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Wakefield Bridge Club
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21st Apr 2025 12:47 BST
HOME PAGE - WBC (WAKEFIELD BRIDGE CLUB)
20th Apr 2025 17:29 BST
BREAKING NEWS.......
15th Apr 2025 14:34 BST
OLD HANDS OF THE PAST
15th Apr 2025 13:15 BST
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Pages viewed in 2025
BREAKING NEWS.......

All sessions will run over this Easter weekend as usual.

HOME PAGE - WBC (WAKEFIELD BRIDGE CLUB)
WELCOME
WELCOME

Welcome to the web-site of one of the most popular Bridge Clubs in England.

We would like to thank you for looking at this web-site. We hope that you can find amongst the extensive information provided, the knowledge you require.

On the home pages, we mostly cover Club information & upcoming events, whereas, in the "MENU" (to your left (on an I-Pad, Tablet, Lap-Top or similar)), we report on more of the workings, origins & statistics of the Club. We also describe there, more of the big wide world of Bridge that is out there, including teaching, viewing, merchandise, and breaks/holidays, all put together in one place, for your ease & convenience. We hope that you will return here soon.

Last updated : 31st Mar 2025 18:44 BST
LOOKING TO START OR RETURN TO PLAYING BRIDGE....?
LOOKING TO START OR RETURN TO PLAYING BRIDGE....?
  • Looking for a hobby / pastime that will stretch your mind?
  • Apprehensive, because you are taking a step into the unknown?
  • Unsure of where to start?
  • Newcomer to the game, intrigued by what you have seen or heard?
  • Don't know if this is for you?
  • Returning to the game after some time away?
  • Able to play, but no partner - not sure how to find one?

 

We may have the answer - just call the Secretary Stephen Hanslip on 0781 555 3130, or e-mail him at "WakefieldBridgeClub@pianola-mail.net". Alternatively you can contact Danny Parsonson on 0758 147 6235, or e-mail him at "dannyparsonson@hotmail.com".

The game of Bridge is played by all ages and abilities in schools, universities, bridge clubs, social groups & individual houses all around the world, so we at Wakefield Bridge Club, are always looking to expand our fantastic game to more of the residents in our locality, whatever your age, so that you all can discover its pleasures.

We are a thriving Bridge Club with approximately 170 members, but we always welcome new members to our friendly group. We would be extremely pleased to see you, so come along and take the plunge, and find out if the game of Bridge is for you.

This game of Bridge has been proven to be excellent for your mental health, by making the maximum use of your brain's aptitude and abilities. It is a mentally challenging form of entertainment, offering intellectual and social stimulation on a routine basis. Bridge's intricacies should make it particularly appealing for those who want to sharpen their acuity whilst performing mental gymnastics. In research of Bridge Players v Non - Bridge Players in the age category 55 - 90, that study indicated that Bridge players outperformed non players in terms of memory & reasoning. Listening, etiquette, concentration, dealing with winning & losing along with many other social skills, can be enhanced by playing Bridge.

All you have to do is take the first step - TRUST US - we will help you take it from there.

  • If you have tried us and like what you see, and keep returning, you can expect to be asked to become a member of our Bridge Club.
Last updated : 9th Apr 2025 16:52 BST
COME AND JOIN US - HOW TO FIND WHERE WE ARE
COME AND JOIN US - HOW TO FIND WHERE WE ARE

Wakefield Bridge Club.

The club was founded in 1953 (you can find the unbroken history of the club under "CLUB HISTORY" in the "MENU").

In 2021, we relocated to our new home in Thornes Park.  We have taken part of the ground floor of the former school/college, which is now a part of the Penny Appeal Campus. We have two Bridge rooms, with a small kitchen and separate ladies and gents toilets. The aerial view (shown above) shows the former college/Penny Appeal buildings at the top left, and the main car park. The thin grey line running through the trees, from the bottom right of the photograph, marks the line of the road up from the park entrance on Horbury Road, the A642. This is the only road entrance for vehicles, to the Car Park & Bridge Club, as all the other entrances have bollards in the roadways to prevent further access.

