Aylesbury Aces Bridge Club
a friendly local Bridge Club, with the emphasis on enjoyment, welcoming all bridge players.
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Welcome to Aylesbury Aces Bridge Club - We play duplicate pairs using pre-dealt hands - We are affiliated to the English Bridge Union and issue master points

The Club meets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m., at Buckingham Park Community Centre in Aylesbury. Please be seated by 7:20. The cost is £4 for members, £4-50 for non-members.

Coming to us by car - there is ample parking at Buckingham Park. Click here for a map showing our location.

Find a partner using WhatsApp

We have a WhatsApp group that can be used by members who need a partner. There is a help sheet in the left hand side of the menu to read first, under "Information." If you are not part of the group please contact Linda on 07796 685094 and ask to be added.

https://www.facebook.com/AylesburyBridge

Guests, visitors and new members are most welcome - please contact us by email to let us know that you are coming. We do our very best to provide a host to partner visiting individuals

Contact us by email or you can call John Rogers on 07490 803769.

Joining us - If you are an experienced bridge player then get in touch so we can help you to join the club.

If you are a bit rusty you might like to try our Wednesday morning session of relaxed bridge.

If you are a beginner get in touch with Paul Morris on 07956 442273 for information about lessons or go to http://www.bridgewebs.com/paulgillslessons

Training Session on Five Card Majors and Strong No-Trump

The final lesson of my Beginner's Course covers Five Card Majors and Strong No-Trump.  It will take place at the Oaks Cafe on July 7th at 7:15 and will last about two hours.  This is the same session that I ran in July 2024.  The charge for those not attending the beginner's course will be £10.  If any member of the club would like to attend please let me know in person or on paulbridgelessons@gmail.com.

Last updated : 10th Jun 2025 09:39 BST
Home Counties Cup

Last updated : 16th Jun 2025 08:58 BST
New Bridge Training Opportunities - Beginners and Continuing Bridge

Full Beginners Classes

A new set of Beginners Classes will start on 29th September 2025.  The lessons will take place at the Oaks Cafe, Elm Court, Elm Farm Rd, Aylesbury HP21 7NQ on a Monday morning at 10 a.m.  Each session will last about two hours and will cost £10. The initial course will last for ten weeks. Part one covers 30 sessions in all and there is an optional part 2 of another 30 sessions (see below).  Please get in touch at paulbridgelessons@gmail.com if you want any further information or know someone who would like to join the course. 

New Continuing Bridge Course

This is the second year of the EBU course and develops what was taught in Beginning Bridge.  It covers declarer play, defence and introduces some new conventions e.g. the unassuming cue bid.  The lessons will be slightly different from last time as I will be using slides provided by the EBU.  

The lessons will take place at the Oaks Cafe, Elm Court, Elm Farm Rd, Aylesbury HP21 7NQ on a Monday afternoon at 2p.m.on a roughly fortnightly basis and will cost £10 per lesson.  The first lesson is on September 29th 2025.  To guarantee a place you can pay in advance in blocks of five - if you miss any of the five you will not be charged for that lesson.  If there are spare places for a lesson they will be available to anyone who wants to join on a first come, first served basis.  Please get in touch at paulbridgelessons@gmail.com if you want any further information or to join the course. 

The timetable of lessons is:

Topic

Number of Lessons

Dates

Lesson Subjects

Planning the play

1

2025

Sep 29

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Developing the auction

4

Oct 13

Oct 27

Nov 10

Nov 24

Hand evaluation / LTC

Red suit transfers

Strong responses

Bidding the 4th suit

Defensive Guidelines

3

Dec 8

2026

Jan 5

Jan 19

3rd hand play, signaling and unblocking

 

2nd hand play - when declarer has the lead

Lead through strength and lead partners suit

Competitive bidding

7

Feb 2

Feb 16

Mar 2

Mar 16

Apr 13

Apr 27

May 11

The wider use of takeout doubles 

A second double

Double of 1NT

Negative doubles

More on doubles

Bidding after 1NT

Protective bidding

Declarer play

2

Jun 8

Jun 22

Basic Declarer Technique including the Danger Hand 

Counting by declarer

Tidying up and bending the rules

2

Sep 21

Oct 5

Showing Shape

Bidding awkward hands

Defenders Play

3

Oct 19

Nov 2

Nov 16

Signals and discards

Count signal on declarers lead

Making tricks with trumps

Slam bidding

2

Nov 30

Dec 14

Review of what we know and use of Blackwood

Cue bidding

The final countdown

5

2027

Jan 4

Jan 18

Feb 1

Feb 15

Mar 1

Mar 15

Landy defence to a 1NT opening bid

4441 hands

The Unassuming Cue Bid

Signals in the trump suit

Duplicate tactics

End of year competition

 

