Frequently asked Questions about our 40th Anniversary preparations
F. A.Q.s
Have you decided on the format for how a national game will be played?
It’s early days yet and we’re still working up ideas, but our leader has contacts in BCL, BBO and RealBridge camps so one that is looking pretty definite is an inter-u3a match played on all three platforms using the same cards.
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Is the week of 17th September set in stone? Can the tournament be held the following week beginning 25th September?
The week of 17th September to 25th September has been designated as the official 40th anniversary week (Wednesday 21st being the actual start date 40 years ago). We will be holding our Bridge activities during that week: however, there is no reason why you cannot play the same hands the week thereafter.
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Do you have a tournament director / co-ordinator lined up?
We have Tournament Directors on hand to solve any bidding or playing issues, as well as Bridge Co-ordinators for BridgeClub Live (BCL), Bridge Base Online (BBO) and RealBridge
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If we play online, would the tournament be held on BBO?
The tournaments will be played on all three major platforms - BridgeClubLive, BridgeBaseOnline and RealBridge at a time to best suit your club's normal playing days.
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As we don't have a venue and instead play in each other's houses it would probably make sense to play online. But we will go along with the majority's preference.
Your members will possibly derive more enjoyment by playing online, but there is also the possibility of sending out some pre-set hands to play, with an explanatory commentary from a Bridge expert for post-match discussions
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Many, although not all, of our regular players have been playing online during the lock-down (as has the rest of the world), using BBO in our
case. Accordingly I think that online will be the most appropriate option for us. Having said that, I would personally be curious to know
how a simultaneous pairs event would be organised.
Having registered for a "group entry" on BBO, you will be sent the hands for uploading to BBO and the results xml file sent to EcatsBridge who will be calculating the national results for each day.
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An interesting idea. I am asking my players.
Please can you tell me how many boards you envisage playing in a session?
We envisage accommodating two distinct types of u3a Bridge Player:
a) Those used to playing 'competition' Bridge upwards of 3 tables
b) Those playing 'social' Bridge - 4 people meeting once a week/month for a friendly competitive game of Bridge, generously interspersed with tea and cakes...
a) We would normally play 16 or 18 boards.
b) This group can play as many hands as they wish (maybe 16 hands over a 4-week period?)
We will send the same sets of hands in both cases in advance of the game and a comprehensive analysis of 'how the experts would have played' after the game.
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We are keen and eager but inexperienced in contests of this sort. Several of us have played in Café Bridge events. Would it be similar to this?
You're half-way there already !! A typical café bridge event is a duplicate pairs bridge game set up over multiple cafés and restaurants. Pairs move to a new venue after each round, guided by a movement card or roadbook, while board sets remain on their starting tables throughout.
We would send the group organiser the hand layouts in advance (one per day, Mon-Fri if required) and the Bridge Fun event could either be played as per café bridge or in a hired hall for the session
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Presumably you would send the hands to someone - probably me - who would (a) have to deal all the hands and (b) would not be able to participate in the tournament.
Yes, we will send you the hands in advance of the game(s) and one person would deal the hands but not play.
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How do we get the results back to you?
In order to combine your individual club's results into a national result we use a standard XML file format; this is normally automatically generated using standard Bridge-scoring programs such as EBUScore or ScoreBridge.
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We have a 2 hour session booked with our hosts, and if it is, for example, a 26 board tourney, we would have to extend the booking to 3 hours - which may be possible, but we would need to know in advance.
In all likelihood we will be playing 16 or 18 boards which most players should be able to comfortably complete within 2 hours.
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Will there be a time limit for making a bid (and playing a hand)? Some online tournaments enforce a time limit for bidding.
If you are playing a 'group' session then it will be up to the Tournament Director to determine the time for each hand. For the online (single entry) sessions, these are determined by the platform itself. An acceptable guideline for online play is 8-9 boards per hour.
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What is ScoreBridge?
ScoreBridge - is a paid-for, commercially available Duplicate Bridge Scoring Program that has an 8-week trial period - more details at ScoreBridge - Download Trial Version
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Our numbers are dropping.- perhaps you could let me know what will be the minimum numbers of people I would need to participate?
As a consequence of Covid-19 this is happening at many u3a Bridge groups.
To combat this we will be looking into the possibility of setting-up local "u3a Bridge Hubs" where you could go to play in the competition with like-minded Bridge players
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Do you propose to send an e-file of the hands for loading into the Club's dealing Machine?
Yes - the deal hands (for each of 5 days) will be sent as a PBN (Portable Bridge Notation) File for easy uploading. If you are playing on BBO then you may need to convert the file to a LIN file before uploading.
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Can you explain the meaning of 'simultaneous pairs’?
Simultaneous Pairs is a form of Duplicate Bridge whereby pre-determined hands are sent out in advance to all participating Bridge groups. The (18 or so) hands are then pre-dealt by a non-playing member and placed in boards/wallets for subsequent play. After the hands have been played, the results are sent to the organising body and added to all the other results, giving an overall 'national' score, such that individual pairs can gauge their performance against a national result as well as a local result. It is customary for a Commentary to follow the competition, written by a Bridge expert, which explains how the hands should have been bid and played.
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I would like to know the likely standard of the participants. 2 of us are Club standard; all the rest are relative beginners/improvers but definitively not Club standard.
We are hoping to have "something for everyone". Your Beginners can participate by playing pre-dealt hands (on a day of their choice) and comparing their bidding and play against an expert's view. We are hoping to set-up local Bridge Hubs where your club players could attend (or host) a specific day's simultaneous pairs. Alternately they could play on line and we will be organising coaching sessions nearer the time on BridgeClubLive to assist.
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Would you have the same boards being played? If so, the Friday players who also play on Thursdays (and I am one of them) would have a distinct advantage!
No, we will send out five separate sets of hands for each of Mon-Friday such that you can play as many times as you wish - and hopefully contribute more money to our u3a charities!!!
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What are the duties of a “card handler”?
The "card handler" is the non-playing person who prepares the boards for other players in their u3a. If you are playing chicago or social bridge then this would entail deciding how many boards you'd like to play and preparing those boards.
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