This is something of a misnomer, for the time being at least as, scour as I might, I've failed to come up with any individual hand that illustrates a really significant point [but please feel free to put me right].

More generally, this was an imp-scored event, which means we do things differently. How so? Playing our normal match-pointed pairs for example, we would strain to gain as few as 10 more points on a hand compared to the rest of the field, perhaps by choosing a possibly slightly riskier 3NT contract over a safer 4-major. If that works, we've made a huge gain. But in imps scoring, we would have gained precisely zero, and we should choose the safer contract. But, with imp-scoring, we're prepared to bid thin games, because if we're successful we stand to make a sizeable gain.

What about slams? Should we again strain to bid a slam contract that we might eschew in match-pointed scoring? The answer now is probably not. Imagine we've found a heart contract, and we estimate that the difference between 11 and 12 tricks is down to whether a finesse is successful. Assuming we're non-vulnerable, the successful finesse scores us 980 for bidding the slam as opposed to 480 for staying in game, a gain of 500 or 11 imps. But if the finesse fails, the slam bidder loses 500 [450 + 50], i.e. the loss matches the gain. So in the long run we come out even [note that this is ignoring the fact that a slam may still fail as a result of other factors such as adverse distribution, even if the finesse works].

Returning to the theme of bidding thin games, the other side of this particular coin is that accurate defence is crucial. My partner and I scored 37.2 imps last night, out of which 24.61 came from three boards where opponents went down in contracts. Once again, in imp-scoring we defend from a different perspective. We're prepared to concede an overtrick in an attempt to defeat a contract [anathema in match-pointed pairs], but the consequences of conceding a contract-making trick are severe. So, armed with the knowledge that opponents will quite often reach thin game contracts, we're more likely to defend passively, leaving opponents to try and find their tricks.

So why do we like to play imped-pairs once a month [teams-of-4 being temporarily unavailable]? Now you know.

Burnham has two teams playing in online teams-of-8 leagues.

Charles Chisnall is captaining a team playing in Division 1 of the Berks & Bucks league. Nigel Lancaster is captaining a team playing in the Chiltern League, and this team plays its first match against Goring & Streatley this coming Thursday [22nd October].

Fixtures and results will be published in the Club's Calendar of events.

Congratulations to Barry Read and Ilan Sirkis for their 'runaway success' in the Suffolk CBA Championship Pairs, held on 4th October via BBO. 50 Pairs played in the qualifying heats, from which the top 12 played in the 'A' final and the next 12 in the 'B' final.

Click the title for the Powerpoint presentation to Monday's pre-bridge seminar [21 September. 6:45 pm], when Charles Chisnall focused on defence, looking at what what the opponents' bidding has told us, what defensive strategy is indicated, and what opening lead we should make to get this ball rolling. As the play develops, our communication with partner is vital, and our signals are an essential component. Distribution signals, in conjunction with the bidding we've heard, help us work out declarer's exact shape. Attitude signals are an indication of where we hold, or indeed where we don't hold, useful values. Armed with a strategy and information on distribution and location of values allows us to make sensible decisions on the cards we can afford to throw away.

So, a problem to think about in advance of the seminar:

As West you hold

♠   x
♥   AKx
♦   xxxxx
♣   QJ10x

What is your thinking, and what would you lead?

There will be a Powerpoint presentation published on this website within a couple of minutes of the end of Charles' seminar. 

The seminar will be delivered via Zoom. You will receive an invitation from Graham Dickens automatically on Monday afternoon if you've attended a previous on-line seminar. If this will be your first, email Graham to be added to the distribution list.

Our seminars are free and open to all.

To see the notes from Charles' seminar, Seminar 1NTx Summary.ppt.

Here are three scenarios for you to consider ahead of the seminar. Assuming an opening 1NT is 12-14,

Charles will be presenting the seminar via Zoom. If you've attended one of our previous Zoom seminars, you'll receive an automatic invitation from Graham Dickens. If you haven't, email Graham to ask him to add you to the list. We look forward to 'seeing' you on Monday.

Click May 25th seminar slides for slide copies with recommended bids appended as final two slides.

This has been a unique season, for reasons with which we're all familiar. None of our three teams were able to complete their programmes.

Our A-team, playing in Berks & Bucks Division 1, came within three days of playing its final match. Three other Division-1 matches were not completed. As things stand, Burnham A tops the division.

Our B-team, playing in B&B Divsion 2, also finished the season with one match not played. Six other Division-2 matches were not completed. As things stand, Burnham B lies second in the division.

The B&B committee have urged teams to consider completing their programmes online, with a deadline of 31 July, but neither of our teams have elected to do this, and there is only one match planned as far as we know. After this date, the league secretary will utilise the relevant rules to allocate scores and finalise the league, which is likely to mean that the current order of teams will prevail, with corresponding promotions and relegations. At this stage no-one can say what form the league will take next season. 

B&B are intending to add a new rule which will allow a team to decline promotion for one year if it so chooses, which could be relevant for our B-team.