 

Last updated : 16th Jun 2025 09:03 BST
2025 Dates for Your Diary
Thursday July 24th
British Summer SIM Pairs
Tuesday September 9th
Burrows Cup
Tuesday October 7th
British Autumn SIM pairs
Tuesday November 11th
Children in Need
Thursday November 13th
Children in Need
Last updated : 4th Jun 2025 05:26 BST
Strawberry bridge 2025

Last updated : 1st May 2025 09:01 BST
New Continuing Bridge Course

New Continuing Bridge Course

This is the second year of the EBU course and develops what was taught in Beginning Bridge.  It covers declarer play, defence and introduces some new conventions e.g. the unassuming cue bid.  The lessons will take place at the Oaks Cafe, Elm Court, Elm Farm Rd, Aylesbury HP21 7NQ on a Monday afternoon at 2p.m.on a roughly fortnightly basis and will cost £10 per lesson.  To guarantee a place you can pay in advance in blocks of five - if you miss any of the five you will not be charged for that lesson.  If there are spare places for a lesson they will be available to anyone who wants to join on a first come, first served basis.  Please get in touch at paulbridgelessons@gmail.com if you want any further information or to join the course. 

The topics that will be covered are:

Topic
Date
Lesson Subjects
Slam bidding
Jan 22
Review of what we know and use of Blackwood
Feb 19
Cue bidding
The final countdown
Mar 4
Landy defence to a 1NT opening bid
Mar 18
4441 hands
Apr 8
The Unassuming Cue Bid
Apr 22
Signals in the trump suit
Finishing second year
May 13
Play hands on whole year work - Revision hands for a play session.
Jun 3
 
Last updated : 16th Jun 2025 09:00 BST
Donations to Florence Nightingale Hospice

Last updated : 11th Apr 2025 22:28 BST
Annual Fish and Chip Charity Event - Saturday March 22nd

Thanks to all who played and those who contributed to the raffle.  We will be donating about £450 to Florence Nightingale Hospice.

Last updated : 27th Mar 2025 10:07 GMT
Major and Minor Pairs Championship

Major and Minor Pairs Championship

Congratulations to the winners:  

Major Pairs - Paul Morris and Graham Arnold

Minor Pairs - Linda Button and Lynne Padget

Stratification is shown on the results page.  If you have prevented the download of your NGS information then your pair will be placed in the highest stratification (A).

 

Last updated : 7th Mar 2025 09:52 GMT
Summary of Alerting and Announcing - changed 1st August 2024

The EBU have published a revised set of rules for alerting and announcing.  A link to a summary is under Information in the left hand menu.

Whilst we will apply these rules where necessary they are too detailed for most of the conventions used at the club.  You are expected to follow at least this slimmed down version:

ANNOUNCE - said by the partner of the person who bid

Any bid of one of suit that may not be natural - usually required by those who play five card majors who will need to announce 1 club and/or 1 diamond as "may be as few as 2" or "Better minor".  The EBU do not require "Better Minor" to be announced - this is a club rule and the only way that Aylesbury Aces deviates from the EBU guidelines.

Strength of an opening 1NT bid - usually 12-14 or 15-17

Stayman

Red suit transfers - announce as "transfer" or the suit that must be bid ("hearts" or "spades")

Any opening bid at the two level which shows six card suit and 5-9 points should be announced as weak

Bidding a new suit in response to partner opening 1 of a suit - announce "game-forcing" if it is

ALERT - the partner of the person who bid displays the alert card and describes the bid ONLY IF ASKED TO BY THE OTHER PAIR

The  rule for this is less complicated.  It applies to all bids below 3NT which are artificial or have a specific unexpected meaning and aren't announced. 

