Lords versus Commons Match 2009

Commons win for the first time since 2005

The House of Commons Team were successful for the first time in four years at the 35th annual House of Lords versus House of Commons match played at Crockford’s Club on Friday December 4th. Their win cuts the Upper House lead to 18-17.

An exciting set of boards was produced by Paul Bowyer together with commentary and Lord Kalms found an excellent lead to defeat 3NT on an early board but Nick Palmer (Lab, Broxtowe) and John Hemming (Lib Dem, Birmingham Yardley) helped the Commons to a lunchtime lead when they bid a good 6♦ played very competently by John Hemming to make when trumps didn’t break kindly.

After an excellent lunch one might have expected the standard to slip a bit but it didn’t and the Commons added to their lead and went into the final set leading by 2690 points.

The Commons captain Michael Mates (Conservative, East Hampshire) remarked that his team had once blown a lead of 3000 with two sets to play but didn’t see how they could do the same with only one set to play. Fairly shortly the computerised scoreboard showed that the Commons majority had been slashed to 280. As fingernails were being bitten however a fine defence by the captain himself restored a more healthy lead and the Commons ran out winners by 2800 aggregate points over the 28 board match which was played in fine spirit.

Michael Mates accepted the Jack Perry Trophy on behalf of the winners and also won the Sir Anthony Berry Trophy which is awarded for the best bridge moment, adjudicated by Jeremy Dhondy, for his excellent defence mentioned above to beat a game contract made at the other tables.











Winning team (L-R: Evan Harris, Tony McWalter, Nick Palmer, Michael Mates, John Marek, John Hemming, Bridget Prentice, Robin Squire).

The House of Lords team were: Lord Skelmersdale, Lady Oppenheim-Barnes, Lord Baker, Lord Kalms, Lord Harrison, Lady Billingham, Lord May of Oxford, Lady Henig)

Report by Jeremy Dhondy. The match was sponsored by Stephen Perry of London Export Ltd in memory of his father Jack whose name is on the match trophy.

Tom Bradley Award 2009

Congratulations to Ken Pattison, NEBA County Youth Officer who has won the 2009 Tom Bradley Award. The award has been given in recognition of his tireless 10 years of working in a number of schools in the Darlington and Teesside area.

The Tom Bradley Award is assigned each year to a non-school teacher for services to the teaching of bridge in England.

Photos
More information

Stuart Staveley

We are sad to report that Dr Stuart Staveley (Vice President of the EBU) has passed away.

John Williams who knew him well has written the following obituary:

I arrived at the EBU in Thame in the Spring of 1978, charged with taking over from Stuart Staveley as Executive Secretary of the EBU.

The EBU had recently established offices at 15B High Street, but part of the operation – the trading department – was located in the Staveley private household across the road at (I seem to remember) No. 81. Stuart was assisted – some might say ruled – by his wife Ann, who acted as Assistant Secretary. Certainly it was Ann who took all the phone calls from Harold Franklin during the day and night-time, and by and large did his (i.e. Harold’s) bidding.

I had a few precious months with Stuart while he tried to school me in the mysteries of management of the EBU. He was a careful and punctilious manager ("look after the pennies" was his byword), and this was entirely in keeping with his other role as a part-time lecturer in classical history at London University. Stuart was the ultimate academic. He deplored and despised anything that wasn’t correct or traditional in the modern world. He insisted on spelling Yugoslavia with a J.

Stuart was a founder of Aylesbury Bridge Club, where he took me to play with him soon after I arrived. Naturally, I had to learn the Blue Team Blue Club book from cover to cover – the most rigorous and structured of bidding systems – at 24 hours notice in order to do this. (When we played, every system bid in the book seemed to come up, and I got them all right, much more by luck than judgment, which Stuart accepted without comment.) He was a fine technician at the bridge table, though Ann regarded him as far too passive in the bidding.

At this time Stuart and Ann were looking towards retirement in Scotland (though Ann was already ill and sadly didn’t survive long in their remote highland cottage).

