... and we will have a party with drinks & nibbles (and bridge, of course) on December 10.

Come along from 6pm and we will start play at 6.30-ish.

Unfortunately there will be no play on either December 24 or 31.

Stratford St Mary BC hosted Suffolk Bridge's annual Club Teams of 8 event on November 8 and finished a very creditable third out of the eight club teams playing.

Full results can be found HERE.

Picture shows the local Sea Scouts for whom this is a major fund-raising event and who provided an outstanding Tea for all participants.

The STOP card is required when jump bidding.

This is a gentle reminder that when making a jump bid, either as an opening bid or responding to partner’s bid(s), the rules of Bridge require you to place the STOP card on the table before making the bid and leave it there for several seconds. The rules say it should be10 seconds and for those of you who have played online using Realbridge, you will know the platform doesn’t let the next player make a call until that those seconds have expired. 10 seconds appears excessive, but the point is don’t rush to remove the STOP card having made your jump bid.

There are beneficial reasons for using the STOP card when bidding with your partner, and similarly the opposition has a right to know if you accidentally made a jump bid or meant to make a jump bid but forgot to use the STOP card.

The EBU rules allow for penalties to be applied by the Director where there is repeated failure to use the STOP card when jump bidding. So please remember to observe this requirement in your bidding going forward.

Stratford St Mary BC members were successful in the recent Suffolk Congress Teams event, filling seven of the eight places in the top two teams.

Winners were Alaric, Roger & Jill, seen here with their team-mate John Sutcliffe, and in a very close second place were Martin, Debbie, Marlene & Bob.

Well done to them all.

Full results can be seen HERE.

Stratford St Mary Bridge Club now has a members' WhatsApp Group.

We would like as many members as possible to join so that we can communicate with each other better, in particular when we are looking for a partner.

To join, please email or WhatsApp Derek Brinkley on 07710 302851.

Thank you.

Cafe Bridge was a great success, enjoyed by all and won by Dorothy and Alaric!

Well done to them and congratulations to Derek who organised the event.

More pictures and info can be seen HERE.

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Then on September 7, it was the Autumn Festival.

And the winners were Alaric & Dorothy AGAIN!

Congratulations!

In summary, the Club's 2025 AGM agreed to adopt the revised Constitution and Committee membership and to increase table money to £4/person from April 2025.

Click on 2025 AGM in the Menu on the left for more details.

It’s OK to think, sometimes you have to and it’s not unlawful to hesitate before bidding. If you take longer than usual to bid and then decide to pass, your partner will know you had something to think about. If your partner has a choice of plausible bids, they can’t select one suggested by your hesitation.

The Director determines the list of ‘plausible choices’ by polling what people would bid with your partner’s hand without a hesitation. Their answers define the plausible choices. The result may be changed but this does not mean Partner has done anything wrong. It just means they inadvertently made a choice that is proscribed by the laws as above.

If you want your partner to bid again assuming the bidding is still at relatively low levels, a double might be a better option rather than passing after hesitation.

The way to deal with a possible issue at the table relating to hesitation is to either call the Director or simply say that you wish to reserve your right to call the Director at the end of play of that hand.

If you want to play but need a Partner, there are TWO ways to find one!

Members should follow the automated process detailed below, but you can also contact Elizabeth Knowlson on 01206 532839 or 07511 646730 or by email at elizabeth.knowlson@gmail.com and she will inform all club members by email that you are looking for a Partner.

To use the automated Find a Partner system on this website, click on Membership, on the left, then enter your email address and password where requested. If you don't already have a password, click on Forgotten Password and an email will be sent to you with a link allowing you to set one up. Two of you sharing an email address can still use this feature by following these instructions and setting up different passwords. 

Once you are in the Membership section, click in the Partner Required box for the appropriate date.

A note will appear in the Calendar on the Home Page showing that someone is looking for a partner. When another member goes into their system, they will find your name and contact details.

If this does not appear to work, it will probably be because the email address you are using is different from the one we have on our membership list. In this case, please contact the Secretary or Webmaster (click on Where & When, then Committee) so that our list can be updated.