Sunday, 21 December 2008
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Friday, 28 November 2008
Tom Bradley Award 2008
The Tom Bradley Award is assigned each year to a non-school teacher for services to the teaching of bridge in England. DR BOMI KAVARANA, age 75, from Tadworth, Surrey has been awarded the Tom Bradley Award for services to the teaching of bridge in his county for 2008. The award was presented to Bomi by Christine Duckworth on behalf of the EBU.
Bomi has been interested in card play since his early days in Mumbai, playing rummy with his Zoroastrian aunts and uncles. He studied at Sheffield University where he first started to play whist and then bridge without much knowledge of the ACOL system after he watched it being played during the lunch hour.
After graduating with a BSc and a PhD, Bomi joined Watson House (British Gas R & D) in London, and took the game more seriously. He played in the Hammersmith & District and London Business Houses Leagues with a fair amount of success and occasionally in open EBU events. Bomi was later secretary/treasurer of the Hammersmith District League for over 20 years until he retired in 1993. Presently, he is chairman of the H & D League.
In 1980, Bomi undertook the EBU's Teachers Diploma Course at the London School of Bridge under the supervision of Alan Hiron and passed the written and oral examinations with GCH Fox as examiner.
In 1997, Bomi applied to become Surrey County Youth Officer, because as he says: “I wanted to be able to give something back to a game that I have enjoyed for so long and so much. This seemed the best way.” During the 12 years that he has been the CYO, Surrey has had 10 annual bridge events for schools, and in 2008 he introduced the first one-day bridge teach-in for young people (photos can be seen here). Presently, Bomi teaches three times a week at schools across Surrey.
In his free time, Bomi enjoys rowing which he takes very seriously, wines, travelling and painting.
Facts:
Who was Tom Bradley?
About the award
Saturday, 1 November 2008
World Mind Sports Games 2008
The England Womens team have won Gold and the England Open Team have won Silver in Beijing! This follows the successful Silver won by our U21 team.
Well done to all the players, Coaches and Captains. We are all very proud.
Well done to all the players, Coaches and Captains. We are all very proud.
Friday, 10 October 2008
Dimmie Fleming Awards 2008
The English Bridge Union is proud to announce that the following have been awarded the prestigious Dimmie Fleming award for services to bridge. The awards are made specifically to publicly recognise those who have worked hard promoting bridge locally at County and Club level.
The winners for 2008 are:
Stan Harding - Hertfordshire
Roy Hughes - Lincolnshire
Roger Amey - Norfolk
Philip Wraight - Westmorland
Facts:
Who was Dimmie Fleming?
About the award
Past Winners:
2007 winners
2006 winners
2003 winners
The winners for 2008 are:
Stan Harding - Hertfordshire
Roy Hughes - Lincolnshire
Roger Amey - Norfolk
Philip Wraight - Westmorland
Facts:
Who was Dimmie Fleming?
About the award
Past Winners:
2007 winners
2006 winners
2003 winners
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Battle of the Brains
Our English Bridge Union team of Jeremy Baker, Amy Cherry, Stuart McPhee, Ian Mitchell, John Pain, Ian Payn and Colin Porch competed well in the quiz show and were seen on BBC Two on 21 August at 6pm. Our team won their second game on Battle of the Brains but sadly won't be returning for a third episode. Congratulations to them all for a good performance!
Battle of the Brains is a game show hosted by Paddy O'Connell and sees two teams of 6 members plus a team captain play a series of games focusing on different parts of the brain.
Introduction
Battle of the Brains is a game show hosted by Paddy O'Connell and produced by Shine Ltd. for BBC Manchester. It is broadcast weekdays on BBC Two at 6:00pm, and started on 28 July 2008. Two teams of 6 members plus a team captain play a series of games focusing on different parts of the brain.
How does it work?
Round 1
Each captain chooses one member from their team of 6 to take part in one of 6 different tests of skill in one of 15 different categories. This happens 5 times in the first round and any member of the team can play except the team captain. If the player is successful they rejoin their team, if not, then the player is eliminated. If one team is totally successful, then they would have all 6 players intact, while the other team would be down to one.
The 6 different types of challenge are:
Accuracy - The players are asked three near-to-the-mark questions. The person who gets the nearest to the correct answer wins a point. The first to 2 wins. If both players type in the same answer, both get a point and it would become the first to 3 correct answeres who would win.