Stuart had set himself the task of writing a book on the history of punctuation in the English language – perhaps not destined for best-seller status – and this kept him occupied for a good time.

He didn’t lose his bridge contacts, remaining as Secretary of the International Bridge Press Association for some years. He had accepted a role as a Vice-President of the EBU (though he never attended meetings) and made occasional appearances at European and World events in a press role.

The last time I saw him was at the World Teams Olympiad in Maastricht in 2000, when we shared a table at the final dinner, and he had some cutting things to say about substandard fancy cuisine. He was accompanied, I recall, by his “new” wife, also called Ann – which somehow seemed entirely fitting.

Stuart was in many ways the founder of the modern EBU. He will be remembered fondly and with enormous respect by all who knew him.

Tournament Focus - Issue III

The third issue of Tournament Focus, written especially for our tournament player, is now available to read on-line.

In each issue, we hope to provide you with information on our future events, updates from the Tournament Committee, and articles of interest to our many tournament players.
Since the past two editions, members have commented that the newsletter was very hard to read as a PDF, so we have worked on creating a new on-line version for you to enjoy. We hope you enjoy the new look!

We look forward to your feedback and ideas for future contributions and articles in our next newsletter which will be hitting your inboxes in February 2010.

• Read here

Members Travel Insurance Offer

In association with the English Bridge Union, AIS Direct are pleased to provide a range of insurance products at competitive rates that are available to members and their families.

EBU Members taking out a policy before 31st December 2009 will enter a Prize Draw for a FREE policy renewal in 2010 - the winner to be announced in January 2010.

For more information, please view our own travel insurance website, here.

Laws Flow Charts

The L&E have produced some flow charts of common laws which we hope TDs will find useful.

■ Flow Charts

Paper Master Point processing at Aylesbury

From April 1st 2010, no paper master points issued will be accepted by the EBU, unless dated before then, and within the stated validity, with all updating being done from then onwards electronically. This will mean that the days of collecting small pieces of paper and then sending them to Aylesbury for us to count and manually update will be over.

However, we are about to enter a time of substantially increased work pressures at the Aylesbury office as we work to implement these and other IT system changes, and this may result in delays in processing master point claims.

We would therefore ask members who have paper master points that they wish us to put on their records to follow these requirements of submission to us carefully:-

1. Please use the correct forms. Note that the master point year ends on December 31st.
2. Please count your master points as requested and fill in the forms properly.
3. to see if your claim has been processed, click here. Enter your EBU number where requested; click on your rank to see individual registrations. Please allow at least four weeks for your claim to be processed, before contacting the office.

We will of course ensure that all paper master points are updated before we produce the results for the 2009 Master Point competitions. Due to the work pressures previously stated, there may be a delay in the final results. If that happens, apologies in advance!

Simultaneous Pairs Event Policy from April 1, 2010

EBU, WBF and EBL Simultaneous Pairs will only be open to affiliated clubs.

BGB Simultaneous Pairs events will attract a surcharge of £1 per player for ALL BGB sessions played in unaffiliated clubs. As for the Children In Need simultaneous, Overall Master Points will only be awarded by ECATS to EBU members in unaffiliated clubs if the results are uploaded electronically to ECatsBridge with the EBU number of such members included in the file in the correct format. These will subsequently be uploaded to the EBU by ECatsBridge once the overall results are known and the Master Points will be credited accordingly.

All other licensed simultaneous events are being reviewed and a policy will be announced in early 2010.

AGM Results

As members may know, the Annual General Meeting of the English Bridge Union is taking place today (Wednesday October 7th) in London.

The election results were announced at 3.30 p.m. and they were as follows:-

	Directors Elected	Number of votes received
1.	Sally Bugden	71
2.	Andrew Petrie	69
3.	Michael Hill	65
4.	Graham Jepson	64
5.	Jeremy Dhondy	59
6.	Martin Pool	58
7.=	Jeff Morris	55
7.=	Malcolm Oliver	55
9.	Alan Nelson	54
10.	John Carter	53

Peter Stocken and Suzanne Gill were nominated but just missed out on being elected with 46 and 40 votes respectively.