For detailed guidance on finding us please refer to the "MENU", look for the section which is labelled "HOW TO FIND US AT WBC" (WAKEFIELD BRIDGE CLUB) and then select either of the two alternatives of "Map/Photo directions", or "Written directions" to WBC (WAKEFIELD BRIDGE CLUB).(You will need to rotate the map/photo pictures - use the swivel icon on the page, please).

The post code of the club is WF2 8QZ; the what3words /// address of the club room entrance is flank.inspector.waving; the what3words /// address of the car park entrance is kind.brass.exchanges (Find the what3words app on your smartphone).  If you are using satellite navigation to direct you to the club, please ensure that you approach from the Horbury Road (North) entrance to the park (the A642).

Login to Pianola

Last updated : 2nd Apr 2025 14:46 BST
WHEN - OUR PLAYING SESSIONS DESCRIBED
WHEN - OUR PLAYING SESSIONS DESCRIBED

Forthcoming Events are always listed in the "MENU" under "CALENDAR". Alternatively, you can pick up one of our free A5 calendars, from the Bridge Club.

Please note that there may NOT be a host for some of these sessions. All members CAN volunteer to host a session, regardless of your ability. You may not be needed, but if you are, you are entitled to treat this as a FREE session - please volunteer and sign up on the notice board...................... (Sessions requiring hosts are Monday Morning, Tuesday Evening & Friday Mornings in a typical week & every week).

PLEASE PLAN TO ALWAYS ARRIVE AT LEAST 10 MINUTES BEFORE THE START OF ANY OF OUR SESSIONS.

This is to enable us to select the correct type of game, based on the numbers present. If you turn up late, this delays this selection, and therefore the start of the session. Turning up late may mean that we have started without you, and you will be going home without playing. It also means that all those who turned up in plenty of time, will NOT finish on time. It is in your hands to make this NOT happen! Masterpoints & NGS gradings are available on all our sessions, except where indicated. 

Monday Mornings -  The second step (The 14's) & The Third step (The 21's) - We offer two sessions of Bridge, played in two different rooms, but both playing the same hands, but evolving into two separate results. In one room are the 14's (the less experienced members), who will play less boards at a slower pace, whilst in the other room are the 21's (the more experienced members), who will play more boards at a faster pace. The choice is yours, as to which room you play in. If you would like to be involved simply turn up on the day.  A host may not be available. 

Monday Evenings - These have a competitive atmosphere. Pairs of visitors are always welcome, but if you need a partner, please place an advert on Pianola, on Partner Finder. Occasional Monday evenings are marked as Teams Events, and then advance registration is required - see the calendar (shown in the "MENU" under "CALENDAR" for details.

Tuesday Mornings - A teaching session for improvers, and existing members with some experience of the game. We replay interesting (random, not prepared) hands from a previous session, and discuss teaching points as they come up, but we don't always agree. Open to all members, this is an excellent opportunity to think and talk a little more deeply about your bridge. NO Master Points or NGS grading movement is given.

Tuesday Evenings - The atmosphere is a little more relaxed, and the number of boards played is limited. A host may not be available.

Thursday Morning -  The first step. A teaching session for individual beginners and improvers. This is your chance to play some new & unseen hands of bridge, whilst talking about a host of different topics and enjoying a variety of different cakes each week. NO Master Points or NGS grading movement is given. 

Thursday EveningsThese have an even more competitive atmosphere. Pairs of visitors are always welcome, but if you need a partner, please place an advert on Pianola, on Partner Finder. Very occasionally, there are Teams Events (see Monday evenings above for the protocol). 

Friday Mornings - This session aims to be relaxed in character, but it is competitive, and players of all grades are welcome. A host may not be available.