Our C-team, playing in the Chiltern League, lay in fifth position with two matches still to play when the decision was taken to freeze the league.

Afternoon All,

Following up yesterday's news item, the Committee has decided to switch our weekly event from 7:30pm to 11:00am, at least for the time being [10:30am from 8 June].

We'll take a further view once the dust has settled, but we don't want to risk repeating last Monday's experience.

This virus has a lot to answer for!

We've been working together with SBBC to establish a platform via Bridgebase Online [BBO] for running our events on-line. Such events will be limited to SBBC members who've joined BBO and registered their BBO details with either Burnham or SBBC [or both]. We have added a field for you to supply your BBO username: click on Members Only, go to Account, scroll down until you see Online, select BBO, and enter your username in the BBO box.

The first Burnham event to be hosted on the new platform will be on Monday 30th; participation is open to all SBBC members.

A few notes about playing at BBO:

• participation in EBU events is charged at $1 per session [of 12 boards]. This 'table money' is deducted automatically from your BBO 'wallet', so you must have charged up your wallet with at least $10. You don't need money in your BBO wallet unless you intend to play in events such as the EBU's for which a BBO charge is levied.
• participation in events on our new platform will be charged at £3 per 18-board session: SBBC will monitor the sessions in which you participate and contact you approximately monthly to request you settle your account by bank transfer.
• BBO events are listed in order of start time, the more imminent at the top. Only events due to start with the next two hours are shown.
• once you're sitting at a table and play has commenced, you'll see a largish green window corresponding to your on-line bridge table, including your on-line bidding box.
• irrespective of whether you're N, S, E, or W, you will be at the bottom of the table.
• underneath the 'bridge table' you'll see a smaller window for 'chatting', bridge-related chatting that is.
• you'll see a button that allows you to control with whom you're having a 'conversation': it may be the other three players at the table, it may be just your opponents, or it may be a 'private' chat with one opponent. You can't have a private chat with your partner. It's permitted to compliment an opponent on their play for example, but slagging off opponents or even partner is frowned on. Opponents may use a private chat to ask you to clarify your partner's bidding for example.
• alerting/announcing is different in the on-line world. If you're about to make a bid that your partner would alert or announce in the face-to-face world, you will alert/announce before making your bid. Your partner will not see this, so it's advisable to alert/announce more often than usual, as a courtesy to your opponents.
• At the end of an event, the highest level result you see is a ranking table with pair percentages. Pairs are identified by their BBO usernames, hence our request that you give yourself a recognisable name. If you click on a percentage, you'll see that pair's scorecard.You can drill down to get progressively more detailed information, probably including what players are wearing and what they had for breakfast. Our website Calendar items link to the BBO results. 
• although not necessary for playing casual bridge, playing in an event requires that you and your partner have a convention card. BBO provides a handful of what they regard as standard cards, and you can start with one of those and edit it appropriately, before saving it under a name of your own. You can tie a particular card to a particular partner.
• we're all on a steep learning curve here. We'll be providing more information as we assimilate it.

Can we ask all members to keep abreast of Coronavirus insomuch as it affects playing at the Centre by regularly checking with the relevant news item on the SBBC website.

Many thanks.

Many of our members will already be aware that Anders passed away in hospital on 5th March, following a severely debilitating stroke the previous week. In his time as a Burnham member, Anders had captained one of our league-of-8 teams, and of course he had served as both Treasurer and Chairman of Berks & Bucks CBA.

We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to Eva and her family.

We've added a league-of-8 item to appear within the Results section of the website menu, principally to make it easier for members to  find out how our teams are doing.

At the end of this l-of-8 item are links to each of the three league tables in which our respective teams play.

Our A team played away against Thame on Wednesday, and was pleased to secure a 17-3 win.

But surprise of the week was Friday evening's 14-6 defeat of bookies' favourite New Amersham A by Bourne End A, elevating Burnham to the top spot in the division for the first time in many years.

All three Burnham teams have opened their 2019-20 campaigns.

The A-team have played against both Ascot teams [B&B Divn 1], winning both matches. The B-team have also played two matches  [B&B Divn 2], losing their first to Loddon Vale but striking winning form against Maidenhead B. The C team has played one match [Chiltern League], beating Caversham Park.

All matches show in the website Calendar, and completed matches are included in the website presentation of results once results are uploaded.

Just a reminder: the Club plays in league-of-8 tournaments for the benefit of members. For any members who haven't already registered an interest in being involved, it's not too late: contact Club captain Nigel Lancaster.

Berks & Bucks run a simultaneous pairs week once a year, whereby clubs around the county can elect to operate their normal pairs event within the sim pairs structure. So, in addition to our regular duplicate event being scored as a normal Club event, our results have also been merged with other clubs running the sim pairs event. Results are on the EBU website (use the Sims tab).  There is a booklet available for download from the Berks and Bucks web site, in which one of the county's strongest players provides a commentary on how the hands could (should?) have been bid and played.

