♠ ♥  With the move to $5 Pay-per-Play for all MRBC Online Competitions commencing on July 1^st, we are also introducing a new schedule of Online Events, also commencing on July 1st.

Monday Mornings will have two Competitions, both running concurrently. One for “A’s & Masters” and one for “B’s & Novices”. Tuesday Afternoon’s event will move to Tuesday Evening at 7.30 p.m., and will also consist of two “Separate Grades” Competitions. Wednesday Evening’s Competition and Thursday Morning’s Competition will remain as is, i.e. a single “All Grades” Competition. We are also increasing the number of boards played to 22.

Please ensure when registering for any event, that you enter the competition which best fits your, and your partner’s, CBAI Grade.

Based on feedback and numbers playing, we will look at introducing further Evening Competitions as the weeks progress. ♦ ♣ 

Dear Fellow Members,

2020 AGM & Club Reopening Date

Despite the National easing of restrictions, deep-seated concern remains within the membership of all Bridge Clubs with regard to face-to-face Bridge. The CBAI are liaising with the Government and the HSE, with a view to reopening Bridge Clubs as soon as possible, in a safe and secure environment. We will await their considered direction, and any agreed protocols and measures for safe reopening, before we agree a date for our 2020 AGM and the potential reopening of our club. In the meantime, the existing Council will remain in place, with the support and approval of our Trustees.

Volunteers

Our club is run entirely on a voluntary basis, and to date we have been lucky to have a small, but committed number of members who give freely of their time. However, to ensure that the club continues to operate when the current hiatus is over, we need more members to come forward, to replace existing incumbents. Despite numerous requests from our Nominations Committee, we have so far failed to get folk to offer their services. So, we are again appealing to the membership to contact Anne Kavanagh 087 6672361, Michael Kelly 087 9803360 or Liz Maguire 086 8521784, to register your willingness to help. The future of our club is in your hands.

On-Line Bridge

Bridgebase Online, (BBO), have introduced various new pricing agreements to all CBAI affiliated clubs for the use of their software, and are also in the process of reviewing the status of independent Tournament Directors. These costs, plus the fact that our club has been operating at a loss since March, mean that MRBC can no longer afford to offer unlimited free tournaments, and accordingly from July 1^st, all MRBC sanctioned competitions will be Pay-per-Play, with an entry fee of $5. To play in future events you must have $’s in your BBO account, and be included in our BBO players database. Our existing schedule of online events remains, but is under constant review, and information on entering events and purchasing BBO$’s is on the club website. (See left hand sidebar of Homepage.)

The current situation remains extremely fluid, but your caretaker Council are committed to managing club processes as best they can, and will keep the membership updated with issues when applicable.

MRBC Council

NB: As we have mentioned in other communications, we recommend you purchase your BBO$'s via your PC or Laptop. Buying them from the BBO shop, via the App on your Phone or Tablet, is seriously more expensive.