CARDIFF BRIDGE CLUB Newsletter Issue 6 Keeping Cardiff Bridge Club Members Informed Quarter 1-2018 Message from the Chairman At Cardiff Bridge Club we endeavour to provide the best Bridge experience available. We offer a great range of Bridge tuition throughout the year, with additional courses on offer for beginners and improvers available this spring. See inside for details. Each year we are improving our environment and our equipment. In the last year, we have introduced a large screen and projector to improve our tuition presentations and we are about to introduce Bridgetimer software to assist players control the timing of their play and more generally to help reduce overly slow play. For those familiar with the basics of the game, we have a variety of competitions and competitive sessions to enable you to enjoy other aspects of Bridge. If you want to improve your Bridge, play on Thursday evenings against the best. This year, the committee are introducing a new competition, the Pro-Am teams ladder which will run during the summer months and it offers the chance to play alongside some of the best players in the country. See inside for details. Over 10% of Welsh Bridge Union members now play at our club. Cardiff Bridge Club is certainly the place to come and play Bridge, socially or competitively. Bring your friends! Visitors welcome. In This Issue Message from the Chairman Spring/Summer Tuition 2018 Patrick Jourdain Pro-Am Teams and Ladder event Thursday Evenings Tournament Directors Wanted Subscriptions Data Protection Defibrillator Special Events Forthcoming Events Congratulations The Lane Outside the Club Children In Need Your committee Key personnel changes Contact Us
SPRING/SUMMER TUITION 2018 Cardiff Bridge Club offers Bridge tuition all year round. Visitors Welcome. Come along and learn, play, enjoy. Hosts are available at all our tuition sessions. Monday Evening Beginners 7:15pm 9:15pm New for 2018 Starting 16th April 2018 Ian Evans will present a course for those people who would like to start playing Bridge. Monday Evening Improvers 6:45pm 10:00pm Brian Quinlan will present a course for those people who would like to build onto the basics of both bidding and card play. A 30 minute interactive presentation is followed by a session of assisted play with help from experienced club players. Tuesday Morning Improvers 10:30am 1:00pm Sue Ingham & Gwynn Davis will present a relaxed session of play, with advice available if requested. The 30 minute seminar at the beginning is aimed at club players who want to improve their game. The focus is on card play at least as much as bidding. Tuesday Afternoon Beginners 2:00pm 4:00pm Steve Webb will present a course for those people who would like to start playing Bridge. Wednesday Morning Beginners 10:30am 1:00pm New for 2018 Starting 7th March 2018 Sarah Amos will present a course for those people who would like to start playing Bridge. Wednesday Afternoon Improvers 1:30pm 4:00pm Sarah Amos will present a relaxed session of play, with advice available if requested. The 30 minute seminar at the beginning is aimed at players who want to improve their game. The focus is on card play at least as much as bidding. Thursday Morning Improvers New for 2018 Already started 10:30am 1:00pm Sue Ingham & Gwynn Davis will present a relaxed session of play, with advice available if requested. The 30 minute seminar at the beginning is aimed at club players who want to improve their game. The focus is on card play at least as much as bidding. Cost of the above courses is Members 3, Non-Members 4. Tea/Coffee/Biscuits extra
The Bridge committee has placed a framed photograph and captions (shown below) into the Bridge hall at the club. Patrick will be remembered with great affection for all he did for Cardiff Bridge Club, for Bridge tuition in general and for promoting the game of Bridge.
Calling all club players Come and play with the best! *** NEW FOR 2018 *** Pro-Am Teams and Ladder Event Monthly, on Thursday Evenings 7:15pm 10:30pm *** On the following dates *** 19th April, 17th May, 21st June, 19th July, 16th August. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Cost: Members 3, Non-Members 4 Organiser: Liz Atkinson TD: Sarah Amos Pairs should email/text/phone Liz by 3pm on the day. (liz_atkinson@btinternet.com, 07816 160620). Liz will pair up teams accordingly. Monthly prizes for the winners and runners up, plus ladder points for end of event prizes. 5 points for each player in the winning team. 4 points for those in 2nd placed team etc. Cash prizes for the first three players on the ladder at the end of the event.
Thursday Evenings Thursday evenings offer a rich form of Bridge experience. Playing with, or against better players is a great way to improve your game. Once a month you have the opportunity to participate in a teams format. There is no commitment other than confirming to Gilly Clench at gillyclench@talktalk.net that you want to play. During the summer of 2018 we are running the new Pro-Am Teams and Ladder Event. Just let Liz Atkinson know each week you want to play. On the other nights, confirm to Gilly Clench at gillyclench@talktalk.net that you want to play and you can play duplicate pairs using the Ximp scoring method that makes for good practice at teams play.. TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS WANTED Sarah Amos runs Tournament Directors courses accredited by the WBU. A club level course will enable you to understand the Bridge rules sufficiently to run a club duplicate session. Sarah is running such a course on Saturday March 10th and Saturday March 24th. Further training on the CBC session organization and computer aspects will be provided by Brian Quinlan. For more information please see the club website. Subscriptions Subscriptions for April 2018-March 2019 are due by 31/03/2018. Renewal forms will be sent via our new membership database system. For those without computer access, a paper copy will be provided.
