This course is designed for those who are starting to direct duplicate bridge sessions at club level.

The course lasts two days, with each day focusing on a different aspect of the knowledge and skills needed to direct.

Prerequisites

Participants do not need to be members of the English Bridge Union. They should have played duplicate bridge at club level, but no previous experience of directing is required. Participants should bring a copy of the Laws of Duplicate Bridge 2017 and the Blue Book to both days of the course.

Preparation

After signing up to the course, participants will be provided with various sets of information to read in advance. This allows the course itself to focus on the key elements that can only be achieved in person.

Content

The course includes talks, discussions, group problem-solving and role-play simulations. The sessions will be led by tutors with experience of teaching and tournament directing.

Logistics

The course lasts two separate days, with sessions scheduled throughout the year at bridge clubs around the country. The course will usually start at 10.30am and finish at approximately 4.30pm, but may vary by venue.

Assessment and Outcome

Instead of a final assessment, the tutor will assess everyone’s progress continuously throughout the course.

Following successful completion of both days, participants will be issued with an 'EBU Club Director's Certificate of Competence'.

Objectives

Day 1 — Book Rulings

On completion of Day 1, participants will:

• Have a clear understanding of the role and responsibilities of a club tournament director.
• Be able to navigate the Laws of Duplicate Bridge in order to give proper “book” rulings for the most common problems, such as revokes, penalty cards and leads out of turn. Other topics include the role of dummy, disputed claims, when a card is “played”, and protocols for explaining bids.
• Understand the function of the Handbook of EBU Permitted Understandings 2021, the “Blue Book”, and its application at club level.

Day 2 — Judgement Rulings

On completion of Day 2, participants will:

• Have a good appreciation of the image that should ideally be projected by the tournament director.
• Recognise the situations in which a judgement ruling is required of the Director and understand the procedures by which such situations should be handled. In particular, participants will understand the Laws and Directives as they relate to unauthorised information, misinformation, hesitations in bidding and play, and claims.
• Understand the steps that may be taken following such rulings, including score adjustments and appeals.
• Understand the principles governing the EBU directives on alerting.

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This day is designed for those who wish to consolidate their Director training and may aspire to be County Directors. The content prepares candidates for the weekend County TD Training & Assessment Weekend, but is also suitable as a refresher / extension for Club Directors.

The Next Course & Logistics

The course takes place once annually at the EBU's Head Office in Aylesbury. The next course will be held on Wednesday 17th March, 2027. The day will start at 10.30am and end no later than 4.30pm.

The course cost is £80 (£72 for EBU members). Coffee and refreshments are included, but candidates should bring their own lunch. Further details are available upon request from Lisa Miller on 01296 317217.

Objectives

On completion of the Advanced TD Training, participants will:

• Have achieved a mastery of Club Directing and the foundational content in the Laws and Directives (White Book and Blue Book).
• Be prepared for the most exacting material taught and tested at the County TD Training & Assessment Weekend.

Requirements

Participants should have achieved their Club Director certification and will bring a personal copy of the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge 2017 and the Blue Book.

To evaluate your readiness for the Advanced TD Training Day, we recommend that you download and complete this test paper consisting of 40 varied scenarios which test your knowledge, judgement and common sense.

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This residential course equips Directors to run tournaments or events at County level. The course is run by EBU National Tournament Director Sarah Amos. 

Objectives

On completion of the County TD Training, participants will:

• Have achieved a mastery of Club Directing and the foundational content in the Laws and Directives (White Book and Blue Book).
• Be ready to undertake assessments testing their ability to run County tournaments or events.

Requirements

Participants should have achieved their Club Director certification and will typically have at least one year of Directing experience and some experience of organising events at County level.

To evaluate your readiness for the Advanced TD Training Day, we recommend that you download and complete this test paper consisting of 40 varied scenarios which test your knowledge, judgement and common sense.

Content

The prime objective of the course is to assess candidate's experience to become fully qualified County Directors, based on their performance in the exercises therein. Participation is also a learning experience - those attending will; on completion of the course:

• Have answered a pre-course test including topics from the Blue and White Books.
• Understand the role and responsibilities of a county director.
• Have achieved mastery of the 2017 Laws and EBU Directives governing duplicate bridge.
• Be able to deal confidently with common table situations.
• Have participated in an appeal.
• Have dealt with harder judgement rulings.

The material and assessment is delivered through a mixture of table simulations, lecture and written examination.

Outcome

Upon successful completion of the course and assessment, candidates will become fully qualified County Directors. Assessment results will be provided by email on the following Tuesday.

Logistics

The course takes place once annually at a residential training venue. The next course will take place on 30th - 31st May 2026 at Kents Hill Park Training & Conference Centre near Milton Keynes. The course will run from noon on Saturday until 3.30pm on Sunday.

The course cost is £275 and includes dinner, bed and breakfast, and a light lunch on both days, plus course materials.

Booking and further details are available by calling 01296 317203 or by email to comps@ebu.co.uk. 

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This course is designed for those who are starting to direct duplicate bridge sessions at club level and want to understand more about how a duplicate is set up and managed.

Objectives

On completion of the course, participants will:

• Give delegates an understanding of the role of the club TD in setting up and managing a club duplicate session.
• Build confidence for those who volunteer to help with the running of club duplicate pairs sessions.
• Gain awareness of Law Book and EBU guidance (Blue Book / white book)
• Understand and be able to choose the movement for a pairs session.
• Establish a base level of learning for those who plan to train to qualify as a TD by undertaking the remaining sessions of the EBED TD training programme

Prerequisites

Participants do not need to be members of the English Bridge Union. They should have played duplicate bridge at club level, but no previous experience of directing is required.

