The Schools Bridge and Schools Minibridge Simultaneous Pairs sponsored by ECatsBridge are open to all schools that can get together at least one table to play.
These fun events give youngsters an ideal opportunity to play in what may well be their first national event, competing against all the other schools or minibridge sections entering.

They are currently held twice a year - in March and November and entering them just couldn't be eaiser - you can email John Pain, or telephone Lisa on 01296 317 217 to get more details and put in an entry.

The organiser, normally a teacher, is sent the material they need to set up a heat - obviously the organiser will have full access to the hands, so cannot participate in the event! The pack contains

• The material for making up twelve hands, so these can be prepared in advance. Students have to play at least 8 of these to be included.
• Booklets containing a commentary on the hands, to be handed to the students when they have finished ... this commentary gives them suggested bidding sequences in the case of the Schools event, and details the point count if it is a Minibridge event, and then suggests how play should have progressed in order to obtain a good result.

Click here for a copy of the booklet from the Autumn 2003 Schools Simultaneous Pairs

Click here for a copy of the booklet from the Autumn 2003 Minibridge Simultaneous Pairs

The hands are carefully selected in order to give the students an equal opportunity to bid and play, and to be challenging without being too difficult.

After the event, the travellers can be sent to the EBU for scoring, or alternatively the school may use the ECatsBridge scoring program and score their own heat, uploading the results to the ECatsBridge site where they are scored across the whole field. The advantage of this is that the students can see their results on the site as soon as they have been uploaded, generating additional interest and excitement. If travellers are sent to the EBU for scoring there is inevitably some delay.

One table heats can now score their own heat.

click here to access the scoring routine.

Students should be advised that, as the results come through, their scores on the overall ranking will change, although obviously their local scores will remain the same. They can check their board-by-board results on line and see how they scored on each one. The site has a number of FAQ pages and these will explain why this happens.

The entry fee is just £1 per person but the fee is waived for any heat that uploads its own results.