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Mount Sackville Past Pupils Bridge Club

Committee 2024/2025   

Web page maintenance: Dermot Mulcahy

As you will be aware from the recent Mount Sackville Bridge Club AGM, the club has, this week, received delivery of the BridgeMates that were ordered last November.  There needs to be some practice in their use to take place before the BridgeMates can be brought into use.  As part of this you will notice in the results column a number of results for various dates with the titles Bridgemates test 3, 4,5 etc.  These results do not relate in any way to an actual competition in the club but are part of the training in the use of the BridgeMates and therefore should be ignored.  In due course these test results will be deleted from the system.  It is hoped to introduce the BridgeMates for our normal Tuesday night session in the third or fourth week of June.  

An error occurred in the scoring of some sheets from Tuesday 21st May competition.  These have now been rechecked and revised corrected results have now been posted to the website.  Sincere apologies for this error.

The Mount Sackville new bridge season September 2023 to end of May 2024 commences on Tuesday September 5th at 7:15pm.  

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

NEW MEMBERS ARE WELCOME

Members are requested to be seated prior to 7:15pm to enable play to commence on time. 

Membership fee for existing members remains at €40 and for new members the fee is €50

Should you require a partner please place a WhatsApp message using the club matchmaker no. 083-329 7344

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

B) Members are 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.

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.

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.

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 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.