The club AGM will take place at 7:15pm on Tuesday  May 30th.

As this is the first AGM since 2019 because of Covid the committee request that as many members as possible attend.  All motions and nominations should be submitted to the club secretary or any current committe member at least one week prior to the meeting.  The committee would welcome all suggestions from members 

Please note there will be No Bridge on Tuesday April 11th.  The next club night is Tuesday April 18th

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Mount Sackville Past Pupils Bridge Club

Committee 2022/2023    

Web page maintaience: Dermot Mulcahy

The committee and members of Mount Sackville Past Pupils Bridge Club wish to offer their sincere condolences to the family of Patrick A. (Paddy) Walshe husband of one of the founding members of the club, the late Mary Walshe.  Paddy passed away on the 10th of January in his 95th year.

 May he rest in peace 

 Mount Sackville PP Bridge Club will open for a return to live, face to face bridge in St Brigids Community Centre, Blanchardstown at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 30th August 2022.  We will start with a very short AGM to vote in our new committee.  At a joint meeting of the outgoing and proposed incoming committee a number of actions as outlined below were decided on.

Actions to facilitate reopening:

A) An air purifer with HEPA filter suitable for the size of the room we use has been purchased

B) All playing cards are being renewed, also members are being asked to bring their own bidding box if they have one.  For any member who does not currently have their own bidding box the club has obtained a limited quantity of new bidding card inserts for the existing club boxes and these will be sold to any member who requires a bidding box at €5, which is the cost to the club of the new inserts.

C) New table cloths have been purchased.

D) Hand sanitiser will be available at each table and we request each member to use it before commencing play after each round.

E) Currently mask wearing is not mandatory but if any member feels more comfortable to wear a mask their choice should be respected by other members

F) Table money remains at €5 (Please note:  Notes Only, no loose change)

G) Membership fees remain at €40 for existing members and €50 for new members.

SOME OTHER POINTS TO NOTE:

Finally, please make it your business to put fellow members at ease. Do not cramp personal space, observe sneezing and coughing etiquette (cover your mouth with your sleeve/ elbow or tissue) and take all hygiene measures seriously. Please do not attend the club if feeling unwell or suffering from a cold, coughing or sneezing.  Please play your part in making the comfort and safety of all players our priority as we return to live bridge.

New E-mail address: msvppbridgeclub@gmail.com

The email below was sent to any members for whom we had email addresses.  If you did not receive this email please notify us of your current email address and we will forward it to you with the attachments.

This is the new email contact for Mount Sackville Bridge Club.  We are forwarding you a copy of an email received recently from the CBAI with their Newsletter  and a Code of Conduct for online bridge also attached.

 The committee wish to update as many members as possible on the current position relating to playing bridge in a "normal" club setting.  As matters stand at the moment it is not possible to see the Mount Sackville Bridge Club returning to its usual Tuesday night setting in St Brigids community centre until some time in 2021 at the earliest.  So for the moment for those who wish to play in a club setting the only opportunity is online.  As you are aware from the notices previously posted on the club website there was an insufficient response from members to allow the club set up its own "virtual club" online.  Some of our members are members of multiple bridge clubs and are playing online in some of those.  For the members who wished to continue playing under the Mount Sackville banner and do not have the access to play elsewhere the committee of Dunboyne Bridge Club very generously offered to accommodate those members of Mount Sackville with the opportunity to play in their Monday night online competitions until such time as we can return to our usual venue.  The committee is very appreciative of this gesture from Dunboyne Bridge Club. Any masterpoints earned by Mount Sackville members when playing on the Monday night will be submitted by Mount Sackville to the CBAI at the end of the season.

This email address will only be monitored once a week, so if you send any messages or responses relating to this information please be patient if you do not receive a response for a few days.

The Committee

Mount Sackville Bridge Club

The following was issued by the Mid-Leinster Region of the CBAI.

Do’s and Don’ts at Bridge

1. A player may not correct partner’s mistaken explanation of a bid or signal.
2. If partner hesitates before calling, a player must show that the action now chosen could not have been influenced by the hesitation.
3. Your opponents are entitled to know of any partnership agreement you may have.
4. A player may only ask for an explanation when it is their turn to call.
5. Lead face down, but turn the card over before dummy is shown.
6. Check your tricks.  Agree score.  Have contract and result entered before spoiling your won/lost cards.
7. Do not accept the decision of opponents if a ruling is required.  The T.D. is responsible for all rulings.
8. Players have a duty to ascertain how opponents communicate:
   Basic system – Acol or Precision or . . .
   Variations – strength of NT, 4 or 5 card majors, etc.
   Other – discards, leads, signals, etc.
9. Bids above 3NT should not be alerted unless they occur on the first round of bidding.
10. Defenders may ask one another about possible revokes.
11. As a matter of courtesy to all players mobile phones should be switched off and not used except in case of an emergency

The meaning of Double – as the name suggest – is to raise the stakes.

If you Double an opposing contract, you win more Points

if they fail, but you concede more points if they succeed.

When Bridge began over a 100 years ago, double was limited

to those occasions where you expected the opponents to fail in their bid.

However, it was realised that you would be most unlikely to be

confident enough to double a low-level suit bid,

when partner had not yet spoken.

And that if the opponents happened to have bid,

a suit in which you were very strong,

it was far better not to tip them off:

rather to keep quiet and wait for them to get into deeper trouble.

In 1912 New Yorker Major Charles Patten and Bryant McCambell

independently invented an alternative meaning for the

“Double” – the “take-out double”.

It is believed that this was the first convention in the game

(although it is now so universal that it is rarely thought of as such).

The take-out double – “partner, please take out my double into another suit”

shows an opening hand or better with no other convenient bid: 

no suit to overcall, and an inability to bid notrumps.

To learn more on doubling  contact your local Bridge Teacher or Coach,

or get a copy of Bridge Lessons (Double) by ANDREW ROBSON,

(www.arobson.co.uk) The above extract is from this book.