It is with great sadness we have to report the passing away of Pauline Ballard around midnight on 13th October, after a period of illness.

Pauline had been a member of Maidstone Bridge Club for many years, she had served on the Committee for some time acting as the Club Membership contact with the EBU and also helped Jacqueline Day set up teaching sessions for new members. She was suffering ill health before the Covid Lockdown but had managed to play on-line in the afternoons.

There will be a private burial at 1115 on Friday 5 November followed by a Memorial Service at The Maidstone Crematorium at 1200. There will be a wake thereafter at The Fox and Goose, Weavering.

Donations please to the Parkinson's Society. The funeral is being arranged by Albany Funerals Maidstone where any donations can be sent. 

PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO F2F BRIDGE 24 NOVEMBER (ROOM REFURB)

 Face To Face Bridge every Wednesday (subject to the number turning up)!

STARTING at the club AT 7.00pm

No need to prebook, just find a partner and turn up and play. The results are combined with those people playing on line so there will be a delay before the evening's overall score is available.

♠ ♥ ADVANCE WARNING, CHRISTMAS IS COMING!!!♦ ♣ 

WEDNESDAY 29 DECEMBER CHRISTMAS "FISH AND CHIP" PARTY - ALL WELCOME PLUS GUESTS
CHOICE OF FOUR FOOD OPTIONS - WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE DETAILS

This is where we will keep you posted with club related events and information   New posts will be marked New for a week or two.
All on-line games will be held on Real Bridge 

Outstanding debts are listed in Members' Only area

Can't log in to get the links for games?   Members who have still not paid outstanding debts from some ago have had their access deleted.   Please contact Chairman to be reinstated.

We intend to continue with on line Real Bridge for the time being at least.

Future plans for our club
For the time being we have no intention of restarting F2F bridge on Tuesdays (but see below**) or Thursdays, nor for that matter on-line bridge on those days.  We anticipate continuing with Real Bridge for on-line games on Friday evenings. Wednesday will be dependent on how many players wish to play F2F or to continue on-line. 
NEW**  - If members wish to play on Tuesday evenings on Real Bridge would they please email us to let us know (learnbridge@btinternet.com) and we will restart only if we can be sure of having at least 4 tables per session.

Slow play - we have had instances of slow play due to disconnection and slow equipment problems.  Players should be aware that they are responsible for maintaining their own connection and in future such slow play will have a board stopped or removed with an adjusted score of 60/40 awarded to the opposition.  This is in line with EBU guidance and Directors will follow this rule in order to be fair to all players and keep the game moving at a reasonable speed.
Directors can now obtain a Board Report which shows time taken by each player on the board and this will be used to ensure fairness.

Games on Real Bridge will cost £1.50 per player per game;  payment will be due retrospectively at the end of each month and amounts due with payment advice will be posted in the Members' Only Notices at the end of each month.

Visitors -  Members may invite a friend as a guest for one complementary session;  to action this please email learnbridge@btinternet.com with the name and email address of the guest, and state which date you wish to play.    Thereafter visitors may play for a maximum of 3 events as a guest as a cost of £2 per player per game;  the member inviting the guest will be responsible for this payment and the cost will added to their invoice at the end of the month.   Any visitors wishing to join the club may apply to become a member at a cost of £5 membership fee for 2021.   Contact as above.

Links to Real Bridge games are in the Members' Area - Notices.   You can still play without a webcam and audio on your system.  Links will not be sent by email so it is up to members to make sure they can log into the Members' Area and access the links.  Late arrivals can be accommodated - login, go to the lobby and notify the Director to allocate you a seat.   For players new to Real Bridge, go to the Real Bridge website where there is a great deal of information and a webcam/audio test, plus 8 board free trial sessions offered by Real Bridge. 

Members can also view again scores and hands played on Real Bridge sessions.   Links for the past few weeks are in the Members' Notices section so you should save the link on your own system if you want to keep it longer.  Click on the link which will take you to the score table, click on the board number and then the contract results - this will bring up an option to scroll through card by card.
   

Rules of bridge for online competitions

• Players are reminded that all bridge rules must be followed in on-line competitions.   Bids must be alerted or announced as in face-to-face bridge.   This includes ethical considerations such as not indicating to your partner which card to play.    Background noises should be kept to a minimum and your microphone is best muted during play unless you need to announce a bid or explain further at the request of opponents.
   
• Opponents can only request further information at their own turn to bid or before the initial lead is made
   
• Use of UNDO is allowed but only under standard bridge rules.  Undo is intended to be used for a misclick, not a change of mind.   Regardless, a card played must remain and cannot be undone unless it is a genuine and obvious misclick.   Use of the double click option is recommended for those who have problems with selecting the correct card.  Any queries should be referred to the Director for adjudication.

• Claims - declarer must state his/her line of play at the same time as the claim.   Once a claim is requested, both defenders are prompted to accept or reject the claim. If they both accept, the result is recorded and the deal ends.  If either defender rejects the claim, you should call the Director to adjudicate the claim, or if everyone agrees you can also play on.  A defender is allowed under Law 68B2 to object to his partner's claim.   If play continues after a claim, the non-claiming side can see all four hands.