Need to know :

  • Monday Morning - Level ♣/♦ - start 10.00, finish about 12.30 / 13.00 - play about 14 boards (14's) or 21 boards (21's).
  • Monday Evening Level ♥ - start 19.00, finish about 22.30 - play about 25 boards.
  • Tuesday Morning - Level ♣ - start 10.00, finish about 12.30 - a teaching/discussion session involving up to 8 boards.
  • Tuesday Evening - Level / - start 18.45, finish about 21.45 - play about 20 boards. 
  • Thursday Morning - Level ♣ - start 10.00, finish about 12.30 - play up to 8 boards with a topic discussion. 
  • Thursday Evening - Level ♠ - start 19.00, finish about 22.30 - play about 25 boards.
  • Friday Morning - Level /♥ - start 10.00, finish about 13.00 - play about 20 boards.
  • Levels equate approximately to difficulty of each of our sessions (suit in bridge ranking order). 

Last updated : 15th Apr 2025 14:54 BST
THE HARD PART - MONIES ETC
THE HARD PART - MONIES ETC
  • Normal sessions - are charged at £3.20 table money per head. Please don't bring cash, we will send you a bill at the end of the month and you can pay by bank transfer. For visitors, the first session is always free, and we hope that you will return.
  • Extra non Weekly Events - these will usually be charged to you at the end of the month, after they have occurred, together with the sessions that you have played in. These Extras, are found on our free A5 calendars, or by looking on the "MENU" under "CALENDAR" on this web-site. 
  • Membership 2025 - 2026 :- The membership fee is £30 per year. However, new members can join during the year at a rate of £2.50 per month remaining until the following 31 March (payable as a lump sum). This change is to be ratified at our forthcoming AGM. Normally, our annual AGM takes place in April (It will be on Tuesday 29th April 2025 this year & on Tuesday 28th April in 2026). We are looking at altering the fees again in 2026, watch this space................
  • Drinks - Tea and coffee are available for a small donation (we suggest £0.50 per drink) in our own kitchen (we will sort out the milk). We have a large fridge and members are invited to bring their own drinks in for consumption. Thank you for your honesty.
  • Biscuits - Thanks go to the BISCUIT TSAR - Ernie. Biscuits (when available) are now available freely in the kitchen. Now share nicely.........
  • Remember - If you use cups or glasses from the kitchen, can you PLEASE remember to return them afterwards, hopefully you possess the knowledge & ability to wash them up or put them in the dishwasher - THANK YOU.
Last updated : 2nd Apr 2025 14:46 BST
JUST ANOTHER HAND? - APRIL 2025 - No 44
JUST ANOTHER HAND? - APRIL 2025 - No 44

Here is a hand played recently in the Club, where a choice in the bidding can decide how successful you are, but what can North do?

Option 1 -  Bid 2 , requesting South to bid 2 ♠ (you know from the opening bid that they have at least two), and then jumping up to 4 ♠, with the lovely solid ♠ suit that you have. Contract 4 ♠ by South.

Option 2 -  Bid 3 NT. You have 14 HCP's, and you add them to your partner's (average 13) hand. You would do this with a solid 6 card minor, but should you do it with a solid 6 card major? Also, your opponents do not know that you have such a hand, and it has more chance of attracting a favourable lead (such as A ). Contract 3 NT by South.

Option 3 - Bid Stayman. This seems like that this is the worst option, as you are hoping for your partner to have 4 no ♠ out of the 7 no remaining? OK, so you get to a game contract, but the better hand is the dummy. Contract 4 ♠ by North.  

This hand will ultimately depend on how you play the  suit. Guess it correctly, and you will only lose one trick (to the A ). Guess it incorrectly, and you could lose to the J  as well. And, you also have the losing  to deal with as well.

In a 3 NT contract, you get the opening lead of 3 ♣. This turns out to be the standard lead of 4th highest from their longest suit. This is won in dummy (with their singleton), and immediately they try the  finesse, by playing small to the 10 . Why do this now? Surely you can play off a few of my winners, before you try this play? The truth is, that the gain is far more, if you do it early enough. You have control of every other suit, so you can comfortably cope with whatever suit is returned. If you play off all your winning ♠, the defenders get a chance to see what discards you as declarer make, which will give them an idea of which suit to attack. When West takes their A , they have no clear idea of where to go, and seeing a ♣ void on the table, may well be inclined to lead another ♣. But, the hand is over, as you can see 6 ♠ tricks, 2  tricks, 1  trick & 3 ♣ tricks, just losing 1 trick to the A 

 This hand was mostly played by partnerships in 4 ♠, which made 10 or 11 tricks, but 3 NT here made 12 tricks, for a top. Even if 4 ♠ can make 12 tricks (and it is possible), the extra 10 points for playing in a NT contract, always gives you the edge.  

