| 9-High Swiss Pairs |
The next special event for the GCBA is the Midlands 9-High Swiss Pairs which happens on Saturday 2nd December. The game is on RealBridge and this is your chance to represent your county - and the more entries we have from the county the higher the county will score. So do please think about joining in, the cost is only £4 per person. Entry form here. Special appearance by Ollie Burgess for a Q&A session at the end.
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| CONGRATULATIONS |
To Alan Wearmouth who, playing with Martyn from Cumbria, came second out of 88 pairs in the One Day Green Point Swiss Pairs on 25th November.
To the County Tollemache team who have qualified Gloucestershire for the final in February 2024. Well done to Butland & Stevens & Cornell, Chamberlain & Watson, Denning & McIntosh, Davis & Wearmouth, Ritacca & Waggett.
To Patrick Shields who playing with David Kendrick came 3rd of 246 in the Open Pairs at the Madeira Bridge Festival.
To Patrick Shields & Garry Watson, half of the team which won the EBU's most recent One Day GP event.
To Alastair Catchpole and Jack Armorgie who won the Swiss Pairs competition at the West of England Congress. They succeeded in a field of 84 pairs which included a number of well known international players. Well done!
In the EBU's year-long series of One Day Green Point events (next one is Swiss Teams on 25th November - you can enter for this via your MyEBU account) the leading scores from the county after four events are
- Arun Nanda is now in 11th place with 252 points.
- Jackie Davies moved is in 23rd place on 197 points.
- Patrick Shields in 112th place with 110 points.
- ... and there are 558 on the list nationally
Ian Sidgwick & Paul Spencer came 2nd in the morning session and 1st in the afternoon session at the Cumbria/EBU Jack-High pairs event on Sunday 3rd September. A fantastic performance - well done!
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To Alan Wearmouth who, playing with Martyn from Cumbria, came second out of 88 pairs in the One Day Green Point Swiss Pairs on 25th November.
To the County Tollemache team who have qualified Gloucestershire for the final in February 2024. Well done to Butland & Stevens & Cornell, Chamberlain & Watson, Denning & McIntosh, Davis & Wearmouth, Ritacca & Waggett. ..........
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| BRIDGE EVENTS |
Specially for less experienced players - there is a page on the EBU website dedicated to games for you - click here to see it.
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MONDAY EVENTS
AUTUMN 2023
Full details on its own web page.
On the non-bank-holiday Mondays of the month (September-December) ...
- first : Open Teams, Swiss movement, with scores cumulating over six months. Live at Cheltenham BC with a 1900 hrs start.
- second & fourth : Pairs League on RealBridge with sessions starting at 1930 hrs and the allocation to division is on the Monday webpage.
- third & fifth : County League, with matches live at CBC, but allowed as online when both teams want that.
You can just turn up for the Open Teams games a a foursome, but for the Pairs League and County League you need to tell ctd@gcba.org.uk that you want to come.
There is no GCBA game on Bank Holiday Mondays.
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9-HIGH SWISS PAIRS
Full details here
- first & second series won by KINGHAM & POLHILL
- third series won by MILES & WILLIAMS
- fourth series won by ATKINSON & ATKINSON
- fifth & twelfth & 14th series won by BAILEY & MUSSI
- sixth series won by MILES & WILLIAMS
- seventh & eighth series won by POLHILL & WILKINSON
- ninth & 13th & 16th & 20th & 22nd series won by REEVES & REEVES
- tenth series won by LYTHEER & LYTHEER
- eleventh & 15th & 17th series won by BERRY & GREEN
- eighteenth series won by BROOKS & DAVIES
- nineteenth series won by MOXLEY & SHORRICK
- twenty-first won by MUSSI & WILKINSON
- twenty-third series won by BOREHAM & JACKSON
next series (the twenty third) starting in on 10th Sep 2023
new pairs can join; email online-swissp@gcba.org.uk.
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OTHER EVENTS
THIRD THURSDAY MATCHPOINT PAIRS
- After two sessions with inadequate numbers, in which we happily merged with the Cheltenham bridge Club Pairs which was running in parallel, we have decided to give up on holding a Thursaday event. GCBA regular games will focus on Mondays only from now on.
- For the series of five sessions just concluded, we have maintained a scorecard and the leaders at the end of the series are
- Ian Sidgwick & Jane Rowley : with 37
- Ashok Kwatra : with 36
- Alastair Catchpole with 33
- Patrick Shields with 32
- ..... full list here
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| BRIDGE TEACHING & LEARNING |
Courses for Beginners and Improvers, and Play at Gentle Duplicate or Improvers Sessions. If you are offering teaching or learning additional to the below or would wish to add details please notify alan.stanfield@gcba.org.uk so that it can be added. If as a newcomer none of these suit you, fill in the form at THIS LINK and someone will get back to you with more ideas.
