We are pleased to announce Saturday Seminars and a new 5-week course for 2021. We are also delighted to welcome back Michael Byrne, international and professional Bridge player and teacher who will hold two seminars on 27th March. See details below. 

Sessions will take place online using RealBridge and Zoom videoconferencing – we’ll use Zoom for the initial teaching and discussion part and then move to RealBridge to play a series of hands. (We do ask that participants commit to the whole event so that the practice hand sessions work to their full advantage).

Full notes and commentary on hands will be provided. 

The seminars/course are aimed at different levels of players which is indicated in the details given below. We recommend that you consider this when booking so that you can get the best out of the session.

Booking is through the website as usual with online payment at the time of booking. Please book early as seminars and courses are likely to book up quickly.

If you have any questions or problems with the booking process please email education@oxfordbridgeclub.com.

Time: 10am to 12.30pm

Level: Next Step+, Intermediate 

Cost: £12

Tutor: Charlie Bucknell 

This Seminar is aimed at helping you improve the judgment of your hand in those hard-fought part-score battles. It will help you evaluate how offensive or defensive your hand is and allow you to adjust your auctions accordingly - should you overcall on a more defensive hand or should you leave the opponents to their own devices? Should you push for a close game or take the safe low road? This seminar will help you judge these close decisions by evaluating your hand more accurately.

This event is of particular interest to those at the Next Step+/Intermediate level.

The seminar will be held online using Zoom and RealBridge. 
 

Oxford Bridge School is delighted to welcome back Michael Byrne on the 27th March to present two online seminars.

Many of you will have attended one of Michael’s OBS seminars, so will know how entertaining and enjoyable these sessions are, or have read his articles in ‘English Bridge’ magazine. 

Michael is an English Bridge international and professional player. He is also a teacher based in Manchester where he runs his own Bridge school. As well as being squad leader of the England Under 20 team, he regularly gives coaching to County and National teams of all levels.

Michael will be running a morning session which is open to all but is particularly suitable for NGS 8 to Queen players, and an afternoon session most suitable for NGS Jack and above. 

Each session will involve a talk which will take place on Zoom, followed by a set of practice hands played on RealBridge under Michael’s watchful eye. Each seminar will conclude with a wrap-up session looking at where we went right and where we might have done a little better. A full set of notes will be provided. 

We urge you to book early as Michael’s previous seminars have been fully booked with a waiting list.

We do ask that participants commit to the whole event so that the practice hand sessions work to their full advantage.

Time: 11.00am to 1.30pm

Level: NGS 8 to Queen

Cost: £26

Tutor: Michael Byrne

An in depth look at match point scoring and tactics along with ways to improve your success rate at duplicate pairs. A look at competitive and protective bidding as well as how high to bid in uncontested auctions.  

Time: 2.30pm to 5.00pm

Level: NGS Jack and above (and those playing in Division 1 & 2 of Wessex League)

Cost: £26

Tutor: Michael Byrne

A look at a lot of interesting and new aspects of defensive tactics, including Smith Peters, defensive carding in general, taking penalties at low levels, cashing out, and high level competitive bidding. A chance for you to consider some new ideas as well as revisit some familiar situations that continue to cause problems. 

Time: 10.00am to 12.00pm

Level: Intermediate+

Cost: £50

Tutor: Peter Litchfield 

This 5-week Saturday morning course will be run by Peter Litchfield, an experienced OBA County player, who has been playing the 2/1 system for many years. 2/1 is a development of Standard American and this is based on a 15-17 point NT and 5 card majors. It is the system of choice of better players in the USA and the robots on BBO. An increasing number of tournament players in the UK and around the world are adopting it. The main enhancement is the 2/1 bid which forces to game. This enables game and slam-going hands to be thoroughly investigated at a low level, allowing players to bid thin games and slams with confidence and hopefully avoid unnecessary bidding disasters!

The seminar series will be five sessions over five weeks:

1.    The 2/1 bid (10th April)
2.    The forcing NT (17th April)
3.    2/1 and major suit bidding (24th April)
4.    2/1 and minor suit bidding (1st May)
5.    Other aspects of the system (8th May)

Each session will consist of around 50 minutes of lecture and discussion using Zoom and an hour of play on RealBridge of hands illustrating the day’s topics.

The series is aimed at experienced Intermediate+ players who either already play 2/1 but want to polish their understanding or those who want to try a new and exciting system.