English Bridge Union
Now summer have arrived our thoughts have turned to August and the Brighton Summer Meeting. This year promises to be another great congress, and we want to highlight some of the improvements for 2014, and to ask for your assistance in promoting the event to your members.
The main format of the congress is not changing, and is based on the structure which has proved so successful for many years. The event is held at the Hilton Metropole on Brighton seafront, with play beginning on Friday 8th August, and continuing until Sunday 17th August. As in recent years there will be Brighton Lite events nearly every day, and on weekdays there will be Really Easy events (for less experienced players), seminars, and Tournament Director courses. There is hopefully something for everyone, regardless of their standard or how much time they have available, and the congress will appeal to everyone at your club.
The full schedule can be seen at http://www.ebu.co.uk/competitions/brighton
The entry form, which also contains information on all the competitions, can be downloaded here
The Brighton Summer Meeting is the flagship event for the EBU so we hope that you will promote the congress to your members, and help to encourage them to support the event.
Some of the highlights and improvements for 2014
Discount for club group bookings
This year we are offering clubs the opportunity to come as a group to our midweek afternoon ‘Lite’ events, and receive a significant discount off their entry fee. Clubs are invited to take advantage of our midweek special by paying for five pairs and bringing up to ten.
For a payment of £90 a club can secure places for up to ten pairs in the following events
An eleventh pair, or above, will also be allowed half-price entry (£4.50 per person).
These events are all single-sessions and blue points will be awarded.
The offer applies when all club members take part in the same afternoon session (so the entry can be split across the two events on Friday afternoon if preferred). Not all ten places need be filled. To take advantage of the offer, please see the attached entry form.
New ‘Lite’ events on the first weekend
On the first weekend we will hold ‘bracketed’ competitions as part of the Brighton Lite events (replacing the Swiss Teams events which were held on the first weekend in 2013). On Saturday there is a Bracketed Pairs event, and there is a Bracketed Teams event on Sunday. In these bracketed events an initial qualifying session takes place and then the field is split into groups (of about eight tables) based on the results of that qualifying session. The second session is then played within in each group, so you will only play against those with a similar qualifying result, hopefully making it a popular event for players of all standards.
Midweek TD courses & seminars
From Monday to Thursday there will be intensive courses for those wishing to become club tournament directors.
In addition, this year there will also be a seminar by Martin Lee, giving information and guidance to club TDs on the use of Scorebridge and Bridgemate.
Brian Senior to contribute articles and give a seminar
After the successful introduction of our Brighton Hub in 2013 it will return again in 2014, and this year will have contributions from Brian Senior. Brian will regularly contribute reports and hand analysis from the congress which will hopefully be interesting to everyone, whether they played or not.
He will also present a seminar on Friday morning discussing the strategy for getting the best results when playing match-pointed pairs or ‘point-a-board’ teams. This adds to our existing programme of talks from bridge experts which take place most mornings of the congress and in the past have included contributions from such stars of the game as Andrew Robson and Zia Mahmood.
Improved score display
Scores will now be displayed electronically on screens just outside the playing area, to make finding, and seeing, scores quicker and easier.
Thank you for your support of the event, and we hope to see you and your members (perhaps as a group booking) in Brighton.
