It is with sadness we announce that Peter Brown passed away on August 24th following a long illness. Peter's funeral will take place at 11.30am on Monday September 20th at Cuckfield Holy Trinity Church (RH17 5JZ). Peter's family hope that Peter's friends will join them to celebrate Peter's life. Donations instead of flowers to St Peter & St James Hospice. Anyone attending the funeral is invited back to the Talbot Inn for refreshments afterwards but please advise us via secretary@westsussexbc.co.uk of your intention so the family can cater accordingly.

Following our departure from Lamb House, the Committee has reviewed possible alternative locations including all those kindly suggested by members. The Old School in Cuckfield, whose Tudor Hall is a decent sized rectangular shape capable of accommodating up to 12 tables, is available when we wish to hold Club sessions and can also store our equipment.

We are therefore pleased to announce the reopening of our Club for Face to Face (F2F) sessions for double-jabbed members at The Old School on Thursday evenings at 7pm starting from 23rd September and Thursday afternoons at 1.30pm from 7th October.
Please see Information page for full details on location, parking and Covid restrictions.

We have decided to introduce a weekly online 18 board session on Tuesdays at 7pm from 21st September for members of WSBC only. As an introductory offer for the rest of 2021, there will be no charge for playing, and EBU master points will be issued as normal. RealBridge allows you to see and speak to your partner, opponents and Director if needed. It displays bidding boxes and hand layout as when we play F2F and is an enjoyable, sociable experience. There are no robots! It is easy to pick up and members are urged to log into the website: www.realbridge.online where there is a lot of information on how it operates.

RealBridge runs 8 board "taster sessions" at no cost twice a week when you can play with a chosen partner or with another single. The only requirement is that you sign up at least 2.5 hours beforehand via the website. The next sessions are on:

• Thursday 16 September, 6pm (sign up by 3.30pm)
• Saturday 18 September, 9am (sign up by 6.30am)
• Wednesday 22 September, 9am (sign up by 6.30am)
• Friday 24 September, 9am (sign up by 6.30am)

You can play in the taster sessions as many times as you like to get the hang of it before you play in the Club game. They are very relaxed (it isn’t a competition) and you will be helped if you are really stuck. If you are particularly apprehensive about the trial, please ring Club Secretary, Chris Jago, on 01825 721282 or email him at secretary@westsussexbc.co.uk and he will arrange for a member of the Committee to help guide you through the process.

The EBU National Inter Club Knockout - the NICKO - is now open for entry. Later rounds of this event will be face-to-face but teams are invited to indicate willingness to play online, which would be applied to the early stages to reduce travelling. They must be willing to play later stages face-to-face though. Prices for the NICKO entries are based on the previous face to face iteration. This is a great way to play against clubs from across the entire country of all levels.

Entries close on Monday 11 October.

The format is unchanged from previous years, with a plate competition for those unseeded teams losing their first match - so every unseeded team is guaranteed at least two matches. Likewise, the entry process is unchanged so, to ensure all participants are eligible to represent us, entries should be made by contacting Chris Jago, our Club secretary, at secretary@westsussexbc.co.uk.

The Committee has agreed that one team will be subsidised fully or this amount will be split if two teams enter.

In preparation for our eventual return to running our own bridge sessions, we need more volunteers to be Directors and Directors' Assistants. If you feel you can help in this regard, please contact Chris Jago at secretary@westsussexbc.co.uk and we will arrange suitable training.

Whilst West Sussex Bridge Club is unable to play bridge at Lamb House any more, we are still organising our winter bridge break at the beautiful Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth with Horsham B.C. The Miramar is wonderfully situated near the beach on the East Cliff with excellent food and superb service. As previously, the bridge will be directed by Graham & Berry Hedley and will include 2 afternoon handicapped sessions and 3 evening sessions with standbys available.
Seminars and hand discussions will be held on Monday and Tuesday mornings.

Flight A & B Prizes and master points will be awarded for all sessions.

Prices for Bridge & Accommodation with Dinner, Bed & Breakfast for 3 nights:
• £215 per person sharing a double/twin room
• £240 per person for single occupancy
• Sea view room +£25
• Premium non sea view room +£10

We are asking for a £50 deposit but this is fully refundable if you cancel for any reason by 30th November.

We only have a few rooms left so if you would like to come please contact: Chris Jago on 01825 721282 or email secretary@westsussexbc.co.uk.

Although our Club premises remain closed, WSBC is offering online bridge through a partnership with Avenue and Lewes Clubs.  Three weekly sessions are available, on Tuesday mornings, Wednesday evenings and Thursday afternoons. These sessions have proved very popular to many of our members, including some for whom online bridge has been a new experience. If you have not yet tried playing in this medium, we would encourage you to give it a try. The first step is to contact Hazel (mps@westsussexbc.co.uk).

We will continue to be in weekly contact by email with all our members with club news and the intriguing and informative bridge teasers.

Stay well and keep in touch.