Good morning

Presentation Evening on Monday 28th September

We will be holding our annual Presentation Evening on Monday 28th September, with the presentation of trophies won in our internal competitions in 2025 taking place prior to our usual duplicate session. (This will also be the date of our next "Mix-In Monday".) Several cups are to be awarded and there will, of course, be wine and nibbles for everyone to partake of. It should be a great opportunity to don your best bib and tucker, and celebrate the achievements of our members last year. In preparation for this, please could those of you who received trophies at last year's presentation evening return them to us as soon as you can.

Another new member of the Committee

We are pleased to announce that Bryan Carr has been co-opted to the Committee to replace John Hill as Monday night representative. The Committee now consists of the following people: Jon Cooper (Chair); Tina Page (Secretary); Phil Batty (Treasurer); Cos Corry (LCBA rep); Bryan Carr (co-opted as Monday night rep); Sophie Reeve (Bridge School rep); Pete Sturton (Wednesday afternoon rep); Bill Crymble (co-opted as Director rep).

Improvements to the Studio and surrounding area now complete

The work that that has been carried out in the Studio and surrounding area over the last year is now complete. There is a bigger playing area in the Studio (which can easily accommodate ten bridge tables), new toilets (including a separate disabled toilet), a kitchen, a new storeroom and a bespoke, lockable cupboard to house our laptop, dealing machine, printer and boards. This means that our Wednesday afternoons in the Bar area should become a thing of the past - and there should no longer be any confusion about which way is North!

Team rota for September

At the the table: the Directors' Cut

Some of you have expressed concerns about the length of time it takes to complete our duplicate sessions on Wednesday afternoons. We have therefore put our heads together and come up with some ideas for speeding up play.

1. Please be seated at the table at least ten minutes before the start of play. This enables a prompt start to the session.

2. Make sure you know which pair you are following. This cuts down on the amount of time wasted between rounds.

3. If you are sitting North and you are on Opening Lead, please make your opening lead before entering the contract into the Bridgemate. Similarly, if you are sitting North and you are Dummy, please put Dummy's cards down before entering the contract and opening lead into the Bridgemate.

4. Avoid discussing the hands you have played until you have completed all of the boards for a round - and only then if the Director has not yet asked you to move to the next round. (Ideally, any discussions should take place after and not during the session but, if you must discuss a hand, please do so quietly and briefly.)

5. Directors will usually ask you to move to the next round when 25% of the tables are still in play. This is in line with the advice given by the EBU on its Club Director training courses.

6. If you have not started playing a board when the Director tells you to move to the next round, please do not play it. It should be recorded in the Bridgemate as 0 (no play) and the Director informed. It will be up to the Director to decide if one pair was the cause of the slow play and if the score for that board should be adjusted in favour of the non-offending side.

Please feel free to let us know what you think of these ideas and if you have any other suggestions about how we can speed up play on Wednesday afternoons. Your thoughts are always welcome.

Last week at the club

There were five full tables at the Lindum on Monday night. Well done to Alan & John who came top with 63.0%, and to Keith & Phil B and Rob & Babs who came joint second with 55.2%.

At Bridge School on Monday night, we played a mixed selection of boards in preparation for the next Mix-In Monday.

There were seven and a half tables at the Lindum on Wednesday afternoon. Congratulations to Alan & Graham who came top with 67.4%, and to Alison & Andrew who came second with 65.2%.

This week‘s calendar

Monday 21st September: normal Duplicate Session at the Lindum; please be seated by 6.20 pm, ready to start play at 6.30 pm.

Monday 21st September: Bridge School at the Lindum at 6.30 pm. This week we will be playing a mixed selection of boards to practise opening 1NT, opening one-of-a-suit and overcalling, in preparation for our next Mix-In Monday.

Wednesday 23rd September: normal Duplicate Session at the Lindum; please be seated by 1.05 pm, ready to start play at 1.15 pm.

Thursday 24th September: 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 4th October at 11.00 am: Ghost Pairs

Sunday 18th October at 11.00 am: Random Seeded Pairs

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