Brighton 2012
by Ian Payn and Matt Betts


The Tournament Committee are happy to announce some new and exciting changes to the timetable for 2012.

This year, the congress will provide a greater range of events that won’t necessarily involve hotel bills, and may prove attractive to those who might want to just play an evening’s bridge and be part of the fun without having to make a major commitment.

WHAT WON’T BE CHANGING

  1. The Swiss Pairs on weekend one.
  2. The Championship Teams on weekend two.
  3. The midweek daytime events

WHAT WILL BE CHANGING (MINOR)

Midweek evening start times for all events including the Seniors Congress. These will be brought forward from 8pm to 7.45pm. That’s not a major shift but it might make all the difference to those concerned about finishing times. In addition there’ll be ‘early bird’ sessions for all midweek single-session pairs events, starting at 7.00. These might prove more attractive to those who have played in the afternoons, or those who just want to drive down from somewhere reasonably local in the evening yet get home at a reasonable hour. Neither of these changes is momentous, but they give you, the players, a bit more flexibility. Oh, and all these pairs events will now be stratified, giving you the chance to be compared with your peers as well as in the open field.

WHAT WILL BE CHANGING (MAJOR)

NEW EVENTS: It is now going to be possible to enjoy the full Brighton atmosphere at both weekends, but playing in events with a lighter schedule. These will only be played on Saturday and Sunday, so there will be no need to rush down after work on the Friday, and, more importantly, will save on that Friday night hotel bill.

On weekend one the new events will be teams, on the second weekend we’ll have a new pairs event. The reasons for this juxtaposition with the main events on each weekend are: (a) you don’t have to shift your allegiance from a main event that you enjoy, and (b) if you actually prefer one form over another, you can pursue it at both weekends.

Full details of all of this, including start times and prices can be seen on the EBU website, here.

On the first weekend, we’re going to have two one-day Swiss Teams events, each starting at noon and comprising six seven-board matches. That means they’ll finish in the early evening, leaving plenty of time to have dinner or to get home. They will each be run independently of the other, but there will be an extra prize and extra ranking points for the highest scoring team of those who play on both days.

On the second weekend, we’ll have a Stratified Swiss Pairs, also starting at noon. Two sessions of three seven-boards matches on Saturday, one of four seven-board matches on Sunday. The schedule for these new events being lighter than the other weekend events might make them suitable for less battle-scarred tournament players. And on the second weekend in particular the lack of a need to find team-mates might be attractive to some.

All of these changes have been brought in so that our members can stay as long, or as short as they like at the Congress. The changes will also allow our members the opportunity to head home at a reasonable hour after a great day/evening of bridge, or the opportunity to enjoy a bit more of Brighton!

The Brighton Congress is the jewel in the EBU crown with so much to do and see in Brighton; so many events to play in; and so many opportunities to increase your master points or NGS rating! Bookings for the event are already open, so please simply call Peter or Dawn at EBU Competitions via our our online booking system in your personal membership area, by clicking here.