I am pleased to advise Royston club members that starting on Thursday 11th June at 7 p.m.  there will be a new weekly Virtual Club event available to them on BBO, hosted with the generous support and assistance of Hitchin Bridge Club. These events will continue on the same day and time each week for the foreseeable future, or until normal face-to-face club bridge can be resumed.

This event will be called the North Herts Area Clubs Hospice Pairs, and is open to members of all local clubs. Each game will consist of 18 boards and will cost BB$4 per person, to be purchased in advance from the BBO website. Results will appear on the club’s website in the usual way.

The profits from this event will go to the Garden House Hospice in Letchworth. Please support this initiative if you can. If you're looking for a partner, the Member list on the club website identifies those Royston members with a BBO Name.

Some of you may have played similar games already on BBO, whether organised by other clubs or the EBU. For those who have not, the following information should be of assistance, with more details available via the Documents tab on the left (see BBO - Enter a Tournament). For those new to BBO or BBO tournaments, the entire process is also summarised in this useful pictorial guide: New to Bridge Base Online? (use Ctrl/click on the link to open the guide in a new tab in your browser).

BBO lists the session from two hours before the start time under Virtual Clubs / EBU - England (you can search for "Herts" if there's a long list under the Pending tab) and you should register to play with your partner at least 10 minutes before the start. Your payment will be taken automatically when the event starts so make sure there's sufficient credit in your BB$ account beforehand, or you will miss out.

NB. Your BBO Name must be pre-registered for you to be eligible to play in this event (this is a one-off requirement). If your BBO name is in the Royston Members List you should already be pre-registered, but players from clubs other than Royston or Hitchin will need to let me know in advance to ensure that their BBO names are added to the "Include list" for the event.

I am pleased to advise Royston club members that starting on Thursday 11th June at 7 p.m.  there will be a new weekly Virtual Club event available to them on BBO, hosted with the generous support and assistance of Hitchin Bridge Club. These events will continue on the same day and time each week for the foreseeable future, or until normal face-to-face club bridge can be resumed.

This event will be called the North Herts Area Clubs Hospice Pairs, and is open to members of all local clubs. Each game will consist of 18 boards and will cost BB$4 per person, to be purchased in advance from the BBO website. Results will appear on the club’s website in the usual way.

The profits from this event will go to the Garden House Hospice in Letchworth. ..........

For those who are interested in playing online bridge on BBO during the lockdown, here's a summary of the various options that are available.

1. Play Solitaire bridge (with robots at the other seats, playing BBO's preferred system, 2/1 game-forcing).
2. Watch others play bridge on BBO (Casual, Competitive, etc).
3. Play bridge at a table reserved for four friends (requires one of you to start the table as "host")... just play bridge.
4. Play bridge at a table reserved for you and your partner, against anyone out there on the internet.
5. Play bridge at a table, with and against anyone out there on the internet.
6. Play a Team of Four match at two tables reserved for eight friends (requires one of you to act as "director").
7. Play a Team of Four match at two tables with your partner, against anyone out there on the internet.
8. Play a Team of Four match, with and against anyone out there on the internet.
9. Play a club tournament (duplicate bridge, just like a club duplicate... this requires a "registered director").
10. Play a standard EBU tournament of 12 boards (7 minutes per board). There are currently four matches a day.
11. Play a "fast" EBU tournament of 12 boards (5 minutes per board). There is currently one match a day.
12. Create and/or play a Challenge (you play with and against robots, so you can play at your own pace).
13. Watch Vugraph — live face-to-face bridge, including many of the world's top players (as available).
14. Set up your own practice table for bidding or coaching.

Notes

• For technical reasons, option 9 is only currently available at some larger bridge clubs, such as Cambridge and the Andrew Robson Bridge Club.
• BBO is completely free, although the EBU tournaments (options 10 and 11) do have an entry fee, currently set at $2.

Those new to BBO should use options 1 and 2 initially, to familiarise yourselves with the basics. The options highlighted in green are the ones that you may find of greatest interest longer-term as you gain in familiarity and confidence, but of course tastes differ.

If there are any members out there who want to play online bridge on BBO and don't know how (or simply need a helping hand) just ask. There are also several other platforms that support online bridge, for example BridgeClubLive, FunBridge, RealBridge and StepBridge.

For those who are interested in playing online bridge on BBO during the lockdown, here's a summary of the various options that are available. ..........

