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Playing a mixture of face-to-face and online bridge. Check the calendar for details. Click here for details of our regular bridge sessions.

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Past Education News
Free Taster Sessions in August!

Interested in learning to play Bridge? Come along to one of our free taster sessions. Click here for more information.

New 'Bridge for All' Year 1 and Year 2 Courses

Our Year 1 and Year 'Bridge for All' 30-week classes start in October 2022. For more information click here.  To go directly to the booking page please click here

Tuesday Evening Learn & Play Must Be Booked

Tuesday evening Learn & Play sessions must now be booked. This is to ensure that we have at least two tables. If not, then the session will be cancelled and you will be notified. More information can be found here

Refresher Courses starting in June & July

We're offering a 4-week course at the club for anyone who has played little or no bridge since the COVID pandemic and wants a reminder about the equipment, bridge movements and laws involved in a duplicate session, together with a review of ACOL basics. For more information click here.  To go directly to the booking page please click here

Thursday Evening Learn & Play Face to Face from 2nd June

Thursday evening Learn & Play moves from RealBridge to face to face at Oxford Bridge Club! More information can be found here

Kathy's Korner Returns

Expert bridge player and club member, Kathy Talbot is offering members a chance to discuss tricky hands and how they should have been played, either as declarer or defenders. Sessions will be normally held on the second Wednesday morning of the month, and will take place on RealBridge. Please book tickets here.

Thursday Evening Learn & Play at Club House

The first Thursday evening Learn & Play session of each month will be held at Oxford Bridge Club at 147 Banbury Road. You can just turn up, no partner needed (there will be someone for you to play with). Play starts at 7.15pm. You can pay at the club using a debit or credit card. 

Announcing Beginners' Courses for 2021

We are pleased to announce that booking is now open for Year 1, Term 2, and Year 2, Term 1 of our 30-week ‘Bridge for All’ courses for beginners. 

Courses will be held online at Bridge Base Online and using Zoom. 

Click on the following links for more information or to book:

EBED Autumn Simultaneous Pairs Competition - Winners

Many congratulations to Susan Fletcher and Carol Hall who have won the EBED (English Bridge Education & Development) Autumn Simultaneous Pairs competition at Oxford Bridge Club.

Susan Fletcher Carol Hall

Thanks to all who played in the competition. Money raised goes to promote the development of Bridge nationally. To see how you've done compared to others across the country who played the same boards, visit the EBU website here

Click here to download the commentary for the hands played.  

EBED Autumn Simultaneous Pairs - Wed 8th September

We are playing a heat of the EBED Autumn Simultaneous Pairs during the Gentle Duplicate session on Wednesday 8th September at 2pm. This is to raise money for English Bridge Education and Development (EBED), the national charity for the promotion and development of bridge.

Entry fee = £6.00 per player. For more information please click here.  

Taster Sessions in August/September

If you're keen to try Bridge come along to one of our three free taster sessions. More information can be found on this page.

Announcing New Beginners' Courses Starting 27th September 2021

We are pleased to announce that bookings are now open for a brand new academic year for our Year 1 and Year 2 ‘Bridge for All’ courses for Beginners which each run for 30 weeks (3 terms of 10 weeks). Courses will start from Monday 27th September. There will be an online option and also a face-to-face option at Oxford Bridge Club. 

For more information and to book click below. 

Morrie Marsh Novice Pairs Competition - Trophy Winners

Many congratulations to Thelma Spratt and Gillian Fox who have won the Morrie Marsh Trophy in this year's Morrie Marsh Novice Pairs Competition. The runners up were Derek Knowlden and Jacqueline Davies. Very well done to everyone who played in the competition.

Thelma Spratt Gillian Fox

Our Saturday Seminar series continues from May through to November. Booking is through the website as usual. Please book early to ensure your space. 

For further details click here or to go directly to the booking page click the green button below. 

Our Saturday Seminar series continues from May through to November. Booking is through the website as usual. Please book early to ensure your space. 

For further details click here or to go directly to the booking page click the green button below. 

Announcing New Beginners' Courses Starting 19th April 2021

We are pleased to announce that bookings are now open for Year 1, Term 3 and also Year 2, Term 2 of our 30-week ‘Bridge for All’ courses for Beginners.

Courses will be online using Bridge Base Online (BBO) and RealBridge in conjuction with Zoom. 

For more information and to book click below. 

Saturday Seminars are now running online using Zoom and RealBridge. 

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

Michael Byrne will be giving two seminars on Saturday 27th March and Peter Litchfield will be running a 5-week course on the 2/1 bidding system starting from Saturday 10th April. 