Identity - The players are asked to identity one thing related to the chosen subject. Clues are read out by Paddy one at a time. The player who answers the question first wins the round. If the player answers incorrectly, they are frozen out of the next clue.
Memory - The players have to take it turns to name things of a list relating to the chosen subject. The round ends when an incorrect answer is given or if no answer is given within 5 seconds.
Nerve - Like a penalty shootout, each player is answered a question each. If Player 1 answers correctly, then Player 2 would have to answer correctly or lose. If Player 1 answered incorrectly and Player 2 answered correctly, then Player 1 would lose. If both players did the same, the round will continue.
Speed - The players will be asked questions about the chosen subject on the buzzer. The winner is the first person to answer three questions correctly.
Wisdom - Both players will have 60 seconds on the chosen subject to answer as many questions as possible. The person with the most correct answers wins. If there is a tie, a sudden death tie-breaker question on the buzzers is asked.
Round 2
In the second round, the players who won the head-to-heads in round 1, along with the player who didn't play compete in a series of questions. The captain of the opposing team chooses which player to answer the question. If the answer is correct, the player stays, if the answer is wrong, the player is eliminated. This continues until one team has no players left.
Final Round
The winning team gets all their players regenerated. They have 90 seconds to get 6 consecutive questions correct. The question is read out, the captain chooses a player. If they get it right their light is turned on and they can't answer another question. If they answer wrong, then everyone's light is turned off. If all 6 lights are on the team wins £2,000.
Captain's Question
Following the final round the team captain has to answer a question correctly. With the captain turned around, so no signals of any kind can be made, Paddy offers the team 2 questions. They have to pick which one their captain will know the answer to. If the captain answers correctly the team can return to the next show. If answered incorrectly the team are eliminated and 2 new teams appear on the next show. (Incidentally, the captain gets asked the other question to see if he/she would have known the right answer.)
Battle of the Brains is a game show hosted by Paddy O'Connell and sees two teams of 6 members plus a team captain play a series of games focusing on different parts of the brain.
Introduction
Battle of the Brains is a game show hosted by Paddy O'Connell and produced by Shine Ltd. for BBC Manchester. It is broadcast weekdays on BBC Two at 6:00pm, and started on 28 July 2008. Two teams of 6 members plus a team captain play a series of games focusing on different parts of the brain.
How does it work?
Round 1
Each captain chooses one member from their team of 6 to take part in one of 6 different tests of skill in one of 15 different categories. This happens 5 times in the first round and any member of the team can play except the team captain. If the player is successful they rejoin their team, if not, then the player is eliminated. If one team is totally successful, then they would have all 6 players intact, while the other team would be down to one.
The 6 different types of challenge are:
Accuracy - The players are asked three near-to-the-mark questions. The person who gets the nearest to the correct answer wins a point. The first to 2 wins. If both players type in the same answer, both get a point and it would become the first to 3 correct answeres who would win.
Identity - The players are asked to identity one thing related to the chosen subject. Clues are read out by Paddy one at a time. The player who answers the question first wins the round. If the player answers incorrectly, they are frozen out of the next clue.
Memory - The players have to take it turns to name things of a list relating to the chosen subject. The round ends when an incorrect answer is given or if no answer is given within 5 seconds.
Nerve - Like a penalty shootout, each player is answered a question each. If Player 1 answers correctly, then Player 2 would have to answer correctly or lose. If Player 1 answered incorrectly and Player 2 answered correctly, then Player 1 would lose. If both players did the same, the round will continue.
Speed - The players will be asked questions about the chosen subject on the buzzer. The winner is the first person to answer three questions correctly.
Wisdom - Both players will have 60 seconds on the chosen subject to answer as many questions as possible. The person with the most correct answers wins. If there is a tie, a sudden death tie-breaker question on the buzzers is asked.
Round 2
In the second round, the players who won the head-to-heads in round 1, along with the player who didn't play compete in a series of questions. The captain of the opposing team chooses which player to answer the question. If the answer is correct, the player stays, if the answer is wrong, the player is eliminated. This continues until one team has no players left.
Final Round
The winning team gets all their players regenerated. They have 90 seconds to get 6 consecutive questions correct. The question is read out, the captain chooses a player. If they get it right their light is turned on and they can't answer another question. If they answer wrong, then everyone's light is turned off. If all 6 lights are on the team wins £2,000.
