New Beginner Course in May! 

Join us for an online beginner course in May. Eight sessions, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.00pm, from Tuesday May 11th 2021. Absolute beginners and refreshers equally welcome. Register with or without a partner. Limited to 8 players. In the picture is Liz Gahan, English Bridge Union Young Player of the Year, who will be your teacher.

Bridge

Bridge is a challenging game for teams of two and regarded as the champion of card games.  You play with a partner throughout each deal.  Do not worry if you don't have a pre-arranged partner - we will match you up with another single player. 

Bridge has two phases – the 'bidding' and the card play. In the bidding you compete with the other partnership to say how many tricks you will win (a 'trick is a round of four cards, one from each player, and the highest card wins). The bidding also determines the 'trump' suit for each deal. Players get the best out of the game when they agree a structured 'bidding system' with their partner.  There are many established bidding systems.

After the bidding the play starts and you try and win the tricks you predicted!  Sounds simple but trickier than it looks.

Bridge has great 'lastabiity' and once you get the bug, it can offer you a lifetime of enjoyment and friendship. 

The Course

Your course will start with ‘mini-bridge’, which is a gentle introduction to the basis of bridge and the card play. You will then be introduced to the bidding and a bidding system while continuing to work on your card play skills. The bidding system that you will learn will be ACOL which is the standard system played in bridge clubs across the UK. Learning this system will allow you to play with a variety of partners as you progress. This course will give you the skills and confidence to play socially among friends and family while also, allowing you to understand the steps to advance further, such as structured practice and playing club bridge.

The Format

The course will consist of eight 1½ hour lessons using a combination of Zoom and the bridge platform Bridgebase Online (BBO). Teacher Liz Gahan has created a collection of images and instructions to help users set up and understand both of these programs before the course begins.

Says Liz, 'I have found that this is the best approach as I can use the Zoom settings to share my screen and display a PowerPoint or a set of cards. I have also found that sending notes to the students before each session has helped them by having a visual aid printed (or online) as they learn.'

Students may choose to read and understand some of the content before the lesson which helps prevent lapses in understanding between lessons.

More on Your Teacher

We are fortunate to be able to offer you Liz Gahan as your teacher, one of the best new young teachers of bridge there is.  Liz is currently in her first year studying Security and Crime Science at University College London (So no cheating!).

Liz started playing bridge in primary school at the age of 9 and has since progressed to compete internationally in both the England Under 21 mixed team and England Under 26 women. Last year, Liz was honoured to receive the English Bridge Union Young Player of the Year award.

Liz reallys enjoy teaching and hopes to pass on her passion for the game of bridge in this course.

Course Dates

Course Fee

The fee for the course is £60pp, including tuition, playing practice, all supporting notes and membership of the English Bridge Union. 

To Register For The Course

To register for the course please email Ned Paul at ned@nedpaul.com. We will confirm that places are available (capacity is limited, but we will repeat the course as required). The place(s) will be held for you while payment is made. Payment should be made by BACS transfer and we will send the necessary bank details with acknowledgement.  On receipt of payment Liz will send instructions about joining BBO and Zoom and a few days before the course starts we will send you a reminder email with the Zoom link needed to join the lessons. 

Any further queries are welcome and can be mailed to Ned Paul as above, or speak to Ned on 07792 715517.  Thank you. 

The Wotton House weekend was a great success.  Thank you all for coming.  Results in the results calendar.

Close fought individual at the Hogarth Club but when the music stopped it was Marian Diviney in front! Congratulations to Marian and thanks to Lee and Walter for a great day! Click the link below for results.

Results from the main bridge events at Wotton House are available on the results page.  Click 'Results Calendar' opposite to see them.

Chiswick Cafe Bridge have been updated and should now be displaying accurately on this site. Thanks to Gwynne Hughes of Bridgewebs for a swift bug fix. A small number of corrections have been made since the results were announced on the day.   Results are additionally being displayed here.

A brilliant day out with Lee Byram, celebrating his birthday with a 21-player individual held at the Hogarth Club, Chiswick. Top of the heap when the music stopped was David Carhart.  Click the results link for full details.   Thanks to Lee for hosting us and to the Hogarth Club for looking after us so well.