For further details click here or to go directly to the booking page click the green button below. 

Announcing Beginners' Courses for 2020-2021

We are pleased to announce that booking is now open for Term 1 of Year 1 of our 30-week ‘Bridge for All’ course for Beginners.

This course will be held online at Bridge Base Online and using Zoom. 

Click on the following links for more information or to book:

Year 1, Term 3 Beginners' Online Course

Term 3 of the Year 1 'Bridge for All' beginners' online course (10 weeks of lessons) is now open for booking and is suitable for anyone who has already completed Terms 1 and 2 of the 'Bridge for All' Year 1 course. If you haven't completed the first two terms but feel that you have equivalent knowledge of Bridge to join the Term 3 class then please contact education@oxfordbridgeclub.com to discuss this further before booking. 

Classes start from Tuesday 29th September 2020 and there are three days/times to choose from:

Tuesday evenings - 7pm to 9.15pm - Tutor: Ann Lee

Wednesday mornings - 10am to 12.15pm - Tutor: Shirley Rawlings

Friday afternoons - 2pm to 4.15pm - Tutor: Shirley Rawlings

The course is being run online using Bridge Base Online and Zoom. The 10-week term costs £100 and includes full notes. 

WINNERS OF THE MORRIE MARSH TROPHY COMPETITION FOR NOVICE PAIRS, 2020

We are pleased to announce that the winners of this year's Morrie Marsh Trophy Competition for Novice Pairs, which was held online on Wednesday 16th September, are Nigel King and Andrew Wigmore. Many congratulations to them both! The trophy will be presented to them 'virtually' at the AGM later on in the year. Many thanks to all those who took part in the competition. 

 

Fast Start Bridge - Weekend course 10/11/12 January 2020

Learn Bridge in a Weekend - Fast Start Bridge

Fast Start Bridge’ is an intensive weekend course for those wanting to learn the rudiments of Bridge at a brisk pace. This is a practical course with a strong emphasis on play. By the end of the weekend you will have learnt the basics of bidding, play and defence enabling you to play Bridge in a social setting at home. You will also be ready to join term 2 of our Bridge for All course for beginners.

The cost of the course is £80 to include tea/coffee and biscuits. Lunch is available in one of the many cafes and restaurants in Summertown or you can bring a packed lunch to eat at the Bridge Club.

Tutors:
Sandra Nicholson
Shirley Rawlings
Gillian Lonsdale

Weekend of  10th, 11th, 12th January 2020 - Timings:
Friday evening 7.00 pm – 9.45 pm 
Saturday morning 9.45 am – 12.30 pm
Saturday afternoon 2.00 pm – 4.45 pm
Sunday morning 10.00 am – 12.45 pm 

PRACTICE HANDS SESSIONS 2019

Each week there will be two opportunities to play a set of hands with supervision. The practice is related to specific topics being taught to the Bridge for All year 2 courses.  The sessions are on Wednesday evenings at 19.30 or on Friday mornings at 10.00.  All are welcome to attend.  See the calendar for topics.

TUTORIALS FOR IMPROVERS 2019

We are running a set of six tutorials on Saturday mornings during the autumn term. They are designed to consolidate or build on knowledge of selected topics for students who have completed year 2 of the Bridge for All course but are open to all.  Each will comprise a short review of the key idea associated with the topic followed by supervised play of relevant hands.  Click here for details and booking.

Fast Start Bridge - Stage 2 - Weekend course 6th/7th/8th Sept 2019

Learn Bridge in a Weekend - Fast Start Bridge - Stage 2

‘Fast Start Bridge’ is an intensive weekend course for those wanting to learn the rudiments of Bridge at a brisk pace. This is a practical course with a strong emphasis on play.

Following on from stage 1, the material covered will include competitive and non-competitive auctions, declarer play and defensive strategies.  The course is suitable for those with a basic knowledge of bidding and play.

The cost of the course is £80 to include tea/coffee and biscuits. Lunch is available in one of the many cafes and restaurants in Summertown or you can bring a packed lunch to eat at the Bridge Club.

Tutors:
Sandra Nicholson
Shirley Rawlings
Gillian Lonsdale

Weekend of 6th, 7th, 8th September 2019 - Timings:
Friday evening 7.00 pm – 9.45 pm 
Saturday morning 10.00 am – 12.45 pm
Saturday afternoon 2.00 pm – 4.45 pm
Sunday morning 10.00 am – 12.45 pm 

Fast Start Bridge - Stage 2 - Weekend course 06/07/08 Sept 2019

Learn Bridge in a Weekend - Fast Start Bridge - Stage 2

‘Fast Start Bridge’ is an intensive weekend course for those wanting to learn the rudiments of Bridge at a brisk pace. This is a practical course with a strong emphasis on play.

