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Dear Member,
I hope you have enjoyed our lovely summer, but that your mind is now turning back to bridge. The new season kicks into action in great style, with a variety of exciting events planned, both locally and internationally, in the next few weeks.
First up, we have the inaugural Trim Bridge Bash which will take place in the Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim, Co Meath on Sunday 24 August, with a two-session pairs competition (11.00–14.30 and 15.30–18.00) and single-session open pairs at 11.00 and 15.30.
Then in the week of 1-4 September, Ireland has the privilege of hosting the first-ever ACBL Sectional Event to be held outside North America, in Lansdowne Football Club, Dublin 4. All CBAI members are welcome to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to play and mix with American bridge players of all levels. The competitions will be run by the ACBL under their rules, which means commemorative awards rather than cash prizes, and play during the daytime only, although ancillary events have been organised for the evenings.
The ACBL Sectional will be closely followed by the Grand Master Bridge Congress, organised by Grand Master Bridge to give our American visitors a taste of bridge Irish-style, so with cash prizes this time! The Congress will run from 5-7 September, with Mixed Pairs and Novice Pairs competitions in Lansdowne Football Club on Friday night at 19.30, two-session Pairs competitions for all grades in the Templeogue Bridge Centre on Saturday at 13.00, and two-session Teams competitions for all grades at the same venue on Sunday at 11.00.
Then we have our President, John Phelan’s, Duais an Uachtarain (President’s Prize) to be held over three sessions in the Tower Hotel, Waterford on 13-14 September, with entry open to all Masters and Intermediate As. This competition, along with all the other CBAI national events up to Christmas, is now open for entry on our website.
Moving away from Ireland, the Scottish Bridge Union will host its first ever online international bridge tournament, the Brittania Pairs Championship which is open to all comers, online on RealBridge on Saturday 6 September, starting at 11.00, with a generous prize pool offered.
Finally, continuing the online theme, the World Bridge Federation has announced an exciting new initiative, the e-Bridge Cup, created in collaboration with the BBO and Funbridge platforms. For the first time, players of all levels will have the chance to compete globally in an online format, playing individually with and against robots, over several phases, culminating in a grand final. The first qualification phase will run from 1-28 September, and the finals from 17-30 November. In each phase, contestants will be offered a large number of tournaments to play at their leisure on both BBO and/or Funbridge, with each participant's best 10 scores determining the qualifiers, and the best average score in the finals the overall winners. A prize pool of $15,000 dollars is offered, and both the WBF and national federations will award masterpoints for the leading players who qualify for the later stages.
You'll find full details on each of these events, including how to enter (pre-entry is required in all cases) here.
Finally, we hope to see you at some of our national competitions and congresses during the season. There are competitions for every grade, and you'll be made very welcome. The full schedule of events for the entire year is on our website, to enable you to start making your plans for the season.
As always, if you need any further information on anything raised here, or have any ideas or suggestions for the CBAI, please don't hesitate to contact us.
With best wishes for an enjoyable, competitive, and sociable bridge season 2025/26,
Dermot O’Brien
Chief Executive, CBAI
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