Sat 13th & Sun 14th July: The Perry Shield, Spickett Bowl and President’s Cup 2024 were hosted by the WWBA and were held at the Halliwell Centre , Carmarthen.

East Wales teams came 2nd in the Perry Shield and 1st in the Spickett Bowl and were just edged into 2nd in the President’s Cup. Congratulations all round!

Click HERE to see the full results.

A message from the WBU: WBU FOCUS GROUPS. The third focus group meeting will be held on Monday 15th July at 7pm on Zoom. You are ALL invited to come along. This is an opportunity to air your views and share your ideas on how the WBU can change and improve. It is also a chance for you to volunteer your time / skills to help us achieve that improvement. We welcome ex-members as well as current members – we want to hear from you all. We hope that you can make it.
 Zoom link : HERE

Western League Bridge: The Western League is made up of 8 counties.We play 7 matches from September to April. We play online on Realbridge on a Saturday from 2pm-5.30pm. East Wales enters 3 teams: A, B & C (the starting point). Depending on numbers, you would probably play  1 or 2 matches (Jane & I played twice last year). It's a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon and if you fancy taking part in the C team then contact Richard Welsford at rtw76@sky.com

Fri 1st to Sun 3rd November: The Porthcawl Congress Returns! Main Congress and Holiday Congress - Open Pairs, Swiss Pairs and Swiss Teams at the Seabank Hotel, Porthcawl. Click HERE to access the West Wales Bridge Association website for more information and entry/hotel booking form.

Bridge Courses & Supported Play: Simon, with the help of Jon, Stephen and Sooz, has developed a pathway for those new to Bridge starting with a Begin Bridge Course and leading to actual play in Club sessions. 

We now have: Begin Bridge Courses, Continuing Bridge Courses, Supported Play on Wednesday Afternoons, and Supported Play preceded by a Talk on the first Thursday of each month (restarting on 3rd October).

Beginning Bridge 10 Week Course:  Will start again in October 2024. To see what former learners have said click on Teaching Review BE..pdf and Teaching Review DB.pdf. For more details see main notice below.

Continuing Bridge 10 Week Course:  Will start again in January 2025. For more details email teaching@cardiffbridgeclub.org

Thursday Evening Bridge Talk & Play: These sessions, held on the 1st Thursday of the month, are taking a break over the summer and will resume on Thursday 3rd October.

Wednesday Afternoons Supported Play:

Would you like to improve your bridge with a friendly group of like-minded players?

All are welcome to Supported Play on Wednesdays from 2.00pm to 4.00pm

See notice below for more details.

Junior Bridge Teaching has started at CBC on Tuesdays at the club from 5:30pm.

This is for players under 25 and students in full time education. See main notice below for more details

Afternoon Bridge: If you are looking for a friendly game and a cup of coffee in the daytime then we hold two sessions each week. Come and join us on Monday afternoons for Social Bridge in the Club (with free coffee and home made cakes!) starting at 1.30pm and on Thursday afternoons when play starts in the club at 2pm and is suitable for players of all standards. 

March 14th saw the last round of this year’s Winter League.

The winners with a score of 63  - Maggie Pierce, David McAndrew, Ceri Pierce, Viking Yuen, Fu Cheung (and I think a guest appearance by Warner Soloman)

Runners Up with a score of 56  -  David Smith, Anna-Marie O’Brien, Margaret Harrop, Richard Stevenson, Gilly Clench, Stewart Anderton

The final results can be seen by clicking HERE

Bridge Talk & Supported Play: Held on the 1st Thursday of the month from 6.45pm to 10.00pm £5 pp payable on the night. A short talk followed by 15-18 boards where you can 'ask the expert' for help. The programme for 2024 is:

February 1st - Fourth suit forcing

March 7th  - Overcalls

April 4th - Checkback *

May 2nd - Splinter bids

June 6th - Trial bids

Summer Break: There will be a break now for the summer and we will resume on Thursday 3rd October. The topics to be covered are: Cue bidding controls,  Michaels cue bids *,  Transfer bids &  Defence to weak 2 bids *

*=Guest speaker
All are welcome.

