For what I think may be the first time since the pandemic struck, the normal Tuesday morning supervised play session will not be running this week, unless that is there are enough takers willing to make a 9am start (I have to finish at a few minutes before noon). I have included a payment option in this email, but if you are free to start earlier, you may still prefer to let me know by email and wait to hear from me whether or not the session is going ahead. I hope that it will of course.

Jonathan

This week (29th June) the Tuesday morning supervised play session will be running as normal, starting at 9.30am. Please sign up by late Monday evening if you wish to take part. Look out for news of a first face to face bridge session in Wytham at the end of the month, depending of course on the state of restrictions at that time. I will send out a Doodle poll in due course to test the level of demand – or whether you have all become so hooked on online bridge that you prefer to stick with playing that way instead!

Jonathan

This week (22nd June) the Tuesday morning supervised play session will be running as normal, starting at 9.30am. Please sign up by late Monday evening if you wish to take part. I am also adding a payment option for next week (29th June) as well.

This week

Next week

Jonathan

This week (15th June) the Tuesday morning supervised play session will be running as normal, starting at 9.30am. Please sign up by late Monday evening if you wish to take part. I am also adding a payment option for next week (22nd June) as well. Because of absentees, I have a vacant spot for two coaching sessions on Monday: one at 11.30am and a second at 4.30pm. Please let me know by email if you might be interested in joining either of these two sessions.

This week

Next week

Jonathan

This week (8th June) the Tuesday morning supervised play session will be running as normal, starting at 9.30am. Please sign up by late Monday evening if you wish to take part, or first thing Tuesday, as this email is late going out, for which apologies. Too much going on at the weekend. I am also adding a payment option for next week (15th June) as well.

This week

Next week

Jonathan

This week (1st June) the Tuesday morning supervised play session will be running as normal, starting at 9.30am. Please sign up by early Monday evening if you wish to take part. There have been some very lively sessions in the last few weeks, so I look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible.

The next seminar will be on the subject of bidding the opponent’s suit and the various meanings this can have. I will be scheduling a date for it shortly, but if any of you are interested in this topic, please feel free to let me know so I can assess likely numbers. If the coronavirus restrictions are eased further next month, we are planning to hold a bridge get together at the end of June.

Jonathan

This week (25th May) the Tuesday morning supervised play session will be running as normal, starting at 9.30am. Please sign up by early Monday evening if you wish to take part. There have been some very lively sessions in the last few weeks, so I look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible.

The next seminar will be on the subject of bidding the opponent’s suit and the various meanings this can have. I will be scheduling a date for it shortly, but if any of you are interested in this topic, please feel free to let me know so I can assess likely numbers.

Jonathan

This week (18th May) the Tuesday morning supervised play session will be running as normal, starting at 9.30am. Please sign up by early Monday evening if you wish to take part.

There have been some very lively sessions in the last few weeks, so I look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible. We will be missing a couple of regulars this week, so please don’t feel shy about coming along!

As far as online group coaching sessions go, it is clear that most of you want to continue them even when pandemic restrictions ease (we seem to be risking a little step back in progressing towards that with the news of the Indian variant).

It may well be however that my other commitments will take me to London at least once a week, so there is the possibility that I may have to reschedule a couple of them.

I will also definitely be introducing a weekly face to face session in both Wytham and Charlbury as soon as they become feasible, with the emphasis on encouraging the social benefits of bridge.

More detailed plans on this and future learning opportunities to follow.

Jonathan

This week again (11th May) the Tuesday morning supervised play session will be running as normal, starting at 9.30am. Please sign up by early Monday evening if you wish to take part. There have been some very lively sessions in the last few weeks, so I look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible.

Thanks to everyone who has responded to my comments about the potential for a return to face to face bridge in the next few weeks. My sense is that while many of you want to continue online coaching sessions to keep your game unto scratch – it is a very efficient way to learn – there is also a lot of interest in having face to face games as well for the pleasure of interacting with others in the friendly atmosphere we have always had in both Wytham and Charlbury.

More detailed plans on this and future courses to follow.

Jonathan

Applooges for the very late delay in getting this email out. It seems that some technical gremlins prevented it going out on time and I was slow to spot that it had not done so. In principle the Tuesday morning supervised play session will be running as normal again this week (4th May), starting at the normal time of 9.30am. Given the late notice it is likely that we will be short on numbers, but if it is possible to organise the session at this late notice I am happy to do so. Please let me know tonight or first thing tomorrow morning if you are willing to give it a go.

I have had a chance a couple of days ago to visit Wytham Village Hall and check with Stella O’Gara, the manager, on the steps they have taken to be Covid compliant when and if we can start face to face play again. The omens for this are looking better by the day.

Concerns about the transmission of the virus from surfaces have receded in the light of the medical evidence, which makes handling cards less problematic, and I read today that one-metre social distancing, which makes playing at standard bridge tables without masks difficult, may be scrapped from June. Most of us of course will also soon have had both their vaccination jabs, reducing further the risk of infection.

I am happy to say that Stella has done a great job with the village hall. The hall as you know is large and well ventilated and the two big side doors can be left open to encourage good atmospheric circulation. It may be possible to open some of the big windows as well to provide additional flow through of air, which is the key to reducing transmission through the atmosphere.

As well as numerous hand sanitiser stations, there is a one way route round and through the building so if we get any sun at all this summer, all the indications are that it will make it not just a safe but a very agreeable venue for playing bridge again.

What neither I nor anyone knows is whether playing bridge online will turn out to have become so addictive that to reduces the demand for face to face play. it may be that may of you will decide that, having acquired the taste, you will prefer to continue having online coaching or playing in online tournaments to going back to weekly face to face events.

There is only one way to find out and that is to ask you, which I propose to do over the next 2-3 weeks as we move into the next phase of easing restrictions. (Is that another Doodle poll I feel coming on?).

My guess is that there will continue to be demand for both online and face to face bridge lessons and supervised play and I certainly hope to be able to provide something for both groups. Stella has guaranteed to keep our regular slots at Wytham on Tuesday and Thursday mornings available for now and though the biscuits have become a little stale the tables, chairs and cups in the newly sanitised kitchen area are all waiting for your return. A regular session in Charlbury is also firmly in the plans.

Feel free to let me know what you think you might want to do.

Jonathan