| Face-to-Face (Real!) Bridge - Update |
Many thanks to over 50 members who submitted very helpful feedback via the questionnaire; it's NOT too late to add your input, and don't worry if you can't type into the document, just email me the substance of your answers.
The feedback shows that many people would love to return to REAL bridge(!) even if they are enjoying the online alternatives, as well as plenty of sensible and realistic caution over the risks, and inevitable distaste for some of the measures that may be necessary.
The Committee met on 21st July, and were agreed that both Govt guidelines, EBU guidance, the restrictions of our venues and general common sense mean that we should NOT be returning to F2F Bridge yet, and certainly not before September.
However, we want to ensure that we can be ready as and when things do change, and have discussed the various control measures and possible costs. We are also keeping a dialogue going with Hallow VH and Claines RBL.
It is understood that, when we do return, we will have to accept that things will be different.
Meanwhile, we will do all we can to maintain and improve all aspects of our online programme.
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| Online Bridge updates |
UPDATE - Sunday 19th July: New events now underway; Five full tables in Tues Social; Teaching Room up and running...
1) TEAMS LEAGUE TWO: Six teams this time - Two weeks of five now completed.
2) TUESDAY SOCIAL: 10-30 AM! each week in Daily MPS - arrive approx 10-20am, and Mike will seat you; ZOOM at 12-30pm! Details here.
3) MIXED PAIRS, MEN'S and LADIES' PAIRS Winners: John S and Clive O win the Men's Pairs; Heather and Jennifer win the Ladies', Joyce & Chris win the Mixed Pairs FINAL
Results updated weekly: MIXED here; MEN'S here; LADIES' here, and TABLES here. Tables and results are now in the archived section.
4) WBC PAIRS 2 League now well underway.
5) TEACHING: We are now using the Teaching Area - Room A on Tuesday at 7pm, with Zoom break-outs for each table. We had FOUR full tables last week, with Mike W, Yvette and Mike V. Sessions for now are for continuing recent beginners - contact Mike V or Mike W for details.
See main Online Bridge Page to find Aliases.
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| Jessie Newton |
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It was with huge sadness that we heard yesterday of the passing of Jessie Newton, I suspect our oldest (and an original) member.
In latter years, she was able to take advantage of the opportunity to play Daytime Bridge, with her loyal partner and friend John Turner; her presence at the table was always a pleasure.
This picture was taken at the 2010 AGM, the last occasion (2009) when Jessie and Jean won the Ladies' Pairs together. The Roll of Honour lists many of Jessie's triumphs, especially in the Individual competition. Our condolences go to Jean and her family on their loss.
There is an excellent obituary on the WCBA webpage.
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| 2.6 Challenge? |
Many thanks to all who donated to this great cause! £120 raised so far - the Page is still open though!
I did my 26 minutes on the rowing machine, and am still standing. I adhered strictly to the International rules for indoor rowing challenges, which I devised in my head as I was doing it, and modified in order to stay alive. The rules say, the (fly)WHEEL must keep turning at all times, and it did; though my wife claims that the whirring sound was coming from my lungs! Anyway, it took me 26 minutes to row for 26 mins, again quite an achievement I think.
If you have been enjoying your online Bridge during lock-down and wondering what to do with all the table-money you've saved: why not add it to the JustGiving account, link below:
This can be sponsoring me for my "feat" achieved yesterday, and it all goes to "The Big Night In Fund", which seeks to ensure (via collaboration between CiN and Comic relief) that charities which have been hit by the virus, and the cancellation of the London Marathon, can still do their great work! Many thanks to those who've already given!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mike-vetch?newPage=True
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| Closure |
Message from the Chairman
Worcester Bridge Club's face-to-face activity is sadly suspended for the foreseeable future. We will of course keep you informed, and post a provisional date for re-opening here in due course.
We wish all our members the very best of health and good spirits through the coming difficult weeks, and hope to see you online!
We will update as the situation evolves, via this page and Pianola messages when there are significant changes.
Mike, Chairman
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| AGM: Photos |
Prize winners' photos below!
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| Inter-Club Teams |
Congratulations to our WBC Simple-Systems team (Louise Wilson, Jayne Bolton, Pete Cole, Janette Torrance, Helen Cameron, Trish Mann and Eiron Evans) who secured an overall win in the County's Inter-Club Teams SS division on Friday!
In the Open section, WBC1 were a very close 3rd (one VP behind 2nd and 2VPs behind 1st), and WBC 2 were a respectable but relatively distant 4th.
It is hoped that all three teams will compete in the All-in Swiss event on Friday 3rd April.
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| Christmas SIM pairs with Romorantin |
Thanks to the efforts of Steve Garry in France, we played a devilish set of simultaneous hands, both at Hallow on 17th Dec and in Romorantin on 19th Dec. Then after a pause whilst Mike deciphered the French score-sheets and processed them, we came to a combined result, from 19 tables! The French top two pairs (with 63.96% and 63.90%) took the first two places, with Mike and Ian in Worcester just behind in 3rd place on 63.04%. Results can be seen on our results pages. The general consensus was that it was a fun thing to do, but too many slams!!!
