Happy Birthday to Club Focus! It’s our first birthday this issue, and so it’s quite apt that we have another bumper edition for you to enjoy.
This issue includes: our Limerick Competition, Down Our Club, Bridge Tales, Bidding Tools, Calling the Director, Bridge Tails, Dummy Can’t Revoke?, EBU events, and much more...
Monday, 26 January 2009
Club Focus - Volume II, Issue I
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Hedy Brown
We are sad to report the death of Hedy Brown a few weeks before her 96th birthday. Hedy was a founder member of both Berks & Bucks CBA and Reading Bridge Club, which she attended regularly until the end.
A Grand Master, Hedy was very successful on the national women’s bridge scene, and also won the Portland Pairs, aged 84, with Nigel Guthrie. Her zest for bridge was unmatched and she will be much missed by all her many friends.
A Grand Master, Hedy was very successful on the national women’s bridge scene, and also won the Portland Pairs, aged 84, with Nigel Guthrie. Her zest for bridge was unmatched and she will be much missed by all her many friends.
Friday, 2 January 2009
Master Point Price Increase - directly credited master points
It was announced after the last Board meeting that the cost of directly credited master points would rise by 2p to 40p from January 1st, 2009. Although this represents slightly more than a 5% increase, it is the first since 2006.
After further discussion, it has been determined that in order to give time for all clubs to make their submissions by the final qualifying date (for the Master Point competitions) of January 26th, 2009, we will not impose this increase until after that date. Therefore all submissions received by January 26th will be processed at the old rate of 38p per award. All submissions received after January 26th will be invoiced at the new rate of 40p.
After further discussion, it has been determined that in order to give time for all clubs to make their submissions by the final qualifying date (for the Master Point competitions) of January 26th, 2009, we will not impose this increase until after that date. Therefore all submissions received by January 26th will be processed at the old rate of 38p per award. All submissions received after January 26th will be invoiced at the new rate of 40p.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Friday, 28 November 2008
Tom Bradley Award 2008
The Tom Bradley Award is assigned each year to a non-school teacher for services to the teaching of bridge in England. DR BOMI KAVARANA, age 75, from Tadworth, Surrey has been awarded the Tom Bradley Award for services to the teaching of bridge in his county for 2008. The award was presented to Bomi by Christine Duckworth on behalf of the EBU.
Bomi has been interested in card play since his early days in Mumbai, playing rummy with his Zoroastrian aunts and uncles. He studied at Sheffield University where he first started to play whist and then bridge without much knowledge of the ACOL system after he watched it being played during the lunch hour.
After graduating with a BSc and a PhD, Bomi joined Watson House (British Gas R & D) in London, and took the game more seriously. He played in the Hammersmith & District and London Business Houses Leagues with a fair amount of success and occasionally in open EBU events. Bomi was later secretary/treasurer of the Hammersmith District League for over 20 years until he retired in 1993. Presently, he is chairman of the H & D League.
In 1980, Bomi undertook the EBU's Teachers Diploma Course at the London School of Bridge under the supervision of Alan Hiron and passed the written and oral examinations with GCH Fox as examiner.
In 1997, Bomi applied to become Surrey County Youth Officer, because as he says: “I wanted to be able to give something back to a game that I have enjoyed for so long and so much. This seemed the best way.” During the 12 years that he has been the CYO, Surrey has had 10 annual bridge events for schools, and in 2008 he introduced the first one-day bridge teach-in for young people (photos can be seen here). Presently, Bomi teaches three times a week at schools across Surrey.
In his free time, Bomi enjoys rowing which he takes very seriously, wines, travelling and painting.
Facts:
Who was Tom Bradley?
About the award
Saturday, 1 November 2008
World Mind Sports Games 2008
The England Womens team have won Gold and the England Open Team have won Silver in Beijing! This follows the successful Silver won by our U21 team.
Well done to all the players, Coaches and Captains. We are all very proud.
Well done to all the players, Coaches and Captains. We are all very proud.
Friday, 10 October 2008
Dimmie Fleming Awards 2008
The English Bridge Union is proud to announce that the following have been awarded the prestigious Dimmie Fleming award for services to bridge. The awards are made specifically to publicly recognise those who have worked hard promoting bridge locally at County and Club level.
The winners for 2008 are:
Stan Harding - Hertfordshire
Roy Hughes - Lincolnshire
Roger Amey - Norfolk
Philip Wraight - Westmorland
Facts:
Who was Dimmie Fleming?
About the award
Past Winners:
2007 winners
2006 winners
2003 winners
The winners for 2008 are:
Stan Harding - Hertfordshire
Roy Hughes - Lincolnshire
Roger Amey - Norfolk
Philip Wraight - Westmorland
Facts:
Who was Dimmie Fleming?
About the award
Past Winners:
2007 winners
2006 winners
2003 winners
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Battle of the Brains
Our English Bridge Union team of Jeremy Baker, Amy Cherry, Stuart McPhee, Ian Mitchell, John Pain, Ian Payn and Colin Porch competed well in the quiz show and were seen on BBC Two on 21 August at 6pm. Our team won their second game on Battle of the Brains but sadly won't be returning for a third episode. Congratulations to them all for a good performance!
Battle of the Brains is a game show hosted by Paddy O'Connell and sees two teams of 6 members plus a team captain play a series of games focusing on different parts of the brain.
