Maidstone Bridge Club
Release 2.19r
Beginners' Bridge Lessons 2025

On Monday 20th January, fourteen keen new students were welcomed for the start of this year's bridge lessons for beginners being run by Catherine with assistance from Geoff Hayday. There is a mix of experience from absolute beginners through to those wanting a refresher. Lessons will continue on Mondays, 10.15 am to 12.15 pm at the Civil Service Club.

As well as being one of the top EBU-affiliated bridge clubs in Kent, MBC also boasts a thriving teaching programme for new and improving players. We are widely recognised for the quality of our teaching, course structure and materials which, along with the facilities at the Civil Service Club, help make learning a real pleasure. MBC is committed to providing a friendly and professional environment conducive to learning and meeting new people. If you’d like to discuss our courses or put your name on our list for future classes please contact Catherine on learnbridge@btinternet.com or 07305 819072.

Beginners' Bridge Lessons 2025
Last updated : 30th Jan 2025 11:12 GMT
Comment
Wednesday Evening F2F Punctual Start at 7pm

If likely to be delayed, please phone Richard on 07780681405

If the movement has been set up and we are not aware you are coming we may have difficulty in accommodating you

Last updated : 10th Jun 2024 08:10 BST
Comment
Thursday Night Online Bridge Gets Underway

Thursday RealBridge online sessions got off to a positive start on 9th January with 5 tables. We have great hopes the uptake will follow a similar pattern to Monday afternoon F2F sessions, which have grown from from a standing start of 4 tables to 12 tables in a little over 18 months. As a reminder: to join a session you will need to be a member and should login to the Members Only area of the website. Once you have access to the Members Only area, go to Member Only Notices where you will find a link to that evening's online game.

Last updated : 10th Jan 2025 12:57 GMT
Comment
0 0 0 0 0 0
Pages viewed in 2025
Welcome to Maidstone Bridge Club
MARY FOREMAN
MARY FOREMAN

It is with great sadness we have to report the death of Mary Foreman after a short illness.

Mary together with her husband Martin have been very loyal supporters of face to face Bridge since we restarted after the Covid shutdown. Although having mobility issues in recent months she and Martin have always supported the Club well and she will be sadly missed. Funeral arrangements are shown.

 

Last updated : 9th Feb 2025 12:26 GMT
Comment
Welcome to Maidstone Bridge Club

 ♥  ♣   ♠

With more than 100 members, MBC is EBU affiliated and has been providing top class bridge and beginners lessons for over 60 years

The Club meets on Monday afternoons and Wednesday evenings for face-to-face bridge at the Maidstone Civil Service Club and Thursday evenings on-line with computer scoring and pre-dealt hands

Table money is £3 for members (£3.50 visitors who are very welcome) and free tea, coffee and biscuits are available. Please note: card payments are required on Wednesday evenings

There is ample on-site parking at the rear of the Club, particularly on Wednesday evenings

Play starts at 1300 on Mondays and 1900 on Wednesdays; we normally play 24 or 27 boards with play finishing around 1600 or 2215

Please note that there is often a host available on Mondays but not Wednesdays
Scores are normally posted on this site about half an hour after play finishes


Players looking for a partner for either session please give Barry a ring on 07442 132119. For general bridge enquiries please email ras15h@virginmedia.com or see our Facebook page

On-line bridge is also available on Thursday evenings starting at 1915 using the RealBridge platform; details of how to take part are shown in the adjacent column

Last updated : 9th Jan 2025 10:27 GMT
Hand of the Week

Board 5 from 29th January: Ever wanted to bid 2 suits at the same time? When you have a 5-5 shape or longer, and the bidding may well get too high for you to mention your second suit, is there a helpful convention to fall back on?

CRO is a conventional overcall which works well here. With CRO you bid oppos suit (Cue bid) to show 2 suits of the same Colour; 2NT to show 2 suits of the same Rank; or 3C to show 2 suits of neither the same colour or rank (Odd suits).

At one table the bidding went Pass - Pass - 1C - 3C from West (showing Spades & Diamonds) 4C from North, 4 Spades from East, and after 5 Clubs from South, West bid 5 Spades. When you have a 10 card or better fit with partner, your hand is worth more as a declarer than a defender.          

Points to note:

  • "Bidding to the level of the fit" is a mantra that generally works well. The 10 card spade fit suggests E/W should bid to at least 4S (10 tricks). Equally the 11 card Club fit N/S suggests you should bid to 5C.
  • 5C makes N/S - so 5S (even doubled -3) is a good sacrifice.  
  • When a huge fit is found -bid as high as is justified. Here if North had bid 5C over 3C, would East have bid 5S with his meagre values?

 

Last updated : 30th Jan 2025 10:31 GMT
Comment
Ladders Pairs 2024

Congratulations to Jenny Kendall and Richard Sissons for winning this years Ladder Pairs Competition. They scored 63.22% with Barry Quinnell and Eugene Hood a close second on 62.79%. Third were Daran Steele and Geoff Smith on 62.14%.

Last updated : 6th Dec 2024 17:44 GMT
Comment
Monday Bridge: Start Times, Parking & Find-a-Partner

As a reminder: Monday sessions will commence at 1.15 pm as from 20th January. The Civil Service Club have also asked us to remind members that parking on the grass is not allowed under any circumstances. To help members when they arrive at the Club, we will have somebody directing members to the available parking spaces when the car park is busy. Also, if you are short of a partner, please call Linda on 07748 967416.

Comment
SIM Results and Diary Dates for 2025
SIM Results and Diary Dates for 2025

26 pairs (online and F2F) from MBC played in the hugely successful Children in Need simultaneous pairs (SIM) run by ECatsBridge on Wednesday 13 November. The Club donated £262 towards the overall total of £59,000 raised by bridge clubs across the country for Pudsey from the 5 SIM sessions held that week.

Overall, 1,448 pairs from across the country played in our SIM with Barry Quinnell & Eugene Hood finishing 35th as the highest placed MBC pair followed by Geoff Smith & Daran Steele in 62nd place. Ten MBC pairs finished in the top 33% and earnt Master Points. The final placings with Master Points awarded can be downloaded from 006143-Final Results-13-November-2024.pdf

SIM Diary Dates

SIM sessions in 2025 are on the following dates: 5th March, 9th April,14th May, 23rd July, 3rd September, 8th October and 12th November for Children in Need

 

Comment
Results
Thu Pairs
O/L
Wednesday Pairs
Monday Pairs F2F
Thu Pairs
O/L
Wednesday Pairs
Monday Pairs F2F
Thu Pairs
O / L
Wednesday Pairs
Monday Pairs F /F
CSC
Thur Pairs
O/L
Calendar
Mon 17th Feb 2025
Mon Pairs F/F
CSC 1315
Director: RC