Our Wirral based club, established in 1983, is conveniently located in Prenton, Mid Wirral, just 5 minutes drive from the M53.  We play in the church hall of the Prenton Methodist Church, CH43 0RE (see the directions in Information on the left), which is situated in a very pleasant safe part of Prenton, with car parking on the church premises.

Our aim is to play a good standard of bridge in a friendly atmosphere, and the club is affiliated to the English Bridge Union (EBU), with sessions directed according to the EBU rules.  The club welcomes visitors whether you are an experienced player or would just like to improve, but is not suitable for a complete novice.

• We operate a standby system for the evening sessions, so that there is no need to arrange a partner in advance as you will always be guaranteed a game.
• Keen players will also be pleased that the club uses pre-dealt computer generated hands.  The results are recorded on our website, so that you can see details of the hands , and how you did compared to the other pairs.

At the moment our normal activities are suspended because of COVID and the club is running various sessions on line - see below for details.

From September 2021 we will commence some Face2Face sessions as a trial before opening fully again.

If you are interested in joining or want further information e-mail us on < admin@merseybridge.org.uk >

Dear Members,

We are starting Monday evening F2F free bridge sessions initially for a three week trial period.  Dates as follows:-  11th, 18th and 25th October. 

To facilitate this return to F2F bridge, Monday club nights on BBO are suspended on those dates.

Tuesday afternoon free sessions are continuing.

IN ORDER TO PLAY F2F BRIDGE AT THE CLUB YOU MUST HAVE A PARTNER AND YOU MUST PRE-BOOK.

The method of reserving a seat for F2F is detailed on the home page, but if anyone is having difficultiy with this please ring Chris Griffin 07754047853 who will assist in securing your place.

Members attending any F2F must comply fully with the Covid Guidelines posted on the home page.  Masks optional.

The club have just purchased 2 air purifiers for use on club nights. This should reduce the risk from COVID especially when the weather means we can have little or no ventilation but they will not stop the risk completely.

New club officers appointed, Mike Fairclough, Web Master and Thea Hill, Secretary

Dates for Dairy

SIMS - This event supporting 'Children in Need' will run on BBO on Wednsday evening, 10th November

 AGM - Monday 22nd November, 6.30pm, followed by a free bridge session

 Christmas Party -  Wednesday, 15th December at Prenton Golf Club

Thea

Like many people I am really looking forward to having face to face bridge again but it is so important that we are vigilant and do this as Covid-safe as possible.

Please read the Covid risk assessment on the left which has been done for your safety and the safety of all your friends and relatives who you are in contact with. Here is a summary –

1. Only people who have has two vaccines- the second one being given more that 3 weeks ago should come for face to face bridge.
2. If you are feeling unwell with ANY viral symptoms or symptoms of Covid DO NOT come to the club even if you have had a negative lateral flow test – false negatives do sometimes occur.
3. Please do a lateral flow test – they are freely available from pharmacists, some supermarkets and many outside stalls on the Wirral- within 48 hours of coming to the club even if you feel perfectly well – there are still many people with asymptomatic Covid.
4. Please sanitise your hands when you come in to the club and before every round.
5. Please maintain social distancing when at all possible.
6. Sitting at a bridge table is the time when we are most likely to get infected with Covid so, although optional, we advise wearing a mask throughout the evening if you can.
7. We need to maintain good ventilation during the evening to minimise the risk so bring warm coats if it is cold outside!
8. East/West will be asked to only use one bidding box so they will take their bidding box round with them.
9. We will have a limit of 10 tables so you will need to book online. Our secretary Linda will explain more about this (see below)

For the moment-

1. There will be no drinks provided but feel free to bring your own.
2. There will be free bridge to reflect the fact that many people have paid their subscription for no benefit.
3. We will not be having any visitors.

Janet Almond

Please find below the instructions on how to book to play in the F2F sessions at the club which are starting on Tue afternoon 7 September.  We are starting with the Tuesdays to trial all the organisational and safety measures we have to have in place.  We hope members will feel safe to return to the club and we also hope the measures will not put too many people off!  If all goes well we will then start back in the evening/s.

Jill or myself will help anyone who has difficulty booking and Jill Woolfgang our TD has also offered to help find a partner on Tuesdays for anyone who does not have one.

How to make a booking

• Go into the website and click on the green 'Calendar Month' button on the left hand side of the page
• This will open the calendar for the present month 
• If you want to go to the next month - Click on the right hand facing arrow on the top right hand corner of the calendar page. 
• Click on the box of the date you want to play which shows the session
• Click on the 'Booking Required' icon that appears
• Follow the on line instructions ie enter your name and press 'check' at the bottom of the page
• Enter your partners name
• Press 'add Booking' at the bottom of the page
• You will then see you have been added to the list of players

To cancel a booking

• Go to the calendar page for the month as above
• On the date you want to cancel - Click on the box and then the 'Booking Required' icon 
• It should tell you you are the current user.  If not enter your name
• Press the 'check' button at the bottom of the page
• Add your partners name
• Press the remove button at the bottom of the page
• Your booking should then disappear

I hope you will find it is quite straightforward after having done it once but ANY problems or you need help please email or call Jill or me.

Linda

As you will be aware we are returning to F2F bridge on a Monday evening starting on 11 October.  During that time the club duplicate on BBO is suspended.  For those members not quite ready to return to F2F bridge on a Monday evening there is a FREE tournament you can enter on BBO which is highly recommended by a few of our members who have played in it.  Please see details below and if you would like any more info or have any queries please email me at Linda342@icloud.com

Best regards

Linda

Free English Acol Bridge Club on BBO

The Acol Bridge Club runs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons on BBO at 2.15pm and on Sunday and Monday evenings at 7.30pm. 

It usually consists of 8 two-board rounds. An attraction is that there is no cost involved!  Naturally, you do not have to play every day, just on an ad hoc basis. A few of us have played in it and it is a very enjoyable and friendly club.  The standard is not dissimilar to our own club.   

It is organised by a Tony Fern who goes under the BBO name of Vesian. His email is PlayAcol21@gmail.com Before you play for the first time you need to drop Tony an email with you and your partners' BBO names so he can register you as eligible to play in the club.

Then, to enter on the day, you have to register WITH your partner just before the start time.  However there is a partnership desk if you don't have one.  You find the tournament by the same method you log in to our own duplicates on BBO (ie ‘Competitive’ then ‘All tournaments’ then enter ‘Acol’ in the search bar).

The numbers have dwindled a bit in the summer so Tony is happy for more players to join.

If you would like to play in our online duplicates on BBO on Monday and Wednesday evenings then please fill in this form and submit it.

MBC members can still gather a table of four playing companions and have a fun night playing up to 20 boards at your own pace.   You can play regularly or occasionally.

Mike Reid sets up a session on a Tuesday evening and Janet Almond on a Thursday.  So if you have a table of four contact:

dandmreid@gmail.com for a Tuesday

janetreamalmond@yahoo.co.uk for a Thursday 

They will send you the link for that night.

NB you must have your own group of four to play and the sessions are free to subscribed MBC members