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.

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 Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 14^th/15^thSeptember

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Andi

Member Price: £150
Non-Member Price: £150

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Beginners Course

Mondays 3pm - 5pm

Seven weeks

23^rd September - 4^th November

Teacher: Sean

Member Price: £150
Non-Member Price: £150

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Beginners Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 16^th/17^th November

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Ollie

Member Price: £150
Non-Member Price: £150

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Beginners Refresher Seminar

Saturday 21^st September

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Ingar

Member Price: £75 (includes lunch)
Non-Member Price: £90 (includes lunch)

This seminar will revise and consolidate all the topics covered in our beginners’ course and prepare you for our Next Step Course. Perfect for those of you who are feeling a little rusty!

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getting better

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. When you are ready 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 7 - 9pm

Six weeks

24^th September - 29^th October

Teacher: Sean

Member Price: £150
Non-Member Price: £180

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Next Step Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 5^th/6^th October

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Ingar

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

24^th September - 29^th October

Teacher: Ingar

Member Price: £150
Non-Member Price: £180

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Improvers Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 2^nd/3^rd November

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Sean

Member Price: £150
Non-Member Price: £180

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getting clever

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 3^rd - 24^th October

Four weeks

6.30 - 8.30pm

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 26^thSeptember - 31^st October

Six weeks

2.30 - 4.30pm

Teacher: Ingar

Member Price: £150 for whole course, £30 per individual lesson
Non-Member Price: £180 for whole course, £35 per individual lesson

Most players find defence the most challenging aspect of bridge, but because you’ll end up defending about half the time, honing your defensive skills is essential to becoming a better player. This course should help demystify the subject and improve your results! Register for the whole course or for specific lessons.

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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Doubles Seminar

Saturday 9^th November

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Sean

Member Price: £75 (includes lunch)
Non-Member Price: £90 (includes lunch)

This seminar will cover the most important uses of the double card:

Takeout doubles with an emphasis on how to respond to them
Negative doubles
Reopening doubles
Penalty doubles

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