Bridge Blog
August was a quiet month for the Bridge Section, following an active early summer period which included several 125th anniversary special events as well as the Bridge Summer Party. It was great to see these all go off so well and to get positive feedback on these from Members.
September has seen the restart of various sessions after a summer break (as noted in more detail below).
Upcoming events
We are planning to have our AGM on 12th October, which as usual will take place immediately after the afternoon duplicate session and will be followed by drinks. We are also arranging a reception after the Monday duplicate on 19th October to give Maria a good send off, as a thanks for her many valuable contributions to the section.
The flagship Roehampton Club Swiss Teams Competition is taking place on Sunday 18th October. This promises to be a sellout, with strong interest shown from all sides. Details are available on the poster, but in essence the plan is for 12.30pm registration with play starting promptly at 1pm. At around 3.30pm there will be a tea break with prizegiving scheduled for 6.30pm followed by a carvery supper with wine. It should be a great day, and as usual many thanks are due to Belinda for her brilliant organisation.
Matches and competitions
Our tennis and bridge team had an enjoyable game at home to Hurlingham on Tuesday 8th September. Our team included Mikaela Parker and Philip Howard, Lorna Bhasin and Malcolm Bricknell, Sally Harper and Simon Lucas and Nina Ruiz and Malcolm Turner.
It rained incessantly until late afternoon causing us to cancel our tennis plans. We were able instead to focus on a very relaxed session of bridge followed by lunch. After trailing 13 imps at the halfway point, Roehampton Club finally managed a victory by the narrow margin of 6 imps. With the tennis part rained off, and with such a slim victory margin for the bridge, we tactfully agreed that the overall match result was inconclusive, as it obviously was …
The golf and bridge match against MCC was played at Burnham Beeches on 2nd September. Our team included Danny Gesua and John Tyrwitt, Nigel Brown and Philip Howard, Simon Lucas and John Fooks and Peter Bonnor Moris and Ralph Evers.
Notwithstanding one MCC player arriving without any clubs and another who showed up but had apparently not even been selected, the morning’s golf finished level at 6pts. After an excellent lunch which our team obviously enjoyed too much, MCC then narrowly defeated Roehampton Club at the bridge table. Thanks to Danny Gesua for organising our team and their involvement in a very enjoyable fixture.
Autumn term classes and sessions
Niall Igoe is running his intermediate classes each Wednesday morning from 10am to 12pm in the Bridge Room. His Monday evening classes restarted on 7th September and take place from 7 to 9pm. Niall also has his regular bidding and play session on Friday mornings from 10am to 12pm.
James Thrower started his new beginners’ course on 14th September running on Monday mornings between 10am and 12pm.
Loulou and Arnold restarted their supervised play sessions on Tuesday 8th September. These are held each Tuesday afternoon from 2pm in the Bridge Room. The Tuesday evening supervised play sessions for less experienced players run by John Maskell and some other Members also restarted on 8th September from 7 to 9 pm.
Changes to Bridge Base Online (BBO)
BBO is bringing in changes after 17th September whereby you can only play 6 daily hands as a basic member. Premium membership will cost (initially) £6 per month. As a premium member, you will have the ability to start your own tables and run team matches. These changes will affect Roehampton Club Members who are using BBO for online matches. We are considering how best to address this challenge.