July 19th changes to rules and restrictions
Covid-19 and Club Insurance - July 2021 update

Click here to visit the EBU blog post about our congress .

"This lovely part of England is a terrific excuse for a short break and some quality Bridge."

It is now full steam ahead for the West of England Congress in Weston Super Mare from October 8th-10th. We plan to run the full congress as advertised and look forward to seeing as many of you at Weston as possible. We are sure that you too will be keen to see old friends and ensure the continuity of what has been a very popular event.

We have already received quite a few  entries  and we know that many people have been waiting for this confirmation before making their entries. It would be helpful if players would enter as soon as they decide to play - a full refund will be available on request if you change your mind.

In line with governmental guidance there will be no formal requirement to wear face masks but players may do so if they wish and masks will be available on request. Please ensure that you have either had both Covid-19 vaccinations or have had a negative lateral flow test before attending. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of coronavirus, or indeed, any other respiratory infection please do not attend the congress. In such circumstances your entry fee will be returned without question. We will do our utmost to ensure all is covid safe, but ultimately people must use their own judgement regarding their covid risks and decide if they are able to attend.

Congress Risk assessment Updated September 10th

Click here for a Congress Brochure including  parking information.

Latest hotel deals are here.

Click here to enter online

Click here for confirmed entries.

An Opportunity to Reset

Before Covid or BC there was very little to think about when planning a club’s programme. The typical Somerset club met on the same day, at the same time and at the same venue each week and played match point pairs most if not all of the time.  Many players played at more than one club demonstrating that they expected to play more than once a week.  A second session for most clubs was not a possibility because the hall was in use for kick boxing, Zumba or other village activities. BC very few clubs offered lessons.

Then came Covid and all face to face activity stopped but very quickly players changed to online evidenced by four times weekly county games and 14 virtual clubs in Somerset. Our recent survey indicated that although most players looked forward to a return to f2f, many were hesitant and most intended to continue to play some on line bridge.

I have been tremendously impressed by the manner in which so many clubs adapted to the new world by setting up virtual clubs in the early days on BBO and more recently using Realbridge and particularly by the way in which clubs have combined to boost numbers for online sessions.

It is clear that online bridge is here to stay because of the opportunities that are opened up in terms of extra sessions, improver sessions perhaps with clubs combining for online, online leagues and most importantly teaching.  Clubs also need to cater for those members who prefer to play online and this may best be achieved by clubs collaborating to offer online games. It would be so much better for these online games to be organised by clubs rather than the county because county games would pull players away from club games and also deprive clubs of revenue.

It would be all too easy to go back to the old normal but I suggest that now is the time to reset the programme with imagination to make full use of the opportunities afforded by online bridge.

The Setting Trick Podcast

Andrew talks to John McAllister of the Setting Trick about his life at, as well as away from, the bridge table. The podcast lasts a little over one hour and is available to listen to here on  soundclound.

The Somerset Realbridge lounge has seen very few participants and so it has been discontinued in favour of the EBU version of the same thing. You still play with three friends at your own table so there's nothing different other than it costs £1 more!
All the details are here.

NEED A PARTNER?- Contact Sheree Pavey who will keep a  list of players looking for a partner or partners to make up a four.

The Realbridge player guide is at https://realbridge.online/player-guide.html