Courses for Beginners:
Courses for Improvers:
- Ian Cooke, Wotton-under-Edge BC, is running an Improvers course on Tuesdays from 26th of September. Contact Ian Cooke as below
- Jim Edwards, South Cotswold Bridge Club, Tetbury is running a new Improvers' Course which starts on Friday 16th February at Minchinhampton New Golf Club (mornings, for 12 weeks). Contact Jim Edwards as below
- Tudor Bridge Club in Chipping Sodbury is starting a refresher course, and will be starting an Intermediates Course in January 2023. Contact Nigel Mortimer as below
- Cheltenham Bridge Club has now planned its 2023-2024 teaching programme.
- Churchdown Bridge Club are running lessons for those returning to bridge, from 21st September, 2pm at Churchdown Methodist Church. Contact Louise Keeling as below
Play at Gentle Duplicate / Improvers Sessions:
- Gentle Duplicate sessions at The Priory Inn Hotel, Tetbury at 7.0pm, we aim to play 14 to 16 boards in the evening and the cost will be £3 table money, non members of South Cotswold Bridge Club will be welcome with table money being £4. Contact Jim Edwards as below
- There is an Improvers group every Monday afternoon (not BHs) from 1400-1600 hrs at Fairford Community Centre - if interested to partake please contact Margaret Bishop or Steve Love as below.
- Gentle Duplicate sessions at Bourton-on-the Hill, Wednesdays 12:30 for 12:40 in winter. The contact is Alan Lamb as below
- Casual Play with Coaching, North Cotswolds BC, Friday 1000 hrs at Broadwell Village Hall, Hall. The contact is Alan Lamb as below.
- Gentle Duplicate / Assisted Play sessions at Gloucester BC on Tuesdays from 13:30 at Elmscroft Community Centre GL2 0SS. The contact is Alan Stanfield as below
- Mentored Gentle Duplicate / Improvers sessions at Willersey Village Hall (near Broadway) most Thursday mornings 10:00-12:30 (and can cater for beginners) - contact Mike Robinson as below
Teachers/Coaches in Gloucestershire:
EBED organisers of Tournament Director and Bridge Teacher training nationally lisa@ebedcio.org.uk 01296 317217
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Courses for Beginners and Improvers, and Play at Gentle Duplicate or Improvers Sessions. If you are offering teaching or learning additional to the below or would wish to add details please notify alan. ..........
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| MASTER POINT CHAMPIONS |
In 2021 County-wide top scorers were Patrick Shields (overall and Green Points), Jonathan Bailey (Blue Points) and Dan McIntosh (local points).
In 2022 County-wide top scorers were Jackie Davies (overall and local Points), Ro Kaye (Blue Points) and Garry Watson (Green points).
The 2023 figures for Gliucestershire at the end of February show Jackie Davies leading on all categories (she also leads nationally on total points).
The club champions for 2022 are now available - click here for the Gloucestershire leaders. Well done to John Skjonnemand for the highest of those scores, but also to Kanwar Rahim who came first at two clubs and was second at Cheltenham as well.
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| REGULATIONS IN ONLINE BRIDGE |
There are some key differences in online play of which players should be aware:
- The GCBA Regulations on UNDOs apply in bidding and in play, and are (EBU and others allow fewer cases):
- Please only request an UNDO for a genuine mis-click and not for a change of mind or because you were not paying attention.
- Be generous in trusting your opponents to be honest and accept as often as you can. Call the TD if you have any difficulty accepting.
- THE GCBA and EBU Regulation on Convention Cards & Notes:
- You are allowed, during an online game, to consult your own CC or notes during the bidding.
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There are some key differences in online play of which players should be aware:
- The GCBA Regulations on UNDOs apply in bidding and in play, and are (EBU and others allow fewer cases):
- Please only request an UNDO for a genuine mis-click and not for a change of mind or because you were not paying attention.
- Be generous in trusting your opponents to be honest and accept as often as you can. ..........
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| TEACHING YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY |
The lockdown is a wonderful opportunity for people to learn this game. Why don't you look for anyone you could teach - see if these slide shows (updated 10 May) help
If you want to illustrate the game quickly to people - this amazing 3 minutes video shows it all.
Once you have got past this introduction you might find the material at this NZ site worthwhile.
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| ON-LINE BRIDGE |
This is a great way to keep your brain active, and to keep in touch with your friends. There are three primary options available, and these are well described on the EBU pages - click here to read.
