Suffolk Bridge, Suffolk

Release 2.19o

SCBA AGM ON SUNDAY 21 JUNE @ 2pm - VIA ZOOM

Holding our AGM via Zoom videoconferencing is a radical departure from our normal practice, but in the present circumstances there’s no other viable option, writes Jeff Orton, chairman of the SCBA.

Please try to attend the AGM if you can; the meeting will decide a number of important issues such as the future Constitution, the members of the Executive Committee, and the county Universal Membership (pay-to-play) fee up until the end of March 2022. It may seem daunting if you’re unfamiliar with Zoom, but it’s really very easy; full instructions will appear on this website soon, and help will be available if you need it.

Our AGMs usually take about 40 minutes; it’s difficult to predict how long this one will take because we’ve never held one online before, but we’ll certainly aim to keep it below an hour. For those attending the AGM, the online AGM Pairs Competition will follow at 3.30pm and this will replace the Suffolk Sunday Pairs on that day.

The menu list below gives details of the '2020 AGM agenda and nominations', and 'Constitution' (both current and proposed new), and a link to the Minutes of last year's AGM will follow soon. We hope to see you online on the 21st June.

SUFFOLK SHARES SECRETS OF ONLINE SUCCESS

Suffolk shared the secrets of its online bridge success with 100 representatives from other English counties on Saturday.

During a 90 minute WEBINAR organised by the English Bridge Union, Jacks Morcombe, Peter Bushby, Malcolm Pryor and Richard Evans explained how Suffolk has managed to offer a range of different playing opportunities for its members during the current crisis.

The presentations highlighted the central message deployed by Suffolk - online bridge is the only game in town - setting up online events on BBO including a teams league, and training people to run 'virtual' clubs.

The webinar, hosted by Jacks, drew appreciative comments from the audience and confirmed some counties currently have no online bridge available.

Click on BBC RADIO SUFFOLK to hear Lesley Dolphin's interview with Richard Evans about virtual bridge clubs.

WEEKLY SUFFOLK CHALLENGE ON WEDNESDAYS

A 28-board Suffolk FunBridge Pairs Challenge is taking place every week.

The competition will be open from 10am to 10pm every Wednesday to any FunBridge player in Suffolk. As usual on FunBridge a (very good!) robot will be your partner.

The event will be password protected. Click on PAIRS and a password will be sent to you.

To find the challenge, click on the Get Started/Practise tab, then click Exclusive Tournaments. Type Suffolk FunBridge Pairs into the View all Tournaments space.

Daily five board competiton for FunBridge players in Suffolk

The event is aimed at the growing FunBridge community in the county - and those who would like to give it a try.

Amanda Roberts who plays at Stansfield, Abbeygate, Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds, came up with the idea.

The name of the competition is Suffolk Bridge Clubs, which can be found in Exclusive Tournaments via the orange Get started/Practise tab.

If you are interested but have not played on the site before go to https://www.funbridge.com

HOW TO FIND THE BEST OPENING LEAD

Rick Hanley reviews Marty Bergen’s new online audio-visual lesson.

Click on REVIEW to read more

BRIDGE CLUB LIVE


In addition to BBO and FunBridge, Bridge Club Live is an online favourite with many players. To find out more click on https://www.bridgeclublive.com

WEBMASTERS

Richard Evans & Paul Rickard are the webmasters running Suffolk's dedicated bridge website.

If you would like to publicise a forthcoming event or submit a news item for this website click Richard or Paul

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Pages viewed in 2020

ON LINE BRIDGE IS THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN...

VIRTUAL AGM AND ONLINE 'FELIXSTOWE' CONGRESS CONFIRMED

The Annual General Meeting of the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association on Sunday 21 June (2pm) will be 'virtual' - and be followed by the AGM Pairs (3.30pm) played online.

Members will need to pre-register and attend in order to play in the 20 board AGM Pairs which will displace the normal Sunday evening competition.. Further details, including the use of Zoom for the AGM, will appear here in due course.