Introduction
Battle of the Brains is a game show hosted by Paddy O'Connell and produced by Shine Ltd. for BBC Manchester. It is broadcast weekdays on BBC Two at 6:00pm, and started on 28 July 2008. Two teams of 6 members plus a team captain play a series of games focusing on different parts of the brain.
How does it work?
Round 1
Each captain chooses one member from their team of 6 to take part in one of 6 different tests of skill in one of 15 different categories. This happens 5 times in the first round and any member of the team can play except the team captain. If the player is successful they rejoin their team, if not, then the player is eliminated. If one team is totally successful, then they would have all 6 players intact, while the other team would be down to one.
The 6 different types of challenge are:
Accuracy - The players are asked three near-to-the-mark questions. The person who gets the nearest to the correct answer wins a point. The first to 2 wins. If both players type in the same answer, both get a point and it would become the first to 3 correct answeres who would win.
Identity - The players are asked to identity one thing related to the chosen subject. Clues are read out by Paddy one at a time. The player who answers the question first wins the round. If the player answers incorrectly, they are frozen out of the next clue.
Memory - The players have to take it turns to name things of a list relating to the chosen subject. The round ends when an incorrect answer is given or if no answer is given within 5 seconds.
Nerve - Like a penalty shootout, each player is answered a question each. If Player 1 answers correctly, then Player 2 would have to answer correctly or lose. If Player 1 answered incorrectly and Player 2 answered correctly, then Player 1 would lose. If both players did the same, the round will continue.
Speed - The players will be asked questions about the chosen subject on the buzzer. The winner is the first person to answer three questions correctly.
Wisdom - Both players will have 60 seconds on the chosen subject to answer as many questions as possible. The person with the most correct answers wins. If there is a tie, a sudden death tie-breaker question on the buzzers is asked.
Round 2
In the second round, the players who won the head-to-heads in round 1, along with the player who didn't play compete in a series of questions. The captain of the opposing team chooses which player to answer the question. If the answer is correct, the player stays, if the answer is wrong, the player is eliminated. This continues until one team has no players left.
Final Round
The winning team gets all their players regenerated. They have 90 seconds to get 6 consecutive questions correct. The question is read out, the captain chooses a player. If they get it right their light is turned on and they can't answer another question. If they answer wrong, then everyone's light is turned off. If all 6 lights are on the team wins £2,000.
Captain's Question
Following the final round the team captain has to answer a question correctly. With the captain turned around, so no signals of any kind can be made, Paddy offers the team 2 questions. They have to pick which one their captain will know the answer to. If the captain answers correctly the team can return to the next show. If answered incorrectly the team are eliminated and 2 new teams appear on the next show. (Incidentally, the captain gets asked the other question to see if he/she would have known the right answer.)
Battle of the Brains is a game show hosted by Paddy O'Connell and sees two teams of 6 members plus a team captain play a series of games focusing on different parts of the brain.
Introduction
Battle of the Brains is a game show hosted by Paddy O'Connell and produced by Shine Ltd. for BBC Manchester. It is broadcast weekdays on BBC Two at 6:00pm, and started on 28 July 2008. Two teams of 6 members plus a team captain play a series of games focusing on different parts of the brain.
How does it work?
Round 1
Each captain chooses one member from their team of 6 to take part in one of 6 different tests of skill in one of 15 different categories. This happens 5 times in the first round and any member of the team can play except the team captain. If the player is successful they rejoin their team, if not, then the player is eliminated. If one team is totally successful, then they would have all 6 players intact, while the other team would be down to one.
The 6 different types of challenge are:
Accuracy - The players are asked three near-to-the-mark questions. The person who gets the nearest to the correct answer wins a point. The first to 2 wins. If both players type in the same answer, both get a point and it would become the first to 3 correct answeres who would win.
Identity - The players are asked to identity one thing related to the chosen subject. Clues are read out by Paddy one at a time. The player who answers the question first wins the round. If the player answers incorrectly, they are frozen out of the next clue.
Memory - The players have to take it turns to name things of a list relating to the chosen subject. The round ends when an incorrect answer is given or if no answer is given within 5 seconds.
Nerve - Like a penalty shootout, each player is answered a question each. If Player 1 answers correctly, then Player 2 would have to answer correctly or lose. If Player 1 answered incorrectly and Player 2 answered correctly, then Player 1 would lose. If both players did the same, the round will continue.
Speed - The players will be asked questions about the chosen subject on the buzzer. The winner is the first person to answer three questions correctly.
Wisdom - Both players will have 60 seconds on the chosen subject to answer as many questions as possible. The person with the most correct answers wins. If there is a tie, a sudden death tie-breaker question on the buzzers is asked.
Round 2
In the second round, the players who won the head-to-heads in round 1, along with the player who didn't play compete in a series of questions. The captain of the opposing team chooses which player to answer the question. If the answer is correct, the player stays, if the answer is wrong, the player is eliminated. This continues until one team has no players left.
Final Round
The winning team gets all their players regenerated. They have 90 seconds to get 6 consecutive questions correct. The question is read out, the captain chooses a player. If they get it right their light is turned on and they can't answer another question. If they answer wrong, then everyone's light is turned off. If all 6 lights are on the team wins £2,000.
Captain's Question
Following the final round the team captain has to answer a question correctly. With the captain turned around, so no signals of any kind can be made, Paddy offers the team 2 questions. They have to pick which one their captain will know the answer to. If the captain answers correctly the team can return to the next show. If answered incorrectly the team are eliminated and 2 new teams appear on the next show. (Incidentally, the captain gets asked the other question to see if he/she would have known the right answer.)
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