WE HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF ENQUIRIES ABOUT MEMBERS'S GUESTS AND ABOUT FREE MEMBERSHIP.  YOUR COMMITTEE HAS DISCUSSED THIS AND THE UNANIMOUS DECISION IS:-

1.   Membership will continue to be 25 euro per annum and the membership year runs from September to September.  If you are a regular player in our Thursday night game, you must pay the membership fee of 25 euro.  This is the case even if you are a member in another club and we are required to do this by the license we hold from CBAI.

2.  We will allow and welcome occasional visitors as a partner to a member.  Your guest must be affiliated to the CBAI and provide their BBO user name and CBAI number.  Requests to host a visitor should be made in good time to allow their name to be added to the tournament.

The Committee has been meeting on a regular basis during the pandemic and has kept an eye on government guidelines regarding Covid and the implications for re-starting our bridge club.

We feel that a conservative view needs to be taken when we consider the age profile of our members.  At the moment, we are not in a position to announce a date for re-opening the club but we know that, in the meantime, many of our members are enjoying their bridge online.

Our plan is to hold an AGM as soon as is possible in 2022 and we will need at least two new committee members to replace those who will be resigning after the AGM.  The club cannot function without a viable committee so please give this matter some serious consideration.

We have decided that the annual subscription will remain the same as 2019, ie 25 euro per person.  We have used cash reserves to ensure last years subscription was free while continuing to pay the affiliation fee due for each member to the CB AI.  The subscription is due in September and we would be grateful if all subscriptions  can be paid by end of October.  This will give us an indication of numbers returning to the club and allow us to make an accurate return to the CBAI with regard to affiliation fees due for the coming year.  Of course, we will also be delighted to accept new members.

Subscriptions can be paid as follows:   For those paying by cheque - please make cheque payable to St. Laurence's Bridge Club and send to Hon. Treasurer Mary Rose Sweeney, 17a Clonkeen Road, Deansgrange, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. A94P8F5

If you wish to pay by bank transfer - please contact Hon Treasurer Mary Rose at 086 8712670 for bank details.

Payment by cash (in an envelope with your name and phone number) can be given directly to any Committee member.

Because of all the pandemic upsets, it is probable that some members will need to find new partners and we hope to be able to assist our members when we return to "live" bridge. 

In the meantime, enjoy playing online for the rest of the year and hopefully we can all look forward to normal play again in the New Year.

Best regards,

Donal O'Siochain, President, St Laurence's Bridge Club, Kilmacud, Co. Dublin

MEMBERS BEWARE!!   MAKING A COMMENT ON BBO CAN BE A MINEFIELD.

A SIMPLE JOKE MADE AT THE TABLE AND SOFTENED BY A SMILE CAN BECOME HARD AND COLD ON BBO AND GIVE OFFENCE.  IF IN DOUBT, DON'T SAY ANYTHING OR ONLY COMMUNICATE POSITIVE COMMENTS.

THE COMMITTEE RECOMMEND THAT ALL MEMBERS PLAYING ON BBO READ THE RULES OF THE SITE.

HERE IS AN EXTRACT OF WHAT IS EXPECTED.

The following are considered serious offences.  Repeat offenders will be expelled from BBO

The use of profanities as well as racist or sexually explicit remarks                                                     

Insulting your partners, opponents or any other member of BBO

Kibitzers chatting with players about the contents of unseen hands

Spamming other members with repeated messages, invitations or requests

The following are examples of bad manners.  You will have trouble making friends if you:

Give unsolicited bridge lessons or criticise the bidding/play of other players

Use public chat for private conversations

Chat excessively at a bridge table where people are trying to play seriously

Gloat when you get a good result or complain when you get a bad result

Use public chat during live vugraph broadcasts, mentoring sessions or lectures

Use BBO as a soapbox for non bridge related rants - if you get annoying or offensive we will take action                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

PLEASE BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL WITH ANY REMARKS YOU MAY MAKE DURING PLAY AS SOME COMMENTS MAY INADVERTENTLY GIVE OFFENCE.  FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE READ BBO SITE RULES.

ENOY YOU BRIDGE EVENINGS AND HAVE A LOVELY SUMMER.

FROM  YOUR COMMITTEE, ST LAURENCE'S BRIDGE CLUB, KILMACUD.                                                                                                        

Thank you to everyone who replied to our request to read and agree to the guidelines in the CBAI Cheating document.

We currently have 74 members playing online with St Laurence’s club night on Thursdays at 7:30pm

We still have some members whom we have not been able to contact either because we do not have an email address or for some other reason.

You can check on your personal page that we have received your reply and all your other details

Cheating at Bridge.pdf

Assuming you have registered with BBO and lodged some money to your account (if you need help there is a good You Tube video "Buying BBO dollars with EBU TD Nicole" or there is a link on CBAI - see 2nd July post by Dermot)

To join a competition

You will be looking for a competition under the abbreviated name of the club which is SLBC.

You can sign in 2 hours before the game is due to start.  Do this in plenty of time and make sure you are logged in well ahead of the start time of the competition.  If you go offline just before or at the start of the game you maybe left out.  If you go offline during the competition due to a lost connection - just log in again and it should bring you back to the game.

Log in to BBO with your user name and password (You can keep yourself logged in permanently which makes life easier)

Under the banner "Play or Watch bridge" choose Competitive

Go to All tournaments.  Up on the right you will see  Search.  Enter  SLBC here and the competition will appear in a list.  Click on the competition and see a prompt to Invite Partner.  Enter partner's BBO user name and invite.  Partner will need to be online at this stage.  Accept the invitation.

