Deadline to enter - 24th May

After the success of the Pairs and Swiss Pairs events, Wiltshire will be starting a teams league at the end of May. The league will be split into divisions, playing a match of 20-24 boards (to be agreed by the captains) every week with promotion /relegation at the end of each season. We are aiming for about 6 teams per division with one team being promoted and relegated from each division, but this depends on numbers. The cost will be £1 per player per match.

Please click here for the entry form.

For any queries, please contact:

richardsamter@virginmedia.com

ianroach@hotmail.co.uk

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

On a Tuesday afternoon we have an 18 board match-pointed pairs and on a Saturday afternoon a 20 board Swiss Pairs. 

Both these events are suitable for players of all standards.  The cost is £1.50 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@virginmedia.com

Following two weeks of successful Tuesday afternoon competitions, and owing to popular demand, Wiltshire Contract Bridge Association will be offering a second online weekly session on a Saturday afternoon starting at 13.00.

This second session will be Swiss Pairs and is likely to be 20 boards played as 5 matches of 4 boards and the first one will take place on Saturday 9^th May - enter from 11.00 – start time 13.00. 

As with our Tuesday competition you will be allowed 7 minutes a board, so if you are playing 4 boards you will have 28 minutes to play the 4.  We have been lucky enough to secure the services of Richard Banbury as our Director for this session as well as our Tuesday one.

As the Tuesday session, the cost for this event will be £1.50 and will attract masterpoints – and will be included in your NGS records. 

If you have not played Swiss Pairs, it is a popular method for playing pairs.   The first round you will have a random starting position and could play against anybody else who has entered.   However, the result of your first round determines who you play against next.   If for example we have 20 tables – 40 pairs – then for round 2 the two pairs who achieved the highest percentage in round 1 will play on Table 1, then the next two pairs and so on.   You can see how well you are doing against the rest of the field by seeing what table number you have moved to.   If in round 2 you are at table 1 you know you have done very well, conversely if you are on table 20 you will know you did not have a good first round!  Each round progresses in the same way.   With Swiss Pairs you could be alternating between North/South and East/West, and there is only one final ranking list.

One thing that can happen is that it is possible to play a pair for a second time (or exceptionally even more) – and the Director does not have any control over this.  At the end of each round you just stay at the table and your new opponents will “arrive” as usual.

The first Wiltshire online bridge competition was held today at 2pm, using the BBO web site. 52 pairs entered, playing 18 boards, and well done to Marion Cowley and Dave Jacklin who came top overall with an exellent 70.53%

The next match will be 2pm Tuesday 28th April. For the full results, click here.

Congratulations to the following Wiltshire teams who have been taking part in the first season of the online EBU teams league:

Stuart Bridge, Roger Karn, Richard Samter, Tina Cottee, Trevor Purches and Chris Jones who won division 5 and have been promoted for the next season.

"Sixpack" - James Dunlop, Frances Ind, Phil Meats, Bill Nadel, Alastair Spence and John Treble who came 4th in division 7 and have been promoted for the next season.

Bath Gladiators - Graeme Dalrymple, Christine MacFarlane, May Morgan-Jones and Alan Reid, who were in the promotion places in Division 8 with 3 games to go but 3 big losses at the end led to relegation which shows how competitive these divisions are.

Liz Butler, Terry Butler, Marion Cowley and David Jacklin, who finished 5th in Division 10 and narrowly missed out on promotion.

Sarum Bridge Club - whose team of Paul Wright, Nigel Lewis, David Clayton and Wendy Butler won Division 11 and are promoted.

The next season starts on 27th April and if bridge clubs are unable to physically reopen it is likely the league will continue for a few more "seasons". The matches have generally been played on BridgeBase Online on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 18:00 and take around 45 minutes. They have been great fun to play in.

If anyone wants to know more about it, please look at the EBU web site on online leagues or get in contact with any of the players mentioned above and they may be willing to help. If there is to be a Season 3 then it is likely that you would need to get an entry to the EBU by mid May.

Coronavirus - Covid-19 - update

Wiltshire Contract Bridge Association is following Government and EBU advice and has cancelled all events, including League matches, for the foreseeable future.

Please note - the AGM is postponed until the further notice.

Click here for information from the EBU about Covid-19.

If you have any questions or wish to contact a Wiltshire committee member, please click here.

We trust everyone is fit and well and coping with these days of “lockdown”.   It seems strange to think that only four weeks ago we were still all playing face to face bridge.  

Since that time, many of us have been learning the skills required to master online bridge and how to send “chats” using teenage abbreviations.  This has proved an extremely enjoyable way to keep in touch with friends and keep one’s bridge brain active.

Tournaments are available online, but these involve playing with unknown opponents many of whom will be playing unknown systems and some of them do not have the manners we would normally expect when playing face to face bridge.

Your Wiltshire Bridge Committee have been trying to find a way of providing some competitive bridge, and yet where many of your opponents would be known to you.  Private competitions have to be run by a BBO / EBU Director and there are only a handful of these.  We have therefore been lucky enough to find one with a free slot on Tuesday afternoon to run an event for us.

We will be running an 18 board session on a Tuesday afternoon starting at 14.00, on Bridge Base Online (BBO).   It will last about two hours and we have capacity for 40 pairs (although this may be able to be increased).   Entrants will be limited to Wiltshire members and anyone who is a member of a Wiltshire club.  The aim is for these to be friendly and relaxed, but we will be able to provide a ranking list and masterpoints will be awarded.

If you are not familiar with BBO then click here for 'How to Use Bridge Base Online' video.

Players would need to have registered on BBO – there is no cost involved in this.   We can provide help with this if required.   

The charge for each session will be £1.50.  This is not planned to be a profit making venture – but we need to pay the Director and also the EBU for Pay 2 Play.   This money will be collected monthly in arrears, but in entering to play everyone must take responsibility to make these payments promptly when asked, by bank transfer into the WCBA Account.

Our first session will be on Tuesday 21^st April at 14.00.   There will be no charge for this session as it will be a trial run.  However, as we only have room for 20 tables / 40 pairs – it will be first come, first served.

We do hope you will decide to join us.  If you would like to be included in this venture, even if you are not able to play on the 21^st April, the process to register is:

1.  Join BBO and set up your user name (we can help you with this if required)

2.  Send Gayle Webb (gaylewebb@blueyonder.co.uk ) an email with:

1.  Your name
2.  Your BBO user name
3.  Your EBU number 
4.  The club you mainly play in
5.   Gayle will then confirm receipt and tell you what to do on April 21^st, if you wish to play.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact any of the sub-committee for this venture:

Gayle Webb                gaylewebb@blueyonder.co.uk           01985 214102 / 07753 958681

Richard Samter           richardsamter@virginmedia.com      01225 834703 / 07974 279153

Stuart Bridge               stuartbridgeuk@yahoo.co.uk             07969 610635