Here is a roundup of the latest Purley Bridge News with some dates for your diary.

Summer Season

The Winter Season finished on the 31st of March and the Summer Season commenced on Monday April the 1st and will end in August 2024.

All ladders will require a minimum of 7 appearances to qualify.

Beginner Bridge lessons

The beginner training sessions in the Bowls Pavillion concluded on the 3rd of April but will recommence every Wednesday afternoon from the 17th of April between 13:00 and 15:00 at the rear of the main hall

Please contact Brenda Blackwell if you or anyone you know are interested.

Beginner Bridge session

'The Thursday morning sessions have now concluded as the Bowls Pavillion now reverts to its primary purpose. Thanks to Roger Lee for running these sessions.'

Weekly Bridge sessions

The Monday, Wednesday and Thursday sessions continue as normal.

Stewards are now available on all Monday evening, Wednesday morning and Thursday evening sessions.

The Wednesday afternoon arrangement whereby the Directors act as Stewards remains unchanged.

A new rota for Stewards and Scorers has been set up for the Summer season. Details are on the Bridgewebs calendar.

'Congratulations to Carol Letts and Ken Whiteman for winning the Club Championship on the 17th of February.

We are sad to hear of the deaths of Clare Beecheno and Alan Featherstone. Our thoughts and prayers go to Bill Beecheno, Brenda McDermott and families and to Mary Carmen Featherstone and family.

We would like to thank all members for your superb support for our charity event- including those who donated raffle prizes or gave donations and all those who made such yummy cakes!

 In total, we raised £850 from the raffle and bridge afternoon. This is going to the South East Cancerhelp Charity in Purley where they provide a range of high quality services including complementary therapies, workshops and support groups.

They can be contacted on 020 8668 0974 or www.sechc.org.uk if you know anyone who might benefit from their services. 

The EBU have produced updated announcement rules from August.

For your information they have been added to the EBU Information tab on the website.

Although it only seems to require you to announce if 1C or 1D could be less than three cards, we have agreed the need at Purley to announce if it could be less than four cards.

Also we would like to remind anyone playing a Strong No Trump and/or 5 card majors that this needs to be announced as well.

At the AGM held in January it was stated that the existing Handicapping System would be reviewed and the result of the review communicated.

At the subsequent Committee meeting it was proposed that the Handicapping System be phased out over the next 12 months with the exception of the Wednesday afternoon sessions.

After considering the views of members and further discussion, the Committee has decided a more gradual approach is appropriate for changes to the handicap system.  Therefore, as a first step, with effect from the February prizes, the handicap period for winners will be reduced from 12 to 9 months (including on Wednesday afternoons) and the percentage penalty for winners will be reduced from 5% to 3%.  The handicap process will be kept under review and feedback will be welcomed before any further changes are proposed.

Although unaffiliated to the EBU, Purley Bridge Club believes that it should observe certain EBU Rules to ensure a level playing field.  

The Committee would therefore like to bring to he attention of members the following new rule regarding Strong 2 Suit Bids.

This applies when the bid is directly in the suit, and when it is indirect within a multi-meaning bid of, for example, 2C or 2D.  

The qualification for such bids, and the explanation given when asked, used to be “8 Playing tricks in a suit”.  This is no longer allowed.  

The minimum requirement is now either 16+ points, or 13+ points with 10+ cards in two suits containing those points. 

When a player makes such a bid, their partner, if asked the meaning, should simply say “Strong” and not “8 playing tricks”.  

Members are politely requested to observe this new minimum definition of Strong 2 Suit bids when playing at the Club.