Usually each person pays for themselves  You will need to have funds in your BBO account.

Wait for the competiton to start and then ENJOY.

You will be able to review your performance afterwards

FOLLOWING A MEETING OF THE MANAGEMENT OF THE COMMUNITY CENTRE ON 10TH SEPTEMBER, WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT THE CENTRE WILL NOT BE RE-OPENING UNTIL 2021 AT THE EARLIEST.  IN VIEW OF THIS, THE COMMITTEE PROPOSES TO START A VIRTUAL ST LAURENCE'S BRIDGE CLUB ON THURSDAY NIGHTS.

AN EMAIL HAS BEEN SENT TO ALL MEMBERS WHO HAVE SUPPLIED AN EMAIL ADDRESS GIVING DETAILS OF THIS PROPOSAL AND WE WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF YOU WOULD INDICATE YOUR INTEREST IN SAME AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE.  WE WOULD ALSO BE GRATEFUL IF YOU WOULD INFORM ANY MEMBERS YOU KNOW WHO MAY NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET

WITH REGARD TO YOUR ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION,  THE COMMITTEE HAS AGREED TO COVER THE COST OF RE-AFFILIATING ALL OUR CURRENT MEMEBRS TO THE CBAI FOR THE YEAR 2020/2021.  THERE WILL NOT BE ANY MEMBERSHIP CHARGE THIS YEAR.  IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO CONTINUE YOUR MEMBERSHIP OF ST LAURENCES BRIDGE CLUB,  PLEASE LET US KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

WE WOULD LIKE TO ASK ALL MEMBERS TO GIVE SERIOUS CONSIDERATION TO JOINING THE COMMITTEE OF ST LAURENCES BRIDGE CLUB.

IT HAS BEEN A CHALLENGING TWO YEARS FOR THE CLUB BUT WITH OUR EXTREMELY COMPETENT TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR NATHAN NOW PERMANENTLY APPOINTED, OUR MEMBERSHIP STABLE AND SOME ORGANISATIONAL CHANGES BEING REVIEWED AND IMPLEMENTED, WE WOULD HOPE THE CLUB WILL CONTINUE TO GROW.  

YOUR COMMITMENT TO THE CLUB WILL ENSURE ITS SUCCESS INTO THE FUTURE.

FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT ANY OF THE COMMITTEE

Your committee has reviewed the situation regarding numbers and grades of players in the different sections and plans to introduce a new organisation of the sections on January 9th 2020. This follows requests from some members and considerations of the problems in the size and make-up of sections.  We would like to thank those members for sharing their concerns.

We hope the proposed change, set out below, will help and that members will support us in this effort.

The current situation 

Our membership numbers have decreased and it is difficult sometimes to run a satisfactory competition in one section, especially in the summer months.  There are often just two prizes, sometimes only one, and while winning is not the be-all, people still love to get a prize.  We also have players classified by CBAI as A players in all sections of the club.

We have consulted with the CBAI and the rules are quite clear - players may play up a grade but not down a grade.  A lot of us probably feel that we no longer play to the grade we have had historically. However the CBAI is quite clear on this also - players should play to the grade given by the CBAI.

What we are doing

Following a review of grading, we find that the membership is divided almost equally between Master/A players and B players/Novice players so a division into two sections is suitable.

The committee therefore propose to split our club into two sections, starting on 9th January 2020.

Section 1 - For masters and A players (inclduing partnerships where one partner is an A Player)

Section 2 - For all B players and Novice players

You will find your grade on your CBAI membership card.

We also propose to introduce a handicap system based on advice from CBAI and our Tournament Director.  The new sections would play without any handicap for 4 weeks in January and handicaps would then be calculated and used for the following months.  Handicaps will be re-calculated at given intervals which will be decided by the TD and committee.

Why are we doing this

For equity and fairness

To give each of our members a game against players of a similar level

For a sense of collegiality among members

In the case of members playing with those of higher ability, it will help them to develop their skills as players,  In the case of newer or lower graded players, it will give them a fair shot at doing well.

What will it mean for me

As an individual members, you will still be able to play with your partner, you will play with many of your friends and make some new ones.  You may even have a better chance of winning a prize on occasion.

Please note that the handicap system does not affect your gross points sent in to the CBAI

What does it mean for the club

The committee feel that this is absolutely essential if the club is to be sustainable long term.  We cannot continue as we are.  Our aim is to make people feel part of St Laurences Bridge Club, Kilmacud and not just part of a sub-section.  As it happens, the Current A section is too small and moving people willy-nilly into it on the night is unfair and does not work.

We are appealing for your help in addressing the issues in the club and to your sense of fairness.  We feel that this proposal is the fairest system we could make work but we need your support to make this a great club again.

PLEASE NOTE THAT TABLE MONEY FOR WEEKLY COMPETITIONS WILL INCREASE FROM 7EURO TO 8 EURO WITH EFFECT FROM THURSDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER 2019

Please check your details and let us know if they need to be amended.

If you have any suggestions for the website, please let us know.

To access the members' section for the first time, if you have already given us your email address, this is what you need to do:

1. Click on the members only link at the top right of the screen.
2. Enter your email address.  
3. Click "forgotten password".  
4. Another screen will pop up allowing you to enter a password of your choice.
5. You should then be able to log in to the members only section.  

If you can't access the members only section, it means that either we haven't got your email address or we have listed it incorrectly.  Please send your correct email address to fedelma@martinco.ie and we will update your details.

You will find your player ID number in the membership area.