getting started

Come and learn to play bridge - the world's most popular indoor game - at the world-famous Acol Bridge Club! You will be made to feel very welcome and will thoroughly enjoy the start of your journey learning this exciting game.


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Our beginners' courses are available as seven two-hour weekly lessons or as one intensive weekend and are designed for people with little or no experience of the game. They cover the basics of bidding and declarer play, preparing you for supervised play.


Beginners Refresher

Saturday Seminar 20th January

11am-4.30pm

Teacher: Ingar

  • Member Price: £75 (includes lunch)

  • Non-Member Price: £90 (includes lunch)


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Beginners Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 27th/28thJanuary

11am-4.30pm

Teacher: Ollie

  • Member Price: £150

  • Non-Member Price: £150


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Beginners Course

Tuesdays 11am - 1pm

Seven weeks

23rd January - 5th March

Teacher: Ingar

  • Member Price: £150.00

  • Non-Member Price: £150.00


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Beginners Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 23rd/24thMarch

11am-4.30pm

Teacher: Sean

  • Member Price: £150

  • Non-Member Price: £150


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Once you have completed the beginners' course, you will be a fully- fledged member of the Acol Bridge Club and should aim to do supervised play at least once a week until you are ready to move on...

getting better

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Once you've completed our Beginners' Course and have played supervised bridge on a regular basis for a while, you can enrol on the Next Step course, which is available either as six two-hour weekly lessons or as one intensive weekend.
On the Next Step course, you will learn about overcalls (bids made in the auction after an opponent has opened), defensive techniques & strategies, and doubles (the exciting-looking red card with the X on it!).

Next Step Course

Tuesdays 7pm - 9pm

Six weeks

23rd January - 27th February

Teacher: Sean

  • Member Price: £150

  • Non-Member Price: £180


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Next Step Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 10th/11th February

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Sean

  • Member Price: £150

  • Non-Member Price: £180


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Once you have completed the Next Step Course and have done enough supervised play to feel confident about everything you have learned so far, you can enrol on the Improvers' course, either as six two-hour weekly lessons or as one intensive weekend.

The Improvers Course aims to consolidate what you have learned on our Beginners and Next Step courses and to prepare you for Gentle Duplicate by introducing more advanced bidding topics such as Stayman, Transfers, Opening 2♣ and 2NT, Weak Twos and 3-level pre-emptive openings.


Improvers Course

Tuesdays 2 - 4pm

Six weeks

23rd January - 27th February

Teacher: Ingar

  • Member Price: £150

  • Non-Member Price: £180


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Improvers Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 16th/17th March

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Sean

  • Member Price: £150

  • Non-Member Price: £180


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getting clever

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After the Improvers' Course you can choose from a range of courses/seminars concentrating on more sophisticated aspects of declarer play, defence, bidding and duplicate tactics.

Intermediate Course

Thursdays 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Four weeks

1st - 22nd February

Teacher: Ingar

  • Member Price: £100 for whole course; £30 per individual lesson

  • Non-Member Price: £120 for whole course; £40 per individual lesson


The Intermediate Course is aimed at those of you who are already playing Duplicate regularly and want to take your game up a level further. Topics include protective bidding and "balancing", developing constructive auctions and duplicate tactics. Register for the whole course or for specific lessons.

Lesson 1: Duplicate Tactics Part I - how matchpoint scoring works, "Standard Contract" or not?, playing to go down, implications for the defence
Lesson 2: Duplicate Tactics Part II - protecting partner and balancing the auction, "last chance saloon", double to "protect your score"
Lesson 3: Constructive Bidding Part I - forcing or non-forcing? Reverse bids and continuations
Lesson 4: Constructive Bidding Part II - finding the best contract, false preference, jump-shifts from Responder



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Defence Course

Thursdays 2.30pm - 4.30pm

Six weeks

25thJanuary - 29th February

Teacher: Ingar

  • Member Price: £150 for whole course; £30 per individual lesson

  • Non-Member Price: £180 for whole course; £35 per individual lesson


Lesson 1: Opening leads vs NT contracts
Lesson 2: Opening leads vs suit contracts
Lesson3: The other half of trick one – partner has got off to a great start, don’t mess it up!
Lesson 4: Your first discard – a key moment for the defence
Lesson 5: Thinking shape – listening to the bidding and making relevant deductions
Lesson 6: Thinking strength – work out what partner holds, without peeking and making inferences from declarer’s play



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Advanced Conventions Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 11am - 4.30pm

3rd - 4th February

Teacher: Sean

  • Member Price: £150

  • Non-Member Price: £180


This weekend course is designed for players who want to move out of Gentle Duplicate and into serious competition. It is also suitable for people who are already playing in our stronger sessions. You will be expected to be familiar with the conventions in our Six of the Best course. Topics covered: Lebensohl, Inverted Minors, Extended Stayman, Smolen and 4-level transfers.



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