It is with great sadness that we record the death of Stuart Tredinnick.  The bridge world has lost a great player.  Stuart and his twin brother, Gerald, started their bridge careers as teenagers playing at Beckenham Bridge Club in the 1980s.  They were part of the team which won the World Junior Championship in 1989.  Stuart continued to have a stellar international, national and county career.  An account of his career may be found at:

https://www.ebu.co.uk/biographies/stuart-tredinnick

We extend our deepest condolences to Stuart’s family.

In view of the current situation with coronavirus and taking into account the fact that most of our members are in the vulnerable age group, the decision has been taken to

SUSPEND ALL ACTIVITIES OF BECKENHAM BRIDGE CLUB

until further notice.  This comprises the AGM, all evening and afternoon sessions and the teaching programme.

With the way things are evolving it seems certain that we would in any case be required to do this on public health advice in the near future.  Therefore it is not reasonable to take the extra risks for the sake of a few extra sessions.

We shall resume the activities of the club as soon as it is safe to do so.

There is wheelchair access and a lift. Parking is available in adjacent streets and there is a car park in St George's Road.

We operate a host system and aim to find visitors a partner, though to avoid disappointment it is advisable to contact a committee member.

Players are asked to be seated by 7.25 pm so that play can commence promptly at 7.30 pm and end at 10.30 pm.

Table money - which includes tea, coffee, cold drinks and biscuits, is £3.00 for members, students £2.00, visitors £4.00

Membership fees are £12 per annum.

CALLING ALL BRIDGE PLAYERS

Starting on January 16, 2020 we are offering duplicate bridge sessions

on Thursday afternoons at the Public Halls, Bromley Road, BR3 5JE.

The sessions will be from 2.30 to 5.30 and will be open to members and non-members.  Table money is £3 for all.

Please arrive in good time.  We expect to play 24 boards in the three hours.

For more information contact us by:

email: beckenham.bridge@gmail.co.uk

or phone John Erdos 020 8325 3633 or Barbara Noble 020 8658 4825

The class runs on Mondays from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

Spring Term dates: 6 January to 23 March

(Half Term 17 February)

Summer term dates: 20 April to 29 June

(Bank Holiday 25 May)

The current Beginners class is full. If you are interested in future classes please contact me. 

Please contact me via beckenham.bridge@gmail.com , or telephone Barbara Noble (020 8658 4825).

Currently there are no sessions specificaly for Improvers.

Improvers are encouraged to join our Thursday Afternoon Duplicate.

For further information, particularly if you new to our club, please contact

John Erdos on 0208 325 3633 or email beckenham.bridge@gmail.com

Please note that Improvers are welcome to join the main evening bridge club sessions,

provided that:

a) you can play 24 boards in 3 hours

b) there is no competition.

Please check on the Calendar page of the website. 

The Ladder Competition is normally held on the fourth Wednesday each month and runs from September through to July.

There are no changes to the rules and scoring for this year.

The Handicapped Ladder Competition is played concurrently with the Ladder using EBU NGS handicaps, which are updated each month.

If you want a bridge partner in advance for a particular evening, or more regularly, please contact Janet Prior.  Janet will email members with your email address and telephone number so anyone interested can contact you directly.

Important:  Please put 'Partner Wanted' as the email subject.  

Click here to send an email: Janet Prior   Telephone: 020 8650 4037or 07855 409045 (Mobile)

HANDICAPS

A new Handicapped Variety Pairs competition started in January 2017. We hope this will encourage members to play with a wider variety of partners in this popular competition.  The Handicapped Ladder continues in parallel with the main ladder. In both handicapped competitions, the points are awarded as in the normal competition, but using the handicapped result.

Handicaps are calculated from the gradings of the players on the English Bridge Union National Grading Scheme (NGS).  In order to have a handicap, each player must be on the club database and have an NGS grade.  The handicap is 50 minus the average of the NGS grades of the pair and the original percentage is modified by this amount.  From now on, the results of all pairs events will include the handicapped scores.  

The handicapped scores may be accessed from the "Handicap” button when calling up a result on the web.  The handicapped results will also be printed out at the end of each session.  The intention is to give everyone an equal chance based on their results in the recent past.  The clearest beneficiaries will be the players whose bridge skills are increasing.  It is hoped that improvers will be encouraged by this to enter more competitions and to reap success.