Data Protection The club takes protection of your personal data seriously. In 2018, the data protection law is changing and is getting more stringent. It will be known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Following a review, the club has decided to implement some changes to its storage and handling of your personal data. Please read the letter that is being distributed to all members on the subject and take the appropriate action. Note: The renewal process is affected. Defibrillator The club has purchased a defibrillator so that in the event of a heart attack, members could receive immediate medical attention. If you would like to be trained in the use of the machine, please contact Martin Joseph (secretary@cardiffbridgeclub.org). FREE TRAINING IS AVAILABLE TO All! If you are already trained in the use of a defibrillator, please also contact Martin Joseph (secretary@cardiff bridgeclub.org).
Special Events There is a wonderful variety of competitions available in March/April. See below for details. Enter as many as you can! This year, for the CBC Pairs Championship and the CBC Teams Championship we are asking you to pre-register. There is an entry form on the notice board at the club. FORTHCOMING EVENTS CONGRATULATIONS! Special Events in March ECATS Charity Sim for the RNLI Mon 5th March at 6:45pm WBU Teams of 8 Sun 11th March at 11:00am at Gwent Bridge Academy Winners in 2017/18 WINTER CBC CLUB COMPETITIONS Mixed Pairs CBC Pairs Championship Wed 14th March at 7:15pm (Round 1) Wed 21st March at 7:15pm (Round 2) Special Events in December EWBA Mixed Pairs Sun 8th April at 11:00am Mike Pownall & Mieke Deschepper Individual John Marshall ECATS Celtic Sim Tues 10th April at 7:15pm CBC Teams Championship Wed 18th April at 7:15pm (Round 1) Wed 25th April at 7:15pm (Round 2) Sadie Valdemar (pro-am Teams) Jean Board, Mike Winter, Mrunalini Dewan, Simon Gottschalk ECATS World Wide Bridge Federation Heat Thurs 26th April at 7:15pm EWBA Restricted Pairs Thurs 26th April at 7:00pm at Rhiwbina
The lane outside the Bridge Club The Officers of the Penylan Bowling and Cardiff Bridge Club contacted Cardiff County Council regarding the state of the surface of the lane because of safety fears for members coming to and from the club. Bridge players attended the club more than 11,200 times in 2017, plus all the Bowls, social club and private function hire attendees, with the majority of those people coming in the front door. The council s initial response was to fill some 16 of around 48 major trip hazards. It appears that as the lane has no pavement, it is only significant potholes that get filled routinely. Because of the potential remaining trip hazards, letters and videos of the lane were sent to the local MP and to several councillors, asking for their assistance. The response is that we have been added to the list for consideration of inclusion in next years capital surfacing program. However, as the lane is not the main access to the club or to the school, both of which can be accessed safely (in their view) from Marlborough Road, it will not feature as highly as the main carriageway network. To ensure pedestrian safety in the meantime, Highway Officers will (apparently) ensure that the lane is inspected every few months and any serious deterioration is highlighted and passed to the appropriate team to remedy. The Officers of the Club consider this a far from encouraging response and remain concerned for pedestrian safety in the lane. They will be monitoring the situation. In the meantime, if you use the lane: PLEASE BE CAREFUL!
Children In Need. Every year we participate in the ECATS simultaneous initiative to contribute to Children In Need. We recently received the following message from Anna Grudge at ECATS: Well, finally I have a total for the Children in Need event!! It s taken a while but we got there in the end and believe me it was worth the wait CUE DRUM ROLL Between us we raised 74,173.35 UNBELIEVABLE! Just how high does it get! That is a grand total to date of 956.122.84!!. Fingers crossed for 2018 that we can hit that magic 0NE MILLION MARK because if no surely that should be WHEN we do I promise you we will be dancing round the house and popping some champagne. Thank you all for your efforts, your generosity and for joining us to play and hopefully you enjoyed the event. Please make sure everyone knows how very, very much we appreciate it Your Committee Chairman Brian Quinlan chairman@cardiffbridgeclub.org Secretary Martin Joseph secretary@cardiffbridgeclub.org Additional Committee Members Teresa Goss Ian Evans David Hay Angela Gilbert Simon Gottschalk Sarah Amos Key Personnel Changes Membership Secretary Helen Houston memsec@cardiffbridgeclub.org Chief Tournament Director Sarah Amos samos@btinternet.com Webmaster Susan Ingham susan_mary@hotmail.com Contact Us: If you have a contribution for the newsletter, or any comments, please email the chairman@cardiffbridgeclub.org Visit us on the web at www.bridgewebs.com/cardiff