The Helen Clarkson Pairs will be played on Wednesday 8th January 2020.

A match-pointed Pairs competition for the Helen Clarkson Cup.  Holders: Douglas Mitchell & John Di Mambro.

To enter, leave your name on the club notice board or use Online Entry.

... to John & Peggy Donaldson, Anne MacLeod and Horst Kopleck for winning the Chris Harrison Trophy

... to John Di Mambro, Hugh McCash, Sheila Macdonald and Maida Grant for winning the Manning Foster Cup (club Teams championship)

... to Aileen Lamont, Jill Paice, Norman McGeagh and John Faben for winning the Westchester Cup

This year’s competition raised £312 for St Margaret's Hospice. Well done and many thanks to all Buchanan members who took part. 

The Winter Pairs is the Buchanan's Pairs Championship which is played as part of Matchpoint Wednesdays (so on the 1st Wednesday of each month) from September through to April.

You need to play with the same partner throughout (most players have a regular partner for the first Wednesday of the month anyway). However, only your four best percentage results will count towards the competition.

In the later rounds (from January onwards) only scores obtained in the upstairs tournament(s) will count towards players' total score. Results obtained in the Lounge tournament will not be counted.

Remaining Winter Pairs dates in the 2019/20 season are -

Wednesday 5 February, 4 March, 1 April.

For an up-to-date summary of scores and percentages, please see "Winter Pairs scores" in the Results menu.

From 12.30pm       Social:  tea/coffee & cake
1pm - 4pm.           Bridge Tournament, 24 boards. Master Points and printouts of hands.
Cost                       £4 per person (including refreshments}
No prize money. No bar service. Catering and collection of monies by club members.

Visitors are welcome. We look forward to seeing many members as well as visitors attending.

Please note that parking charges apply on weekday afternoons. We recommend car-sharing or using public transport if possible.

A stand-by will be provided, so if you come without a partner you will get a game. Please join us on Thursdays from 12.30pm.

Some points to avoid problems at the table -
 
Count your cards face down before you look at them.
Decide on your bid before you touch the bidding box. Don't hover over the box or dither between sections of the box.
If you have to make the opening lead, make it before you write up your scoresheet. It saves time.
Make the opening lead face down and then ask 'Any questions?'.
The board in play should remain in the centre of the table until play is complete.
Do not rotate the board in play.
Declarer should nominate the card to by played by dummy. Declarer should not normally play dummy's cards.
If you cannot follow suit, do not say ‘Having none’. It is your partner who has the option of asking.
Shuffle your hand before you return it to the board.
Be familiar with the SBU Alerting Procedures. These have been in effect since 2007.
Don’t be afraid to call the director. They are there to restore equity, not to punish.

Members will no doubt be aware of changes to data protection law (the new General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR) and will have received numerous communications from banks and other organisations on the matter.

The committee has been advised by the SBU that these changes also apply to membership organisations such as bridge clubs, and that we should have in place a privacy policy which sets out what personal data the club holds on its members and what is done with it.  Helpfully, the SBU has provided a model format which has been adapted for Buchanan Bridge Club and the club policy is now enclosed for your information; please do read it.

The club gathers only a little personal data, via your membership form (e.g. name, contact details, SBU number), and it is only shared with the likes of the SBU and West District as necessary for the function of a bridge club.  Details are given in the club Privacy Policy which can be viewed here.

Naturally, you have the right of correction or deletion of data, and how to do so is explained in the policy.

If you are content you need take no further action.  However, if you do have any concerns, feel free to raise them; how to do so is explained in the policy.

There were 538 visitors over the weekend. 359 on Saturday, 179 on Sunday. Many thanks to our reliable and hardworking team of  club members who gave up their time to ensure the success of this annual event and a special mention for Christine Higgison who masterminded the organisation and preparation.

Members should note that even after 6.00pm, cars must be parked in the designated bays. Although there are no yellow lines, parking in areas outside designated bays is not permitted at any time, and these areas must be left clear.

Members interested in learning how to set up the Bridgemate system for our regular tournaments (or would like a refresher session if you have already been trained) should get in touch with Horst or Christina.

We are also looking to expand our pool of Tournament Directors. If you have received basic training and would like to get more experience in directing tournaments (under supervision of course) please let the Committee know.

If you discover that you are not receiving emails from the club, then they have probably been put in your Spam folder.
To avoid this, simply create a contact called Buchanan with the email address -    members@bridgewebsemail.com

Following a Committee decision, the sale of raffle tickets and the soliciting of donations by individual members are only permitted when sponsored by the Club or the Club Committee. Thank you for your understanding.

The Find a Partner facility operates in parallel with the Standby system. Login with your email address and password. If you have forgotten your password you can request a new one online by clicking the Forgotten Password button. Once you are logged in, click the Find a Partner tab.

There appear to be a lot of Simultaneous Pairs competitions in the calendar, so here is a quick guide to these events.
 
Simultaneous Pairs are basically ordinary match-pointed events where the same hands are being played in many clubs at the same time, allowing players to compare their scores with not just their club members but with hundreds or even thousands of other pairs throughout the country. Usually, at the end of play, everyone receives an informative hand commentary booklet written by an expert player.

The SBU Simultaneous Pairs and the Bobby Allan (for mixed pairs) are both Scottish events run by the SBU and are held in October and January respectively. In addition, our district runs a series of West District Simultaneous Pairs, and we play in the November and April competitions. Traditionally, to support the District, the club requires all sections to play in the April event. The SBU (along with other home unions) also runs the Celtic Simultaneous Pairs to raise funds for its international teams. Periodically, the club receives invitations to participate in other simultaneous events, and the committee decides whether to proceed on a case-by-case basis.