COVID-19 blues, no Bridge, Self Quarantine, grocery shopping madness, no Bridge, hands dry from additional washing, no visits from grand children, no Bridge, stock market dropping, borders closing and did I mention NO BRIDGE!
With all of this craziness and uncertainty, we have some great news for you. We have found an online Bridge Club called Stepbridge. Stepbridge is in the unique situation of being able to continue offering bridge sessions to its members. As a consequence of the COVID-19 Bridge Club Closures Stepbridge are going to add sessions to their timetable to enable those who wish to play with the opportunity to participate. It is easier to play on a windows computer – but if you have an iPad, the instructions of how to play are below.
We recommend that you become a member – membership for Rockingham Bridge Club members will be $5 (Associate membership). Then playing Fees are as follows:
Step 1
To join you will need to complete a form with your basic details – you can do this by clicking here. Don’t forget to put your ABF number in the form. After submitting the form, you will be sent an email – you need to reply to this email (this is so that they know this is a real person). They will contact you in 2 days with your username and password. This may take longer, as you can imagine, they are being inundated with applications.
Step 2
You will need to download the Stepbridge Programme called “The Client”. This runs a Windows Computer only, if you have a Mac and are running Bootcamp then you will be able to download the program and run it through Windows mode. If you have an iPad you do not install StepBridge via the AppStore. To install StepBridge, go with Safari (the Internet Browser of your iPad) to the following address: app.stepbridge.com.au (not with www in front).
The page that is then displayed on your iPad explains exactly how you install the StepBridge app. Due to the smaller screen and the different controls, StepBridge works differently on the iPad than on the PC.
A few tips:
• You must keep your iPad horizontal (so that the window tilts).
• If you do not touch your iPad for a while, it automatically switches to sleep mode after two minutes (this is the factory default). This is often handy, but if you are a dummy or a spectator, then that is less desirable. To prevent sleep mode from entering, go to the Settings of your iPad and choose General and set Auto Lock to a higher value. You can always put your iPad to sleep manually by briefly pressing the on / off button.
• The main screen has tabs that allow you to navigate between the different windows.
• There is no classic menu on the iPad. Instead, you will see a menu button on your screen that you can expand for such things as claiming and undoing.
• You play cards by dragging the card to the table, not by clicking on it. You can set this optionally via the “Options” tab.
Step 3
After you have your username and password and the Software installed – here are more detailed instructions on what to do.
As your Committee, we are always looking for ways for us to safely play this game we love. Please keep looking at the website for up to date news and links.
Stay safe, keep your distance, don’t take risks and we hope to see you all very soon.
Nicky O’Connell
President