 

Last updated : 27th Jan 2025 08:45 GMT
AGM October 15th 2024 - Cup Winners
Chairman’s Cup
Robert Stevens
Ladies Championship
Fiona Scriven and Cathryn Comben

 
Men’s Championship
Ray Connew and Nick Stubs
Major Championship
Paul Morris and Graham Arnold

 
Minor Championship
Jan Morris and Kay Day

 
Brian Burrows Cup
Lynne Padget and Maggi Simpson
Most Improved Player shield
Bill Oehlman

Last updated : 27th Oct 2024 10:07 GMT
FUND RAISING UPDATE

 

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 Children in Need Sim Pairs.

At a recent 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 £12,300; including the generous fund match from Lloyds Bank (pre-Covid), to various local charities including Age Concern, British Heart Foundation, Alzheimer's Society and the Florence Nightingale Hospice as well as nearly £2,000 to Children in Need.

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

(Updated 4th May 2025)

Last updated : 4th May 2025 08:45 BST
Aylesbury Aces Committee 2024/25

AYLESBURY ACES BRIDGE CLUB

COMMITTEE 2024 - 25

Chairperson
Yvonne Black
Secretary
John Rogers
Treasurer
Joan Bridges
Membership secretary
Linda Button
Main Director
Paul Morris
Other Committee members
Fiona Scriven
Last updated : 3rd Jun 2025 16:03 BST
Accessing a summary of your payments account

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.

 

Last updated : 11th Apr 2025 22:35 BST
If you are looking for a bridge club

We meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Buckingham Park Community Centre, Jubilee Square, Aylesbury HP19 9DZ

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.

Last updated : 11th Apr 2025 22:36 BST
Best Behaviour at Bridge

Bridge is an extremely enjoyable game. Courteous behaviour is an exceptionally important part of that enjoyment. The EBU is committed to the principle of equality of opportunity. It considers it a fundamental principle that anyone wishing to participate in duplicate bridge, whether as player, official or in any other capacity, should be able to do so in a safe and welcoming environment, and not be subject to less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, race, disability, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religious or political belief or social class than any other person. 
 
This guide serves as a brief reminder of how to behave at the bridge table. We are sure that all players naturally follow this code of conduct but there are times when concentration and pressure can take their toll and it is for these situations that we issue this as a reminder. 
 

  • Greet others in a friendly manner prior to start of play on each round.
  • Be a good “host” or “guest” at the table.
  • Make your convention card readily available to your opponents and fill it out completely.
  • Make bridge enjoyable for yourself, partner and opponents.
  • Give credit when opponents make a good bid or play.
  • Take care of your personal grooming.
  • Ensure that your mobile phone is turned off.
  • Enjoy the company as well as the game. 

Remember that it is rude to criticise your partner or opponents in public, to be less than polite at the table, to gloat over good results or object to a call for the tournament director or to dispute or argue about a director’s ruling, or generally to make any personal and disparaging remark. 

 

Please call the Director if you think you may have been affected by bad behaviour.  You will be helping others as well as yourselves.

 

As in all games that are governed by rules and regulations, bad behaviour will be penalized ….
 
If a player at the table behaves in an unacceptable manner, the director should be called immediately.  Annoying behaviour, embarrassing remarks, or any other conduct which might interfere with the enjoyment of the game is specifically prohibited by Law 74A.  Law 91A gives the director the authority to assess disciplinary penalties.  This can include immediate disciplinary board penalties and may lead to disqualification from the current event. In addition any violation may result in a disciplinary hearing where player(s) future participation in tournaments will be considered. 

English Bridge Union
November 2017 

Last updated : 11th Apr 2025 22:36 BST
Master Points Promotions - May 2025
EBU

Congratulations to the following who were promoted during May:

Richard Devas
1 Star Premier Master


Current EBU Rankings for club members (who have opted in) are available here

Results
Duplicate Pairs
Director: Paul
Duplicate Pairs
Director: Mary
Duplicate Pairs
Director: Paul
Duplicate Pairs
Director: Mary
Duplicate Pairs
Director: Fiona
Calendar
Tue 24th Jun 2025
Duplicate Pairs
Buckingham Park 7.25
Director: Fiona
Thu 26th Jun 2025
Duplicate Pairs
Buckingham Park 7.25
Director: Fiona
Sat 28th Jun 2025
Aylesbury Grand Slam Bridge Contest
Mandeville School 10:30
Director: Ian Mitchell
Tue 1st Jul 2025
Duplicate Pairs
Buckingham Park 7.25
Director: Paul
Thu 3rd Jul 2025
Duplicate Pairs - Possible Pro-Am with Paul's students
Buckingham Park 7.25
Director: Mary