Play Bridge and Socialising

Hello! If you are looking for a friendly group to play the card game Bridge online (you can live anywhere in the world) or for a few of you to play bridge face-to-face/in person (Ascot/Reading area of England only) then this group could be what you are looking for.

We are a friendly group who mainly play Bridge Online on Mondays at 7pm BST/GMT (or occasionally 7pm BST/GMT on Wednesday or 9pm BST/GMT with another group). For Online games we play using the BridgeBase website, and verbally chat using WhatsApp (Mon/Wed) or BridgeBase video (occasionally on Mon/Wed) or Zoom (Sun). Note: Contact Dave if interested in the Sunday game (as this event is not actually announced here). As I say, for Online games you can live anywhere in the world!

For our Bridge you will need to have at least a basic or reasonable knowledge of the game... If you have that then why not give us a try? We welcome players for social bridge games from anywhere - we currently have members from England, Ireland, elsewhere in Europe, and North America.

NOTE: This is a friendly group available to all. So, to keep things simple, most play Acol (as documented by Cohen/Lederer) with very few conventions, but we have some/a few members who prefer to play Standard American (and a few more who are able and willing to play Standard American or Acol). Of course, you can agree more with your partner, but the aim is to keep it standard and simple. The conventions and key bids we use are detailed at the bottom of this page.

Happy to show you how to use the Bridge Base site before you play in one of our online sessions if you have not played using this site before.

If you are interested in playing bridge face to face we can send you details (if relevant to you). Note: As I say, this is only held occasionally with this group currently - in the Ascot or Reading areas of England.

Note: A photo of yourself is required from new members - so we can properly welcome you, but this is a private group so photos are not available to non-members. Spectators are welcome at our online events.

Any questions please contact us. Hope to welcome you to the group soon!

--------------------------------------------
The conventions and key bids we use are: 

• Stayman – over both 1NT & 2NT openings (when no intervention) 

• Red suit transfers (D->H, H->S) – over both 1NT & 2NT (when no intervention) 

• Basic Blackwood 4NT – asking for Aces, then Kings (5NT) 

• Strong 2C (23+ HCP) opening – weak response 2D (fewer than 8 HCP) (forcing to game unless 2C-2D-2NT) 

• Either Strong 2DHS openings (usually based on a strong & long suit) – weak response 2NT, or weak 2DHS openings (6-card suit and 6-11 HCP). Agree this with partner before each match. 

• Pre-emptive 3 and 4 openings (at least a 7-card suit) 

• No discard system (though high might be considered encouraging for some players).

The most negotiated changes/additions are: 

• Strong or weak 2DHS 
• Gerber – 4C after partner’s NT bid asking for Aces then Kings (D=0 or 4, H=1, S=2, NT=3) 
• Redouble of a doubled, weak 1NT opening showing weakness and asking for longest suit rebid.

As stated, we aim to be friendly and tolerant. We welcome suggestions for player improvement (within the ‘keeping it simple’ parameters) but we all make mistakes and welcome positive player interactions.

[We may also occasionally play a variety of card games online through this site: https://worldofcardgames.com/ If this is of interest please contact Dave]

Dave and David