In this blog I will report on decisions taken by the Committee at its recent meeting.
Firstly, the revised arrangements for the Ranked Masters were confirmed whereby green point awards will be given for matches won as well as for the top half of the final ranking list. These points will be decimalised so that victory in 2 board matches will earn an award, probably 0.1. Full details will be published as soon as they have been finalised. This is an experiment and, if successful, could be extended to other pairs events, provided they are scored by imps rather than match points. All the ranked master sections will continue to be butler scored. Additionally, as previously announced, the Committee has agreed to relax the regulations in the top categories to allow a player qualified for a particular rank to play with a partner of the rank immediately below. (i.e. a Premier Grand Master can play with a Grand Master in the Premier Grand Masters Pairs; a Grand Master with a Premier Life in the Grand Masters Pairs; and a Premier Life Master with a Life Master in the Premier Life Masters Pairs.)
Next, the Northern Easter Congress will be held at the Palace Hotel in Buxton. I expect many of you will remember it fondly from the BBL congresses held there. I understand that it has been refurbished and is now part of the Barcelo group, to which the Hinckley and Daventry hotels also belong. I’m afraid that single occupancy is expensive but I understand that there is plenty of cheaper accommodation nearby.
Finally, the Great Northern Swiss Pairs will be butler scored, and it and the Championship Pairs at the London Easter Festival, will be stratified. This means that while the event will be open to all (i.e. it will not be flighted) there will be green points and prizes for 3 categories of players, the top category containing at least one life master or above, the second category for pairs containing no Life Master or above, and the third category containing no Regional Master or above.
Friday 20 June 2008
Thursday 5 June 2008
Lambourne Jersey Festival
In April, for the first time for some years, I attended the Lambourne Jersey Congress. I remembered it as a friendly, relaxed 10 days at a good hotel with excellent food and I was not disappointed. However, this year there was something different. As we arrived at the Portelet Hotel we were advised that the hotel would be closing at the end of the season for redevelopment and it would no longer be suitable for bridge. This caused great consternation among the many regular visitors to the event for whom the Portelet and the Lambourne Jersey congress had become virtually synonymous. In the three decades since the congress became a joint venture between the EBU and the Channel Islands Contract Bridge Association, it has been based in only three hotels — but the Portelet had become such a fixture that the earlier venues had faded in the memory.
It subsequently transpired that Ken Wise, one of the organisers of the congress, was informed of that decision only 48 hours before the congress was due to start which, as one can imagine, was a considerable shock to him and his colleagues in the CICBA.
Undaunted, Ken and his colleagues set out to find a venue somewhere in Jersey’s 45 square miles which had everything the congress needed — good food and service, a playing hall which could take up to 80 tables, space for the TDs, relaxation areas, and accommodation with plenty of single rooms. And all at reasonable cost.
This kind of thing is hard enough when you have months in which to do it. With a maximum timescale of ten days it becomes a matter of toil, sweat and tears.
But it was done. The team arranged a flurry of meetings with different hotel groups, and in just eight days a very favourable deal had been brokered. Next year’s congress will be at Jersey’s Hotel de France — a prestigious four-star establishment with better facilities than the Portelet, ample parking, and a location within walking distance of the island’s main town of St Helier .
So as one door has closed, another has opened. Those who like spring sunshine (not guaranteed but the odds are better than a finesse) coupled with friendly bridge should make a note of these dates: Friday 24 April to Sunday 3 May 2009. The congress is on the move, but the warm welcome will stay the same.
I and my teammates have already booked our accommodation for next year and I recommend you do the same.
It subsequently transpired that Ken Wise, one of the organisers of the congress, was informed of that decision only 48 hours before the congress was due to start which, as one can imagine, was a considerable shock to him and his colleagues in the CICBA.
Undaunted, Ken and his colleagues set out to find a venue somewhere in Jersey’s 45 square miles which had everything the congress needed — good food and service, a playing hall which could take up to 80 tables, space for the TDs, relaxation areas, and accommodation with plenty of single rooms. And all at reasonable cost.
This kind of thing is hard enough when you have months in which to do it. With a maximum timescale of ten days it becomes a matter of toil, sweat and tears.
But it was done. The team arranged a flurry of meetings with different hotel groups, and in just eight days a very favourable deal had been brokered. Next year’s congress will be at Jersey’s Hotel de France — a prestigious four-star establishment with better facilities than the Portelet, ample parking, and a location within walking distance of the island’s main town of St Helier .
So as one door has closed, another has opened. Those who like spring sunshine (not guaranteed but the odds are better than a finesse) coupled with friendly bridge should make a note of these dates: Friday 24 April to Sunday 3 May 2009. The congress is on the move, but the warm welcome will stay the same.
I and my teammates have already booked our accommodation for next year and I recommend you do the same.
Welcome
Welcome to the Tournament Committee Blog.
On this page you will be able to read about committee decisions that are most likely to be relevant to the average tournament player, and in due course all our committee members will be adding insights into various aspects of the EBU Tournaments.
First up will be Brian Crack, who will be writing shortly with news on the Lambourne Jersey Festival.
Constructive feedback from our members will always be welcome. Members can post comments on this site by clicking on ‘comments’ below. If you have any greater issues that you would like the Tournament Committee to consider at their meetings, please e-mail me.
Ian Mitchell
EBU Tournament Secretary
On this page you will be able to read about committee decisions that are most likely to be relevant to the average tournament player, and in due course all our committee members will be adding insights into various aspects of the EBU Tournaments.
First up will be Brian Crack, who will be writing shortly with news on the Lambourne Jersey Festival.
Constructive feedback from our members will always be welcome. Members can post comments on this site by clicking on ‘comments’ below. If you have any greater issues that you would like the Tournament Committee to consider at their meetings, please e-mail me.
Ian Mitchell
EBU Tournament Secretary
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