The ABF would like to bring all our players up to date on what steps we are taking to fight the coronavirus and what we are doing to try and assist all bridge players to be able to continue to enjoy some bridge in these difficult times.
We are here for you 24/7 and we want to see it through together and it is important that we keep you informed on developments and that you stay in touch with us.
The management committee has been working very hard in difficult circumstances to try and provide guidance to clubs that will protect our members and the community.
There were many teleconferences between the President, Allison Stralow, who was in Seattle, Washington and the other members of the Management Committee scattered around Australia; Kim Frazer the Secretary in Melbourne, Roy Nixon the Treasurer in Canberra, Richard Wallis in Brisbane and Dallas Cooper in Tasmania. Guidance was also sought from our legal advisors and from our insurance brokers, TBIB insurance.
They were very conscious of their responsibility for the business and welfare of the clubs, state bodies, the congress organisers, the thousands who volunteer or work in Bridge around Australia and the health of all our 37,000 players and their families
APBF
An extremely difficult decision was for the ABF to postpone the Asia Pacific Bridge Congress in Perth in April where we were hoping to get teams from all over Asia, leading Australian teams and at least one team from the USA/Europe.
The ABF web site will keep you informed of any other major congresses that have to be cancelled.
You should also visit your State web sites to see which congresses have been cancelled in your area.
Almost immediately after the recommended advice most ABF affiliated clubs seem to have followed the recommendation of the ABF and cancelled club games for the immediate future.
This presents problems for many bridge clubs who have lost their revenue from members playing and yet still often have the ongoing cost of rent and overheads.
Finally, it leaves the 37,000 ABF registered players and thousands of others who also play in our bridge clubs without a club game which is an debilitating experience for most of us.
Though we initially had hoped that after a month we would be able to consider reopening again it now looks extremely unlikely as the number of people with the virus doubles every three days. The Prime Minister is talking at least six months and Dr Norman Swan on the ABC is suggesting up to 18 months. A glimmer of hope is that the Chinese may be on the road to recovery whilst the rest of the world goes into shut down and self-isolation.
Bridge Game Suggestions
As a result the ABF is looking for ways to assist in giving you a bridge fix and here are some suggestions and contributions that we have been offered and others we are working on.
Ron Klinger, an Australian icon of the bridge world, has offered to provide a daily bridge column for free whilst the pandemic is on. This is an extraordinarily generous offer by Ron and the ABF will host the column on the ABF web site which will have a link on the front page for you to read it. http://www.abfevents.com.au/abfdbc/
Joan Butts the ABF National Teaching Co-ordinator, has offered a one month’s free access to her Online School of Bridge.
To take advantage of this offer, go to https://www.joanbuttsbridge.com/join and sign up as a Gold Member and use the code BRIDGE or for US players the code is BRIGEUS.
Paul Marstonhas won more than 50 national open titles, including 6 international pairs events and the Cavendish Teams twice. His books have sold more than 500,000 copies.
He has been writing a weekly bridge column for the past 45 years and still writes for the Weekend Australian. Paul is reproducing old columns of historical interest for his friends. They will be able to play the hands on Bridge Solver as well. If you would like to receive the columns just contact Paul at https://bridgelounge.online/free-subscription/
Barbara Travis, one of Australia’s leading players for many years and a bridge journalist, has also contributed a guide on how to set up ‘pre-set’ matches on BBO where you can compare yourself with the world’s best. She has also started a paid weekly bridge column which can be found at http://www.bridgewithbarbara.com which is excellent for club players as well as experts.
Online Bridge – There are a number of online bridge clubs that already exist in Australia and Internationally where you can play with and against other players or robots. Here are a few suggestions but there are also others:
Stepbridge.com.au is an Australian NFP online bridge site that is affiliated with the South Australian Bridge Federation. It usually has one competition session a day at 8.00pm AEST or 4.00pm on Weekends with ABF Masterpoints just like any other bridge club in Australia. The current playing fees are basically $3 a tournament game and once a month they hold a red masterpoint game. You can also play social bridge with no fees. Now they have added a second session each day at 1.00pm AEST.
Bridgebase.com or BBOis the biggest online bridge site in the world where you can play bridge, practice with partners or robots, test your play, challenge your friends and watch (kibitz) the best players in the world playing in tournaments. One can organise a game with friends or play anonymously for free with strangers or robots which you may find to be more friendly.
Funbridge.com has 400,000 members from 190 countries who play more than 800,000 deals a day. You can play at Funbridge.com even on your phone 24/7 at your own pace and pause a deal and resume it later. I am trying to organise a Funbridge Australia club that may be more suitable for many club players.
ABF Masterpoints - we are currently negotiating with BBO and Funbridge to establish Australian clubs that would hopefully offer ABF Masterpoints. I will keep you informed on the progress.
English Bridge Union (EBU) has regular daily games on Funbridge and BBO and Bridge Club Live has over 500 people playing a day now. Online dating for bridge players – Several people have suggested an App that would match up people wanting to play in homes. So if you are an App builder and could come up with a simple but effective way of matching people in local communities please get in contact with me .
I have also got information on the Bushfires appeals, the Australian Teams function and speeches in Broadbeach and the situation with the Marketing Workshops but I will cover them and other topics in the future.
Contribute
Please contribute any suggestions you have on how we can improve the Bridge experience whilst clubs are closed.
On Sunday March 15, the management committee put out the following statement
“The ABF recommends that Bridge Clubs be temporarily closed for four weeks as from Wednesday 18th March 2020 (or a date this week set by the club) with the situation to be reviewed at the end of that period. A further extension may be imposed if necessary.
Whilst it may be a difficult decision, health experts around the world are all in agreement that the best way to slow the transmission of the virus is for people to practise social distancing. Many other organisations are cancelling events that involve gatherings of people and we feel it is a duty of care to our extremely high-risk clientele and to afford the highest level of health and safety to the members, their families and the wider community”
APBF
The ABF and the Tasmanian Bridge Association cancelled the Tasmanian Festival Of Bridge and the ABF and the Autumn Nationals to be held in Adelaide were also cancelled by the South Australian Bridge Federation. The Qld Bridge Association also recommending cancelling the Barrier Reef Congress .
An extremely difficult decision was for the ABF to postpone the Asia Pacific Bridge Congress in Perth in April where we were hoping to get teams from all over Asia, leading Australian teams and at least one team from the USA/Europe.
The ABF web site will keep you informed of any other major congresses that have to be cancelled.
You should also visit your State web sites to see which congresses have been cancelled in your area.
Paul Marston
