Learning about and developing your game

by Chris Green

In March I was asked to take on the role of Development Officer for Suffolk Bridge. Given what then happened it might seem to have been a difficult time to take on the role but read on. As you will see, people from all over the County have stepped up in these exceptional times and there are more opportunities to learn and develop your game than there has ever been and because geography is not an issue these opportunities are open to everyone in Suffolk.

There is no doubt that the Suffolk bridge community has reacted incredibly well to the current crisis. Let’s be honest it is not often that Suffolk has led anything in a bridge sense and we have much to be proud of.

Clearly, the top priority was to create an on-line presence for the Club player as that is the game’s lifeblood and led by Jacks Morcombe and Peter Bushby and fully embraced by a number of unsung heroes around the County we now have a flourishing Club scene. What has been particularly gratifying to see is the extent to which, given geography is not an issue, that people are welcome and are playing at other than their usual local clubs.

In addition to the traditional club games there are a range of offerings to help people learn the game and/or develop their game which are open to anyone in the County who wants to take advantage of them. The Suffolk bridge playing community have done so much in this area that the list of what’s on offer is constantly being added to so as I produce a list it could already be out-of-date. Here are some examples:

• Relaxed Bridge supported by some supervision and tuition - Colchester and Stratford St. Mary (on Wednesday evenings) and Ipswich (on Monday evenings) are offering Its an evening when you can “undo” a misclick!
• Mentoring - Heritage Coast and Ipswich are offering different forms of mentoring whereby partnerships of individuals can get tailored feedback, often related to hands they have already played
• Seminars - Ipswich are offering fortnightly seminars on a Friday morning
• Online Teaching - Teaching has continued (or is about to restart) on-line - this is available via private lessons or via a Club (at Heritage Coast or Ipswich)
• A bidding challenge - whereby, once per month, you are sent 16 hands to have a go at coming up with the auctions which you can then compare with a set of suggested auctions. This could be particularly useful for pairs who can use the hands to fine tune their system
• A daily nugget of bridge advice - The Daily Bridge - hosted on the Ipswich website (run by Chris Chambers), providing a daily piece of advice helpful to bridge players regardless of the level of your bridge experience
• A Daily Challenge - FunBridge host a daily five board challenge for players from Suffolk

If you want to know more about any of the above please go to the appropriate Club website, wait for more information on the Suffolk website or contact Chris Green (greencj06@hotmail.co.uk)