Captain's Question
Following the final round the team captain has to answer a question correctly. With the captain turned around, so no signals of any kind can be made, Paddy offers the team 2 questions. They have to pick which one their captain will know the answer to. If the captain answers correctly the team can return to the next show. If answered incorrectly the team are eliminated and 2 new teams appear on the next show. (Incidentally, the captain gets asked the other question to see if he/she would have known the right answer.)
Thursday, 3 July 2008
John Armstrong
23rd January 1952 - 3rd July 2008
John Armstrong of Derbyshire, who has died suddenly aged 56, was a member of the England Open Bridge team a week earlier at the European Bridge Championships. In the pair rankings for the championship Armstrong and his partner, John Holland of Manchester, were second to the Norwegian gold medallists.
Armstrong was England’s most capped player in the Home Internationals in a career that spanned four decades. In 1987 Armstrong was in the British team that won silver in both the European and World championship, and then gold at the European Championships in 1991.
Armstrong was born in Ashbourne, Derbyshire in 1952. Both his parents were school teachers and John learned bridge as a teenager. He obtained a First at Cambridge University in mathematics. After University he moved to the Liverpool area for a job with Royal Insurance.
His long-time bridge partner was Graham Kirby. Their first international was in 1978. They earned 31 Camrose appearances for England concluding in 1997 when Kirby retired from international bridge to look after a young family. Armstrong had six internationals partnering Danny Davies before Davies took up a job in the United States.
Armstrong then formed a partnership with Holland. Their first match for England in 2006 saw Armstrong overtake the record of 37 caps for England long held by Tony Forrester. Armstrong and Holland were also selected for a Home International weekend in 2007 and in March this year, before the Europeans.
Armstrong recorded six wins in the Gold Cup, the British knockout championship.
He had retired from his job in insurance and returned to his home town. Armstrong was keen on orienteering, a talented pianist and a devout catholic. He was both a gentle man and a gentleman, very well-liked and respected in the bridge world.
Armstrong never married. He predeceases his mother, two brothers and a sister.
John Armstrong of Derbyshire, who has died suddenly aged 56, was a member of the England Open Bridge team a week earlier at the European Bridge Championships. In the pair rankings for the championship Armstrong and his partner, John Holland of Manchester, were second to the Norwegian gold medallists.
Armstrong was England’s most capped player in the Home Internationals in a career that spanned four decades. In 1987 Armstrong was in the British team that won silver in both the European and World championship, and then gold at the European Championships in 1991.
Armstrong was born in Ashbourne, Derbyshire in 1952. Both his parents were school teachers and John learned bridge as a teenager. He obtained a First at Cambridge University in mathematics. After University he moved to the Liverpool area for a job with Royal Insurance.
His long-time bridge partner was Graham Kirby. Their first international was in 1978. They earned 31 Camrose appearances for England concluding in 1997 when Kirby retired from international bridge to look after a young family. Armstrong had six internationals partnering Danny Davies before Davies took up a job in the United States.
Armstrong then formed a partnership with Holland. Their first match for England in 2006 saw Armstrong overtake the record of 37 caps for England long held by Tony Forrester. Armstrong and Holland were also selected for a Home International weekend in 2007 and in March this year, before the Europeans.
Armstrong recorded six wins in the Gold Cup, the British knockout championship.
He had retired from his job in insurance and returned to his home town. Armstrong was keen on orienteering, a talented pianist and a devout catholic. He was both a gentle man and a gentleman, very well-liked and respected in the bridge world.
Armstrong never married. He predeceases his mother, two brothers and a sister.