There being no other candidates for the roles, the following remained in their positions:

Chairman - Sally Bugden

Vice Chairman - Andrew Petrie

Treasurer - Michael Hill


Voting took place and the following members were elected:-

Laws & Ethics Committee

Two nominations were received, for two places, so no election required.

Mike Amos and Jeremy Dhondy were therefore re-elected for a further three-year term of office expiring in 2012.

Selection Committee

Four nominations have been received for the two vacancies. The top two persons duly elected will serve for a three year term of office expiring in 2012.

	Number of votes received
Sally Brock	57
Peter Baxter	39
David Muller	25
Heather Bakhshi	24

Baxter beat Muller after a tie and a run-off vote.

Tournament Committee

Two nominations were received, for two places, so no election required.

Alan Nelson and Addis Page were therefore re-elected for a further three-year term of office expiring in 2012.

Dimmie Fleming Award, 2009

Bob Blackmore, who last August won the first John Armstrong Memorial Award, is now the recipient of the Dimmie Fleming Award for services to bridge.

Bob is a player of the highest standard who has won almost every competition in Devon and has represented that County in national events on numerous occasions.

He was a founder member of the Exeter Bridge Club, and has been its unpaid financial director since 1994. He has used that position to promote the interests of bridge both for the club and the Devon Bridge Association.

Bob largely gave up competitive bridge to take on the role of encouraging young players and those new to the game. For as long as most people can remember, nobody has worked harder for bridge in Devon than Bob Blackmore.

Richard Currie

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Richard Currie passed away peacefully in his sleep on Saturday 19th September at the Phyllis Tuckwell hospice. His parents, Erica and Douglas, were with him.

Richard was the favourite bridge partner of many and not just of members at Farnham Bridge Club. Those who were privileged to share a part of his short life have been given the opportunity to know a generous, kind man with a large heart and great sense of humour, who unstintingly gave of himself in every way. He was a 'star' both at and away from the bridge table who looked after his bridge playing partners, team mates and opponents with the same selfless and helpful attitude. Both he and his partner were notorious for their rendition of EHAA which put their opponents playing skills to the test - a system which I am sure many will be pleased to see the back of!

Those who played regularly with him had the unique opportunity of sharing in some of his successes whilst following others with interest and no-one can replace him in our hearts.

Richard's funeral service will be held at St Thomas-on-the-Bourne church, Frensham Road, Farnham GU9 8HA on Monday 5th October at 12 noon. There will be a private cremation for family only later in the day.

AGM Nominations

The following are the nominations for the AGM on the 7th October 2009.

Nominations received as at 16th September 2009 (closing date).

Board

Twelve candidates have been nominated and have agreed to stand. As such, there will need to be an election for the ten positions available.

• Sally Bugden
• John Carter
• Jeremy Dhondy
• Suzanne Gill
• Michael Hill
• Graham Jepson
• Jeff Morris
• Alan Nelson
• Malcolm Oliver
• Andrew Petrie
• Martin Pool
• Peter Stocken

Officers

• Sally Bugden – Chairman
• Andrew Petrie – Vice-Chairman
• Michael Hill – Treasurer

Tournament Committee

The election this year is for two positions serving a three year term of office expiring in 2012 – no election required.

• Alan Nelson
• Addis Page

Selection Committee

The election this year is for two positions serving a three year term of office expiring in 2012.

• Heather Bakhshi
• Peter Baxter
• Sally Brock
• David Muller

Laws & Ethics Committee

The election this year is for two positions serving a three year term of office expiring in 2012 – no election required.

• Mike Amos
• Jeremy Dhondy

Promotion

Congratulations to the following TD’s who have been successfully promoted:

Gordon Rainsford to become a National Tournament Director.

David Stevenson to become a National Tournament Director.