A quick reminder about BBO — anyone who wants to play bridge on BBO can do so for free, and it's the preferred platform for EBU tournaments, friendly casual bridge and a lot more. I know that online bridge is not everyone's cup of tea, but if you are thinking of giving it a try, there's plenty of help available.

The Berwick Bridge Club guide and accompanying YouTube videos come strongly recommended for those new to online bridge. Just click on the link (or right-click to open in a new window) to find out how to register on BBO. There's much more documentation available if that particular example is not to your taste (see last week's update below for a longer list).

This Thursday, 2nd April at 7.30pm (club night), there will be several club members online on BBO who are available to help. If you want to join a table to give online bridge a try, just ask.

Please email me beforehand if you're thinking of playing or simply watching (or kibitzing, as it's universally known in the online world). Let me know your BBO Name (mine's SunnyDave)... you can see a number of other member's BBO Names in the Member list.

Hope to see you soon in the real world, and maybe even sooner in the virtual world of online bridge.

A quick reminder about BBO — anyone who wants to play bridge on BBO can do so for free, and it's the preferred platform for EBU tournaments, friendly casual bridge and a lot more. I know that online bridge is not everyone's cup of tea, but if you are thinking of giving it a try, there's plenty of help available.

The Berwick Bridge Club guide and accompanying YouTube videos come strongly recommended for those new to online bridge. ..........

They say a week’s a long time in politics… well it certainly is in the world of coronavirus and online bridge! Here’s a brief summary for those new to the world of online bridge.

Three main providers of online bridge are BBO, Funbridge and Bridge Club Live. The EBU website has information about playing online with all three of these, in particular BBO which is now hosting four games of duplicate bridge a day for the EBU, seven days a week, at a dollar a time.

Of course, you don’t have to pay for online bridge, and BBO enables any four like-minded players to play at a virtual table, any time, for free (rather like rubber bridge). BBO also enables bridge addicts to play Solitaire bridge for as long as they like, as often as they like... again it's absolutely free!

The club can offer help in getting started to any members who find these applications a bit daunting. But one thing's for sure... you can certainly still play bridge in self-isolation, so long as you have an internet connection. It’s largely a matter of personal choice and what you want to get out of a game of bridge that determines which (if any) of the above options you take up.

Here’s some useful links to enable you to find out more (right-click to open in a new tab or window):

1. BBO Guide (Berwick)  https://berwickbridgeclub.co.uk/bbo
2. BBO Instructions (EBU)  http://www.ebu.co.uk/ebuscore-wiki/bboinstructions
3. BBO Guide (EBU)       http://www.ebu.co.uk/ebuscore-wiki/_media/bbo_guide.pdf
4. EBU Games on BBO    https://www.ebu.co.uk/node/3738
5. BBO Guide (ARBC)      http://www.andrewrobson.co.uk/at_the_club/online_duplicates
6. BBO                          https://www.bridgebase.com/
7. Funbridge                  https://www.funbridge.com/
8. Bridge Club Live         https://www.bridgeclublive.com/
9. EBU                        https://www.ebu.co.uk/
10. Royston BC                https://www.bridgewebs.com/roystonherts/

Or just email me at dave.simmons4@gmail.com if you’re baffled by all this choice.
More on BBO etc another time.

They say a week’s a long time in politics… well it certainly is in the world of coronavirus and online bridge! Here’s a brief summary for those new to the world of online bridge.

Three main providers of online bridge are BBO, Funbridge and Bridge Club Live. The EBU website has information about playing online with all three of these, in particular BBO which is now hosting four games of duplicate bridge a day for the EBU, seven days a week, at a dollar a time. ..........

Can it only be a few days since the club announced it was to be closed "for the duration"?

Inevitably, almost every other bridge club in Herts has also announced they will be closing. In the meantime, there has been plenty of activity on the online bridge front.

The EBU have already introduced two 12-board tournaments every evening on BBO, as a substitute for a typical club bridge evening. Other online bridge applications such as Funbridge and Bridge Club Live are also available.

While it is too early to say what precise route(s) the club will recommend for those who are keen to play online bridge while the club is closed, it is worth drawing your attention to the news item on the EBU website announcing their new online games on BBO and in particular the link in that article to the excellent introductory guide to BBO produced by Paul Gipson of Berwick Bridge Club. It sums up what you can do in BBO and how to do it, a lot better than I ever could.

Watch this space for more information on online bridge.

Can it only be a few days since the club announced it was to be closed "for the duration"?

Inevitably, almost every other bridge club in Herts has also announced they will be closing. In the meantime, there has been plenty of activity on the online bridge front. ..........