Northern Ireland Bridge Union

Please click here to read the most recent newsletter from the WBF Women’s Bridge group. The magazine is editted by Mary Kelly Rogers.

There has been an increase in the number of players partnering robots in the NIBU Thursday and Sunday tournaments. Members have expressed their frustration with this as they do not enjoy playing against robots. NIBU has therefore decided to carry out a trial of ‘no robot’ tournaments on Thursday evenings starting on 27th July and finishing on 31st August. Robots will only be used if an odd number of pairs register to obviate the need for sitouts.

Players who wish to enter but do not have a partner can make use of the BBO Partnership Desk – instructions on using this are available by clicking the link below. The facility is available once the event is open for registration at 5pm, players must then remain online in order that they can respond to invitations.

BBO Partnership Desk

If the event starts with an odd number of pairs the TD will substitute sitouts with players from the Partnership Desk and/or robots, should players included in this not wish to continue they can logout and will be substituted with a robot.

Feedback, both positive and negative, is welcomed – preferably towards the end of the trial period. This can be done through the ‘Contact Us’ option on the website.

The Ciara Burns Gala Pairs took place in Kelvin Malone Bridge Centre on Sunday 30 July 2023. Marvellous to see 20 pairs taking part. Many thanks to KMBC for hosting this competition and a special thanks to Joan Baird and her team for providing a wonderful lunch. Congratulations to winners John and Jackie Flynn, as Intermediate B players, being overall winers. Trophies and prize monies were awarded to winners. Full results here.

Photos
Ciara Burns Gala Pairs – Prizewinners
Intermediate League – Prizewinners

Olympic Esports Week is being held in Singapore from 19 – 25 June.

The full Press Release with all the information can be found here.
You can find full details re events on BBO here and on FunBridge here.

The Annual General Meeting of the NIBU was held at Kelvin Malone Bridge Centre on Sunday 25th June at 2pm. . Papers and reports tabled at the AGM are available in the ‘Members Only Section/Council and AGM’ on the website. Draft Minutes to follow.
Presentation of Trophies:

Email scamming is very common – if you get a strange or suspicious email from anyone always check the email address. If it is different from the sender’s normal email address it is probably a scam, even if the email addresses you personally.

Sad news on the death this week of Rosarie Heatherington. She was a well-known and much-loved player in the NIBU. Rosarie taught numerous bridge classes and managed to bring her teaching expertise and sense of humour to the task. Her classes were always popular and many local bridge players started to play in local clubs because of her.

Continue reading “A Tribute to Rosarie Heatherington (RIP)”

For anyone interested, the following correspondence has recently been received from Bajir Cannon, at  learnbridgeonline.com.

“I hope you’re doing well. I am the founder of learnbridgeonline.com and
just wanted to reach out to connect with you.

Continue reading “Learning Bridge Online”

The Teltscher Trophy takes place this coming weekend, 19-21 May 2023.  This year the Welsh Bridge Union are hosts and the venue is The Coldra Newport, NP18 2YG.

Good luck to Team Northern Ireland, comprising:
Ian Hamilton & Hastings Campbell
Diane & David Greenwood
Clare Watson & Heather Hill
NPC: Sandie Millership

For more details on the timetable and ‘live’ results, click here.