Berwick Bridge Club

Berwick-upon-Tweed Bridge Club is affiliated to the Scottish Bridge Union, and plays in the East District. It has two teams which play in the East District League.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus situation, there will be no further meetings of the club until the beginning of next season in September.

The club meets twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from September to May. Play starts promptly at 7pm, so players should be there no later than 6.50pm. 

During the summer the club meets on Thursday evenings (less experienced players very welcome and there is a host).

Visitors

Visitors are very welcome - if you need a partner, or teammates on team nights, contact Christine McCreath on 01289 386302 or by email.

The committee is pleased to announce that the Berwick Virtual Club on Bridge Base Online will commence on Tuesday, 3 November with a 14-board Open Pairs tournament at 7pm.

The club calendar now shows the online program for the 2020-21 season. You will see all your favourite club competitions are being run and we encourage you to participate with the same variety of partners that you would do at the Parish Hall - Christine is ready to help if necessary.

All the events require table money, normally BB$2. In 2020, over 60% of the table money will be returned to the club. SBU master points are awarded for all pay tournaments. It is a condition of the SBU’s agreement with Bridge Base Online that all players in Berwick Virtual Club tournaments are SBU members.

Team events are being run independently and there will be a registration form in the near future, for both Tuesday and Thursday handicap teams. Team events are free and will not award SBU master points, although we may award virtual master points for the purpose of club tournaments.

All of us on the committee appreciate that online bridge is not for everyone but we hope that we can keep the spirit of the club going as best we can during these difficult times. There are many experienced online players but it is not too late for newcomers to participate.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask any member of the committee.

Paul is continuing to run his popular, friendly 12-board tournament on Saturday mornings at 11am. Everyone welcome.

Help, advice and useful, short(!) videos on using BBO are available at https://berwickbridgeclub.co.uk/bbo.

Paul describes the scoring used in all the club and league competitions - pairs, teams, match points, cross imps, aggregate scoring - and how you should change your tactics depending on the format in this news item.

For those who are less experienced at cross imp pairs, there is a short explanation of what is a good score.

Photograph courtesy of Paul Gipson

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The books are in the cupboard. The most recent additions are five books by Andrew Robson.

Book list

Thursday nights are traditionally Improvers' nights and a handicap system is operated. Online handicaps are based on online results since March 2020.

Handicaps for the 2020-21 season (available on Sunday, 1 November).

2020-21 Online Thursday team handicaps