Ipswich & Kesgrave Bridge Club

Thursday and Monday at 7:00pm

Thursdays: players have a choice; online on BBO or face-to-face in the Ropes Hall, Kesgrave Community Centre, Ipswich. Both sessions start at 7:00pm and although the results are not merged, all participants play the same deals. At Kesgrave we run a cashless system for collecting table money and players are billed for sessions played at the end of each month. Visiting players are welcome and must complete the Visitor Information Form.

Mondays: players in our Relaxed Pairs also have a choice; online on BBO or face-to-face at Kesgrave, both sessions start at 7:00pm. As the same boards are played, participants in both receive follow-up notes on the deals, distributed by email, usually within two days.

Before you play your first online game with us you need to register your details, using the forms, linked from the Online Bridge Club box, right.

If you need a partner, check our Partnership Desk. Non-members can be contacted by emailing Anne for their contact details – before 1:00pm on the day in question if possible.

Any questions, about any format, please let us know, we're here to help.

Annual General Meeting

The club will hold its 2024-25 Annual General Meeting on Thursday 7th November 2024 at 6:15pm.

It will be a hybrid meeting: in person at Kesgrave and online via Zoom. Only club members may vote, nominate other members or propose motions.

All details are available from the menu-item, '2024 AGM' [left, next-to-top].

Final Call – Two Bridge Courses Starting Very Soon

• Beginner's course starting on Wednesday 16th October: register interest
• Nine-week Intermediate course on Competitive Bidding – Tuesday evenings, starting 8th October

If you haven't already signed up and are interested please let Chris Green know as soon as possible [Contacts left].

More below; scroll down or click on:

• Deal of the Week
• Charities in 2024
• Club Membership
• EBU Changes to Announcing 2023

Missed any? All past articles have their own page (also menu-item, left).

Donations 2024

Spring

We are pleased to announce that as a result of our Spring Charity Week we are donating £350 to East Anglian Air Ambulance.

As mentioned earlier, a second Charity Week will be held in November and we would very much like to hear members' suggestions of smaller, local charities to support.

Membership for 2023-24

We have recently sent out membership invitations to all those who play at the club. We hope you will join and be part of Ipswich & Kesgrave Bridge Club. To discover more about being a member, see 'Membership' (menu-item, left, near top).

Changes from 7th August 2023

Further to the changes made below in 2022, after feedback, several aspects have been revisited.

Principally the changes extend announcements and constrain alerts of doubles. These are hard to summarise without repeating letter and verse of the text and face-to-face players should consult the updated Announcements Summary.

Changes from 1st September 2022

The EBU has made changes to announcements and the rules for strong openings. The new announcements include the following:

• Responder's transfers into a minor after a 1NT opening.
• Wide-ranging (but non-forcing) 1NT responses to an opening suit-bid.
• Two-over-one responses which force to game.
• Transfer responses to a prepared club.

There is an EBU guide, "Announcements Summary", on what to announce and alert.

There are also new rules on strong and non-strong opening bids, see the first link above or the Blue Book [PDF] for complete information.