Since lockdown in March 2020 a number of club members have been playing Bridge over the internet via Bridge Base Online. They have been playing in challenges set up by a member of the club, socially against friends, against the computer and against people from across the world.
If you are interested in playing online and haven't signed up yet here is a helpful booklet to get you started BBO instructions
Go on try it out and good bridging everyone.
Goulash Bridge is where the boards have been selected as distributional hands and will generate challenging hands to bid and play.
It’s not uncommon for players to have 7 or more cards in a suit, or perhaps a two-suited hand. And yes, your opponent will often have surprising length in your suit, so beware! Goulash dealing can provide loads of fun – provided the players have a good sense of humour.
When goulash dealing is in effect, some players adjust their bidding principles in some or all of the following ways in order to accommodate the anticipated wildness of the deal:
Only open five-card suits
Weak balanced hands (in 12-15 high card points range) are passed rather than opened
No pre-emptive opening bids; instead, a high-level opening bid denotes the exact number of tricks the hand possesses.
Conventions are highly reduced, as opponents will often interfere and break up the subtle information exchange.
Doubles are for penalties, where they would usually be for take out.. Doubler beware!