Alan Reid

It is with great sadness that we report that Alan Reid has died after a long illness. As well as being a popular member of Bath BC, Alan was one of our regular directors and, until recently, our Treasurer. Some tributes from members:

"Bridge was a very important part of his life – he was good at encouraging less experienced players to take on new challenges to improve their confidence."

"He was always very helpful at the table – encouraging and constructive. He was prepared to play with you and teach you."

"He played bridge the way it should be played and faced his illness with both good humour and a remarkable sense of positivity."

"Over the decades I never heard Alan complain about anything. He faced the adverse odds in the same manner that he played bridge – always good humoured and optimistic of a successful outcome."

"Above all I think he would like to be remembered as remaining positive & cheerful in the face of his health challenges and that he continued to contribute to club and county for as long as he was physically able to do so."

We offer our deepest condolences to Alan's family. The funeral will be held in December.

Tuesday 24 November 2020

There are two major websites which allow you to watch, practise and play bridge online: these are Bridge Base Online and the EBU-affiliated Bridge Club Live. Signing up is easy – and either free or involving a very modest fee, depending on your needs. Various levels of competition are available, some with Masterpoints, and you can play with a regular partner or find a partner online. There are also plenty of practice opportunities that you can access alone. 

If you're interested, we recommend that you sign up for one or both of these sites and explore what's available. Playing online is a bit different from playing at a real table, so give it a try and familiarise yourselves with the way it all works, so you're ready for our online club events if/when they become available. Links are provided below.

In some ways, playing online is easier than normal bridge – see the article at the top of the page for one player's view.

We're also setting up a 'help team' of Bath BC members who can call you on request to talk you through any problems. Again, watch this space for details.

See you online!

We think the best currently available online bridge for Bath BC members are the 12-board EBU matches on BBO. The more competitive of these run at 2.00 pm, 3.30 pm, 7.30 pm and 9.00 pm seven days a week. There is also a relaxed game, limited to players up to and including NGS 9, which runs at 11 am and 7.30 pm every day.

Sessions last 90 minutes. Most people prearrange a partner, but you can play with a robot (!) if you wish. Each session costs BB$2 per player, but BBO also host many other bridge games which are either free or cost just BB$1. To get started:

• Sign up for BBO – use the link above to reach the website. Membership is free.
• Purchase some credit in dollars – BB$20 will last you for a while.
• (optional) Fix up a convention card with a partner. Alternatively, just tell each new set of opponents your basic system and make sure you 'self-alert' – see further down the page.
• Get a feel for how it works: sit in on a game as kibitzer and/or chat to a Bath BC member who's familiar with BBO – email chris@boxbridge.co.uk for the latter.
• Take the plunge – register for an upcoming game – again, see below for details – and play.

The Andrew Robson Bridge Club has produced some short YouTube videos explaining how to set up on BBO. There are links to these directly below. Many thanks to the ARBC for sharing these with us.

To find an upcoming EBU game, choose Competitive, then put 'EBU' in the search box, and choose the game you want from the resulting list. You can then invite a partner (who should also be online) to play in the game, and either pay for both or go Dutch.