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
EGM 2008 results
At the EGM of the English Bridge Union on Wednesday June 4th the Members voted on the Board's pay to play proposals, which will be implemented from April 1st, 2010; during the intervening period there will be no changes to existing methods of subscription. The resolution stated:-
‘that the Shareholders accept the principle of Universal Membership and approve the Board proposals for replacing the current Annual Subscription and Master Point income by a pay to play fee as outlined in the "Strategy for the future of the EBU and Duplicate Bridge in England” dated April 2008. If so approved the Board will commission the changes necessary to the Bye-Laws of The English Bridge Union and request a future General Meeting to accept those changes’
The voting results were 52 in favour 31 against with two abstentions and one voter not present due to last minute personal problems. The votes of each county were taken in a public poll and recorded as follows:-
For | Against | Abstained | |
Avon | 2 | ||
Bedfordshire | 1 | ||
Berks & Bucks | 1 | 2 | |
Cambs and Hunts | 2 | ||
Channel Islands | 1 | ||
Cornwall | 2 | ||
Cumbria | 1 | ||
Derbyshire | 1 | ||
Devon | 2 | ||
Dorset | 2 | ||
Essex | 3 | ||
Gloucestershire | 2 | ||
Hants & IOW | 3 | ||
Herefordshire | 2 | ||
Hertfordshire | 3 | ||
Isle of Man | 1 | ||
Kent | 3 | ||
Lancashire | 3 | ||
Leicestershire | 2 | ||
Lincolnshire | 1 | ||
London | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Manchester | 1 | 2 | |
Merseyside | 2 | ||
Middlesex | 3 | ||
Norfolk | 2 | ||
North East | 3 | ||
Northants | 1 | ||
Notts | 1 | 1 | |
Oxford | 3 | ||
Somerset | 2 | ||
Staffs and Shropshire | 2 | ||
Suffolk | 2 | ||
Surrey | 4 | ||
Sussex | 2 | ||
Warwick | 3 | ||
Westmoreland | 1 | ||
Wiltshire | 1 | ||
Worcestershire | 2 | ||
Yorkshire | 4 | ||
Total | 52 | 31 | 2 |
The Board is meeting on June 11th to activate its plans for implementing its proposals and for making more announcements about its plans for streamlining the workings of the Union.
EGM 2008 results
At the EGM of the English Bridge Union on Wednesday June 4th the Members voted on the Board's pay to play proposals, which will be implemented from April 1st, 2010; during the intervening period there will be no changes to existing methods of subscription. The resolution stated:-
‘that the Shareholders accept the principle of Universal Membership and approve the Board proposals for replacing the current Annual Subscription and Master Point income by a pay to play fee as outlined in the "Strategy for the future of the EBU and Duplicate Bridge in England” dated April 2008. If so approved the Board will commission the changes necessary to the Bye-Laws of The English Bridge Union and request a future General Meeting to accept those changes’
The voting results were 52 in favour 31 against with two abstentions and one voter not present due to last minute personal problems. The votes of each county were taken in a public poll and recorded here.
‘that the Shareholders accept the principle of Universal Membership and approve the Board proposals for replacing the current Annual Subscription and Master Point income by a pay to play fee as outlined in the "Strategy for the future of the EBU and Duplicate Bridge in England” dated April 2008. If so approved the Board will commission the changes necessary to the Bye-Laws of The English Bridge Union and request a future General Meeting to accept those changes’
The voting results were 52 in favour 31 against with two abstentions and one voter not present due to last minute personal problems. The votes of each county were taken in a public poll and recorded here.
Sunday, 1 June 2008
Bridge in the North Pole
Followers of the European Championships in 2008, will be interested to discover that a member of the England Seniors, Chris Dixon, has recently completed a trek to the North Pole – where he managed to fit in a bridge game in the ice! It’s good to see that practice for the Championships can occur anywhere in the world! Here Chris tells us all about his adventure...
During the first 2 weeks of April 2008, I embarked upon an expedition to ski the last degree to the geographic North Pole, a distance of some 80 miles. The team of 13 was led by Rune Gjeldnes and David Hempelman-Adams both of whom are world famous polar adventurers with extraordinary records of achievements in the world's most inhospitable places.
The adventure started with a flight to Oslo and then on to Longyearbyen on the Island of Svalbard, Spitzbergen. Here we stayed 2 days for some training and testing of ourselves and equipment. We then flew to Barneo. Barneo is a temporary ice camp on the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean approximately 500 miles from the nearest land. It is recreated every year for just 5 weeks and serves to support scientific and other expeditions to the North Pole. Built on a large ice floe, is at approximately 89 degrees North and includes an ice runway. The ice here is about 1 metre thick under which is more than 4000 metres of ocean.
When we reached Barneo, we were informed that the floe covering the North Pole was drifting at the rate of 15 miles per day - in the wrong direction for us. Had we started skiing North, we might never have arrived. Fortunately the Russians took us by helicopter to a position which would offer a reasonable chance of success. We were airlifted out and left to fend for ourselves on the frozen Arctic Ocean. The temperature at this point was close to minus 30 degrees C.
