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 contact info@bridgeontheedge.ca 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/.

Spring in Newfoundland is a season that,  in my opinion, is best avoided if possible and this year I have been fortunate to be able to travel to Portugal with some friends. Needless to say, one of my first searches for our destinations was for duplicate bridge games. Our first stop was in the Azores, no bridge to be found there, just beautiful hikes and food. Then it was on to Madeira, another volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic, where there was a very active club. I contacted one of the organizers by WhatsApp who hooked me up with Pedro as a partner, who spoke really good English and played very similarly to me. He obviously didn’t trust our ace asking system as twice we ended up in slams without any enquires being made. One slam was made, the other failed. It was a sophisticated club, they played the Portuguese equivalent of the common game, used BridgeMates and gave me my own number. Despite a few, understandable, misunderstandings Pedro and I came a very respectable fourth. 

Then it was on to a town in the Algarve called Tavira, there were a couple of possibilities there. The first was a well attended club, about eight tables, run by a Dutch gentleman named Frank. Frank runs a weekly game in Saõ Bras which was about half an hour, in an Uber, from Tavira. Fortunately on this occasion I had my own partner as Peter Brown, also from BoTE, was in Tavira at the same time. The club was in a museum, in one of the exhibition rooms, so there were a few tourists wandering through as we played. Frank organized things a little differently from us,  the boards stayed on the same table and everyone moved every time. Half way through the afternoon there was a ‘break’. All the players went to the museum cafeteria and bought a coffee, glass of wine or ice cream (me) and we all sat outside and chatted for at least twenty minutes. Peter and I wondered if the game was ever going to resume! Everyone was very pleasant, people from all over the world who had chosen Portugal as a retirement home. Good thinking! 

The third location I found was at the golf club in Tavira, again it was Peter and I that went. The game was run by a Swedish woman and most of the players were also Swedish, there is a big community of them in Tavira. We played in the morning and they get the space in the golf club for free however we all had to eat lunch there afterwards, as a way of ‘paying’ for the accommodation. Another interesting concept! There were only three tables at that game. Peter and I ended in the middle, which was fine with us. 
 

As always it is very interesting to see the many approaches people have to running a duplicate bridge game. But universally bridge players are welcoming and happy to meet other players from other countries. Try it next time you travel! 

During March & April, Tom and Deirdre, our dedicated duo, designed & delivered a delightful package of lessons on defence on four Thursday mornings from 10:00am to noon at the main playing room at our St. James location. They began the first week on March 12th, with an information packed class, then followed up with 2 more in succession & then they added a fourth lesson, on April, 9. 

DECLARE, DUMMY, DEFEND

Defence is definitely a very important aspect of our game. And it is first & foremost a team effort. Good Defence tactics are certainly a challenging but crucial skill in bridge, as often, any given contract can be determined by just one trick. Whether a partnership wins or loses a board depends on who scores that decisive trick & there are a few things that can tilt the odds in your favour. Good defence depends largely on meticulous partnership communication, definitely a learned skill.

Bridge teachers are fond of reminding players that 25% of the time you Declare, 25% of the time you are Dummy, but 50% of the time you Defend. This simply means that you will spend half of your bridge life trying to find the best lead or to decide on the right suit to switch to. Those important topics were the structural guidelines of the course with individual lessons concentrating on The Opening leads, Third hand play, Attitude Signals & Suit Preference Options, Discards, Counting & Unblocking. The bottom half of the back of the Convention Card is given to defensive agreements & understanding how to defend accurately requires serious proactive preparation & planning.

DYNAMIC DIVERSIFIED DESIGN

Every Thursday lesson was designed with an illustrated lecture format, followed by supplementary table practice with prepared hands formatted to illustrate & reinforce the main topic areas. 

This mini session on Defence was a huge success as there were approximately 40 tables in attendance in total, during the 4 sessions. The Director at last Thursday’s Open Game, gave a pre-alert, “for us to be on our toes, as Defence at BOTE was now at a much higher standard than before.” We look forward to Tom & Deirdre delivering more continuing education sessions (or any other Teachers), for us in the future.

If there is any topic you as a player would like to see being offered, please let Michelle our Education Chair know. BOTE is a huge supporter of encouraging our newer players in all aspects of education & player development.

Educational foundations in Duplicate bridge are essential for all those casual players who want to take some important, but necessary steps to transition from a carefree social game to a more competitive, systematically strategic, but immensely enjoyable mind sport. New Players who lay claim to having card sense soon realize they need to apply that valuable skill set to acquiring a solid substructure.  The initial training period focuses on developing basic applications, teaching the fundamentals of bidding systems & mentoring students on the technical skills in Declarer play and defence.

BOTE is fortunate to have a number of proficient teachers, & certified instructors, to help facilitate the early process in their educational journey.

This Winter, the chilly weather hasn’t cooled off the growing enthusiasm for our grand old game as a lot of newer players have enthusiastically embraced advanced learning. The Thursday morning seminar series will carry over into April & our Wednesday night Beginner Classes have continued on through our frosty evenings in fine fashion. They finished up one Session & went right back at it again to offer a new Beginner class to supplement the original Wednesday night sessions that were a continuation of Anne’s original group. After a few classes in March month, we are paused over the Easter Break, as Anne is away, currently playing in the Easter Regional in Toronto. We certainly wish her & her colleagues the best of luck as they battle away daily at this high-level competitive event. 

In the meantime, her bridge class while in brief hiatus, will have an opportunity to practice their new skills, in a casual setting, until Anne returns back home in a couple of weeks & picks up teaching where she left off. 

BOTE is very pleased to be running such an inclusive combination of Continuing Education Programs for all our newer members over the course of the last five years.

See you all soon at a table near us!

St. James Church, has very graciously allocated us a separate, private, suitable study room for our Educational Activities. Anne & her students are very busy with one of her nightly sessions.