Please bear with us as we restructure the website over the Summer in preperation for the new Competition Season

Tour the world of bridge with Ben Norton: this time, Ben takes you to Chicago, Illinois for the 'Summer Nationals', one of three celebrated American tournaments held in various cities in the spring, summer and autumn each year.

These Nationals are a twelve-day haven of bridge, with many events running simultaneously for all standards of player, from beginners to world class experts. The Spingold knockout teams is the most prestigious such event.

The previous Nationals in New Orleans attracted 7124 tables of play overall. When you consider that the flagship EBU event, the Summer Congress, had only 155 tables overall last year, the difference in stature of these events becomes clear.

Come and join Ben to play through eight of the most interesting boards from Chicago, complete with post-mortem analysis. See how the world's best handle your everyday bridge problems. All are welcome, whether you bring a partner or come individually.

Dates are Wednesday August 9th and 16th cost £7 per person at the County Bridge Club. Each night you play 8 hands then go through them with Ben, handouts are provided. Refreshments available. Booking form on the County Bridge Club Website.

We are running a X-IMPed pairs competition for the Stanley Trophy, which will be held at County Bridge Club, St Oswald Road, on Sunday 15 October starting at 2pm. This is a change to the type of competition for the Stanley Trophy, which was first awarded for an LCBA competition in 1981, initially for a Teams of Four competition but this changed in 2002 when it was awarded to pairs gaining the best IMP score over a number of Butler Pairs heats. From 2023, it will be run as a one-off event. Full details of the history of the trophy and past winners can be viewed here.

Entry will be £5.00 per player, to be collected in cash on the day. However, players who have attended at least three of the recent Paul Bowyer Teams Training Seminars will have free entry to the competition. There will be prizes of £40, £20 and £10 to the top three pairs and an additional prize of £10 will be awarded to the leading non-expert pair, provided they have not also won one of the other prizes. Full details are in the Competition Rules, a link to which is here.

Please book in for the competition in by filling in the form on the Competitions and Seminar Entry Forms page.

Paul Bowyer will be delivering a series of four seminars in the Autumn which will help club players improve their performance playing Teams or IMP Pairs Bridge. Whilst open to all Leicestershire club players, these sessions will be particularly useful to those who will be playing in any of the LCBA teams of four competitions, including the Teams of Four League; club teams of four competitions; the LCBA Pairs League; and, most importantly, those who represent or who aspire to represent LCBA in the Midland Counties League.

The Seminars will take place at the County Bridge Club, St Oswald Road, Leicester LE3 6RJ, starting at 7pm on Wednesday 6^th, 20^th, 27^th September and 4^th October.

They will be followed by an IMP Pairs competition for the Stanley Trophy which will take place on Sunday 15 October and provide a competitive environment to consolidate and test out the skills and techniques acquired during the seminars. Players who have attended at least three of these seminars will have free entry to the Stanley Trophy Competition.

The Seminars will cost £7.50 per player per evening, payable in cash on the night. Although you can arrange to attend with your partner, this is not essential. Please book in for each seminar using the form on the Competition & Seminar Entry Forms page. Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.