At the beginning of the summer, I really did not think I would be praying for rain, but I am now! It has been a long hot summer. My poor garden is suffering as I am sure many of your gardens are too. This year we have certainly enjoyed some great weather with some lovely long warm summer evenings. On one of those lovely early summer evenings, we held our Woodcote Bridge Circle’s Summer Social. It was a very special evening with the bridge circle members enjoying a glass of champagne with friends and colleagues on the terrace overlooking the wonderful grounds beyond. I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a summer social more. It was good fun, and we welcomed back to the club as a guest a long-standing member of our bridge circle, John Lovesey, pictured above with his bridge partner of many years, Sue Forbes-Wilson along with myself and Alan Torry. It was lovely to see John enjoying the evening.
During the summer period the bridge circle have been very active. Those bridge players amongst us, who also play golf have taken part in various bridge & golf matches, both home and away, and have enjoyed the excellent summer weather. It makes a pleasant change from a previous year when I seem to recall that the Woodcote Bridge and Golf players had to abandon the home match through a deluge of bad weather. Oh! for some rain this year! We have also been busy having good competitive fun playing bridge matches both at home and away against other clubs. We have had some mixed results along the way. Suffice it to say that despite some challenging competition we have enjoyed ourselves and look forward to playing some further matches as we approach the autumn period. We have further matches planned against Effingham Golf Club (Golf and Bridge), Kingswood (Golf and Bridge), Royal Mid Surrey (Bridge) - home, Roehampton (Bridge) – away match, Pall Mall (friendly inter club match) – home, Kingswood (Bridge) – home.
The Woodcote Bridge team recently made acquaintance with the private members club Phyllis Court. The prestigious club based in Henley upon Thames has an active bridge section and I am delighted to announce that we now have matches planned between the two club houses, both home and away commencing in September of this year.
Bridge Classes – Autumn Term
Our new teacher Natasha is about to commence the new classes for the Autumn term. Natasha is planning a Beginners Class, Improvers and Improvers Plus. Natasha has been trained by non-other than world famous Andrew Robson and has taught at his school. We are very privileged and fortunate to have found such a talented tutor to take over the classes for us. This newsletter primarily is going out to our bridge playing circle members however, if you have friends or colleagues who you think may be interested in learning how to play bridge, now is the ideal opportunity to encourage them! Especially golf players please.
Director’s Tips - Alerts and Announcing - a little confusion explained!
Announcing - We ANNOUNCE common bids instead of ALERTING them. The partner of the Bidder makes the announcement.
1NT point range - e.g. "12-14"
Stayman Transfers – say “Hearts” or “Spades”
Natural 2 level openings – say “weak” or “Strong”
McKendrick 2S transfer should be ALERTED
Do not ANNOUNCE
Opening 2NT – the Bidder uses the ‘STOP’ card, their partner does not say anything.
2 Clubs or 2 Diamonds – the Bidder uses the ‘STOP’ card –
Their partner shows the ALERT card but does not say anything unless asked.
You can only ask a question when it is your turn to bid.
Directors’ Requests
We hope you enjoy playing duplicate bridge at Woodcote. We are a group of likeminded members who enjoy the social side of the game with a little friendly competition. To make the evening enjoyable for all and to ease the Directors duties could we ask -
North greets players to the table and ensures everyone knows the names of the opposite players.
Smile no growls!
Boards are the responsibility of the North player. However, just a reminder, North should not go and fetch the next boards. North ideally should pass to boards to South at the next table or, East or West leaving the table should pass the boards to the next table in play for North, who should check the board number against the Bridgemate and ensure that the board is in the correct polarity for play.
Please note that when the Director calls for players to move at the end of a round, North should not permit the last board to be played if bidding has not commenced as this will delay the movement of the room. You may be permitted to play this board later if there is sufficient time
Please note that in duplicate bridge a single board typically takes 7 to 9 minutes to play. This pace allows for two boards to be completed in about 15 minutes. A total session therefore should take three hours for a typical 24-board game. Please bear this in mind as slow play is frustrating for others and delays the end of the evening for everyone including the volunteer Directors and committee members who are scoring up and putting equipment away.
Dates for your diary: - see separate list on this page
And finally, enjoy the pictures below of a very happy and enjoyable summer social. The committee look forward to seeing you at the bridge table as the Autumn season approaches. We kick off the Chicago season on Wednesday 24th September with the Chicago buffet lunch when members play for the Dorin Salver.
Do keep an eye on our Notice Board at Woodcote. Matches are displayed there with sign-up sheets, so do take part, it is good fun and a chance to meet new friends at other clubs.
Enjoy the last few weeks of what has been a lovely summer, I think it may just have rained! Thank the heavens.
Best wishes and warmest regards to all.
Angela
Angela Reid
Woodcote Bridge Circle
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