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If you have had any gastric symptoms please stay away from the club for at least 5 days. On arrival at the club all players should wash their hands with soap and hot water.

Lots of exciting news for the Club next year firstly though,

Evening Sessions

We understand the evenings are now drawing in but the committee would love to see more of you particularly to strengthen the attendance on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Evenings.

Remember there is always a warm welcome for all members.

 

Saturday Night Bridge

We will be reverting back to the 1st Saturday in 2026.

 

   Teams League Update 

Wednesday, 10th December saw the fourth and final trial event for the club's proposed teams league.

Sickness reduced the field to seven teams but a spirited and enjoyable competition took place and victory on the night went to Tricia Roberts and Linda Thompson paired with Paul Mason and Julian Porter.

Overall, the competition could not have been closer.  With 43 pts over the four sessions, the team led by Carole French edged passed Mark Hopkins and his teammates by a mere half a point!  A gap then to Mary Perkin and her squad, once again, a half point only ahead of Nigel Riley and co.

The club hopes to run a more formal competition next year but WE NEED MORE PARTICIPANTS.

The final competition demonstrated the need for reserves.  Teams need to be selected from a squad of at least six players to allow for unavailability.  So, if the league is to go ahead we require more people to enter.  If we don't have enough starters to make a viable league, then this scheme will falter. If you've not yet entered and you enjoyed the trial please don't hesitate and put your name on the list in the club, everyone is welcome with or without a partner.

  

Closing Times

24th December - Closed

25th December - Closed

26th December - Closed

27th December - Closed

28th December - Closed

29th December - Normal Session

30th December - Normal Session

31st December - Closed

1st January - Closed

Sessions will resume as normal from 2nd January with Saturday Night Bridge on 3rd January

 

New for 2026

Relaxed Sunday Afternoon Bridge

From 25th January 2026 we will be holding Sunday afternoon bridge starting at 2.00pm

All members of all abilities will be very welcome. There will be no NGS ranking nor Master Points.

This will be something to look forward to in the New Year.

 

Joan Parr Competition

Sunday, 18th January 2026 at 10.30am

This is an all day event with a light lunch provided

A list will go up nearer the time, please be sure to add your name.

 

As a Christmas treat, we are giving you not one but two top tips this month (I know, I know, we are spoiling you!)

Top Tip #1 If a dummy does not place cards correctly, it can lead to irregularities in the game. The dummy's role is to play the cards as directed by the declarer, and if dummy is displayed incorrectly so that all the cards are not visible or a card is in the wrong suit, this is an irregularity and if, as a result, the defenders are damaged, redress should be applied by the director.

Simply, any tricks that were won that would not have been won in normal play will be transferred because there is no responsibility in law for the defending side to count the cards in dummy. Redress is appropriate because if an irregularity damages the defenders, equity should be restored. For those interested in the detail Laws 12A1, 41D, and 64B and C apply.

 

Top tip #2 A player can take as long as they like when deciding whether to bid. However, if your partner hesitates for a long time and then passes, you know that he has values and is close to bidding. You must not use this information.

Any bid you make must be based solely on the cards you hold. If you bid, resulting in your opponents receiving a bad score, they can call the director.

If the director decides that the hesitation occurred and that there was a reasonable alternative (usually a pass) to the bid you made, the director will give an adjusted score. The directors decision to give an adjusted score does not imply that you were cheating, nor that your partner was at fault for hesitating.

 

 

 

We now have a club Facebook page. If you are a member of Facebook, please 'like', 'follow' and 'share'. This will help to promote our club and attract new members.

 

Scoring
This page has information and news of interest to the members. For a full list of forthcoming events, see "Calendar" on the menu and for a list of results see "Results".
 
 
  Scoring

Why do some results have decimal points in?
This is because the computerised scoring has been set up to use Neuberg's formula. When a board is not played as many times as others, for whatever reason, the formula does a mathematical calculation reflecting the number of times it has been played. This gives a fairer result than the traditional method of reducing the top score. If there are 9.5 tables  and a Mitchell is played then some boards will be played 9 times and some 8. The boards played 9 times will have a "top" of 18, those played 8 times a top of 16. A pair that does well on the boards played 9 times will do better than pairs who score well on the boards played 8 times. The Neuberg formula avoids this anomaly. For more explanation see www.ebu.co.uk/lawsandethics/articles/neuberg
 

How is duplicate scored and how does this affect strategy and tactics?
In match-pointed pairs (which is the correct term for the duplicate which is played in the club on most occasions) the making or defeating of the contract is no longer so important as it is at teams or rubber bridge.  The aim is simply to score more or lose less points than the other pairs holding your cards.  The amount you beat them by is irrelevant eg you may score 1360 and the other eight pairs with the same cards only scored 200 or you may score 210 and the other eight 200.
In both cases you have come top; the amount by which you win does not matter.  You receive 2 match points for each pair you beat and 1 for each you tie with.  In both cases above you will score 16 match points.  Each board is scored separately and each pair's total match points from all the boards is added up.  The pair with the highest percentage is the winner.

Each board is separate- if you have a very bad board, forget it, it is not -1000 points but only -4%.  This means that every board is important, even if you have no points at all, as you have to endeavour to prevent declarer making more than every one else with his cards.  It costs just as much to allow an overtrick in 2 clubs as to allow an overtrick in a small slam.   
You should try to set a target number of tricks for the contract.  For example if you can see that the majority of the pairs will play a hand in 4H and make it and you are in 3NT then you have to play for an overtrick to make 3NT+1 for 630.  If you go down it is no worse than 600 for just making 3NT since this will be a bottom anyway.
Be careful that you are sure that all the others will be in 4H.  
In defence you should aim for safety.  Try to avoid leads that will give declarer a trick he would not otherwise have scored eg do NOT lead away from an Ace or King, do NOT lead an unsupported Ace.


The difference between passed out and not played
A passed out board is scored as 0 to N/S. When this is converted to match points (see above), it may be a top (all the other N/S have a minus score), a bottom (all the other N/S have a positive score) or any result inbetween.

A board which is not played for whatever reason (out of time, misboarded etc) is deleted from the traveller for those particular N/S and E/W. The percentage for those pairs is calculated from the boards they have played so they have a lower total than other pairs but not necessarily a lower percentage. Example:
     5 boards are played with a top of 10 match points so the possible total is 50.
     Pair A score 28 out of their possible 50 so their percentage is 28/50 x 100 = 56%
     Pair B have one board not played so have only played 4 boards. They score 23 out of a possible 40 so their percentage is 23/40 x 100 = 57.5%
Please be careful to put the right description on the traveller as the two situations are different and have different results.

Last updated : 15th Apr 2016 22:18 GMT