New - Junior Bridge Teaching has started at CBC on Tuesdays at the club from 5:30pm.
This is for players under 25 or students in full time education.
We currently have 16 players who are starting the EBED fast track teaching program led by our recently qualified EBED teacher Sooz Nesom(a student at Cardiff University). There is room for more students.
This initiative has been funded jointly by the WBU, the EWBA  and Cardiff bridge club to bring more young people into the world of bridge playing (the best card game in the world)
EBED(English bridge education) are also providing a free course book.
More information available at teaching@cardiffbridgeclub.org
 

Would you like to improve your bridge with a friendly group of like-minded players? If so you can join our Supported Play Sessions between 2.00pm and 4.00pm every Wednesday , cost £5 per person. If you are planning to join us, you can now book a ticket in advance on "Spade Tickets" via the club’s website or pay on the day.

Supported Play sessions of between 16 and 20 boards give you the opportunity to play bridge in a friendly environment where you can ask for help when you are not sure about bidding a particular hand. Please try to arrive around 10 minutes early so we can set-up a movement and get play started promptly at 2pm.

10 Week BEGINNING BRIDGE COURSE will be held on Wednesdays from 2.00pm to 4.00pm in the Garden Room and starts in October 2024.

Continuing Bridge 10 Week Course will be held on Wednesdays from 4.30pm to 6.30pm in the main hall and starts in January 2025. For more details email teaching@cardiffbridgeclub.org

The Beginners' and Continuing Bridge Lessons have proved to be very successful in introducing new people to our wonderful game. To see what some former learners have said about their tuition click on Teaching Review BE..pdf and Teaching Review DB.pdf

Courses will continue to be held at least twice a year with the aim of providing a continuous flow of beginners and new members. There is a Bridge Beginners' Lessons flyer (Click HERE) and we hope that you will arrange for them to be placed in your golf clubs, gyms and nearby shops to help to generate interest. Laminated copies can be obtained from the Bridge Office.

 You can get more information or just book your place on the 10 week course (cost £190) by emailing: teaching@cardiffbridgeclub.org

Please spread the word around. By getting people to learn to play bridge you will be doing your part in keeping the game going for many years to come and supporting your Club. You can download a more detailed flyer about the course by clicking on bridgecourseflyer-January2024.pdf

The Pro-Am Teams In view of falling numbers, the Pro-Am Teams is taking a break until the Autumn, when hopefully there will be fewer distractions.

NEW SCORING SYSTEM

We are now using iBEscore, a phone/tablet based scoring app.

To download the app go to Applestore, Googleplay or your Appstore and search for iBEscore.

The interface is clear, colourful and very user friendly. Please download and explore the app.

The HELP section of the app contains details for players on how to enter scores. You can use a smart phone if you wish but most people use the tablets that we provide.

If you need a bridge partner for one or two sessions or on a more permanent basis you can contact Ray Kemp, our Membership Secretary, and he will send an email to the members to see if someone is available and willing - no guarantee!. His contact details are:

Telephone Number: 07503 231354 / 02920 633761
Email Address:  rkemp100@hotmail.co.uk

Monday Afternoon

1:30pm-4:00pm  Social Bridge in the Club (with free coffee and home made cakes!)

Cost: £3.00 (non members £4.00) 

A Host is available if you need a partner.
 

Monday Evening 

7:00pm - 9:45pm Duplicate Bridge on RealBridge 

Cost:  £3.00 (non-members £4.00)

Tuesday Evening
7:00pm-10:15pm  Duplicate Pairs Bridge in the Club

Cost:  £3.00  (non members £4.00) 

Wednesday Afternoon (NEW)
2.00pm to 4.00pm Supported Play in the club

Cost:  £5.00 

Wednesday Evening  

7:00pm - 10.00pm Duplicate Bridge on RealBridge and in the club preceded at 6.45pm by a seminar

Cost:  £3.00  (non members £4.00) 

Thursday Afternoon 
2:00pm - 5:15pm  Duplicate Pairs Bridge in the club

N.B. The session has a host so any member or visitor who has no partner is guaranteed a game.

Cost:  £3.00  (non members £4.00) 

Thursday Evening - Pro-Am Teams 4th Thursday of each month starting 28th September
7:00pm-10:15pm  Pro-Am Teams Bridge in the Club

Cost:  £3.00  (non members £4.00)