UK and TRNC Bridge the Gap with a Friendly Bridge Competition

FRIENDLY COMPETITION HELPS BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN THE UK AND THE TRNC……

 ISLANDSBC QUARTERLY BRIDGE NEWSLETTER – OCT 23……

This quarter writes Colin Pearson we have news of another Teams tournament that took place on 5^th October 2023 at the Korineum Golf Resort, an insight into the perils of online bridge, a profile of two of our members Irene & Tony Scott, and our usual updates on Islandsbc online bridge scores and where you can play bridge in North Cyprus.

Teams Tournament with visitors from the UK held on 5^th October 2023.

Lou Hobhouse is a well-known Bridge teacher from Somerset and between 2^nd – 9^th October she organised a Teaching week for 29 players from the UK at the Korineum Golf Resort. We were able to arrange a Teams competition between the UK players and members of the TRNC Monday Korineum Bridge Club. In total 9 teams entered with the Cyprus Teams beating the UK Teams overall. The overall event was won by the Armstrong Team with a +90 score:

Islandsbc

We are a friendly, not too competitive online bridge club formed on BBO in March 2020. We continue to attract at least 5 tables on our Friday and Saturday tournaments. If you come to the TRNC and wish to join, please email islandsbridgeclub@gmail.com for details and provide a WhatsApp no and your BBO username.  Best of all there is no charge for playing.

The Perils of Online Bridge

One of the benefits of online bridge is that you are unable to assess the opponents bids/play from their facial features although this can be compounded by delays due to internet connection problems rather than uncertainty on the part of the players. Islandsbc on BBO (Bridge Base Online) which is free for those you come to the TRNC is typical of the non-visual platforms available online. There are, however, alternatives for those who like online visual contact and an example of this is Real Bridge which charges for the privilege. An example drawn from our featured players Irene and Tony Scott tells us everything about the perils!

Seen from Tony Scott’s perspective (playing South), Chris W (playing West) opens a strong 2C (showing 23+pts or 8 Playing tricks). Irene Scott (playing North) passes, and Sue Brookes (East) has a dilemma. The normal weak response to a 2C opener is 2D showing less than 8 pts. An alternative option (although not usually recommended) is to bid 3NT which is a weak shutout bid that West would be expected to pass. The triumphant expression captured in West as he makes a stop bid to 6NT could be a rush of blood to the head (not that unusual with slam bidding) or a point range well in excess of 23 or just sheer bravado. Sue’s (East) reaction says it all. – we all have these moments online, but few have the privilege to witness partners reaction to your bid especially when she will be playing the hand! Needless to say, the contract of 6NT went off by 2 tricks.

Our thanks to Chris Whitaker and Sue Brookes for agreeing to share this priceless moment.

Our Bridge Journey

Tony Scott

I was introduced to playing cards when I was very young.  Around the age of 5 (in 1950) I started playing Crib with my grandfather and uncle.  It helped me learn to count (especially to 15). 

In my teens I progressed to Brag and Poker, playing for (old) pennies with school and cycling-club friends.  I was quite successful at getting the balance right between playing straight and bluffing and judging how much to bet.  On the other hand, I was, and am, averse to gambling.  Winning money was never a motivator, and the knowledge that the odds are stacked in their favour turns me off casinos.  Perhaps it indicated an instinct for ‘risk management’ – a concept that wasn’t well defined in the early 1960s. 

I learned to play Whist and Bridge in the sixth form, but it was at university that I first got the chance to indulge myself.  In fact, cycle racing and bridge consumed too much of my time to the detriment of my studies.  We were quite an eclectic group with a county bridge player (I seem to remember he played Roman Club), a member of the Moody Blues pop group (google ‘Go Now’), and a leading member of Birmingham’s University Challenge team.

An easter-holiday lecture on computers (computing wasn’t in the curriculum in those days) led me to a job as an analyst-programmer with the NHS.  The North-West region – employing 100,000 staff – had a team of 4 analyst-programmers, about 8 computer operators working shifts, and 30+ data prep and data control staff.  Such was the nature of computing systems in that early era, I next worked in engineering and steelmaking, and I later moved to garment manufacture and then mail-order retail.

