Suffolk is pulling out all the stops to offer the widest range of opportunities to play bridge during these difficult times - and today it is launching the Suffolk Online Teams League.

The league, organised by Malcolm Pryor, will consist of Teams of Four with five per division and be played on Bridge Base Online (BBO). Play will start on 13 April.

Each Team of Four will be required to play four matches a month  - 20 boards each - initially played straight through with no change of opponents.

Players of all levels of experience are most welcome to enter. For the first League we will try to ensure that less experienced teams are placed in the lower Divisions to ensure enjoyable bridge for players of all levels. Thereafter teams will be promoted and relegated based on their results.

To enter a Team of Four click on TEAMS and complete the online form. Malcolm has prepared a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to arrange and set up matches on BBO. Click on MATCHES to read.

If you have a partner but no team mates contact Malcolm by clicking on PRYOR and he will circulate a list of all such pairs so new teams can be formed.

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.

Updated message - 1 April - to SCBA members from the County Committee:-

We hope you’re all staying safe and keeping well.

As we feared, the Coronavirus is proving to be very serious and it looks as though we’ll be locked-down for some time.  The County Committee hasn't been idle during this hiatus; we've met once by video conference and plan to hold similar meetings regularly.

One of our tasks was to manage the programme of county events. As a result, Bridge with Lunch is cancelled and the Summer League will not take place this year; all other County events planned up to the end of May are postponed indefinitely.  We’ll review the situation periodically and we hope to reinstate as many of the events as possible, as soon as it’s safe to do so.

The AGM is proving to be something of a problem.  Constitutionally we’re required to hold an AGM before the end of June, but for obvious reasons this might not be realistic.  We’ve provisionally rescheduled the AGM for Sunday 21st June and we’ll review the situation in early May to confirm this date or advise alternative arrangements.

Not surprisingly, on-line Bridge is becoming increasingly popular during the lock-down.    The Suffolk Sunday Pairs has become a regular feature and we’re very grateful to Peter Bushby for arranging it.  In parallel with the main event there’s a 'Relaxed Pairs' for those new to on-line Bridge who want to play at a slightly slower pace; this is an ideal way to learn to play on-line - it’s really easy.

Peter is producing an article to help people start playing on-line and arranging their own teams-of-4 games.  We’re also planning to start an on-line Teams-of-4 League, which Malcolm Pryor will run.  Look out for news about both on this website.

Take care, stay safe.

Suffolk bridge-golf day at Flempton on 12 October

The first county wide bridge-golf day will take place at Flempton golf club on Monday 12 October.

Please put the date in your diary. On-line entry details will appear here in due course.

18 holes of golf at the picuresque venue close to Bury St Edmunds will be followed by lunch and bridge. The cost will be £50 per player.

The format will be handicap pairs, with a pair's stableford points score being converted into a percentage which will be added to their bridge score.

EBU Score software means the afternoon bridge score, like the golf score, can be handicapped.

To see older items please click on NEWS ARCHIVE