The NCBA has decided to utilise the facility offered by Pianola to communicate with local bridge players.  Pianola's great advantage is the data list is updated overnight from the EBU database.  This provides the benefit of ensuring that members' contact details are always current - as long as all members keep their information up to date at My EBU. If you have not recently done so, I would encourage you visit My EBU and make sure that everything is correct.  The EBU emails all members after each club event, so if you have not received an email from the EBU or the NCBA for a while incorrect details may well be the answer.  Always remember that you can opt out of emails - although I hope that you will not - if you wish. 

If you have not received any emails from the EBU and/or the NCBA in the past three months, and you have checked that your contact details are correct at My EBU, please email the NCBA and we'll help resolve the issue.

Brian Barrett sadly passed on Tuesday, July 29th. Many of you will remember Brian from his regular attendance at Congress and as a stalwart of the County B team in pre-covid times. Here's a tribute from Tam Payne, Brian's regular partner in more recent times:

Brian moved to West Norfolk from Maidstone on retirement, and quickly became involved in running the Kings Lynn club. He enjoyed playing club, county, regional and national events with his wife Valerie, and other partners, with much success in the Nicko and the Norfolk Teams Championship, amongst others. He recently became a Premier Life Master, the rank below Grand Master. He loved developing comprehensive bidding systems, and those who were lucky enough to play with him had  a thorough grounding in many complex conventions.

Failing health made club bridge difficult, but online bridge gave him the chance to pursue his passion, almost daily.

A lifelong Chelsea fan, he was much heartened by their recent trophy successes.

Brian was always a perfect partner, giving advice in a most restrained manner, and will be much missed by us all.

Our sincere condolences go to Valerie, Helen and Mark.

There were 17 pairs playing in the inaugural Seriously Social Bridge Day.  The venue was quite tricky to find on the large Easton College campus, but well worth the hunt!  The venue was spacious and airy, tea, coffee and bottled water were available all day as well as individual packet of a variety of biscuits!  The cold buffet lunch was excellent and plentiful, with a variety of sandwiches, wraps, quiche, fresh fruit, bags of crisps and a selection of fresh fruit.  At the end of the day the college even provided take-away boxes for folk to take leftovers home.

Players came from King's Lynn in the west to Gt. Yarmouth in the east; from afilliated and non-affiliated clubs, novice players though to county captains; and the day was appreciated and enjoyed by everyone. 

Along with other special interest groups, bridge has been hit hard by the pandemic, with many clubs unable to muster the four tables necessary to make a session worthwhile. The comeback from Covid has been painfully slow, with some at-risk players understandably preferring to play online rather than expose themselves to the virus. But with the UK threatening recession, the fact that 28 boards invariably costs less than a pint of beer, should hopefully accelerate the return to face-to-face. Help struggling clubs survive by giving a nudge to those you know who used to be regulars.