which means hand records and results are usually available on the night before players leave.
In addition to the normal club sessions we run quarterly social events (often on a Sunday afternoon) where, in addition to the bridge, a sumptuous tea provided.
Visitors are welcome to come and play at normal club sessions and the social events, although there are some restrictions on Simultaneous Pairs evenings.
We are delighted to welcome new players and do our very best to provide a host to partner visiting individuals - SEE LEFT HAND SIDE BOX.

This site is built with BridgeWebs, the easy web solution.

Since our club was set up in 2009, Aylesbury Aces has been committed to raising money for charity through our annual Charity Bridge teas and Chldren in Need Sim Pairs.

At our last AGM a member asked how much had been raised over the years, After much 'digging' through the records it was a pleasant surprise to learn that we have in fact donated around £6,500; including the generous fund match from Lloyds bank, to various local charities including Age Concern, British heart Foundation, Alzheimer's Society and the Florence Nightingale Hospice as well as nearly £1,000 to Children in Need.

It's nice to know that we are helping good causes whilst enjoying playing bridge with our friends.