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:

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

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).

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. 

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)

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.

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.

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. 

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