THIS ARTICLE INCLUDES DETAILED GUIDANCE FOR SIGNING ON. PLEASE SEEK REMEDIES HERE FIRST IF YOU HAVE ANY DIFFICULTIES.
We run duplicate sessions on Bridge Base Online on Mondays at 7.30pm, Tuesdays at 2pm and Fridays at 2pm, also gentle bridge sessions on Thursdays at 2pm (eligibility broadly restricted to grades 2 - 7 on NGS + 'gentle' directors). Most sessions are of 18 boards, except Mondays (20-21). All sessions cost 3 US Dollars for which you will need to set up your own personal account within BBO. You can do this by selecting "BB$" from their top right menu.
A full explanation of how to join an event is given below. If you have not informed the club of your BBO username, but wish to play in our sessions, then to avoid being excluded please Click Here.
If you have difficulty in finding partners, you may like to join a WhatsApp group (text your mobile number to 07444 899109 to be included); also, BBO provide a partnership desk to facilitate partner finding 5 - 15 minutes before the session starts: log in, and follow the procedure below to find our session. Click on it, and then on "partnership desk" in the top menu. If any members are already waiting, you have the option of inviting one to play. Alternatively, click "I will pay for myself" and hope that someone else will invite you. 5 minutes to go, and still unlucky? Stay in the competitive area, and message (to vEBU204441) or call the director to say you are available. (Do this also if you have volunteered as reserve for this session). Then wait and hope there is a half table (50% chance), in which case the director should bring you in very soon after the event has started running.
These sessions are nominally exclusive to TWBC members, though on occasion a single non-member pair or a pair of robots may be invited in to avoid a sitout. Members who already play on-line are asked to encourage other TWBC members to join. Non-members may play as guests in our club sessions up to four times in a year, after which they will be asked to join the club. Help will be available for those who are new to on-line bridge. Please take part to make this viable for the Club.
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To get a BBO account if you don't already have one
Go to www.bridgebase.com and click Play bridge now.
The following fields should be completed
- User name: This must be unique and it would be useful if others can recognize you. (eg 'JoeSmith' might be taken but JJoeSmith will probably be ok)
- Password/Confirm Password: Up to 10 characters. The rules here are not very strict so you can choose one which is easy to remember.
- Email Address: An activation email will be sent to this address so it needs to be available to you when you finish this process.
- Real Name: Optional but could be useful
- ABCL Number: leave blank
- Skill/Level: "Expert" is someone who has won a national event so work your way down from that.
- Country: England
- Agree to the terms of service
When you receive the activation email you should confirm your registration and now you are ready to start playing on BBO.
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To join a Tunbridge Wells club event :
If you intend to play on a battery powered device, we would advise you to ensure that it is fully charged.
1. Go to www.bridgebase.com at least 10 minutes before the event is due to start (15 -20 minutes if the procedure is new to you). If you leave it to the last 5 minutes, and encounter a problem, you may miss out. If you need to contact the director, call them on 07720 706736 (Angela Treen, Mon. 10th, 07958 707418 (Brian Forty, Tue. 11th), 07958 979534 (Chris Hunt, Thu.13th) or 07736 241156 (David Appleton, Fri.14th). Call Chris before noon if you want help finding a partner for Thursday.
On logging in, you will see (momentarily) a yellow box bottom right giving a note of your BB$ balance. Top up if you need to. Note: one partner may pay for both. In the longer term, note that you can apply for BB$ to top up your balance automatically by a small amount whenever your balance falls below a chosen amount.
2. Select Competitive
3. Select All Tournaments
4. Find the search box (above "entry fee"), enter Tunb and press enter. If the searching facility does not work, you can still find our event by scrolling down through the list. The events are in chronological order, so if you know the session is due to start in, say, 10 minutes, expect to find it at 9, 10 or 11 in the start column.
5. Be sure to identify our event correctly, and click on the event (not on vEBU204441 which is your host's ID). When prompted, enter your partner's username. An invitation will be issued (but withdrawn after 20 secs. if not accepted). If your partner has not yet logged in, just wait. They will follow the same procedure and invite you.
6. As soon as one partner has accepted the other's invitation, your registration will be confirmed; now just wait until the first deal appears on the screen. Meanwhile you should both ignore any pop-up box that mentions EBU numbers and cancellation. You could click on "entries" to see who has registered, and chat to partner until the session begins. If you do not initially have any first round opponents, be patient; it will be the director's first priority to fill the empty seats. Each round has a time limit; unfinished boards will be adjudicated as fairly as possible. Please be courteous, and ready to start each round promptly.
7. If you inadvertently register for two concurrent tournaments, please deregister from one of them: click on the tournament name, and you will be given the chance to cancel your registration.
8. If you find yourselves excluded when the event begins, the director could bring you into it IF there is a substitute pair. Contact the director a.s.a.p. (details: paragraph 1) quoting your usernames and he/she will include you if it is possible to do so.
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