There were 8.5 tables on Sunday playing face to face in the West Wales Bridge Association Mixed Pairs Event (for the Ossie Evans Cup), which was more than played last year when it was held online. Nice to see a trend back to F2F bridge - although this is "small fry" when compared to the 104 pairs that played online in the Dorset Swiss Pairs.
A return to face to face has to be the way to go, for both Area and WBU Championship events, even if the numbers are well down on the good old days (however defined). Online for Congresses and WBU Tournaments is a dead end. The number of established tournament players in South Wales has declined, but some clubs continue to thrive. I hope that increasing numbers of those who consider themselves club players will be persuaded that tournament play is not for some mythical group of experts - it's for them. With any luck the East Wales Congress (Pairs and Teams, 18/19 February, at Gwent Bridge Club) will help to demonstrate this.
24 tables this weekend in Barnstaple for the North Devon Congress - F2F is on its way back.