Click on AGM to see the agenda and nominations for the SCBA committee

The AGM details were hammered out at a two and a half hour Suffolk bridge committee meeting on Monday which also agreed the county's flagship annual Congress at Felixstowe will take place on Bridge Base Online rather than at the seaside resort.

The Congress on October 2-3 will start earlier than normal - 10am - in order to avoid the heavy traffic on BBO in the early evening. But the format will be similar: Pairs, with a qualifier and three finals on the Saturday, and Swiss Teams on Sunday. A Relaxed Pairs may take place on Friday.

'VIRTUAL' SUFFOLK CLUBS LEAD THE WAY

Top: Jacks & Peter

Bottom: Malcolm & Chris

Suffolk bridge clubs have started going 'virtual' to enable players to partner each other on line in duplicate club nights.

Ipswich & Kesgrave were first out of the block with a tournament on Bridge Base Online where members paid a $3 entry fee - and they were followed by Stansfield, and Colchester in partnership with Stratford St Mary, and Clare on Monday. Other clubs in the process of learning how to run virtual events include Hertiage Coast and Bury St Edmunds.

This has only been possible due a huge amount of work by Peter Bushby, Jacks Morcombe and Chris Chambers. Fortunately, Peter was a qualified BBO director before the Covid-19 crisis struck and together with Jacks, he has been helping train up club members to operate BBO. Meanwhile, Chris has devised a spreadsheet which, crucially, enables BBO results data to be converted into a format which can be uploaded on to clubs' Bridgewebs sites and to the EBU.

Suffolk is leading the way in enabling club players to get a 'normal' game of bridge - including the Teams of 4 League with four divisions which was set up in double quick time by Malcolm Pryor.

HOW TO PLAY BRIDGE ONLINE

Never played bridge on-line - and intimidated by what's involved? Don't be!

An A-B-C guide to playing bridge at BridgeBaseOnline (BBO) which covers the most basic points - how to get started, how to join a game - has been created for Suffolk Bridge by Peter Bushby, and even includes some very fancy film clips.

The big advantage of playing on BBO is that you can partner a real person (for example, your regular partner) - rather than a robot - and it's free.

So with no prospect of any club bridge for at least three months and probably longer don't feel left out...just click on HOW TO PLAY BRIDGE ON LINE.

In addition to the basics, the comprehensive guide also shows how you can enter Suffolk's regular Sunday evening duplicate, how to play a match between two teams of four, and much more besides.

The EBU has also produced a guide on how to play on BBO. Click on EBU to see.

GOLF-BRIDGE DAY CANCELLED

Suffolk bridge-golf day at Flempton OFF

Sadly, the first county wide bridge-golf day planned at Flempton golf club in October has been cancelled.

While golf courses are likely to open soon, the changes fo being able to play bridge afterwards in the clubhouse are remote.

IN THE PAST...

To see older items please click on NEWS ARCHIVE

SUFFOLK SUNDAY PAIRS ON BBO: ENTER NOW

The Suffolk Sunday Pairs will take place as usual at Bridge Base Online on Sunday (31 May - 6.45 for 7pm) with no restriction on field size.

To enter click on ONLINE PAIRS The entry will be BB$3. If you have any questions about how to use BBO email Peter Bushby by clicking on SUFFOLK

Looking for a partner? Click on PARTNERSHIP DESK
Then click someone's name to send them an email,
Or tap on "Partner Required' to add your own name to the list.

SUFFOLK ONLINE SUMMER TEAMS OF 4 GETS UNDERWAY

The Suffolk Online Summer Teams of 4 is up and running - with more players taking part

Following the success of the teams league last month, there are now six teams in each of the four divisions. Results will be available by clicking on SUMMER

Meanwhile, Malcolm Pryor has written a report on the winners last month. Click on WINNERS to read it, and PLACINGS to see the final tables.