It is hard to believe that many of us have now been playing online for over a year. The good news is that there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel and we are hearing some Wiltshire clubs are starting to plan for re-opening in the coming months.

The Wiltshire committee are busy planning a calendar of events starting in September 2021 and are hopeful that many of our Sunday events will be played face-to-face at Devizes Bowls Club as in previous years. We will however maintain a few online County competitions. Once the calendar has been finalised, it will be publicised on the WCBA web site. 

The regular Tuesday and Saturday pairs competitions on BBO will continue during the summer until the new programme commences, depending on the demand from players. There has been a drop in numbers in recent weeks and if the numbers drop to a point where it is no longer viable to run a duplicate movement, we may have to drop one or both sessions.

If you are a regular player on a Tuesday or Saturday afternoon, it would be helpful if you could let us know if you intend to continue playing during the summer or if you think you will play less often. There has been a suggestion that we reduce the number of boards - is this something you would like to see happen? Please email: Gayle Webb.

If you have not played on a Tuesday or Saturday and would like to, please get in touch with Gayle.

Following the successful Nine-high Swiss teams, held in March, the Midlands Counties (which includes Wiltshire) will be running a Six-high Swiss teams on Saturday 19th June. The last event was restricted to players of NGS 9 or below, but this event is aimed at anyone with an NGS of 6 or below, to encourage less experienced players to try an inter-county competition. The event will start at 2pm, and everyone will play around 25 boards. The cost is £8 per team.

The event will be run on Realbridge, giving you the opportunity of seeing and talking to your partner and your opponents. There will be pair, team and county rankings. 

All partnerships need to be NGS 6 or below (someone with an NGS of 7 partnering a 5 is ok, but no-one above NGS 7 will be playing on the day). This restriction will ensure that everyone has a comfortable game (which is also a feature of the Swiss teams format).

If you need help getting a team together, you need more information about Swiss teams, or you do not know how to check your NGS - please ask. Ian Roach and Gayle Webb, Wiltshire committee members, will be online on the day to support Wiltshire players and cheer them on. So if you are NGS 6 or below - this event is for you.

To enter, please send names and email addresses of all team members to Gayle Webb, gaylewebb@blueyonder.co.uk, by Monday 14th June. If you have any queries or help in getting teams mates, please contact Gayle by email or by phone, 01985 214 102

Wiltshire Chairman's Cup 2021

Congratulations to Anita Williams and Linda Locke who won this year's Chairman's Cup on Saturday 10th April at 1pm on BBO. They were also the winners after the handicapping had been applied, such was their overall lead. A very well done to Sheila Pearson and Helen Cleland, a scratch pair, who came second in the handicapped result.

Wiltshire Green Point Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th March 2021

Congratulations to Babs Matthews and Joyce White, Marc Chawner and Ray Clarke who came equal 1st in the Swiss Pairs on Saturday 6th, and congratulations to Alan and Jette Bailey, Eric Cummings and Ceri Pierce who came top in the Swiss teams. Well done to Wiltshire pair David Alsford and Heather Spalding who came 3rd in the Swiss Pairs, and also to the Meats Team, Phil Meats, Alastair Spence, Mike Toft and Ray Walder who came 6th in the Swiss teams. For the full results for both Saturday and Sunday, click here.

Thank you to the director, Gary Conrad, who made everything run smoothly.

Garden Cities Qualifier

Congraulations to Trowbridge who won the Garden Cities Qualifier on Sunday 28th March. The full results are available via the results calendar. The winners will go forward to the regional final to be held on 8th May 2021, and the national final will be held on 19th June. In light of the prevailing Covid-19 situation, the EBU may scrap the regional finals, more information may be found here. 

Further to the EBU AGM on 25th November where the issue of online cheating was discussed, the EBU has increased the sentences for online cheating. The full details are available by clicking on this link. Wiltshire Contract Bridge Association supports the efforts made by the EBU to ensure that everyone is able to enjoy their bridge.

Sunday 9th May

After a closely fought competition, there were joint winners in terms of Victory Points of the Teams of Four event held on Sunday 9th - with 87 VPs each were the Bridge team and the Webb team. The Webb team though had 5 wins against the Bridge team's 4 and half wins. Many congratulations to the Webb team - Gayle and Colin Webb, John Perry and Marianne Lewin and also to the Bridge team - Stuart Bridge, Roger Karn, Susie Gall and Trevor Purches. The winners will go forward to represent Wiltshire in the Pachabo which will be held on 12-13 June on Realbridge, more informaiton about the Pachabo may be found here.

For the full results from Sunday, click here.

Congratulations to the winners of the Championship Pairs, who will go forward to represent Wiltshire:

1st Tina Cottee and Sriram Chari

2nd Brian Johnson and Sue Hands

3rd Stuart Bridge and Roger Karn

Congratulations also to the winners of the Plate competition:

Susie Gall and Trevor Purches

For full results, click here

Wiltshire Clubs Online

The country is now in the third period of lockdown and although there is hope with the current vaccination programme, it seems unlikely that face-to-face bridge will resume until early summer 2021.

In the meantime, many of you are already playing online at your local club or at Wiltshire events, or taking part in the online Teams League. Clubs are offering support and help to any of their members who wish to play online, and many Wiltshire clubs are happy to include members from other clubs in their online sessions. For details, click here for the list of Wiltshire clubs and click on the web link for the club to see what they are offering.

Wiltshire Online Bridge

Whilst the doors of our various Wiltshire clubs remain closed, our members have been learning new skills and online bridge is growing at a rapid rate.  Many of the clubs are now running “Virtual club” duplicate sessions, and teams matches and leagues have been evolving.

Wiltshire is running two weekly online competitions which are open to all Wiltshire players and members of Wiltshire clubs. 

On Tuesday and Saturday afternoons we have an 18 board match-pointed pairs, Tuesdays starting at 2pm, and the Saturday session starting at 1pm. 

Both these events are suitable for players of all standards.  The cost is $3.00 BBO per session and they last approximately 2 hours. 

This is a great way of getting a competitive game of bridge and for meeting up with old friends from your own club or neighbouring clubs throughout Wiltshire.

Results of these events are shown in our results tab in the main menu.

If you would like more information or would like to enter to play on either day, please contact Gayle Webb gaylewebb@blueyonder.co.uk .  It is essential that you contact Gayle prior to entering on the day as these events are “closed” events so as to ensure only Wiltshire players are involved.

If you have not played online and would like some help with how to get started, please contact anyone of the three below, all of whom will be happy to help you

Gayle Webb         gaylewebb@blueyonder.co.uk

Stuart Bridge      stuartbridgeuk@yahoo.co.uk

Richard Samter  richardsamter@gmail.com