Welcome to the website of Bridge on the Edge, based in St. John's, NL, Canada.  In 2016 we became a player owned bridge club.  We support a respectful culture, both at the bridge table and in all BOTE communications, for the enjoyment and growth of all members.  

Please contact info@bridgeontheedge.ca if you need additional information.

Members who want to use the member's functions (ie bookings etc), please ensure you've accessed the site using the bridgeweb link bridgewebs.com/onedge/.

Well here we are nearly at the end of April and we’ve been in our new home for over three months, hard to believe. I think everyone agrees that it’s so much better, especially now the snow has gone and parking is easier! Just a few gentle reminders to everyone. First of all, part of our agreement with St. James is that we do not wear our outdoor shoes in the auditorium. Please respect this. We do have boot covers available on the shoe racks should you prefer to use those rather than bringing your indoor shoes. If this changes over the summer months we’ll let you know. 

Secondly, if you use the kitchen for tea or what ever, please use our supplies in the big blue plastic container, labeled Bridge on the Edge, located under the stainless steel island near the door, and please, please clean up after yourself. Wash your cup or glass and put it back where you found it, makes a lot of sense, leave things as you found them. 

Simple requests to foster a good relationship with our landlord. 

 

A word from "Mr. Bridge"

Charles Goren, who during his card-playing days, was known as "Mr. Bridge" loved the game. This is evidenced in his book: "Bridge is My Game: The Lessons of a Lifetime. This book, written in 1965, is still a joy to read. In Section 10, Reflections of a Lifetime, Goren says: "I suppose a goodly portion of the game of bridge is in your companions, your fellow aficionados of the game." He says that he can look back at thousands of happy hours spent in the company of bridge players, whom he finds particularly fascinating, both at the table and away from it. Goren says that bridge players have more fun than other humans and that they enjoy jokes, practical or otherwise, even at their own expense.

He relates this story: "I remember a player who came reeling away from the table, a handkerchief pressed against his mouth so his laughter wouldn't disturb the other players. 'What is so funny?' I asked him. He told me his partner had just gone down 1400 points at three no trump and after taking this horrendous beating, the partner had said in total seriousness: 'If they led clubs, they'd have killed me!' "

Whether this "joke" resonates with current sensibilities, I do not know, but Goren hits the mark when it comes to the joy of bridge and the benefits of sharing the company of others who also love the game.

During March & April, Tom and Deirdre, our dedicated duo, designed & delivered a delightful package of lessons on defence on four Thursday mornings from 10:00am to noon at the main playing room at our St. James location. They began the first week on March 12th, with an information packed class, then followed up with 2 more in succession & then they added a fourth lesson, on April, 9. 

DECLARE, DUMMY, DEFEND

Defence is definitely a very important aspect of our game. And it is first & foremost a team effort. Good Defence tactics are certainly a challenging but crucial skill in bridge, as often, any given contract can be determined by just one trick. Whether a partnership wins or loses a board depends on who scores that decisive trick & there are a few things that can tilt the odds in your favour. Good defence depends largely on meticulous partnership communication, definitely a learned skill.

Bridge teachers are fond of reminding players that 25% of the time you Declare, 25% of the time you are Dummy, but 50% of the time you Defend. This simply means that you will spend half of your bridge life trying to find the best lead or to decide on the right suit to switch to. Those important topics were the structural guidelines of the course with individual lessons concentrating on The Opening leads, Third hand play, Attitude Signals & Suit Preference Options, Discards, Counting & Unblocking. The bottom half of the back of the Convention Card is given to defensive agreements & understanding how to defend accurately requires serious proactive preparation & planning.

DYNAMIC DIVERSIFIED DESIGN

Every Thursday lesson was designed with an illustrated lecture format, followed by supplementary table practice with prepared hands formatted to illustrate & reinforce the main topic areas. 

This mini session on Defence was a huge success as there were approximately 40 tables in attendance in total, during the 4 sessions. The Director at last Thursday’s Open Game, gave a pre-alert, “for us to be on our toes, as Defence at BOTE was now at a much higher standard than before.” We look forward to Tom & Deirdre delivering more continuing education sessions (or any other Teachers), for us in the future.

If there is any topic you as a player would like to see being offered, please let Michelle our Education Chair know. BOTE is a huge supporter of encouraging our newer players in all aspects of education & player development.

Educational foundations in Duplicate bridge are essential for all those casual players who want to take some important, but necessary steps to transition from a carefree social game to a more competitive, systematically strategic, but immensely enjoyable mind sport. New Players who lay claim to having card sense soon realize they need to apply that valuable skill set to acquiring a solid substructure.  The initial training period focuses on developing basic applications, teaching the fundamentals of bidding systems & mentoring students on the technical skills in Declarer play and defence.

BOTE is fortunate to have a number of proficient teachers, & certified instructors, to help facilitate the early process in their educational journey.

This Winter, the chilly weather hasn’t cooled off the growing enthusiasm for our grand old game as a lot of newer players have enthusiastically embraced advanced learning. The Thursday morning seminar series will carry over into April & our Wednesday night Beginner Classes have continued on through our frosty evenings in fine fashion. They finished up one Session & went right back at it again to offer a new Beginner class to supplement the original Wednesday night sessions that were a continuation of Anne’s original group. After a few classes in March month, we are paused over the Easter Break, as Anne is away, currently playing in the Easter Regional in Toronto. We certainly wish her & her colleagues the best of luck as they battle away daily at this high-level competitive event. 

In the meantime, her bridge class while in brief hiatus, will have an opportunity to practice their new skills, in a casual setting, until Anne returns back home in a couple of weeks & picks up teaching where she left off. 

BOTE is very pleased to be running such an inclusive combination of Continuing Education Programs for all our newer members over the course of the last five years.

See you all soon at a table near us!

St. James Church, has very graciously allocated us a separate, private, suitable study room for our Educational Activities. Anne & her students are very busy with one of her nightly sessions.