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 8^th/9^th February

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Ingar

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

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Beginners Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 22^nd/23^rdMarch

11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Ollie

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

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Beginners Course

Mondays 3pm - 5pm

Seven weeks

3^rd February - 17^th March

Teacher: Sean

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

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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 2 - 4pm

Six weeks

4^th February - 11^th March

Teacher: Ingar

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

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Next Step Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 15^th/16^th March

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 7 - 9pm

Six weeks

4^th February - 11^th March

Teacher: Sean

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

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Improvers Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 8^th/9^th March

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.

Declarer Play Course

Thursdays 6.30-8.30 pm

Six weeks

6^th February-13^th March

Teacher: Ingar

Member Price: £150.00 for whole course; £30 per individual lesson
Non-Member Price: £180.00 for whole course; £35 per individual lesson

Improve your declarer play with this exciting course, suitable for all, that concentrates solely on this most challenging aspect of the game.

Lesson 1: Counting winners (NT)
Lesson 2: Counting losers (suit)
Lesson 3: Playing with trumps (more on how to use your trumps to your advantage)
Lesson 4: Finessing
Lesson 5: Finesse or Drop? Guideline on when to reject the finesse
Lesson 6: Putting it all together. Playing a lot of boards where you must use the knowledge from previous lessons. Retaining the Finesse Position.

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Six of the Best

Thursdays 2.30 - 4.30pm
Six weeks

6^th February - 13^th March

Teacher: Ingar

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

An ideal course for duplicate players of all levels, exploring six of the most useful conventions. Register for the whole course or for specific lessons.

Lesson 1: Unassuming Cue Bids
Lesson 2: Control-showing Cue Bids
Lesson 3: Roman Key Card Blackwood
Lesson 4: Splinters
Lesson 5: Jacoby 2NT
Lesson 6: Fourth Suit Forcing

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Defensive Signalling Seminar

Saturday, 5^th April, 11am - 4.30pm

Teacher: Sean

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

Defence is often regarded as the most difficult element of bridge, but you ignore it at your peril as you will end up being a defender about 50% of the time, twice as often as you are declarer. Luckily, help is at hand in the form of our Defensive Signalling Saturday Seminar in which you will learn that every card you play as a defender has the potential to give your partner information. This signalling is vital for successful defence.

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Competitive Bidding Weekend

Saturday/Sunday 1^st/2^nd February

11am-4.30pm

Teacher: Sean

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

This weekend course, suitable for duplicate players of all levels, takes an in- depth look at some of the ways in which you can get involved in the auction when your opponents have opened the bidding and, equally importantly, how to cope when the tables are turned! Topics covered: Overcalling, Advancing, Negative Doubles, Landy, Michaels Cue Bid and the Unusual No Trump.

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