We camped in two large tents which were secured with skis and ski poles as pegs and weighed down by snow on the valances. Cooking was done with two camping stoves in each tent which were used to bring snow blocks to the boil to provide hot drinks, soups and rehydrated expedition food. We slept in double arctic sleeping bags. The toilet facilities are best left to the imagination. In the mornings, the insides of the tents were thickly covered with frost which had to be brushed away before the stoves were lit. We all took turns in cooking duties.
After waking in the mornings it took about 2 hours to cook breakfast, fill the thermos flasks, pack our sleds and strike camp. The sleds weighed about 80 lbs and we were each harnessed to a sled which we hauled over the sea ice.
The weather conditions for our trek were good with mostly blue skies and light winds although the temperatures were colder than expected. Excluding wind chill, we encountered a low of -38 degrees C (falling to -60 with wind chill factor applied). Whilst crossing an ice floe, the surface was friendly with 1 metre thick ice covered by a layer of compacted snow between 12 inches and 4 feet in depth. Between floes were pressure ridges - mounds of ice rubble produced by two floes colliding, and these had to be manoeuvred carefully. We also encountered leads of open water between the floes although generally these had frozen over sufficiently over the preceding 10-12 hours to allow us to cross safely.
Navigation is difficult as compasses are of no use and using the position of the sun as a guide is very difficult because the longitude lines were so close together that we could never really know our time zone. Fortunately, our modern GPS navigation devices allowed us an unerring route to the pole. Naturally, so far North, we had 24 hours of sunlight. The sun, low in the sky at this time of year, remained at the same level as it circled 360 degrees around us.
Good weather and a much reduced drift means that we made excellent time in reaching the Pole - but we had to await our helicopter rendezvous to be returned to Barneo. This was harder than it seemed as each 24 hours we were drifting 5-6 miles away and would have to ski 'back' to the pole.
At the Pole itself, I was able to play my planned game of bridge on a table carved out of the sea ice. We also met another team of 12 explorers from the Indian Navy. The opportunity was too good to miss so we challenged them to a game of cricket. The game took place with 2 full sides; we used ski poles for stumps, a snow shovel as a bat, and some taped up bungee cord as a ball. After playing 4 overs each side, India was declared the winner of this Arctic Test Match.
We were collected on schedule by the Barneo helicopter crew who brought us champagne and other suitable refreshments.
This trip completed for me personally a double as in January 2006 I had travelled to the South Pole.
Some of the photos from Chris's expedition can be found here.
During the first 2 weeks of April 2008, I embarked upon an expedition to ski the last degree to the geographic North Pole, a distance of some 80 miles. The team of 13 was led by Rune Gjeldnes and David Hempelman-Adams both of whom are world famous polar adventurers with extraordinary records of achievements in the world's most inhospitable places.
The adventure started with a flight to Oslo and then on to Longyearbyen on the Island of Svalbard, Spitzbergen. Here we stayed 2 days for some training and testing of ourselves and equipment. We then flew to Barneo. Barneo is a temporary ice camp on the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean approximately 500 miles from the nearest land. It is recreated every year for just 5 weeks and serves to support scientific and other expeditions to the North Pole. Built on a large ice floe, is at approximately 89 degrees North and includes an ice runway. The ice here is about 1 metre thick under which is more than 4000 metres of ocean.
When we reached Barneo, we were informed that the floe covering the North Pole was drifting at the rate of 15 miles per day - in the wrong direction for us. Had we started skiing North, we might never have arrived. Fortunately the Russians took us by helicopter to a position which would offer a reasonable chance of success. We were airlifted out and left to fend for ourselves on the frozen Arctic Ocean. The temperature at this point was close to minus 30 degrees C.
We camped in two large tents which were secured with skis and ski poles as pegs and weighed down by snow on the valances. Cooking was done with two camping stoves in each tent which were used to bring snow blocks to the boil to provide hot drinks, soups and rehydrated expedition food. We slept in double arctic sleeping bags. The toilet facilities are best left to the imagination. In the mornings, the insides of the tents were thickly covered with frost which had to be brushed away before the stoves were lit. We all took turns in cooking duties.
After waking in the mornings it took about 2 hours to cook breakfast, fill the thermos flasks, pack our sleds and strike camp. The sleds weighed about 80 lbs and we were each harnessed to a sled which we hauled over the sea ice.
