It's back - the Cheltenham Congress will run this year 30 Apr-02 May, 

online : for details click here - first day newcomers, second day Swiss Pairs, third day Swiss Teams.

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.

There is further information about online regulations in the EBU's SKY BLUE book which we follow, except where specified above.

Specially for less expereinced players - there is a page on the EBU website dedicated to games for you - click here to see it.

There are plenty of opportunities around

• GENTLE BRIDGE GAMES 
  • Cheltenham BC Gentle Duplicate : Tuesday and Thursday at 1000 (limited to NGS-7)
  • Tudor BC run a Gentle session on Wednesday afternoons at 1430 (and it's free) - look at their website for details
  • Stroud BC are starting a Sunday evening Gentle Duplicate : contact Nigel (nigelpitel@gmail.com) for details.
• CHELTENHAM BC WEEKLY GAMES (see their website about access for non-members) which cost BB$4 per session -10 games to choose from - 
  • Open Duplicate : at 1345 hrs on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; at 1930 hrs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and another at 1000 hrs Saturday
• NEWENT Bridge Club : is now running a game every Wednesday afternoon at 1400 hrs and Friday evening at 1915 hrs : details on their website - click here.
• SOMERFORD KEYNES Bridge Club : is now running a game, on alternating Wednesdays and Thursdays at 1900 hrs : details on their website - click here
• TUDOR Bridge Club in Chipping Sodbury : run online games on Tuesday evening, Wednesday afternoon and Thursday evenings : details on their website - click here.
• STROUD Bridge Club : has started online pairs tournaments on third and fourth Wednesdays evenings of the rmonth (1900 hrs, $3.50) : **NEW** details now on the Stroud BC website
• WOTTON Bridge Club : is now playing tournaments on Monday and Wednesday evenings on Bridge Club Live (you have to be a BCL member to play) : details on their website - click here.

• EBU DAILY GAMES
  • *NEWS*  The Cheltenham team led by Ashok Kwatra & Jack Armorgie has won Division 4 of the Lockdown League and moved themselves back up to Division 3. 
  • Daily 9-HIGH relaxed game at 1100 hrs and *NEW*  at 1930 hrs
  • The Lockdown League : over 150 teams in 12 divisions, the fifth season is about to start; contact charlie@ebu.co.uk if you want to enter.
  • Daily games 1200, 1400, 1530, 1930, 2100 every day : full results at the EBURESULTS website - click here.  Worth noting is that seom proceeds from playing here go into the EBU clubs fund - so it also supports your local club (if it is affiliated).
    • Local successes recently have included  Simon Hartley & Ashok Kwatra came 1/63 on the 20th April, Ashok Kwatra & David Simons came first on 25th March and 18th March, Kristian Cole & robot friend added to two ealier 2021 wins with four wins in March (10th, 16th and 21st and 28th) and again on 4th and 15th April, Allan Sanis & Patrick Shields had a win on 4th March, Patrick Shields (with Richard Granville) came 1/27 on 14th Feb, Patrick Shields (with Rob Lawy) came 1/57 on 11th Feb, Chris Hickey & robot friend came top with over 76% in the Fast Game on 10th Feb, Jim Simons & Patrick Phair came 1st on 28th January, : PLEASE REPORT ANY OTHER SUCCESSES.
• NEW TO DUPLICATE?
  • EBED run Assisted Duplicate sessions on Wednesday and Friday afternoons starting at 1400 hrs, with a teacher on-hand to answer questions as you play, and a ZOOM session afterwards for more discussion. All for BB$3 per session. 
  • OBA is running a NGS-5-HIGH pairs event on Saturday 1st August.  Click here for more details. {Last session was won by a Cheltenham pair - Val Barbour & Jan Kinane.

• Online Inter-County events : our Representative Events Committee has been active with corresponding people in other counties and we are trialling online matches. Click here for the current status.  If you would like to become involved in representing the county in online competitions please email Alan Wearmouth on alan.wearmouth@gcba.org.uk 

The GCBA Constitution asks for an AGM to happen in “in May or June of each year, or as soon as possible thereafter” and we had an AGM scheduled for 10^th May but it has been postponed. The committee is concerned that its mandate will expire and indeed there is a limit to how long a person can be a committee member (six consecutive years, or three consecutive years in one post).  With uncertainty as to how well an online AGM would work, we have decided a first step would be to consult the membership – so we need your feedback please on

1. Whether you feel we should organise an online AGM (noting that while you respond to this question those not online do not even see it)
2. Whether the direction the committee is taking with the provision of online events and facilitating clubs to play online needs any re-direction
3. Whether you know of anyone who could help bolster the committee which is currently running with two vacancies. We are particularly interested in people different from the “Monday Night Players” who currently populate the committee.

