Stafford Bridge successfully held its 2021 AGM online via Zoom on 5th May.  The meeting was quorate, with more than the minimum 15 members being “present”.   President Pat Andrews took the chair and opened the meeting.  Michael Metcalf was then re-elected as Club Chair, and took over from Pat.  Apologies were recorded and the Minutes of the previous AGM (2019) were agreed, following some correction of details.   Under Matters Arising, several items were noted as still pending, following the suspension of normal activities during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

The Chair’s Annual Report had been circulated in advance of the meeting.   The Chair added to his report by commenting on a range of actions under way to prepare for the re-opening of the Club premises, whenever that might be, on the possibility of hybrid sessions in the future, and on the planned refurbishing of the kitchen.    The Committee had decided that Club competitions which were unfinished at the start of lockdown in March 2020 should be deemed to have ended at that point;  A list of competition winners is attached here.

The accounts had likewise been circulated in advance.   Retiring Treasurer Adrienne Jones was thanked warmly for her services to the Club

 Elections were then held for the posts of Club Captain/Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and five Committee members.    Those nominated matched the roles and number of places available, so no voting was required, and the meeting unanimously approved the election of all those nominated (see separate list.)

 Under AOB, allowed by the Chair, a member asked about applying for a further round of government support for small organisations affected by the lockdown.  This would be explored by the new Committee.

The meeting documents were:  Agenda for 2021 AGM, Minutes for 2019 AGM, Chair's Report, Nominations for the committee, Accounts 2020

To define Splinter bids, they are any unnecessarily high jump bids, in support of last suit that Partner bid. This can be very valuable in showing a singleton or void. 

• It enables Partner to value an Ace in the Splinter suit (i.e A532)  which is a good holding to have, or KQ in the splinter suit, which is poor holding opposite a singleton, or  7542 (say), which a fabulous holding. With this Holding, since you don’t hold any points In the Splinter suit, it evaluates as a 30 point pack. (More later) 
• With KQ, opener bidder will generally sign off. With the good holdings, try to Cue bid, if practical (preferably an ace). Note on the hands below, we are NOT jumping to 4NT necessarily.  Better, very often, to Cue Bid. If you wish, play Splinter bids in the minors, as well.  

Click here for Robin's notes on splinter bids, here for recent gambling 3NT, here for Aces and Kings in defence and here for Doug's notes Pass, Double or Overcall.

All matches now played, congratulations to Bill and his team, Beryl, Michael and Clive, Full results are shown on the linked results page.  Bill's team, with the same players, won the first SBC handicapped on line league that was played in summer 2020, very well done.

Much thanks are due to Terry for the effort put into calculating the handicaps, the closeness of the results shows how well he has done that, and to Carol for her organisation of the teams.

Two BCL Virtual Club Sessions are running every week 

• Monday afternoons, 22 boards, door opens 1:20 p.m. for 1:30 p.m. start of play (room STAFRD 1-B-2)  (see Carol's notes)

• Friday Evenings, 18 boards, door opens 6:30 for 7 p.m. start of play (room STAFRD 5-B-3)

Message from your webmaster:  (this page is updated most days with the latest news sent by members etc) For the Bridge Club Live basic information.for new converts to on line bridge click here.  

Loss of Connection: If you lose your connection to BCL mid game for any reason (could be an internet connection your end, their end or somewhere between) click on “Enter” when the system lets you.  Please report any cases where you find play not in the same place as you left it to the club Captain.

Reminder about mis-clicked calls:  can be corrected provided that your partner has not yet called see rule 9 in league rules. BCL procedure states that to rectify immediately “Leave table” and straight away return to your seat and explain that you Mis-clicked your call. The players need to click “Ready” again and the auction should re-start as per the original auction up to the point of the mis-clicked call.  If partner has already called not only can you not correct your call but also mustn’t give unauthorised information by revealing that you had made an error.

BCL Membership: Keep an eye on when your BCL membership runs out, sad to miss a game because you have forgotten to renew. Hover over Members tab on BCL home page and click on "Membership summary" at the top of the drop down list of options.  You will also get an email reminder when the date is close.

Retrospective Charges

Charges are made for the league for the full number of matches over the season.  There is a 50p and the virtual club sessions, see 2020 and 2021 records.

Other sources of information are:  

bridge base on line (BBO has a number of existing members from SBC) the County has up a virtual SSCBA group.  Watch over the shoulder of the experts, youtube videos, pick and possibly question, your expert in real time with Zoom.  EBU, EBU Webinar 16/5/2020, Andrew Robson BridgeCast and Bernard Magee.   All ideas/messages for members etc to webmaster@staffordbridgeclub.co.uk. In the real world please look out for one another, check your regular partners on the phone for example.

Bridge Club Live is the online favourite Stafford Bridge Club Members are invited to use to enjoy the on line club activities, to get going click here to see the basics.

Profile Pictures

You now have a choice of showing Profile Pics on table or not. When in the club, use MENU: "Settings->Playing Area->Turn Player Photos ON or OFF".  It would be good if you all added a picture to your profile to remind everyone who you are!  It is surprising how many cannot match a name to a face after all this time of lockdown!