The weather conditions for our trek were good with mostly blue skies and light winds although the temperatures were colder than expected. Excluding wind chill, we encountered a low of -38 degrees C (falling to -60 with wind chill factor applied). Whilst crossing an ice floe, the surface was friendly with 1 metre thick ice covered by a layer of compacted snow between 12 inches and 4 feet in depth. Between floes were pressure ridges - mounds of ice rubble produced by two floes colliding, and these had to be manoeuvred carefully. We also encountered leads of open water between the floes although generally these had frozen over sufficiently over the preceding 10-12 hours to allow us to cross safely.
Navigation is difficult as compasses are of no use and using the position of the sun as a guide is very difficult because the longitude lines were so close together that we could never really know our time zone. Fortunately, our modern GPS navigation devices allowed us an unerring route to the pole. Naturally, so far North, we had 24 hours of sunlight. The sun, low in the sky at this time of year, remained at the same level as it circled 360 degrees around us.
Good weather and a much reduced drift means that we made excellent time in reaching the Pole - but we had to await our helicopter rendezvous to be returned to Barneo. This was harder than it seemed as each 24 hours we were drifting 5-6 miles away and would have to ski 'back' to the pole.
At the Pole itself, I was able to play my planned game of bridge on a table carved out of the sea ice. We also met another team of 12 explorers from the Indian Navy. The opportunity was too good to miss so we challenged them to a game of cricket. The game took place with 2 full sides; we used ski poles for stumps, a snow shovel as a bat, and some taped up bungee cord as a ball. After playing 4 overs each side, India was declared the winner of this Arctic Test Match.
We were collected on schedule by the Barneo helicopter crew who brought us champagne and other suitable refreshments.
This trip completed for me personally a double as in January 2006 I had travelled to the South Pole.
Some of the photos from Chris's expedition can be found here.
Monday, 19 May 2008
Teaching bridge in Botswana
The most popular sport in Botswana is football, closely followed by cricket and rugby. However additionally, and maybe surprisingly, many people in Botswana are also dedicated to the learning and playing of the card game bridge!
In October 2007, the Botswana Bridge Federation contacted the EBU’s Education Department manager, John Pain and asked him to visit Botswana and teach their bridge teachers and tournament directors. Such a unique opportunity was not to be missed and John started a full week of teaching on 19 May 2008 in Botswana.
View photos and videos here.
In October 2007, the Botswana Bridge Federation contacted the EBU’s Education Department manager, John Pain and asked him to visit Botswana and teach their bridge teachers and tournament directors. Such a unique opportunity was not to be missed and John started a full week of teaching on 19 May 2008 in Botswana.
View photos and videos here.
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Alec Salisbury Award winner - Richard Croot
The English Bridge Union has awarded Richard Croot the Alec Salisbury Award in recognition of the outstanding service he has given to the development of bridge at his school: Hereford Cathedral School, over many years.
Richard Croot was initially taught rudimentary bridge by his father at the age of six, which was followed by lessons from his maths teacher at Fettes school. His passion for bridge continued whilst studying at the universities of Bristol and Durham and in the past few years Richard has represented the county of Herefordshire.
He has been teaching bridge at the school since 1995 and has seen a number of his pupils go on toEngland junior success. Richard has also entered his school teams into the Herefordshire county leaguesand the Hereford bridge club competitions.
At the moment Richard teaches bridge to his Year 7 classes and plans to set up an after school bridge club in the next academic year.
The award was presented by EBU Chairman, Peter Stocken in front of many of Richard’s bridge students. Please click here to view the photos from the day of bridge.
Richard Croot was initially taught rudimentary bridge by his father at the age of six, which was followed by lessons from his maths teacher at Fettes school. His passion for bridge continued whilst studying at the universities of Bristol and Durham and in the past few years Richard has represented the county of Herefordshire.
He has been teaching bridge at the school since 1995 and has seen a number of his pupils go on toEngland junior success. Richard has also entered his school teams into the Herefordshire county leaguesand the Hereford bridge club competitions.
At the moment Richard teaches bridge to his Year 7 classes and plans to set up an after school bridge club in the next academic year.
The award was presented by EBU Chairman, Peter Stocken in front of many of Richard’s bridge students. Please click here to view the photos from the day of bridge.
