Blog 29 - It's all over now..

The Brighton Summer Congress is over for another year. On the bridge front, all went very well. We had larger numbers of top European players coming to the events than for a long time, which shows that the prestige of the events is growing. Some of the events are among the largest of their types in Europe and the World. I am advised that our first weekend event, the fourteen round Swiss Pairs is the largest single field event in the World.

In which case, it is now the largest single field event to be scored electronically, as this year we scored the event with the aid of Bridgemates and some new software developed by one of our members; the fact that this huge event went off without the slightest (apparent!) technical hitch is a testament to the background thinking and rigorous testing by our Competitions staff and the on-site support of Jeff Smith, the software’s author. Many thanks to all involved.

Of course, the event had its logistical problems. Despite a whole year of assurances from the hotel, we still had air conditioning difficulties. Peter Jordan (our Congress Manager) spent hours every day with the staff and management trying to ensure that things were as good as they could be.

Despite that effort, problems still ensued. We will, of course, be taking these problems up with the hotel. Which leaves us with the usual dilemma? The Brighton Summer Congress is now a traditional feature enjoyed by many of our regular tournament players and now, by quite a few members new to our tournaments, as we had 25 midweek tables playing in our Really Easy Congress, an increase of around 20% on 2007. The cost of moving the event to another venue in the city may be prohibitive. Would you like to pay more to stay in Brighton? Or should we attempt to move the congress from Brighton? Or are you happy to pay a similar price and stay at the Metropole, despite the problems because you love the ambience of that City?

Please let me know any ideas you may have.

Blog 28 - Here it comes again...and new things are coming..

It is that time of year again when many EBU members' minds turn to our major Congress in Brighton. We have the usual events for our more experienced players, ranging from the 14 round Swiss pairs on the first weekend, a variety of mid week events and the final weekends' Swiss Teams.

In addition, following on from the success of last year, the midweek programme features our "Really Easy Congress", for (much) less experienced players! Numbers last year were a record for this event and we have almost overtaken that record already, which is great news.

Other important news; following on from the vote at the EGM in June the Board are setting up a new group to consult with and advise them. The Club Committee, a sub-Committee of the Board, will meet for the first time in early September. This group consists of eight club representatives drawn from different parts of the country and from differing club backgrounds, small, large, members and proprietor owned clubs. This is a radical departure for the EBU; this group will be able to consider and contribute directly to the Board their views on new proposals, regulations and everything else that affects club players. The Chairman of this new committee is Graham Jepson, a Board director who is well known to many as a bridge holiday operator and the founder of a successful bridge club in the Sheffield area.

Our annual Junior Teach-In takes place over the last weekend in August. This is a great fun event for all junior players, whether it is for minibridge, bridge or just youngsters wanting to learn. We normally get over 100 youngsters and I am sure this year will be no different.

I hope to see many of you in Brighton!