It was a period of change.  Technology developed – terminals replacing punched cards, mini-computers, networks, micro-computers, word processors, spreadsheets, the internet, …  Methods were refined and words defined – databases, websites, waterfall, agile, helpdesks, escalation, logistics, …  My job role evolved – programming, systems, management, consultancy. 

Soon, career, marriage to Irene, and a daughter were taking priority.  Our friends and colleagues were not bridge players.   However, Irene was from a whist-playing family, and we sometimes ran fund-raising charity whist drives. 

Irene’s Story.

As Tony says, my family played whist, but it was ‘on high days and holidays’ rather than regularly.  That’s mainly because my father was an ardent sportsman.  He was outstanding at football and might have played for Blackpool alongside Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen if his father had not insisted that he should ‘get a proper job’ – footballers’ wages were not what they are now.  He played cricket to a high standard too, and later in life was much sought-after for his crown-green bowling skills.  I must have been a disappointment to him.  I’m not sporting. 

School did not inspire me, and I had a clear career ambition so I left school as soon as I could and embarked on a series of night school courses that enabled me to progress up the job ladder and achieve my goals.  Then marriage came along, and a child gave me a different perspective.  I trained and qualified as a secondary school teacher, and it was through school that bridge came onto the scene. 

A new colleague, in partnership with her husband, played ‘serious’ bridge.  It was a breakthrough moment.  They introduced us to duplicate bridge at the Polish Club and then to Sheffield Bridge Club.

That ended with our house-move from Derbyshire to North Wales in 1983.  We half-heartedly looked for a bridge club, but Tony’s job took him away from home, I was now Head of Department at a local secondary school, and our busy sea-side lives were not conducive to regular attendance.  We contented ourselves with social bridge after a meal with friends.  Tony’s career move from computer consultancy to academia might have been the stimulus to play bridge again – but wasn’t.   So, the bridge-drought remained into retirement in 2010, Tony from being deputy head of computer science at Chester University, and me from Business Manager of a Grant Maintained High School in Colwyn Bay.

A New Era

In 2022, while staying at our holiday home, we heard about the Islandsbc bridge club at the Korineum Golf Club and started to play on Monday afternoons.  Getting back into the rules and processes of duplicate bridge was a challenge, and bidding conventions (which we were never really fully familiar with) had changed.  For example, ‘weak twos’ is a completely different concept to what we were used-to.  We are getting there – slowly.  We enjoy getting to know the other players over tea and cakes at the half-time break.

What’s wonderful, is that we can still play with the club when we are back in the UK, on Friday and Saturday, using Bridge Base Online!  And, we have the added bonus of being able to revisit the hands afterwards and compare our bidding and play with those of the club’s top players.  It has really helped us to improve.

We were inspired to play more often and discovered the U3A was perfect for our needs.  The U3A (University of the 3rd Age) is a UK organisation that facilitates education and activities for retirees with nearly half a million members.  Our branch in Llandudno works with local bridge clubs but, since the pandemic lockdown, it also runs on-line bridge competitions for players of varying levels of skill.  On-line bridge makes the game a possibility for the many U3A members who suffer mobility, dexterity, breathing and other impairments. 

Good news is that our daughter and granddaughter have inherited our love of cards and are building their skills in bridge.  Isabella’s ability at 16 to remember effortlessly who played exactly what card on every trick is in stark contrast to our failing memories. 

How technology has developed since Tony was first involved at the age of 18, and what benefits have come from it.  We don’t need to be sitting round the table to play, but busy lives still make it difficult to arrange a time.  We have to be aware of time-zones too!

What’s not changed – and our fascination is as great now as it was 60 years ago – is that something as simple as a pack of cards can be so versatile and give such pleasure.  Likewise, the game of bridge has stood the test of time – it is as appealing, challenging, rewarding, and frustrating as ever.