Web Site |
Welcome to the website of Bridge on the Edge, based in St. John's, NL, Canada. In 2016 we became a player owned bridge club. We support a respectful culture, both at the bridge table and in all BOTE communications, for the enjoyment and growth of all members.
Please check with any Board member if you need additional information.
Members who want to use the member's functions (ie bookings etc), please ensure you've accessed the site using the bridgeweb link bridgewebs.com/onedge/.
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Face Card Royalty |

It is believed that court cards started to surface in printed decks in Europe in the 1400s, a number of centuries after playing cards had first originated. There is documentation to suggest that cards were paper adaptations from dominoes & tiles that came into practice somewhere in China around the time of the Southern Song Dynasty.
During the 16th century, calligraphers in England & France had started to design decks of playing cards with decorative depictions of male & female royalty.
The decks printed in Spain & Germany, reflective of the rampant chauvinism of the day, refrained from any queenly portrayals in favor of producing packs with all male figures.
The royal artwork of the early English & French decks supposedly personified the four classical kingdoms of Israel, Rome, the Franks & Greece.
The King of Spades is often said to be King David, the biblical figure, who as a shepherd went into battle against his pugnacious foe Goliath. He promptly slew that belligerent Philistine giant with his trusty slingshot and what must have been a pretty sharp rock. He later became King of Israel ruling from around 1090 to 96O BCE. He was said also to be famous for playing the harp to exorcise an evil spirit that was haunting Saul. (The ancient Greek word exorkismós means "binding by oath”)
The King of Hearts is maybe Charlemagne, the King of the Franks, & later Emperor of the Carolingian Empire, which was largely Western & Central Europe. He ruled from 774 until his death in 814.
Or perhaps the heart King is Charles VII of France who ruled from 1422 until his death in 1461. It is easy to see why French playing cards would be quick to honour his reign as it saw a dramatic change into the political landscape of Europe when the Hundred Years War ended badly for Britain and terminated all their claims to the French throne. This was in large part due to the military actions of the 16 year old Joan of Arc, who led French troops to victory at the battle of Orleans & a few other strategic cities on the Loire River. She eventually went on to annihilate the combined rebel & English forces at the Battle of Patay.
The King of Diamonds represents Caesar, who we all know well from our history books & Shakespeare, as Gaius Julius Caesar, upstart Roman general. He, who led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his rivals in a bitter civil war that enabled him to rule the turbulent Roman Empire from 49 BC until his dramatic death in 44 BC. It was his choice of companions that proved to be his final undoing, as some of his best buds, taking a stab at power themselves, assassinated him on the Ides of March of that same year.
The King of Clubs is an apt name for Alexander the Great, who from his home base in Macedonia, did indeed beat & bludgeon his way down through Greece & later cudgel his way upwards into Egypt and then batter down parts of India, establishing the largest empire of its kind. Alex is certainly deserving of enduring facial recognition as he was able to conquer a lot of the known world in just under 13 years.
If indeed, these representations are historically accurate, then it seems our game of bridge has something in common with celebrated hostilities, orchestrated over time by a few of the world’s greatest military generals.
Next our Queens! Hope they are more peaceful.
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Wednesday Open Game Restarts |
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The Wednesday1:00 PM open game will start again next Wednesday 19th February. So book a partner and come along :)) It will be a little more relaxed than the Monday and Thursday games with fewer boards played and not as much attention to the clock. A good opportunity for newer duplicate players, mentoring or playing with a new partner.
Hope to see you there!
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Congratulations |
Congratulation to Janet Hannaford and MaryLou Martin who placed third in North America in the Thursday's Common Game last week.
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February News and Reminders |
February News and Reminders
Well February certainly has started off cold, fortunately there is always a warm welcome at the bridge club, even if it can be a bit chilly temperature wise to start with. We holding our usual Open Games, Supervised Play and lessons throughout the month. A big thank you to all the people who give willingly of their time to make all these happen so we can play and improve our bridge skills. There are many hours spent in the background making things happen! If you would like to help in any way we would be happy to hear from you. Here is some information and a few reminders that you may find useful.
Supervised Play
This is proving very popular and we would ask (again) that you sign up by Sunday afternoon to help with making full tables. We understand some are having problems signing up and Regina, one of our web-ladies will be giving a ’Sign-Up Seminar’ on Monday 17th February at Noon. Bring along your computer or iPad and follow along as Regina explains the steps. It’s way too fiddly to do on your phone!! Trust me I’ve tried.
We would also ask if any of our regular players would be willing to help ‘fill-in’ with Supervised Play to contact us. All you have to do is show up on Monday morning and make up a table, it’s pretty simple, you meet new friends, it’s fun and you get to ask Tom, Deirdre, Bink or Brian questions! What’s not to like?
Duplicate Light - 99ers
We are absolutely thrilled with the number of players showing up at our Duplicate Light-99er game. However, PLEASE, sign up on the website by Thursday morning. Last week we had a whole table show up unexpectedly and it took a bit of extra time to get things going. We would also like to ask if anyone would be interested in helping out with the running of the game to help the Director of the day out. Again, let us know.
Regular Open Games
Next week on the 10th and 13th there will be the opportunity for Gold points at the club. Book your favourite partner and come along! We are hoping to add an extra game on Wednesday afternoon so stay tuned for that.
Education
Our Beginner Lessons are well subscribed and the Bridge Essentials classes taught by Roy are ongoing. Check our webpage for the topic of the week in Bridge Essentials. These classes will be going ahead even if it looks like there is nobody registered.
Cancellations
As winter has set in we want to remind you that if schools are closed, our club is closed. We don’t want anyone risking life and limb for a game of cards.
With that, stay safe, keep warm and sign up for a few games!
See you at the club!
PS If you didn’t get this as an email directly or can’t sign in to register for games, it means your membership has lapsed. This can easily be fixed! e-transfer $25 to treasurer@bridggeontheedge.ca and use the password Swilers.
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Bridge Essentials -February 13 |
Roy will continue to teach Bridge Essentials this Thursday, 10:00am to noon. On the morning of February 13, we will expand on our discussion of Forcing Bids & Responses which is the main theme of our Winter Sessions. Today’s Lesson will review 1 No Trump Forcing Responses with all the variations & continuations by Opener & Responder. Emphasis will be on a number of illustrated hands. As usual, this Session also features Theory, Methods, Examples & Practice. All are welcome!
Please note the Bridge Essentials Lessons will be going ahead even if no one appears to be registered.
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Minutes of the BOTE Board Meeting |

Minutes from the Board of Directors meeting held on Jan 30th, 2025 can be viewed by accessing the Information tab on the left and opening the minutes section in the drop down menu.
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