Mike Rothwell has kindly given his Bridge Timer application to the EBU and it will now be made available as a benefit to affiliated clubs. The Bridge Timer has many useful features and is used in EBU congresses as well as in a number of other countries. The Bridge Timer is available from the EBU download page using a My EBU club login.

The Bridge Timer has the following features:

• times each round of a session
• allows for an optional break
• shows the time remaining for each round (and the break)
• the timer interval can be selected, e.g. every 10 secs rather than every 1 second
• optionally shows the current time, the estimated finish time and the estimated time of the break
• warns of a skip move
• warns of an arrow switch round
• you can choose whether Bridge Timer calculates the finish time from the round time or calculates the round time from the required finish time
• gives (optionally) two audible warnings in the round - the display colours change as a visual warning, e.g.
  • 1st warning - when you should have started the last board
  • 2nd warning - when the end of the round is close and you shouldn't be starting another board
• gives an audible warning to move for the next round - the display colours change as a visual warning
• optionally gives a message that the break is about to start
• there are now 60 new sounds files, spoken with a choice of a female or male voice
• you can pause and resume the timer
• you can add extra time or subtract time for a round
• the timer continues even when minimized
• the settings are saved and will be reloaded next time you use Bridge Timer
• you can change the fonts, colours and sounds
• copes with a remote second monitor
• you can save up to 20 favourite settings, e.g. for 2-board rounds, 3-board rounds, beginners' session etc.
• each favourite can have a different set of sound options
• you can choose whether to have “Move for next round” after the break
• keyboard shortcuts (e.g. + to add 1 minute, p to pause/resume etc.)
• auto-shutdown of computer on exiting Bridge Timer (as an option)
• improvement to full screen mode for Windows 10 so as not to overlap the task bar
• the screen setting is saved - so if you use full screen mode, that will be used next time but if you use normal screen mode, then the position and size of the window will be saved for next time
• Optional title at the top of the window for each favourite
• Time can be shown as 12-hour or 24-hour clock
• Option to have Bridge Timer always on top
• Option to show the number of rounds

Bridge Timer can be linked to the database for table-top units, such as Bridgemates. Bridge Timer can do the following (all these options can be changed by the user) before starting the timer:

• automatically find the latest Bridgemate (or table-top unit) file
• automatically set the number of rounds played
• automatically set the minutes per round
• automatically detect when there is an arrow switch and give a warning
• automatically detect when there is a skip round and give a warning
• automatically set the round for the break
• automatically set the title

Once the timer has been started:

• display how many or which tables are still in play
• move to the next round if all tables have finished
• omit the first warning if all tables are already on their last board in the round
• warn if a table hasn’t started their last board when the second warning is given
• automatically pause the timer if too many tables are still in play at the end of a round
• then automatically restart the timer when most tables have finished
• produce a report on the speed of play by each pair