We'll be fielding three teams again in the upcoming season, the 'A' and 'B' teams playing in Berks and Bucks divisions 1 and 2 respectively, and the 'C' team playing in the Chiltern League.

Our aim is to provide the opportunity for all interested members to play in one or other team. The team captains are Nigel Marlow [A], Graham Dickens [B], and Nigel Lancaster [C].

Note that the 'C' team, being outside of the Berks & Bucks system, can accommodate members also playing in Burnham or other clubs' B&B teams.

Those members whose vacation or other commitments limit their availability are nonetheless welcome to play an appropriately restricted part.

Our standard organisation for Monday evening is that we start play promptly at 7:30, play 26/27 boards, and finish at 10:45. In order for the Director to be able to start play at 7:30, the movement must have been entered into the computer, and boards[/movement cards] distributed, so he/she needs to know the number of participating pairs/teams by 7:25. If you know you won't arrive by 7:25, please notify either the Centre or your partner that you're on your way and your expected arrival time.

Club policy as validated by the recent members' vote is that 3-board sit-outs for pairs events are to be avoided and so, with a half-table, our standard movement will be based on 2-board rounds. Our Directors have been instructed that, once the movement for the evening has been selected, it should not be significantly changed to accommodate unnotified late arrivals, particularly where this might prejudice the prompt commencement of play.

The 29th annual team-of-24 match took place last evening [Thursday 15th August] between Ascot and Burnham.

Home advantage didn't prevail as our team of stalwarts regained the trophy. This is primarily a social event, very much enjoyed by all who take part. Still, coming home with the trophy adds a layer of icing to the cake.

The match details may be seen in the Results area on the right of this page.

.

This year's AGM  and annual prize giving was held on June 10th.

The team completed its inaugural year in the Chiltern League with a 13-7 win away to Newbury A, leaving Burnham at the top of the division. Loddon Vale weren't able to manage the 20-0 victory needed in their final match to upset things [they lost 5-15].

Things have worked out pretty much as we'd hoped, providing opportunities for members who wouldn't otherwise have had the chance to represent the Club to take part. Some 15 members played for the team, with Colin Dale taking the role of administrative captain.

Thanks to all who've supported the Club in this venture: we hope that as many of you as possible will take part in the Chiltern Elimination Pairs heat at the Club on April 1st [see below].

Starting in January we're switching our pre-bridge seminars from the first Monday of the month to the third. This is teams evening: whilst some of our seminar topics are equally applicable to both pairs and teams events, it's teams-oriented topics that will take priority for the next few months.

The first seminar of the New Year is on 20 January, entitled Hidden Signals - revealed by Charles Chisnall. We'll be publishing further details in due course. Make a note in your diary now - this is one seminar you can't afford to miss.

Burnham members have already featured in the initial  Berks & Bucks CBA competitions of the 2018-2019 season:

• Heather & Matthew Tan won the Swiss Pairs for the Denys Jenkins trophy on 17th October 2018, with  David Owen & Bob Holder in joint 2nd place, Dick Davey & Paula Hopkinson in 4th place, and Liz Hayton & Angela Flintoft in 5th place
• David Owen & Bob Holder were placed second in the Mixed Swiss Teams for the Carole Mueller Trophy held at Windsor on Sunday 11th November, after finishing 1st equal with a Butler score of 74 - leading the field by a clear margin of 25, the final result being determined from the head-to-head boards. Evelyn Crossley & Eva Wallen finished in 4th place. 
• David Perkins & Phil Thornton playing with Carole & Herb Mueller were placed second in the Butler scored pairs for the Jarrett Cup held at Windsor on Sunday 2nd December.  As there was a 3-way tie for the 3rd place, this was awarded on the basis of the head-to-head tie-break results to Evelyn Crossley, David Owen, Bill  Godenzie & Charles Chisnall.
• Charles Chisnall, David Owen, Bill Godenzie & Evelyn Crossley won the Perkins Cup in the teams event played at Windsor on 17th February, with Nigel Wolfendale, Bob Holder, Dick Davey & Paula Hopkinson taking second place.

Forthcoming competitions are:

• The Senior Pairs for the Directors' Cup to be held at SBBC on 17th April 2019

We have twice weekly sessions of good standard Duplicate Bridge at the very attractive South Bucks Bridge Centre - a purpose-converted 16th Century barn in its own grounds, between Beaconsfield, Maidenhead and Slough 

Our main session is at 7.30 every Monday evening, when we play Pairs, except Teams of Four on the third Monday each month except when this is a bank holiday.  A host is available to play with anyone without a partner on Pairs evenings.

We use Bridgemates, for instant scoring, with current scores displayed on a large screen.  Hand records and results print-outs are available within a few minutes of the end of every session. 

Several teams from the Club compete in the Berks and Bucks League of 8, with the A team in the first division.  We also encourage less experienced players and hold monthly free seminars before the start of an evening session.