Happy New Year
Let’s play more bridge this year!
Wednesday 21 January - 1.30pm to 4.30pm - ‘Master Duplicate’ - Bridge session followed by hand discussion - £4.80
Following a successful pilot in December, Dominic will be running a second session. Following feedback, we will have a hand discussion after each set of 5 boards. In total we will play 15 boards.
There will be a white board analysis and an open discussion of all aspects of the auction and play. Our trainer, Dominic Connolly, will cover all aspects of using duplicate tactics to improve your scores and NGS as well as enjoying the game more by winning more often! This will very much be an open forum where no subject is off limits, including discussion of the auction and the pros and cons of various bids and systems, opening leads and the card play, with deceptive tricks and tips revealed!
This is pitched at advanced and intermediate players. However, everybody is welcome to attend. Dominic guarantees players of all abilities will take away something new from this Master Duplicate.
If you’re interested please sign up at the club, or email me. No payment is necessary until the day.
Thursday 29 January - 1.30pm Charity Simultaneous Pairs
We will be supporting UNICEF. All table monies will go to the charity. Only tickets purchased via the charity button, on the day, will go towards the charity. If you want to give more than £4.80, you can buy multiple tickets. You will be able to compare your performance with other clubs in England.
Sunday 1 February - Ollie Burgess Masterclass - 10am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 4pm
The whole day will be on competitive bidding with card play. You will learn it's not all about points. How often do you find you have over-bid or under-bid. Each session will cost £19.80; a total of £39.60 for the whole day.
Please sign up at the club or email me. You don't need a partner.
A bit about Ollie Burgess
Ollie learnt bridge in 1995, at the age of 11, when his mum thought it would be a nice activity to do together. He soon became addicted although admits his primary motivation for learning was to get one up on his older sister who showed no interest in the game.
Ollie loved bridge from the very first hand he played and he has been fortunate to represent England at international level in the under 20, 25 and 28 categories with his highlight being reaching the quarter final of the Olympiad in Beijing in 2008. On the domestic front, his favourite achievements so far have been winning the Hubert Phillips Bowl, Crockfords and the London Easter Guardian pairs. Away from home, Ollie have competed successfully in the American nationals recently reaching the quarter finals of two of their most strongest events, the Soloway and Vanderbilt trophies. In 2020, he suspects he was having a midlife crisis and made the bold (maybe reckless) decision to quit his insurance law job in Manchester to move to London to do bridge full time. This turned out to be the best decision of his life as he now gets to play bridge for a living whilst visiting exotic countries. But it is the teaching of bridge which he loves the most and he teaches each week with a hybrid of online and face to face lessons. The absolute pride Ollie feels when his students successfully negotiate one of his tricky hands is priceless. He is a strong believer that bridge is a game where everyone should be treated equally and that it should be played in an enjoyable atmosphere which does sometimes get lost along the way.