EVENTS FOCUS - Issue 9

Welcome to our ninth Events Focus; keeping you up to date with forthcoming events and providing news on changes that we hope will improve your enjoyment of our varied calendar, with less travel for many, no hotel bills, earlier start and finish times. We'll be releasing this each month, so you can keep fully up-to-date with what's going on.

Lots of highly enjoyable events coming soon, including the sunny Riviera Congress, the Senior Congress, and the Scarborough Summer Festival.

In addition to the below events, we would like to take this opportunity to remind our readers about the new Accommodation Booking Service (ABS). The service will be operated by Bridge Overseas, a company with a proven track record in dealing with hotels, both arranging bookings and in dealing with any issues that might arise.

The aim is to provide a comprehensive service that is quick and easy to use which will have some of the best negotiated rates that can be had.

Please visit http://www.ebu.co.uk/competitions/abs for more information.

Tournament players, now is the time to remind your club secretaries about getting teams together for the Nicko and to encourage as many of your club members to give it a go. The new format with Gold pointed seeded teams gives everyone a good chance of progress in the most popular KO tournament in the country

Finally, please don’t forget to take a look at our diary changes page, here: http://tinyurl.com/czvuqgq

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It’s easy to enter any of the events below, or read all about the competitions, or choose the events you want to attend, by simply visiting https://www.ebu.co.uk/members/ and booking online through your personal members’ area. You can also contact Peter or Dawn during office hours on 01296 317203/219 or by emailing comps@ebu.co.uk to enter or get further information.

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ENGLISH RIVIERA CONGRESS

28 – 30 June 2013

 

A summer congress at the fabulous Riviera Centre which overlooks the bay in Torquay, featuring a one-day Swiss Teams event on the Friday, followed by a two-day Swiss Pairs event on the Saturday and Sunday. All events are Level 4.

 

More information: http://www.ebu.co.uk/competitions/riviera-congress

 

Book here: https://www.ebu.co.uk/members/

 

 

SUMMER SENIOR CONGRESS

5 - 7 July 2013

 

A long weekend of bridge in the popular seaside resort of Eastbourne, incorporating the Edith Kaplan Memorial Award. There will be special category prizes for veterans pairs and teams (all members of the pair/team must be at least 70 years of age on the first day of play).

 

The event continues to be run at the popular Winter Gardens in Eastbourne, and is supported by the Edith Kaplan Memorial Award of a £500 enhancement to the overall prize fund.

 

To be eligible for this event, players must have their 60th Birthday or beyond during the calendar year (January - December) of this event.

 

More information: http://www.ebu.co.uk/competitions/summer-seniors-congress

 

Book here: https://www.ebu.co.uk/members/

 

 

 

SCARBOROUGH SUMMER FESTIVAL

25 - 28 July 2013

 

The Spa provides a splendid venue right on the sea front with a relaxed holiday atmosphere, ideal for players new to national bridge competitions. Players are advised to book the congress before booking their accommodation.

 

More information: http://www.ebu.co.uk/competitions/scarborough

 

Book here: https://www.ebu.co.uk/members/

 

 

 

BRIGHTON SUMMER CONGRESS

9 - 18 August 2013

 

The Brighton Summer Congress will be an exciting ten days this year: bookings are already higher than this time last year; we expect lots of international bridge players to attend; more young bridge players are attending; plus there are lots of new events available to bridge players of all standards. The Congress has a wide range of bridge events to choose from - meaning that the congress is a very popular venue for all bridge players. Come and try it this year!

 

Building on 2012’s innovations, the EBU has will group events other than the two main weekend competitions under the umbrella title Brighton Lite.

 

This means that you can play as little or as much bridge as you like, taking advantage of new events and new timings to reduce the number of nights spent in hotels, or to get home earlier, or so that you can relax for a little longer in the wonderful city of Brighton. Download our special Brighton Lite leaflet and full timetable at: http://tinyurl.com/pak99vo

 

The latest events to be added to the Congress schedule are an Under 25s Championship Pairs, all day on the Tuesday; and a Point-a-Board teams on the afternoon of Friday August 16th – ideal for teams who arrive early for the weekend and want to try out this interesting and unusual scoring method.

 

Remember too that we have set up a Brighton Discussion Group so you can find a bridge partner; provide tips on where to park or stay; recommend your favourite restaurant; or tell everyone about your favourite Brighton event. Join us at: http://tinyurl.com/a75rj2d and help other players enjoy Brighton as much as they can.

 

Book here: https://www.ebu.co.uk/members/

 

 

TELFORD MIDWEEK CONGRESS

27 - 29 August 2013

 

A new event for 2013, with entry fees and prizes specially reduced. A fully Green Pointed Tuesday to Thursday midweek congress featuring a 3 session ‘all play through’ Championship Pairs event and a one day Swiss Teams event Both events will be ‘stratified’ into three categories according to the actual entry, with Green Points and prizes being awarded based both on the overall ranking list and on the lower half of the field ranking list.

More information: http://www.ebu.co.uk/competitions/telford

Book here: https://www.ebu.co.uk/members/

 

 

GERARD FAULKNER SALVER

 

Introduced in 2002, the Seniors Knockout Teams for the Gerard Faulkner Salver has proved to be very popular. It is open to teams consisting of four to six players, all of whom are EBU members born in 1953 or earlier.

 

This year the Gerard Faulkner Saver will see a new format allowing all non-seeded teams to play in at least two matches. Teams losing their first round match will then be paired with another losing team from round 1 and the winner of this tie will progress to round 2.

 

A minimum of four and maximum of eight teams will be seeded. Seeds will be exempt from the first two rounds, and will not meet until the quarter-finals. Teams defeating seeds adopted seeded status.

 

The event is played as a knockout throughout, with matches played privately. Matches prior to the semi-finals will be played over 32 boards, the semi-finals 40 boards, and the final 48 boards. Matches in the early stages will be arranged so as to avoid long journeys wherever possible.

 

More information, please view: http://www.ebu.co.uk/competitions/gerard-faulkner-salver

 

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COMING SOON…
We have many more exciting and interesting bridge events coming up in the future.

Please have a look at our Competitions page for more information: http://www.ebu.co.uk/competitions.

Until then, enjoy your bridge and we'll be here next month with another edition of Events Focus.

Best regards,

EBU Competitions Department
English Bridge
Union

Tel: 01296 317 203/219
Email:
comps@ebu.co.uk

English Bridge Union Limited.
Tel. 01296 317200; Fax. 01296 317220
Registered Office: Broadfields,
Bicester Road, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP19 8AZ

Registered in
England No. 358588