This season's BBL Pivot Cup was won by a BFBC team, so congratulations to Hang Lac, Amanda O'Neill, Bill Ross and Jim Graham, who beat a team from Finchampstead BC in the final. After trailing for most of the 24 board match, victory by just  6 IMPS was secured on the final two boards. A big thank-you also to Mary Harvey, who came into the team as a last minute reserve in the semi-final against a team from Camberley BC.  Well done all.

BFBC held a heat of the ECatsBridge Sim Pairs in aid of the Turkish/Syrian Earthquake Disaster Appeal on 17th April.  Best placed BFBC pairs in an overall field of over 300 pairs are (currently) Simon Kearon/Dave Lee and Susan Ozer/David de Andrade, who with 65% and 61% sit in 9th and 26th place respectively. Full details of the results can be found on the ECats website here. 

A big thank you to all 13 pairs of BFBC members and visitors for your support for this worthy cause.

Congratulations to Bob and Marge Williams for their win in the Berks & Bucks CBA TESSA TEMPLETON MEMORIAL TROPHY. You can read more about the trophy and their win on the county website here

Regretably, the club remains closed for face to face bridge for the foreseeable future but don't despair. Bracknell Forest Bridge Club’s Monday evening sessions are now running every week on the RealBridge platform. This exciting new service simulates real live bridge, allowing you to see and chat with your partner and opponents. There’s no need to put your name down. Just turn up (figuratively) on the night. For full details of how to join in, please click on RealBridge club sessions on the left menu and choose Play.

EBU Master Points and NGS gradings will be awarded for RealBridge sessions in the same way as for live club sessions. There is a small, 'table money' charge for each session. See click RealBridge club sessions, and choose Play for more details.

One of the advantages of playing online is that the scope for transgression of the many laws of duplicate bridge is much reduced - revokes, bids out of turn, insufficent bids etc are all things of the past if you play online, much to the delight of directors and players alike. However, there are still a few pitfalls that you need to be wary of and one in particular can (ocassionally) cause ill-feeling at the table if it is ignored or not handled in the right manner. This relates to the explanation of a bid during the auction and what happens if an incorrect explanation is given. Many of the laws are not always easy to follow if you try to look them up in the rule book, so Keith offers this translation of what to do in this situation.

If your partner gives an incorrect explanation, the time you must reveal it depends on whether you end up as declarer or defender.

If you or your partner end up as declarer  then you should reveal any incorrect explanation as soon as the auction is over, before the opening lead is made. If you're not quick enough and the defender leads then normally, in a club setting, I would allow the defender to retract his lead and lead something else. It's a bit less clear cut with online bridge because the opening lead causes dummy to be immediately exposed. TD must use judgement to allow the defender to change the lead because of the misinformation but not because he's now seen dummy and decided his original choice was ill advised (eg. he leads an ace then discovers dummy is void). If in doubt, don't allow the defender to change his lead but be ready to award an adjusted score.

If you end up defending you must not reveal any mistaken explanation until the play of the hand is over. To do so would give your partner Unauthorised Information. Once the hand is completed, you should reveal the misinformation and your opponents can ask TD for an adjusted score if they think they have been damaged. TD must give the benefit any doubt to the non offenders.

Finally, if you have been damaged and ask for an adjusted score, please be patient. In the interests of keeping the evening running smoothly, the adjustment will only be made after due consideration after the session is concluded. 

The County has announced that the finals of both the Committee Cup and Waller Bowl have been cancelled. These were scheduled for April 5th and 26th respectively.

BFBC held a heat of the Berks and Bucks Committee Cup on Mon 20^th Jan.  The Cup is a County teams-of-four event, with qualifying teams competing in the final at Windsor on Sunday April 5^th. A total of 7 teams competed, with the top three teams entitled to play in the final.   Marceli Smialkowski's team was in top spot, with Bob Findlow's and John Harman's team second and third respectively.

The Waller Bowl (pairs) heat was held on Mon 2^nd March. Nine pairs competed, with the top three pairs entitled to play in the final to be held at Windsor on Sunday 26^th April. Top pair were Marceli Smialkowski & Andrzej Kwiatkowski, followed by Andy Kirk & Martin Woodbridge and Keith and Jenny Sheppard.

This year's annual competition for the Francis Cup was held on Monday 21st October. Fittingly, the competition was won by Anne Francis and her team, so congratulations to Anne and Peter Francis, Philip Jackson and Elaine Longstaff, scoring an impressive + 47 IMPS over the evening. Many thanks to the 6 teams who competed and to Keith Sheppard for directing and running a very enjoyable evening. 

Please note that, as Brownlow Hall is not available on Monday 28^th October, we will be playing in St Martin's Church Hall, Church Road, Chavey Down (Ascot Bridge Club's normal venue) instead.  Please aim to arrive by 7:20 pm as usual for a 7:30 pm start.  We will be back at Brownlow as normal on Monday 4^th November. 

In 2017, the World Bridge Federation completed its ten yearly review of the Laws of Duplicate Bridge and the EBU has issued an updated book of Laws applicable to the game in England. The trend with the new laws is to try and reduce the number of occasions where boards are cancelled and artificial adjusted scores are awarded.  Whilst most of the laws relating to the common situations we are likely to encounter in the Club remain principally the same as in the 2007 Laws, there are some subtle changes of wording and members are asked to be patient with Directors if they are called to give a ruling whilst they find their way around the new laws. The EBU has produced a poster (link here) that summarises two key changes that all players should know about:  the procedure governing a claim; and the use of comparable calls to replace insufficient bids and calls out of rotation. 

• The procedure governing a claim has effectively been changed to follow practice at the table where, after a claim has been made, the non-claiming side has said ‘play on’.  The old laws actually required play to stop and the TD to be called in the event of a disputed claim – generally honoured more in the breach than the observance.  The new laws allow play to continue, provided all agree.  However, if the TD is called and declarer’s stated line does not adequately account for all the tricks he is claiming (perhaps because he hasn’t drawn all the opponents' trumps and has not stated that he is drawing trumps when he claims), the TD can rule that the declarer takes a line of play that is less advantageous to him.  If the defence insist on ‘playing on’ and declarer wakes up to the fact that there is an outstanding trump and draws it, the defence cannot then claim that they might have made a trump trick and then call the TD.  The advice remains to call the Director if you are not happy with a Claim that has been made.
• Comparable Calls will allow the bidding to continue in circumstances where, after an insufficient bid or a call out of rotation, offender’s partner would have been silenced for the rest of the auction. The poster at the above link covers this in more detail.