Cornelia's Free Bridge Class

For my face-to-face bridge I play at a small club in the UK.  Only a few of the other members play on-line. The EBU have just started running master points earning competitions on BBO. I hope this will give BBO more credibility in the eyes of those in the UK who are new to on-line bridge.

See my previous post - Acol Club on BBO - for hints on getting started.

One of the many great things about BBO is that there are a number of teachers giving classes.  This post is a shameless promotion of Cornelia Yoda's classes. Not only are they high quality but her free class (a shop window for her pay-for classes) is held at a time when us Brits are still awake and that is a BIG plus.

Cornelia's Free Bridge classes are held (almost) every week on Monday. Her class (2015) starts at 5:30 pm EDT.  10:30 pm  UK time (Except the two weeks a year when the US and UK daylight saving times are different).

You can hear Cornelia speak while she gives the class

This is an audio class - you can hear the teacher  but any questions (if you have any) need to be typed in the normal BBO way (more on this later).

How to - find the class

Register and get a Login ID for BBO.  OK - if you really don't want to do this you can follow the instructions in my Acol Club on BBO post except that you need to go -

       List all tables
       All Public and Private Clubs
       All Public Clubs

then on the line with  -   BILies Retreat  -  click  - Show Tables

Now set BBO to show Full Tables 1. If the time is about 5 minutes before the class then Cornelia's teaching table will be visible with Chick sitting in all four seats. Chick is Cornelia's BBO ID.

Once you have a BBO login ID the best way is to 'Friend' Chick.  You can do this at anytime even when she is not logged on. So do this well before your first ever class.

Login to BBO - your screen should be something like -

1. Click on the - Friends tab - so it is visible
2. Click on the - My BBO - (menu button)
3. Click on - Manage friends and enemies
4. Enter  Chick  in the input box.
5. Click - Add
6. She will then appear in your permanent friends list
7. LATER - when she is on line, Chick will appear under Friends 1.

When you see that Chick is online -

Click on her name 7. (above) and something like the adjacent box will appear.

Click on the Join table button (bottom left) and you will be taken to her table.

During the class you will told to view only the East or the West hands.  To do this click on the NAME BAR of the seat in question and with the mouse menu select  - Kibitz <seat name>

I suggest BEFORE your first class you go to a table (anywhere) and practice the above.

If you are not used to the BBO table settings, I recommend -

(Mouse menu button)  click on the cards / card area and select

      Display deal using pictures of cards

then (Mouse menu button)  click on a card and select

      Use bigger cards

You can hear Cornelia speak while she gives the class

This is an audio class. At the start of the class Cornelia will put up a link on BBO chat area of her room and all you have to do is to click it.  The link is -

http://corneliayoder.listen2myradio.com/

Note - this link only works while the class is in progress.  When working the link shows a web page which you need to keep open to keep hearing her voice.  (BBO has its own voice system which Cornelia DOES NOT USE, so you can ignore any 'voice options' you see on the BBO table page.)

I know that this way of sending out sound works for Windows, Macs and Linux. I don't know what listen2myradio.com system is like for iPads or other pad/portables.  If you know the answer (or find out the answer) why not leave a comment and tell us all.


Don't worry if all this appears a bit daunting, it will all be obvious come the second week.