For the remainder of the Summer, there will be no competition on Friday evenings, and no A2 event on Tuesday evenings. A2's on Tuesday will play in the Masters & A's competition. This is due to reduced numbers, experienced during July. (See right hand side of this homepage for details.)

Following the AGM held on 27th May, the following folk will serve as MRBC councillors for the 2021/22 season.

• Paul O'Brien - President
• Donat O'Brien - Secretary
• Siobhan Stanley - Treasurer
• Tom Gilligan - Tournaments
• Peter Wilson - Technology
• Declan Cahill - Facilities
• Maureen Haines - Social
• Catherine Sargent - Bar

Contact details for all Council members, e-mail & mobile #, can be found on left hand sidebar of the home page under > General Club Information.

Some folk are unaware of the BBO process which allows you to store and announce your systems at the start of each round, thus saving you having to type the whole thing out each time. The facility is called "Chat Manager" and can be accessed as follows :-

1. Log on to BBO

2. Click on "Messages" - (it will either be at the bottom, or to the right, of your screen, depending on whether you're using a laptop or a tablet)

3. Click on "Chat"

4. Click anywhere on the blank white screen, and a pop-up box will appear

5. Click on "Chat Manager"

6. Click where it says "Message" and type in your systems, e.g. Hi, we play 5 Card Major, Strong No Trump, Benjis, etc.

7. Click on "Add"

Your systems message is now saved on BBO. When you are playing, and you arrive at a new table, do the following to display your systems message in the chatbox.

1. Click anywhere in the white screen chatbox area, to display the Chat Manager pop-up box.

2. Click on Chat Manager

3. Click on the specific message you wish to display, (for you might have more than one message saved)

4. In the pop-up box that appears, make sure the channel says "Table", then click on Chat

Your message will now be displayed in the chatbox for your opponents, and your partner, to see.

NB: This might seem to be a convoluted process, but will become second nature once you've used it a few times.

A query was raised at the May '21 AGM in relation to playing in MRBC events on BBO, if lacking a partner. If you don't already have a partner lined up for any particular event you can use one of two options.

1) You can add your name to the "Partnership Desk", which is essentially a holding area for single players. To do this you log on to BBO and find the event you wish to play in, as normal. Click on the event, but instead of inviting a partner to play, click on "Partnership Desk", which can be found at the top of the screen. Then click where it says either, "I will pay for only myself" or "Partner must pay for me". Your BBO name will then be added to a list. Now, if and when another single player comes along, they can look at the Partnership Desk list, and have the option to invite you to be their partner for that particular event. You can either accept or decline the invitation. Both players must be online at the same time. You will not be charged the entry fee unless you successfully locate a partner. If you aren't successful, the TD may still be able to invite you to play once the event starts, but only when the event has an odd number of pairs, i.e. where there would normally be a sit out. Your partner then, may well be a Robot.

2) You can enter the event with a Robot partner. Again log on as normal, and select the event you wish to play in. Click where it says "Play with a Robot (Extra 0.25 BB$). You are then registered to play. 

There are also various whatsapp groups which members utilise to find a partner. These groups however, are essentially private, and are not administered or sanctioned by MRBC due to GDPR reasons. 

Please, Please, Please......., will folk alert their "Conventional Bids", and/or give an "Immediate" explanation if asked. Any explanation should be via the BBO explain function not the chat-box, and should be cystal clear. It's not good enough to just rattle off the name of the Convention's inventor, e.g. Jacoby or Hackett.

We've requested this so many times before, (see article lower down on this homepage), yet instances still occur. It frustrates your oppoments, runs down the clock and is simply unfair. Good scores can be cancelled if the TD feels the lack of alert caused "damage", or caused time to run out for this, or subsequent boards. If players feel they are being disadvantaged, call the TD asap, who will come to the table and adjudicate.