Monday, 5 May 2008
Law Book 2007
The Board of the English Bridge Union will provide one copy of the new law book free of charge to every affiliated EBU club who has paid their current affiliation fee and one free copy to each County. This has been made possible due to the generosity of the Portland Club which has waived its rights to a copyright royalty in this instance as they fully support the Union in their development of bridge in England.
We will make arrangements for bulk delivery to the counties who can make arrangements for onward delivery to their clubs.
Click here for our guide.
We will make arrangements for bulk delivery to the counties who can make arrangements for onward delivery to their clubs.
Click here for our guide.
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Ian Spoors
The EBU is sad to report that National Tournament Director, Ian Spoors, died this week after a brief illness.
View Ian's Obituary here.
View Ian's Obituary here.
Monday, 18 February 2008
Bingo Lotto
The English Bridge Union is delighted to announce it will be amongst the beneficiaries of BingoLotto - a new TV game, set up by the CCPR. The game will raise money for sport and recreation and will help towards the EBU’s commitment in promoting the game of duplicate bridge.
BingoLotto will be a weekly game broadcast on digital TV channels Virgin1 and Challenge every Friday night, starting on 29 February. Tickets are on sale from outlets around the country and will allow viewers to take part in the BingoLotto game from the comfort of their own home. The game will be hosted by popular entertainers, Joe Pasquale and Suzanne Shaw.
BingoLotto will be a weekly game broadcast on digital TV channels Virgin1 and Challenge every Friday night, starting on 29 February. Tickets are on sale from outlets around the country and will allow viewers to take part in the BingoLotto game from the comfort of their own home. The game will be hosted by popular entertainers, Joe Pasquale and Suzanne Shaw.
Saturday, 2 February 2008
Masterpoint reports 2007
Congratulations to Ron Davis, who has won the 2007 Master Point race! Ron finished just ahead of his Bedfordshire colleague Jon Williams who had won it for the last several years. Third was Michael Byrne of Manchester.
In the Gold Point rankings, David Bakhshi of London ended the year in first place, ahead of Michael Byrne and last year's leader Tim Rees of Berks and Bucks.
Click here for all the rankings lists
In the Gold Point rankings, David Bakhshi of London ended the year in first place, ahead of Michael Byrne and last year's leader Tim Rees of Berks and Bucks.
Click here for all the rankings lists
Thursday, 3 January 2008
Raymond Brock (1936 - 2008)
Patrick Jourdain writes:
Raymond Brock, who has died aged 71, was, for four decades, one of Britain's leading bridge-players and administrators. He was a member of the British team in 1987 that won silver at both the European and World Championships and was a World Bridge Master.
Raymond Brock, who has died aged 71, was, for four decades, one of Britain's leading bridge-players and administrators. He was a member of the British team in 1987 that won silver at both the European and World Championships and was a World Bridge Master.
In the Home Internationals Brock had 26 caps for England as a player and, later, four as non-playing captain, including last year. Whilst resident in Glasgow in the early 70s he had seven matches for Scotland in the era when Scotland won the Camrose Trophy three times. Brock won the Gold Cup, the British knockout championships, on seven occasions.Brock was educated at Manchester University and became a Physics teacher at a Manchester school. His international bridge career began in 1960 partnering Roy Higson of Lancashire. In 1968 Brock became a computer manager for Honeywell and moved to Glasgow. After his return to England in 1975 he lived in Middlesex and initially formed a partnership with Bill Pencharz, earning four caps for England. But his success in British teams came from the eight-year partnership with Tony Forrester, bridge columnist of the Daily Telegraph, which began in 1982. This included the World and European silver medals and two bronze medals at Common Market Championships.
Of numerous national titles his most recent was the England Teams Championship for the Crockford's Cup in 2004. This was his sixth win in Crockford's.
As an administrator Brock was twice President of the British Bridge League and non-playing captain of many of its teams, including a world bronze for the Women in 1980, and gold for the Juniors at the 1989 World championships in Nottingham. He was a key figure in coaching young players and in 1994 captained the British Junior team that won the Europeans and went on to win the world title the following year in Bali. Brock was an England selector.
Brock married for the first time in 1993. His widow, Sally, is one of Britain's leading bridge players. They won the England Mixed Teams title six times and the British Mixed Pairs twice. They had two children.
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