Following on from stage 1, the material covered will include competitive and non-competitive auctions, declarer play and defensive strategies.  The course is suitable for those with a basic knowledge of bidding and play.

The cost of the course is £80 to include tea/coffee and biscuits. Lunch is available in one of the many cafes and restaurants in Summertown or you can bring a packed lunch to eat at the Bridge Club.

Tutors:
Sandra Nicholson
Shirley Rawlings
Gillian Lonsdale

Weekend of 6th, 7th, 8th September 2019 - Timings:
Friday evening 7.00 pm – 9.45 pm 
Saturday morning 10.00 am – 12.45 pm
Saturday afternoon 2.00 pm – 4.45 pm
Sunday morning 10.00 am – 12.45 pm 

LEARN TO PLAY BRIDGE

A new cycle of courses will be starting at the beginning of October. We would like to see as many new players as possible take advantage of our great courses and teachers in our brand new facilities.

Free taster sessions will be taking place on

  • Wednesday 28th August at 10.00am
  • Friday 30th August at 1.30pm
  • Tuesday 3rd September at 7.30pm

No experience necessary. Come along to see what it's all about. Bring a friend too! For further details click here.

Saturday Seminar 31st August 2019

The seminar will be given by Kathy Talbot.  It's entitled Beyond Roman Key Card Blackwood.  Click the Book online button for further details and booking. This event is full and a waiting list is in operation.

Level: Intermediate+ 
Tutor: Kathy Talbot
Time: 10:00-12:30

Taster Sessions

If you have never played bridge before or if you count yourself as a beginner why not try out one of our "Taster" sessions. A Taster session gives you the opportunity to see what playing bridge is all about. You will also meet the teachers, see the club and experience first hand what we offer to our students. The sessions are free and last two hours with a break for tea/coffee in the middle.  It is essential to book a place ahead of time.

Please click on the button to see the available dates and times then provide your name and brief contact details.  After you have completed the booking you will receive a confirmation email with a booking reference number.  If you have any questions please email the Education Manager.

Saturday Seminar 20th July 2019

The seminar will be given by Robert Procter.  It's entitled ‘Making your hand difficult to read’.  Click the Book online button for further details and booking.

Level: Intermediate+ to Advanced
Tutor: Robert Procter
Time: 10:00-12:30

Fast Start Bridge - Weekend course 29/30/31 March 2019

Learn Bridge in a Weekend - Fast Start Bridge - 29th-31st March 2019

‘Fast Start Bridge’ is an intensive weekend course for those wanting to learn the rudiments of Bridge at a brisk pace. This is a practical course with a strong emphasis on play. By the end of the weekend you will have learnt the basics of bidding, play and defence enabling you to play Bridge in a social setting at home. You will also be ready to join term 2 of our Bridge for All course for beginners.

The cost of the course is £80 to include tea/coffee and biscuits. Lunch is available in one of the many cafes and restaurants in Summertown or you can bring a packed lunch to eat at the Bridge Club.

Tutors:
Sandra Nicholson
Shirley Rawlings
Viccy Fleming

Weekend of  29th, 30th, 31st March 2019 - Timings:
Friday evening 7.00 pm – 9.45 pm 
Saturday morning 9.45 am – 12.30 pm
Saturday afternoon 2.00 pm – 4.45 pm
Sunday morning 10.00 am – 12.45 pm 

Beginners: If every member . . .

We want as many people as possible around Oxford to know that they can learn bridge at OBC.  If every member could tell ten others it would help to fill our excellent classes.

You can help to attract more people to the game by telling them about our beginners teaching program.  You can download and print a poster or pick up a printed copy at a club session - we hope you can find a noticeboard where such promotion is allowed.

We also have postcards which you can distribute to your friends and neighbours. Pick up a bundle at the club.  Spread the word.

Questions and suggestions to education@oxfordbridgeclub.com. Lots of information at education.oxfordbridgeclub.com

The hoarding at 147 Banbury Road now has posters advertising our taster sessions for Beginners. as you can see in the photo below.

2018 Books are heavy!

The main delivery of books for our Bridge for All courses weighed in at 48Kg! Most of them are now in the hands of our students.