After the French event, they had a toast to THEIR 35th Birthday, combined with OUR 30th Birthday, even managing to use elements of our cake to enhance their cake!
And we finally got a spot in English Bridge this month - see p58 - pic doesn't match the caption; to see that photo, click here to EBU Club Focus.
https://www.ebu.co.uk/newsletters/?id=47&page=14
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| Christmas Party Claines 2019 |
We had 13 tables in play at our Party; ably hosted by Jimmy as ever, and plentiful delicious food from Freda - many thanks!
The Main Section was won (for the second consecutive year!) by Sue and Dennis, by a very large margin! The Try-Duplicate was quite different, with four of the six players in close contention. Congratulations to Diane and Jane, who won it, and also to Neil and Gay who are confirmed as our Try-Duplicate champions of 2019!
Lots of pics below!
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| Cake Reloaded |
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Tuesday 12th November saw the Anniversary cake making a come-back, almost restored to its former glory!
(Spot the difference - compare with the other pictures below!)
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| WBC: 30th BIRTHDAY! Wed 6th NOVEMBER |
On Wednesday 6th November, we celebrated 30 years of Worcester Bridge Club; 17 tables were in play, including four players who were present on the first session on 1st November 1989: (Neil Humphries, Lyn Jackson, Sue Evans and Dennis Loynes).
Congratulations to Nick and Dennis who won the main section pairs event, by just one match-point! And to Gay and Neil who won the Try-Duplicate event.
Lots of pictures of the cake and prize winners here.
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| The French in Worcester! |
The first full visit of our French Exchange partners from Romorantin was a great success; there were three full Bridge sessions (Monday at WCBA night, Tuesday at Hallow and Wednesday at Claines RBL), with excellent results for the visitors, as well as plenty of good food, bubbly and cakes! The President also played at Bromsgrove BC on Tue evening, with Steve Garry, the originator of the Exchange link, and with Mike at the Barnt Green Cafe Bridge event!
On the extra-curricular side, we had various meals at Janette/Peter/Mike's houses, as well as traditional pub fare at The King's Arms in Ombersley and afternoon tea and scones at Brockencote Manor, after an excellent guided tour of Harvington Hall. Photos above of all these activities!
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| CAFE BRIDGE - Results Update... |
Putting those last scores in quickly was risky... All other travellers had been double-checked... However an error scoring bd 20 changed a few things: John and Ian up a bit, and that three-way tie for the 50% prize was transformed: Roland and Tim hit 50% on the nose! Congratulations to Rosie and Sue who clinched their win in the last round!
Thanks to everyone for all that dashing back and forth! And for your generous donations: the charity total was £191 for Acorns Hospice.
Next WBC Cafe Bridge is likely to be the (single-cafe) Christmas event: details will be avvailable soon, and you will all get emails!
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| Tables! |
We have decided to begin a programme of replacing our tables at Claines in rotation: the current ones are in remarkably good shape given that they are 18 years old, but we will be buying 8 new tables per year for the next three years. Three already taken!!
Club members may like to buy the ones that we take out of service for £10 each, especially if you hold teams matches at your homes. Please contact Mike if interested.
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| WBC in Romorantin, France! |
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1st WBC visit to Romorantin: PRESS!
See HERE for coverage of our visit (with the predictable "bridge" pun) in "Nouvelle République"
-we're back!
-we played three sessions of Bridge (French-style) so far (Tue evening, Thur afternoon and Fri afternoon)
-we visited Chenonceau in the rain, and had a "visite des caves" to Vouvray on Wed
-visite guidée de Romorantin on Thursday am - the sun returned!
-we ate "cuisine chinoise" on Friday evening
See pics above...
Pics from the October 2018 event can be found here; a VIDEO greeting from M Gillier can be viewed here.
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| Annual General Meeting 2019 |
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| Tip of the Week! |
Earlier tips now added to the tips archive list, on the left-hand menu... Below are Tips EIGHT and NINE...
WEEK EIGHT: (and a New Year's Resolution for 2019?)
Be NICE to your partner!
Some players are scrupulously polite to their opponents (see Tip Three) but not so friendly to their partner - especially when partner is (or seems to be) making mistakes!
Firstly, if partner slips up, they're probably well aware of this but don't need to have it pointed out to them.
Secondly, if they don't know what they did wrong, you're probably not going to teach/improve them between now and the next hand; the next hand will have its own difficulties, and they (and you!) need their wits about them trying to get the next one right!
Thirdly, maybe they did the right thing, or had good reasons for doing what they did, but are too polite (!) to answer back!
Finally: it is not pleasant for your table guests to witness! It's only a game!