CLUB DIARY - BRIDGE + CAKE
CLUB DIARY - BRIDGE + CAKE

NEW PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS & EXISTING MEMBERS ARE WELCOME. YOU DO NOT NEED A PARTNER.

We start, on Thursdays, at 10.00 a.m. for two & a half hours approximately, finishing at 12.30 p.m.

Well it happened again, and not all the cake was consumed & we still have the capacity for more members & newcomers to turn up. 

Last week, we tried looking at the wonderful world of Bridge, which is available on the internet, without a lot of success. This week, we will looking at the losing trick count, and how it can help you.

This relaxed & laid back session is predominantly aimed at people who want to learn the basic information about bridge, and to explore a bit further into the game. Our basic session can include :-

  • Playing up to eight hands, possibly more on some specific occasions. These will all be pre-dealt hands that have not been played before, and so will all be new, even to myself. After playing a hand, you can have a chat at the table about these hands, if you so desire, unless you are specifically requested not to, in the case of competitions. 
  • There will definitely be a break around the half - time  mark, for a cuppa & a bite to eat. The kettle is always boiled when you arrive, so you can grab a cuppa then as well.
  • Normally we will have a topic to talk about - this usually changes every week!
  • Normally we encompass at least one sample hand - just to illustrate a particular point, but not always on our topic.
  • Sometimes, we can have a little chat about what is going on at the Club. 

We want this session to be a fun & very relaxed session, and a place to learn about the world of Bridge, as well as card play & defence - two absolute basics of playing Bridge. We would also encourage you to talk & discuss Bridge related problems, and if you do not fully understand something, PLEASE ask & we will try and answer your query, even if it is not straight away. 

Please note that this session is to be charged at the same rate as any of the other Wakefield Bridge Club's sessions. I look forward to the journey..............

CLUB DIARY - TEAM PLAYING
CLUB DIARY - TEAM PLAYING

Do not forget that the club does run teams events, on a reasonably regular basis. These occur predominately on a Monday evening (once a month) or sometimes on a Thursday evening (once every three months).

Please look out for these nights, which also appear on the "MENU" under "CALENDAR".

The next Monday teams session is on Monday 28th April. Please sign up on the notice board................... There is also one planned to occur on Monday 19th May.

The next Thursday teams session is on Thursday 8th May. You can sign up for this when the notice appears on the board......................

CLUB DIARY - COMMITTEE MEETING AND MORE ....
CLUB DIARY - COMMITTEE MEETING AND MORE ....

The next committee meeting of Wakefield Bridge Club is on Tuesday 29th 2025 @ 6.45 p.m. This is our annual AGM, and as such, this is for all of our members, your opportunity to ask questions of your committee, as well as possibly alter the personnel on your committee as well. Please look out for a nominations sheet to appear on the notice board in the near future................ 

If there is anything that you think might need raising at this meeting, please ask one of the committee members to bring it up on your behalf. The names and photographs of the committee members are on one of the notice boards in the big Bridge room, so that they cannot hide!

The committee members act on behalf of YOU the members, and to help keep the Club in a financially stable condition, amongst many other considerations.  

Is there any more we can do on other matters? Tell us please, and you never know what may happen!

As a thank you to all those members who turn up on the night & attend the AGM, we are pleased to offer a FREE evening of Bridge on that evening. Please note that this is not a transferable offer, and it could possibly involve playing a few less hands than normal (this is dependent on how long the AGM lasts).

Look on the web-site under "CALENDAR" for all future Committee meetings dates, including the date of the 2026 AGM ...................

