Welcome back to the news blog for international news and selections.
Thanks to Dave Muller who entertained you in the past.
I've been down in Juan les Pins for the annual festival for the last week or so. Juan is no longer quite the top tier tournament that it was, but it is cosmopolitan and the standard is still high (we played against Bocchi, Sementa and Madala yesterday) and it is a fantastic way to become familiar with the international scene combined with a relaxing holiday. There are plenty of similar resort based tournaments in France, like Deauville, Biarritz, La Grande Motte, which I would thoroughly recommend as a relaxed way to extend your bridge experience. They are very civilised too, with one long session per day from 4-8, so there is time for sun, shopping and sight-seeing, and relaxed eating in the evening. Details for a number of the Southern tournaments can be found on www.festivalsdusoleil.com.
Meanwhile, if you want to watch some great bridge, this weekend is the last of the Home Internationals, the Seniors series which is being held at Oxford Spires Hotel, Abingdon Road. If you can't make it to the hotel, you can follow it on BBO this year. Full details here.
Numbers were a bit down at Juan this year, probably because in a few weeks there is the European Open 100km down the road at San Remo from 12th June. More about this next week, but details can be found at their website.
