Good morning

City of Lincoln pair comes sixth overall in EBU British Spring SIM Pairs

Congratulations to Cos Corry & Phil Batty, who not only came top at our club in last Monday's EBU British Spring SIM Pairs but also came sixth overall out of 342 pairs nationally. What an amazing achievement!

Scoring Error Slips

With the best will in the world, sometimes an incorrect score is entered into a Bridgemate and it is too late to change it yourself because the Bridgemate has moved on to the next board. As you all know, the correct procedure in this situation is to call the Director and let them know what has happened. In order to make this process as simple as possible, there are now some Scoring Error Slips in a plastic wallet pinned to the Notice Board. In future, please could you record the details of the hand in question on one of these and give it to the Director when he or she arrives at your table. Many thanks.

Keeping things moving on a Wednesday afternoon

We totally understand the importance of having a cup of tea and a chocolate biscuit (or half-a-dozen if you are Tina) part-way through a gruelling Wednesday afternoon at the Bridge table. However, once the Director has called for you to move to the next round, we would be grateful if you could do so as soon as possible - and prioritise that over paying a visit to the refreshments. Thank you.

"Improve Your Bridge in Four Afternoons" course

We are now taking bookings for our new "Improve Your Bridge in Four Afternoons" course. This stand-alone course is aimed at those who have already completed the "Learn Bridge in Two Days" course and/or those who play at the club regularly and want to take their Bridge to the next level.

The course requires a total of 16 hours of tuition, which can be delivered as two whole days, four mornings, four afternoons or any combination of the above. Topics covered include: NT rebids; weak Stayman; escaping from 1NT doubled for penalty; Losing Trick Count; two-suited overcalls; doubling; Weak Twos and pre-empts; Benji Acol and slam bidding.

If you are interested in doing this course, please let Tina know on 07840 750779 or tinapage5@yahoo.co.uk - along with the names of anyone else you would like to do the course with and any dates in May, June or July that would suit you. We usually put these courses on for three or four people at a time, on any days of the week (including weekends) apart from Wednesdays.

Team rota for March/April

At the the table: the Directors' Cut

This week, we would like to remind you that the person sitting North should look at the Bridgemate at the start of each round to check that the right people are sitting at the table in the correct positions - before anyone takes their cards out of the board. (They should also check that the number of the board on the table matches that indicated by the Bridgemate.)

Sometimes, though, the Bridgemate has already moved on to the next screen by the time you arrive at the table - and the names are no longer visible. If this happens to you, all is not lost. What you need to do then is to press the NAMES function key on the Bridgemate (please see diagram below) and this will reveal the names of who should be at your table and where.

Last week at the club

There were four and a half tables at the Lindum on Monday night for the EBU British Spring SIM Pairs. Well done to Cos & Phil who came top in the club with 76.2%, and to Keith & Colin M who came second with 60.4%. Nationally the top pair from the club was Cos & Phil who came 6th with 65.1%.

At Bridge School on Monday we looked at Opening Leads when your opponents are in a No Trump Contract.

There were nine full tables at the Lindum on Wednesday afternoon. Congratulations to Bill & Colin R who came top with 61.7%, and to Andrew & Alison who came second with 60.4%.

This week‘s calendar

Monday 20th April: normal duplicate session at the Lindum; please be seated by 6.20 pm, ready to start play at 6.30 pm.

Monday 20th April: Bridge School at the Lindum at 6.30 pm; this evening we will be looking at Opening Leads when your opponents are in a Suit Contract.

Wednesday 22nd April: normal duplicate session at the Lindum; please be seated by 1.05 pm, ready to start play at 1.15 pm.

Thursday 23rd April: Bridge Practice online at 6.30 pm (please let Tina know by at least the day before if you will be able to join us).

Forthcoming county events at Dunholme Village Hall

Sunday 26th April at 11.30 am: County Championship Pairs

Please see the Lincolnshire Contract Bridge Association website for more details.