Neil Morley to be promoted to a National Tournament Director.

Martin Lee to be promoted to a Senior Congress Tournament Director.

England are World Champions!

England are World Champions! After a roller coaster ride of a match, where they were down by 60 IMPs after one set, fought back brilliantly to lead by 30 IMPs after five sets and had to face an exciting late rally by Poland, England emerged victorious by 187 IMPs to 163.67.

Congratulations to all the team: Gunnar Hallberg and John Holland, David Price and Colin Simpson, Ross Harper and Paul Hackett and NPC Peter Baxter.

In the Venice Cup Final, China beat USA. In the Bermuda Bowl Final, USA beat Italy.

• View Press Release
• David Muller's Selections and Internationals Blog
• Championship Website
• Bulletins featuring England: 3 - 6 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 15

England Players Scoop IBPA Prizes

England players have taken centre stage at the prestigious International Bridge Press Association’s 2009 Awards Ceremony.

Michelle Brunner won the Gidwani Family Trust Defence of the Year Award, for a defence reported in the IBPA Bulletin by Maureen Hiron, The Independent Bridge Columnist.

Stuart and Gerald Tredinnick won the Precision Best Bid Hand of the Year Award, for an auction reported by Heather Dhondy in her 2008 Gold Cup article, published in English Bridge.

Well done to all players and journalists concerned!

You can find all the deals in the São Paulo Bulletins:

• Declarer Play and Bidding (page 7)
• Defense and the Junior deal (page 19)

Roy Absalom (1918 - 2009)

Roy Absalom was born in Abercarn. Very shortly after, the family moved a couple of miles down the road to the mining village of Cwmcarn, in what was Monmouthshire. His parents did not want him to become a miner like his father, so urged him to get a good education. His father died at the age of 53 when Roy was 16. A year later his mother encouraged him to go to work in London with a scheme run by the government where his board and lodging were provided plus 5s a week. As soon as he was earning, he started sending money back to his mother in South Wales.

Roy started work before the war at Mosers in London, which became Nettlefolds & Mosers and later still became GKN. He returned to the company after the war, and worked there until taking early retirement at 55, when the company moved to Bootle. He studied to become a Chartered Secretary and by the time he retired he was the Company Secretary and a Director.

During the war he travelled out to Palestine on a troop ship via South Africa and because he had to have an operation on his knee he was not sent into action in Italy. He ended the war having spent four years in Palestine and without hearing a shot fired!

While he was in Palestine he learnt to play bridge, which was a game he loved for the rest of his life. He was a former Chairman of the British Bridge League and Vice-President of the EBU. He went to Israel with young international players and took part in several exchanges between Croydon and Arnhem. He was the Chairman of the Croydon Bridge Congress for several years.

Roy was a very keen sportsman, enjoying running, hockey and tennis in his younger years and then moving on to golf. His love of rugby was well known in the family and he would always support Wales when they were playing. Tennis was very important, as he met his wife, Beryl, at a whist match run by the tennis club to which they both belonged. They married on 1st October 1949, and had two daughters and three sons. Roy was devoted to his family and up until the time he died Beryl used to test him to make sure he could remember the names of all his grandchildren – ten of them. He had four great grandchildren, and knew that a fifth one was on the way.

Roy suffered from Parkinson's Disease for almost thirty years but in all this time he was never heard to complain about it. He was always cheerful, he kept his interest in the activities of others and his sense of humour never left him. A few months ago he gently joked that he was ‘a fine figure of a man’. Maybe more than he knew, he really was. He will be greatly missed.

The funeral will take place on Monday 14th September, 11.30am at Croydon Crematorium, Thornton Road (A23).

BingoLotto Returns

Sports and recreation clubs (including EBU affilliated clubs) across the UK are set to benefit from the launch of an interactive TV game, BingoLotto. Participants will be able to buy a £2 Gamecard at the check-outs at every Tesco store throughout Britain and each Gamecard will raise 40 pence for good causes. The TV game, hosted by Ulrika Jonsson, will air weekly on Virgin 1 every Sunday evening starting on 13 September.