The key attributes of the options are
>> BRIDGEBASEONLINE (BBO) : there are tens of thousands playing BBO each day, and the first EBU games on 17th March had 26 tables and 21 tables and ran smoothly. The cost is $2 per 12 boards which is good value and EBU Masterpoints are assigned. There is a great variety of bridge on BBO, but in the EBU competitions (NEW fast game at 1200, 1400, 1530, 1930 and 2100 hrs daily) the majority are playing Acol and are regular players at clubs in England. You can turn up as a pair, and singletons can visit the partnership desk or play with a robot. Details on how to play an EBU game are HERE. There is lots of guidance on using BBO available from the EBU - click here - and at the Berwick Bridge Club - click here to view. If ever you have to upload prepared hands to BBO for play - here's how.
>> BRIDGE CLUB LIVE : you will need a BCL login but there is a free guest facility and a more complete service available for an annual fee. There are very attractive special offers at this moment - read here. BCL is a friendly club and is based in England, so system familairy will be high. There is also the facility for Bridge Clubs to run their own sections within BCL, and this might be attractive to allow a club's players to keep in touch with each other.
>> REALBRIDGE : offers you an audio/video interface to a Duplicate Bridge game (and to a casual room too) which has been set up by a bridge organisation. It is alittle demanding of your system/bandwidth but offers a much improved experience over other sysetms.
>> FUNBRIDGE : offers great facilities for playing bridge with robots, and you get an initial allocation of hands when you sign up, but have to pay a small amount per hundred hands thereafter. Robots are sometimes more predictable than humans, but sometimes less so; they bid and play fast.
There are apps available for BBO and FUNBRIDGE on mobile devices, and BCL is also available on phones through a browser.
Provided you are not playing competitively, the pleasure of online bridge can be serious enahnced by running alongside a video conference of the style supported by Zoom or Skype or Google Hangouts. Do try it.
If you have useful advice or experiences to relate, please email to online@gcba.org.uk and we can share this.
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This is a great way to keep your brain active, and to keep in touch with your friends. There are three primary options available, and these are well described on the EBU pages - click here to read.
The key attributes of the options are
>> BRIDGEBASEONLINE (BBO) : there are tens of thousands playing BBO each day, and the first EBU games on 17th March had 26 tables and 21 tables and ran smoothly. ..........
..... see more |
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| Latest Trophy Winners |
BREDON VALE Cup : North Cotswolds
COUNTY PAIRS : Joe Angseesing & Kanwar Rahim
COUNTY LEAGUE DIV ONE : Patrick Shields & Garry Watson, Diana Nettleton & Tom Paske
COUNTY LEAGUE DIV TWO : Allan & Judy Sanis, Brian Goalby, Tony Letts & Roger Schofield, Keith Sharp
COUNTY LEAGUE DIV TWO-A : Mike Wignall & Richard Harris, Tony Roberts & Roger Williams.
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BREDON VALE Cup : North Cotswolds
COUNTY PAIRS : Joe Angseesing & Kanwar Rahim
COUNTY LEAGUE DIV ONE : Patrick Shields & Garry Watson, Diana Nettleton & Tom Paske
COUNTY LEAGUE DIV TWO : Allan & Judy Sanis, Brian Goalby, Tony Letts & Roger Schofield, Keith Sharp
COUNTY LEAGUE DIV TWO-A : Mike Wignall & Richard Harris, Tony Roberts & Roger Williams. ..........
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| External Results |
Please email any external result to results@gcba.org.uk for inclusion here.
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The GCBA team which played in the friendly match against Essex on 29th July - and came out on top with a score of +46 imps across the four teams. Full details - click here. Well done!
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Well done to the team of Paul Denning & Garry Watson, Dan McIntosh & Rob Myers who - representing Gloucestershire (as the County KO winners+1) - have just won the Pachabo Trophy. Last year the County representatives were 3rd, and the County representatives have won the event previously in 1984, 1994, 2004 and 2008. Paul Denning also played in three of these wins.
- In the Midlands County Congress (RealBridge 6-8 Jan 2023) we can report
- Ian Sidgwick & Paul Spencer came 7th out of 34 in the Open Pairs
- Arun Nanda and partner came 13th, Jane Morton & Pam Pearce came 17th, and Roger Williams & partner 21st - in a field of 80 pairs in the Swiss Pairs
- The team led by Garry Watson (Richard Chamberlain, Paul Denning, Patrick Shields) won the 2022 run of the Gerald Faulkner Salver - the EBU Seniors Knock-Out Championship.
- The County team failed - on a split tie - to qualify in November 2022 for the final of the Tollemache Cup.
- Well done to Alison Pritchard (playing with Ollie Burgess) coming second in the 2023 Portland Pairs (British Mixed Pairs Championship) - in a field of 100 pairs.
- .... waiting for something good to happen ....
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