Content

The course includes talks, discussions, exercises and a Q&A led by a tutor with experience both in teaching and tournament direction.

Outcome

An 'EBU Club Directors Certificate of Attendance' will be issued to all who attend this course.

Logistics

Online classes are scheduled three times per year via Zoom. The material is covered over two half-day sessions, approximately 2.5 hours each, with a short break in the middle. The course costs £66 (£60 for EBU members) in total.

Further details are available upon request from Lisa Miller on 01296 317217.

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Online bridge has become an important part of the modern bridge environment. Directors who run online games may need slightly different tools and procedures. In this course, EBED provides guidance for directing games on one of the most common platforms, Bridge Base Online.

Objectives

By the end of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Set up and manage a pairs session on BBO.
• Deal with common problems on BBO, including accessing table history.
• Adjust scores - during and after the event.
• Process and upload results.

Requirements

Delegates should have a basic knowledge of F2F club directing, and be confident operating in an online 'virtual room' environment.

Content

The materials cover the mechanics of running a session or competition on Bridge Base Online, including:

• Setup (host account, creating events, recommended settings, movements, pre-dealt hands, managing the 'include' list).
• During the event - monitoring and responding to situations (announcements, table view and director's menu, substitutes, robots and tempbots).
• Director calls, dealing with incomplete boards / score adjustments, table history, checking status & adding time)
• After play finishes (score corrections during the provisional period, processing the result, extraction and upload, late score corrections - after the event is finalised).
• Tips for playing directors

Booking

The course is delivered online via Zoom, and costs £44 (£40 EBU members) per delegate.

Further details are available upon request from Lisa Miller on 01296 317217.

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EBUScore is the application widely used to collate and manage results from the tables in a Duplicate Bridge event.

Objectives

By the end of this course, delegates will be able to:

• Produce a complete and correct set of results for their event.
• Deal with adjustments and corrections
• Handle common problem scenarios

Requirements

This course is designed as a supplement to EBED's core Club Director courses Days 1-3, though it is not essential for delegates to have completed this course. However, delegates should have a working knowledge of F2F club directing.

Content

The focus is on using Bridgemates and EBUScore from the point of view of the Director. The course does does not cover teams, swiss pairs or multi-session events.

• Intro to EBUScore
• Creating an event
• Movements
• Manual entry
• Corrections
• Bridgemate settings
• Directory functions
• Common problem scenarios

Booking

The course is available online or at F2F sessions. The in-person course costs £80 (£72 for EBU members) and lasts from 10am until 4.30pm and is an interactive classroom format including simulations. The online version costs £40 and is delivered via Zoom with similar content, lasting approximately 2.5 hours.

Further details are available upon request from Lisa Miller on 01296 317217.

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Those interested in Directing may wish to secure copies of:

The Laws of Duplicate Bridge 2017

The "White Book", covering technical matters.

The Handbook of EBU Permitted Understandings (the "Blue Book")

Some of the most common scenarios are covered in this collection of 11 flow charts.

All courses can be booked via your My EBU portal.

Materials for the Advanced TD Training Day (or refresher course) can be viewed here and include 40 common table scenarios to test your knowledge.

The EBU has created a series of videos to help Club DIrectors deal with six commonly occurring scenarios. They can be viewed here.

The EBU hosts a number of online discussion groups, including one forum where Directors can share questions or concerns with peers and experts.

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When and where?

Dates and venues can be found on the course calendar displayed below. We run courses at clubs all over the country. Please email Lisa Miller at EBED if your club would be interested in running a course.

How to book?

To book a place on any of our courses, please log onto My EBU and select the Book Courses option from the Utilities tab, or contact Lisa Miller on 01296 317 217. Payment is required at the time of booking.

What is the cost?

Classroom-based courses cost £80 per session (£72 for EBU members). Online courses cost £66 (members £60) for the full-day introduction to Club Directing, and £44 (members £40) for the single session EBUScore and BBO courses.

What if I need to cancel or change a booking?

We are always sympathetic to a change in circumstances — if you are unable to attend a course for which you have registered, please advise EBED as soon as possible and we will do our best to accommodate.

When will I hear about the arrangements for the day of the course?

You will receive a booking confirmation/invoice by email at the time of booking. We send email containing joining instructions and pre-course materials approximately seven days before the course is due to take place. On occasions, we may need to contact you via telephone. Please take a moment to ensure that when you are booked on a course that your member’s details accessible via the EBU website are complete and up-to-date – otherwise we may not be able to get hold of you if there is a late change.

What do I need to bring to the course?

For classroom-based courses, delegates should bring a pen and notebook, and copies of the Laws of Duplicate Bridge 2017 and the Handbook of EBU Permitted Understandings.

Will I get something to eat at the course?

Coffee and tea are provided at all courses, but delegates should bring their own lunch. (Except for residential courses).

How long is the course and when does it start?

All F2F day courses commence at 10.30am and finish around 4.30pm unless you are otherwise advised in your confirmation email.

How do I contact the course tutor?

Contact details will be provided in your pre-course confirmation email.

When will I get the results of my Assessment Course and certificate?

Results and an electronic certificate will be sent to you shortly after the course.

Can you organise a course at my local club?

If your club would interested in hosting a suite of courses, in the first instance it may be worth speaking to your county secretary to assess the demand from other clubs in your area. If we think there is sufficient demand EBED will work with the club to set up a course. For more information contact Lisa Miller at English Bridge Education & Development by email or on 01296 317217 for further details on setting up a course at your club.

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