May 2017

Register now for the Teachers' Convention

On 8th - 10th September 2017 we will be holding a Teachers' Convention at Chesford Grange Hotel in Warwickshire.

Join your fellow bridge teachers, and EBED staff, for a weekend full of seminars, workshops, discussions, dinners, and games of bridge.

The Convention is open to EBTA members and non-members, and to residential and day-delegates alike. Please see the information leaflet for more details on the weekend including a provisional list of activities and booking information.

50 Juniors compete in first West Kent inter-schools bridge tournament

Weald Community Primary School hosted the very first West Kent inter-schools bridge tournament on Friday 19th May. Approximately 50 under 14 year-olds competed from local primary and secondary schools. The event was supported by EBED, and England international Helen Erichsen attended, and presented the prizes.

This year’s winning Secondary Schools were Tonbridge Girls Grammar School, with Weald of Kent Grammar finishing in second place. In the Primary School Section both first and second place went to Weald Community Primary School. The Minibridge Section was won by Radnor House.

Anton Mauve, the organiser, said, “it was wonderful to see such courtesy, concentration, and clever play at the bridge table, and the schools represented should all feel very proud of their ambassadors. Our thanks go to EBED, Weald Primary School and the many local bridge-playing helpers and teachers, who do so much to support this activity in the schools. Bridge is a fun way of learning all sorts of skills which are invaluable in later life. Everyone has thoroughly enjoyed participating, and we look forward to welcoming a growing group from many more schools in next year’s event.”

If your school is interested in starting a bridge club, please contact Richard Banbury - richard@ebedcio.org.uk

Thank you to all who participated in the EBED Spring Sim Pairs

Congratulations to the winners of the heats of EBED's Spring Simultaneous Pairs, and a big thank you to all who took part. The proceeds from the event will go towards improving and developing the infrastructure for bridge teaching in England. This is important work as it will help to ensure that new players can enter the game, and help it to thrive for decades to come.

One important project being done in this area is the development of Fast Track Bridge - our new learning programme which gives the opportunity to learn to play bridge in just 24 hours of lessons.

The provisional winners of each heat of the Sim Pairs are:

Monday Steve Hollister and Chris Williams Bracknell Forest Bridge Club
Tuesday Mike Toft and Ron King Trowbridge County Town Bridge Club
Wednesday Daniel McIntosh and Rudi Falla CICBA (Guernsey) Bridge Club
Thursday David Dawson and Jeremy Fitzpatrick Selsdon Bridge Club


The full results are available via the specific day above, or through the EBU website.

The next EBED Sim Pairs will be held in September, and each of the five heats is open to all clubs in the UK.

Fast Track Bridge - coming soon

We are delighted to announce that Fast Track Bridge will be available at the end of the summer.

Fast Track Bridge is a new addition to the national learning programme, and gives the opportunity to learn to play bridge in just 24 hours of lessons. This caters for a new audience of both pupils and teachers wanting to learn/teach via a more intensive course than is offered by 'traditional' methods. This may be in a 'holiday' setting, or through clubs offering an alternative 'condensed' course.

The publication will be available from August onwards in time for the new teaching year, and we will be holding a series of regional previews so that teachers can view the publication and check out how they can apply it to their own new courses. See the webpage for more details.