Learn to Play Bridge

Booking is now open for the Beginners courses that start in the Autumn and for our Year 2 Improvers course.   Click here for further details.

If you know someone in the area who is interested in learning bridge, tell them about what is going on at the club.

Free Taster Sessions

We are running free Taster sessions over the summer for our Beginners courses that start in September/October. Come and find out what bridge is about and meet our teachers.

Dates and times are as follows:

♣ 16th July, 2.00pm-4.00pm
♣ 7th Aug, 7.30pm-9.30pm
♣ 9th Aug, 2.00pm-4.00pm
♣ 6th Sept, 2.00pm-4.00pm

Practice Hands Sessions
Tuesday afternoons 2.00 pm – 4.00 pm for Year 1 students

The topics are related to material taught in lessons.  The club calendar lists the topics covered on specific dates.
There is no need to book or to come with a partner.   Table money is £5.

Duplicate Minibridge - NEW
Duplicate Minibridge - NEW

Duplicate Minibridge sessions are run for the benefit of attendees at year 1 of the Bridge for All course. 

What happens? About 8 hands are played in a 2 hour period. The session is organised as a “duplicate session” and is scored manually.

“Duplicate session” means that each partnership plays against different pairs, changing position after each round.  Each board is played multiple times during the session. The scoring is arranged such that each N-S pair is trying to do better on each board than other N-S pairs in the room and similarly for E-W pairs.

When can I play? Wednesday afternoons from 2.00 to 4.00pm from mid October until early December - as listed in the calendar. Table money is £4 per session.

If you are interested in reading about MiniBridge then you can find detailed information on the EBU website.

Gentle Duplicate - new session on Wednesday afternoons
 From January 2017 we are running an additional duplicate session on Wednesday afternoons intended primarily for inexperienced players. Attendance guidelines are the same as for Thursday evening, that is any partnership may only have one player with more than 5000 Master Points. The session is hosted and you may attend without a partner if you have less than 5000 Master Points. Play will start at 2.00pm.
MiniBridge Practice Sessions

The MiniBridge practice sessions have proved very popular.   There are two more sessions this term on Wednesday 30th November and Wednesday 7th December.   From 5th January 2017 there will be a MiniBridge Practice section at the club’s regular Learn and Play sessions on Monday evenings (7.00 for 7.15) and Thursday mornings (9.45 for 10.00).

Starting young!

The second Oxford Junior Bridge Club Competition was held at the Oxford Bridge Club on the afternoon of Sunday 20th November 2016 when twenty-five children, aged 9 – 15 years, descended upon the balloon decorated premises, generating laughter and good will. The juniors came from a variety of schools around the city and county and from as far afield as Sonning Common, Reading and the Midlands!

Click for full details and more pictures.

Bridge for All MiniBridge Simultaneous Pairs

For the very first time a group of OBS students entered the EBED MiniBridge Sim Pairs event in November 2016.  Twenty six of the students from our 3 Bridge for All beginners courses played on Wednesday afternoon at the club.  This was their first or second time playing Duplicate MiniBridge and the afternoon was enjoyed by all.  Thank you to all the members who helped to run this event. View the results here. Congratulations to Juliette Riehl and Christine Bishop for coming top nationwide.

Gentle Duplicate - new session on Thursday evenings
On Thursday evening 6th October 2016 we are starting an additional duplicate session intended primarily for inexperienced players. Attendance guidelines are the same as Tuesday morning, that is any partnership may only have one player with more than 5000 Master Points. The session is hosted. Play will start at 7.15pm.
 
Beginners October 2016

The demand for beginners course has been higher than we originally expected. We are now running three parallel Bridge for All Year 1 courses starting in October. They will run on Monday afternoons, Wednesday mornings and Thursday evenings.  The classes are full but we are running waiting lists in case there are cancellations. Click for details.

Saturday Telegraph - EBU promotes bridge

In the Saturday 20th August 2016 edition of the Telegraph, EBED (the part of the EBU responsible for Education and Development) published an advert encouraging those interested in learning the game to make contact.  OBS is registered to receive any enquiries that come from the Oxford area. We have adapted their material to provide a localised version.  Please tell your friends, their parents, their children and their grandchildren. The EBED advert appears on the puzzle page in the weekend supplement.

