The Club hosts playing sessions in the morning, afternoon and evening. When you turn up for your first playing session, please let the director know and he/she will be more than happy to help.
It’s worth knowing a little more about each session as they vary in terms of levels of skill.
Beginners
On Monday mornings, apart from the second Monday of the month, we run a supervised play session. It is usually preceded by a short talk on a bridge topic (open to requests). This is aimed mainly at students and those who need to develop confidence, although anyone is welcome. There are two tutors, Patricia and Andrew Hones, so plenty of help is available.
We have in the past hosted a ‘No Fear’ session designed for students and inexperienced players. This is an excellent way to start playing bridge. You don’t need to have a partner as this session is hosted, which means that there is always a volunteer spare player to make up pairs. This session is not running at present, but will be re-instated on Monday evenings from 7:30 to about 10:00 if there is sufficient demand.
Once you’re ready to move on from the No Fear session, or straight away if it is not running, we host a session called ‘Section B’ (7:30 - 10:15 Wednesday evenings) where players develop their skills still further and play more boards.
Tuesday afternoon sessions provide an opportunity for both beginners and for more experienced players to participate in supervised play and partners are not required. You can turn up any time between 1.30-4.30pm and play for as long as you like. This is a social bridge session and tea is provided. You will be playing pre-scored Chicago hands and you can call on the tutor, Francis Glassborow, at any time for advice - how to bid, what to lead, how to plan your play.
These sessions combined provide an excellent opportunity to grow your skills from beginner to intermediate level and be ready to take on the Club’s more experienced players!
Intermediate Level
Once you’ve been playing for a little while, there are a number of sessions during the week which will test and improve your knowledge of the game:
- On Monday mornings, you can enjoy a friendly game of duplicate pairs from 10:00am to 12:45pm. This is a hosted session where you can always find a partner. Players are of mixed abilities and inexperienced players are welcome.
- On Monday evenings we have a mix of improving players with different levels of experience. If you need a partner, see details below.
- On Thursday afternoons (1:45-4:15pm), you can enjoy a friendly bridge session with a break for tea! There is usually a host available but, to be sure of playing with a partner, you are advised to call Gillian Larter on 01865 891544. Inexperienced players are welcome and this is a good place to test your developing skills.
- On Friday afternoons (1:30-4:00pm), we have a hosted session where you can always find a partner. Players are of mixed abilities.
More advanced
As your play improves, there are two evening sessions where competition is a little more serious (but never hostile!) and where playing with an established partner (once you have one) is the best approach but not essential.
- Wednesday evenings – 7:30-10:30pm
- Friday evenings – 7:30-10:30pm
All of the above sessions are based on playing Duplicate Bridge, whereby the scores of you and your partner are compared (electronically) with all the other playing pairs. The results are uploaded to the website at the end of each session as are the hands played so that you can go back and examine where you went wrong or, better, did really well!
In addition to regular playing sessions, we also hold team events and play matches against other clubs. You’ll learn more as a member of the Club. A full schedule of the club's activities is available here.
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