I have been contacted by Mike Willoughby (WCBA) giving me details of an initiative by the Midland Counties Bridge Associations.  The initiative aims to establish competitive matches between Midland Counties where the players participating have a National Grading Scheme (NGS) Rating of 9 or Lower.

Two matches have been arranged for early 2025.

On 9 February, against Oxfordshire, on RealBridge.

On 8 March, against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham Bridge Club.

WCBA are wanting to create a pool of players to represent Worcestershire in these matches.  I am inviting players who might wish to participate and who would be eligible to compete (ie not having an NGS Rating Greater Than 9) to contact me so that I can forward their expressions of interest to Mike.

It goes without saying that these matches will be competitive and to a high standard so only the most confident and experienced players should consider contacting me.

NGS is an excellent initiative run by the EBU which aims to assess current playing performance, taking into account, amongst other factors,  the standard of sessions in which a player has played and also the standard of the playing partner.  It is an accurate assessment of current playing form.  Under the NGS framework the limit of the 9 Grade is 53% per session, moderated by the factors such as I have identified above.  Prior to writing this email, I examined the ratings for Worcestershire registered players and found that 10 Bewdley members had an NGS rating of 10 or more.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are unsure of your NGS Rating.  That said, it is easy to find it by visiting the website of the English Bridge Union and scrolling to the section on NGS.  Within that part of the EBU website it is possible to find an NGS analysis for each county.

I hope that this initiative is of interest to relevant club members.  Please contact me so that I can liaise with Mike.

Kindest Regards,

David Halford