 

Intermediate and Advanced Players - 4th Feb 2016

As part of the club’s initial programme, Peter Litchfield has offered to give a course on the 2/1 (“two over one”) system for those experienced players who would like to become familiar with the system.  As well as the specifics of 2/1, the course would cover the general mechanics of a five card major, strong no trump system and as such could be of interest to those who do not want to embrace the full power of 2/1. The course content is under consideration, but the format will probably be one hour of teaching and discussion and one hour of playing example hands.   The course would run on ten evenings, probably not before the autumn of 2016.  If you are interested in such a course, please e-mail education@oxfordbridgeclub.com of course without final commitment.  We need to establish that there is sufficient interest to warrant putting on the course and would welcome indicative responses by 29th February. For further brief details of the system click here.

UPDATE There will be a course starting on 3rd October and running for 5 sessions. Click here for details.

Newly published postcards - 1st May 2016

The Education team has produced promotional postcards giving information about our courses.

    

More information is in the May member's bulletin from our chairman.

Morrie Marsh Trophy – 14th March 2016

Congratulations go to this year’s winners of the Morrie Marsh Trophy, Tessa Goddard and John Cooper with 64.84%. In second place were Colin Wels and Tilly Dearden, and third were Matt Wright and Jan van der Ploeg.  The Morrie Marsh is the club pairs competition for novice players. Entrants may have no more than 500 EBU Masterpoints. The photo below shows the presentation at the end of the event.

Pictured are (left to right) Richard Sills (OBC Chairman and scorer for the evening), Tessa Goddard, John Cooper and John Briggs (Oxford Bridge Learning and Director for the event).

Notice Board - 4th Feb 2016

There is now a notice board for Oxford Bridge School in the middle room at the clubhouse. 

The first of our Saturday Seminars is on Saturday 5th March starting at 9.30 am.   Come along to hone your skills in making more tricks when playing in suit contracts, one of the keys to success at Pairs.   See the poster in the clubhouse or visit the website here for further details.   Each seminar costs £10 including coffee.  

If you have friends who want to learn to play bridge, please encourage them to book a place for one of our free taster sessions on Thursday 3rd March or Thursday 5th May.   Booking is online here.   Beginners’ courses will start in September and will be run on Thursday evenings and Wednesday mornings following the EBU’s Bridge for All programme.

Launch of Oxford Bridge School - 18th Jan 2016

Oxford Bridge Club is now running its own education programme under the banner of ‘Oxford Bridge School’. From Monday 18th January 2016 we are offering courses to both members and non-members. Look out for the posters in the club and visit education.oxfordbridgeclub.com for full details of courses and for information on how to book your place.

The education programme is being run by a team of volunteers from the club. Viccy Fleming is the Education Manager, Cecilia Lloyd is to be the Education Administrator and Lis Long will be running Marketing. Colin Wels will be responsible for managing the sessions on Monday evenings and Thursday mornings from the end of March when OBL will hand these over to OBC. Feel free to talk to any of the team to share your thoughts and ideas or send an email to education@oxfordbridgeclub.com.

Bookings are now open for our series of Saturday Seminars (starting on Saturday 5th March) and for two courses, Aspects of Play I (starting on Tuesday 23rd February) and Aspects of Play II (starting on Wednesday 24th February). Full details are on the club’s website. Over time we plan to offer courses to players of all abilities including beginners, who will follow the EBU’s Bridge for All programme.  

The OBC Chairman’s monthly bulletins will contain brief information about the education programme. However many of you may wish to register separately for educational updates so that you can book your place on a new course as soon as it is announced. To do this, visit the Education area of the website and click on ‘Get regular updates by email’. Click on the “Info Signup” button then when the registration page opens up, enter your email address and name, then select some or all of the various options.

Plans are being made to strengthen the path that OBC offers to new players wishing to gain confidence in their ability, thereby enabling them to become regular club members. Please contact me if you are willing to help to support new players or if you have ideas about how this can be done.

We also plan to run a mentoring system within the club for players of all abilities.   There will be a pilot scheme in the autumn to trial the system, for which participants will be needed. Watch out for further information later in the year and email education@oxfordbridgeclub.com to register an interest.

Finally I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to the launch of Oxford Bridge School, in particular to John Fleming (website pages and booking system), Chris Kerr (financial guidance), the Education Committee and to all those who have volunteered, particularly to those offering to teach courses at short notice and to those who have taken on specific roles so willingly.

Viccy Fleming
Education Manager
17th January 2016

Term 3 of 'Bridge for All' Beginners' Courses Now Open for Booking

Term 3 of year 1 and year 2 'Bridge for All' courses starts from Monday 25th April online booking is now open. For more information on dates and times, and to book click here

Update: Monday afternoon and evening ONLINE courses have been cancelled. Spaces on the face-to-face classes are still available.