WEEK NINE: Teams Tactics - Thank to Jimmy for presenting this on Wed 16th January.
In most sessions we are playing for "Match-Points" in Pairs, and we know the value of making that overtrick or making 3NT + 1 (+430) rather than 4S (+420)
In Teams, most of the "IMPs" come from bigger hands (games/slams) where making or not making contract is worth +/-10 or 13 IMPs, whereas an overtrick may be worth 1 IMP or even nothing.
And even in Part-score, making/not making is generally worth +/-5 or 6 IMPs, and these add up!
SO: 1) as declarer, concentrate on making the number of tricks needed to make your contract, and only go for overtricks if that does not risk the contract. Look for safety plays, so you make EVEN when the finesse is offside.
2) As defenders, be prepared to take a risk, which may lead to overtricks if it goes wrong, if it's the only way to beat the contract - maybe underlead your ace (to get to partner's presumed King, so they can give you a ruff.
3) Take MORE risks (bidding THIN games) when RED (vulnerable) than when GREEN: the maths are in your favour - it pays in the long run because the return is approximately 2 to 1, whereas when GREEN it is close to EVENS.
For more detail on this, see this link
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| ANDREW ROBSON OBE : A GREAT SUCCESS! |
Photos are here - many thanks to Maureen for her organisation, and to Freda and team for the fantastic food!
Next Robson date: Fri 16th October 2020!
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| Privacy and Data Protection |
Many thanks to all who have completed GDPR forms; we now have nearly all members' forms completed now. Trish won the prize for the first completed one!
What GDPR means for you is summarised on WBC Privacy Policy Summary which you can find here, and our full policy can be viewed here.
If you have not yet completed a form, you can download the blank PDF from here; First SAVE the PDF to your desktop, then RE-OPEN it, tick the boxes and fill in the details. Then email back to Mike (mike1958v@mail.com).
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| Roger Bowles Bridge Library |
Members might like to know more about the Roger Bowles Bridge Library.
After Roger's tragic death in Dec 2015, his widow donated his extensive collection of Bridge books to us; it was agreed that these should be managed by the County Bridge Association, and they are stored by Martin Gill. The full list of some 125 titles (both educational and humorous) can be found here, along with Martin Gill's contact details.
https://www.bridgewebs.com/cgi-bin/bwol/bw.cgi?club=worcestershire&pid=display_page65
We have a small "taster" selection at Claines for people to see, and books can also be booked out from there, using the notebook to record borrowing and return.
Get reading!!
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| New to Worcester? New to Bridge? Just Visiting?... |
♠ If you are looking for a game of Duplicate Bridge, we would like to think you have come to the right place...♥
♦ Just click HERE for details on how to start playing at Worcester Bridge Club!♣ 
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| Daytime Bridge - UP and Running! |
Our first Daytime Bridge session took place on Tuesday 20th June, with six full tables, and plenty of laughs and cakes! A fine win for Grahame and Tony... Session Two saw hosts Denn and Sue outscore Grahame and Tony; and another six and a half tables!
Next week, same time same place: HALLOW Parish Hall, starting at 1pm; please be there for 12-45pm, but bring table money! (£3.00 members, £4.00guests - but you can join on the spot for £5-00!) Do bring friends and guests - we will always have a host!
To ensure that we can be as welcoming as possible, we still need offers of HOSTING; and if you cannot help in any other way, why not offer to bring along a home-made cake or tray bake?
Full calendar, results, rotas and venue details are available on this site: look for the DAYTIME menu to get started!
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| Welcome to Worcester Bridge Club |
We play:
at Royal British Legion Club, Cornmeadow Lane, Claines, WR3 7PL, every Wednesday
Start time 7.15 for 7.30.
and at Hallow Parish Hall, Hallow Worcester, WR2 6PE, every Tuesday;
Start time 12-50pm for 1pm.
Visitors welcome, and host system in operation, for both venues
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| Try-Duplicate and Intermediate Bridge |
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Our Intermediate Bridge sessions were to some extent a victim of their own success: after three highly productive years, almost all the "Inters" moved up into the Main Room and/or at our Tuesday sessions, or started playing at other clubs; we are fully committed to the idea of providing Bridge to suit all levels, and will be happy to run/resume Inter sessions if a viable number of newcomers come through; or as an extension of the Try-Duplicate section.
Try-Duplicate sessions continue to take place on the first Wednesday of each month: here we have fewer boards (15-18) and a host to help players throughout the session. Visitors are welcome, and there is no extra charge for these sessions: all players pay £2-50 table money. It is most helpful if you are able to let Mike know beforehand if you are coming, so that we can make up full tables easily.
Some of our old Inters/Try-Dup players have found that the "next step" for them is Tuesday afternoon Bridge (see Daytime tab for details): these are held at Hallow Parish Hall at 1pm; the pace is a little gentler, and of course these sessions are becoming famous for the cakes which people bring along!
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