May 2008 Bridge Newsletter.

Congratulations to Richard Johnson and Nick boss and to Tracy Capal and Kath nelson on becoming national men’s and women’s pairs winners.
Congratulations also to Shivam Shah he reached the finals for the title of male Sports Personality of the Year at the British Asian Sports awards.   It is the first time a bridge player has been nominated for such an award.

The EBU has been receiving much flak lately for their new suggestions,   but it seems a good idea to encourage learners at the bottom end of the points scale.  As new ranks have been instituted at the top end of  the  ladder,  the tournament Committee decided it was fitting to introduce two new ranks to give an earlier entry level to the master point scheme.  So that new players can enter the scheme earlier a Local master ranking earned with a 100 points can start new players sooner.

The rung of the ladder between Club Master (200 Lps) and district master (1000Lps) was very high for novice players so another rank of Area master is to be added at 500 (Lps).  

It is hoped that these two new ranks will encourage new players to join the scheme and not feel daunted at the task in front of them.

The EBU has announced that it has set up new charitable trust fund which will help young people learn about bridge and develop their skills.
www.ebu.co.uk/EBUYouthandEducationTrust.

  There is a debate emerging about whether bridge players should know their score as the matches are played.  It is possible to do this with the use of Bridgemates which can display a running score.   Max Bevan EBU  Chief Tournament director suggest we should know.
  www.bridgemateftp.co.uk/faq/index.asp?

However it is possible that if a couple knew they were well below average for the match or evening might decide to bid frivolously and upset the remaining results.  This of course would be against the spirit of the game and might lead to ill feeling especially at club level.   It will be interesting to see how the debate progresses.

Some more gems for the glossary:

Gadget      (slang) a convention designed to cover a specific situation.

Gambit   taking a risk to get a reward.

Gambling 3 no trumps   3 NT opening based on a long solid minor

Game Try    game invitation

Gladiator     response to 1NT based on  on 2C puppet to 2Ds

And finally my favourite Goldwater’s Rule

‘Always accept a lead out of   turn’  as your opponent can’t know what s/ he’s about.

Pattie Dupree