CLUB DIARY - FUN DAY 2025
CLUB DIARY - FUN DAY 2025

The last Fun Day took place on Saturday 4th January 2025. We raised just over £1700.00, a fantastic amount, so THANK YOU all for your generosity. Thanks also go to everyone involved in making this event happen.

We are pleased to announce that the next Fun Day, will take place on Saturday 7th June, at a cost of £20.00 per person, and you should add your names & food choices, on the list on the notice board ........................... 

The food will be a choice of either Pie or Lasagna (Vegetarian options of both available). Your raffle donations will be gratefully received, and raffle tickets will be available shortly. As always, the proceeds of this event, will be used to enhance the experience of playing Bridge in our Club.

CLUB DIARY - FUTURE EBU EVENTS
CLUB DIARY - FUTURE EBU EVENTS

We have started to get involved playing in the EBU Seasonal Sims Pairs events, which take place approximately every three months. This gives us all an opportunity to measure ourselves up against other bridge clubs & members from around the country, as well as our Club results, there will also be National results for each day, from every Club that participated on that particular day. 

Over the course of four days (Monday - Thursday), the same hands are played up & down the country - (they are different boards each day). We normally play on a Thursday, and the cost of each of these events is normally £3.00 + our normal session charge, with the £3.00 going to the EBU charity EBED.   

The 2025 dates for the British (Seasonal) Sims Pairs events are :-

  1. Summer on Thursday 24th July 2025. 
  2. Autumn on Thursday 9th October 2025.

More details to follow (as & when we enter these events)............................

CLUB NEWS - IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE (FEB 2025 UPDATE)
CLUB NEWS - IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE (FEB 2025 UPDATE)

An idea which we are looking into is Cafe Bridge. This is just as simple as it seems - Bridge played in a Cafe. We are at present looking into Cafe's in the centre of Wakefield, where we could try this out. Our idea is simply to promote the game of Bridge to the inhabitants of Wakefield, some of whom may be under the misapprehension that Bridge is a game/pastime that takes place in big houses, played by well off people (it seems to be portrayed this way on television). We all know that this is truly, nowhere near the truth!

We are probably looking at a time which is not a busy time (meal times), but when they are open & have some passing trade. The idea that I have is, for it to be more of a social scene than a formal session, with the only charge being for the food & drink that you purchase. It may be a good idea or it may not, but other Bridge Clubs up & down the country have tried it, so why not us! This is still a work in progress (as at April 2025). 

We are also looking into more ways to get out & about to promote our Bridge Club, as we feel sure that there are a lot of people out there, who are totally unaware of us & what we offer. Watch this space to see what develops.....................

In the course of researching this topic, I came across Bridge holidays based on playing Bridge in cafe's, and that the history of this goes back to 2012. Who knew? 

CLUB NEWS - WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW!
CLUB NEWS - WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW!

You all may not be aware, of what we have available in our Club, or what we have been doing inside our Club :-

  • Our smaller room now has more playing tables in it.
  • The blinds on the western side of our venue, have all been upgraded this year. 
  • Have you noticed the additional new two sets of coat hooks outside the kitchen? 
  • Do you have any ideas to make things easier at the Club?
  • We are currently working very hard to improve our accessibility, for all members of our population, who wish to play Bridge, either now, or in the future. This is a long term issue, and it is not going to go away. 

Things are happening all around! The fact that YCBA wishes to bring prestige competitions to our venue, speaks a lot about what we are trying to create in our Club. 

There may be other ideas that you may have, or we, your committee have, to make things nicer & easier to play Bridge at Wakefield Bridge Club. Please watch this space.........   

 

Results
Monday Morning Pairs
Director: Peter Wallace
Scorer: Brian Skinner
Friday Morning Pairs
Director: Peter Wallace
Scorer: Brian Skinner
Thursday Evening Pairs
Director: Peter Wallace
Scorer: Peter Wallace
Calendar
21st Apr 2025
Monday Evening Pairs
19.00
Bank Holiday
22nd Apr 2025
Tuesday Teaching Session - discussion of hands from Thursday Evening
10.00
22nd Apr 2025
Tuesday Evening Pairs
18.45