Contact any committee member or email to gcba-agm@gcba.org.uk with your thoughts.

PS : if thinking about the future you might also like to consider the page postulating what we might do online in the autumn (see LH menu)

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

• Learn bridge in 15 minutes (and here's the storyboard for these slides)
• Learn minibridge in 3 minutes (and there's another version here)
• Learn bidding in 30 minutes

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.

**NEW** There is an offer of an intense learning-from-scratch course over the holiday period; click here for details  ***

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.

<<  THIS IS OUT OF DATE : IT NEEDS REVAMPED POST COVID >>

TD TRAINING : EBED is running a course for new directors, at Solihull (WMBC) on Tuesday 18th February. It is the first of four monthly sessions leading to an assessment and qualification.

There is lots of learning to be done at the Gloucestershire Youth Bridge - click here for its website.

CHELTENHAM :  The teaching team are starting a new series of lessons starting in September. For more information see the club web site.

GLOUCESTER:  Lessons available on Monday at Gloucester B.C.;  see the GBC website for details.

NEWENT : Starting 27th September 2019 (1850 hrs for 1900).  More details at click here.  EBU qualified teachers, and it runs for two terms.

MALMESBURY (Tetbury & Cirencester) : Robert Cobbold offers "fun and friendly bridge for beginners and beyond.  07526451532" 

TETBURY : Jim Edwards runs lessons as part of the South Cotswolds Bridge Club venture - see the web site.

CHIPPING SODBURY: Lessons start in September after a free taster session on 10th September. - see website

WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE (boundary of South Glos and Glos, NW Wiltshire) : Ian Cooke (accredited EBUTA teacher) offers lessons for beginners, improvers and runs Gentle bridge sessions. Contact details here.

Cotswold Cup : (equal)  Enid Castle & Sybil Davies,  Jonathan Bailey & Stan Powell

Autumn Pairs: John Councer & Mark Rogers

Swiss Teams: Peter Waggett & Mark Rogers, Tony Hill & Alan Wearmouth

Mixed Pairs:  Anne Swannell & Steve Sasanow (Flitch - Wendy & Joe Angseesing)

VIctor Ludorum - Geoffrey Paterson trophy: Mike Wignall

Summer Teams: John Councer & Mark Rogers

Summer Pairs: Joe Angseesing

Please email any external result to results@gcba.org.uk for inclusion here.

EBU's Master Pairs: in a field of 266 pairs, Kristian Cole & James Wellsted came 31st. 

EBU's Year End Congress: the team of Richard Chamberlain & Paul Denning, Graham Sadie & Patrick Shields won the congress Swiss Teams, winning all seven matches in a 94-team event.  

This year has turned into a year of internet bridge, but the County has not been without some success:

Eastbourne Bowl : this is the Major Teams Championship at the EBU's Autumn Congress and it was won by Paul Denning and Richard Plackett playing with two Welsh team mates.

Tollemache 2020-21 :  Twenty-seven counties' teams of eight played a full round-robin with the leading eight teams qualifying for the final in February. Gloucestershire started badly but recovered to end up in 6th place. Well done to Richard Butland & Garry Watson, Richard Chamberlain & Patrick Shields, Paul Denning & Richard Plackett, and Tony Hill & Alan Wearmouth.

Teltscher Trial :  the Teltscher Trophy is the name given to the Senior Home International Championship. Patrick Shields and Richard Chamberlain played in the trial and finished second in a field of fifteen pairs. They will represent England in the Teltscher weekend in April.

Year End Congress :  the recently held Year End Congress includes a one day Swiss Teams which this year had an entry of ninety-four teams. The event was won by Richard Chamberlain, Paul Denning, Patrick Shields plus ex-Gloucestershire regular Graham Sadie.