The BingoLotto TV game has run in Sweden since 1991 where it has raised just under £1bn for charities and sports organisations. At least 20% from each Gamecard sold in Great Britain will be distributed to sport, recreation and voluntary projects up and down the country through CCPR. Profits will be distributed to the governing and representative bodies of sport and recreation, including the English Bridge Union.

Tim Lamb, CCPR chief executive, believes the investment distributed to CCPR members can make a big difference to community sport and recreation:

“It is CCPR’s role to protect, promote and provide for its members, their clubs and participants and BingoLotto proceeds have the potential to contribute to all three of our aims. The financial environment for clubs is still very tough and this new funding stream will hopefully give them a much-needed boost.”

Tickets at all Tesco stores will be on sale from 7 September 2009.

For further details of the scheme, visit www.bingolotto.tv


Update: Unfortunately BingoLotto has put its plans on hold and has stopped selling game cards. Read the press release for more information.

Peter Czerniewski (1949-2009)

Peter Czerniewski was one of the most successful English players of the last three decades. He died on August 29th 2009 at the age of just 60 after losing a two-year battle against cancer.

Peter was born in West Wales of Polish parents but, although he represented Wales as a junior at chess, did not start playing bridge seriously until he was at university in 1968-1970 (Jesus College, Oxford). He played in the ’Varsity Matches of 1969 and 1970 but this was just the start of a distinguished career in competitive bridge. He represented Great Britain in the Common Market Championships of 1987, winning a Gold Medal. He played for England in the Camrose in 1988 with his first regular partner (Barry Rigal) and subsequently in 1996 (with David Price) and most recently in 2009 with Ian Panto, winning the trophy for England.

He has won the Gold Cup, Crockfords Cup, The Spring Fours (three times), the Tollemache (three times), the Lederer (twice), the Brighton 4 Star Teams (twice) and the Grand Masters’ Pairs. He was also a successful rubber bridge player, respected (and feared) at TGRs and other London clubs.

These successes lay alongside his working life as a designer and implementer of computer systems for British Aerospace and other major international corporations.

Peter was a man of great charm who loved, and was loved by, his family and who naturally made friends throughout the bridge world. He had a great intellect and a mind which worked considerably faster than most people’s. Come to think of it, he also had a body which worked faster than most people’s! He was a keen marathon runner and completed an astonishing fifteen marathons during his lifetime, recording a best time of under three hours.

After his retirement in 2007, he had the time to start playing bridge seriously again. He represented England in the Senior Camrose in 2008 (winner) and 2009. He finished in third place in the first division of the EBU Premier League in 2008.

On a personal note, Peter has been my good friend for nearly thirty-five years. I learnt about his illness in the summer of 2008 and have been closely involved with his active bridge life of the past fifteen months. In June 2008 I was a member of the England Senior team in the European Championships in Pau, France, for which Peter was a dedicated NPC. In October 2008, Peter and I were both playing members of the English Seniors team which reached the quarter-final of the World Mind Sports Olympiad in Beijing. I was his NPC for his successful performance for England in the Camrose in January 2009 and we played together in the Schapiro Spring Foursomes in May of this year. Finally, as his swansong, he partnered me in the Brighton Pairs on August 14th until, racked with pain and the side effects of powerful medication, Peter was forced to withdraw. He died peacefully two weeks later surrounded by his family.

Peter lived in North London and is survived by his loving and devoted wife Pam and his two children, Alexandra (22) and Christof (20). He will be sorely missed by them and all in the bridge world who knew him.

Chris Dixon
31st August 2009

Update:

Peter Czerniewski’s Life will be remembered at:

St Marylebone Crematorium
East End Road
East Finchley
N2 0RZ

on Thursday September 10th at 3pm.

English Bridge Internationals are invited to wear England Team Uniform.

More memories will be shared afterwards at 9 Ella Road, London N8 9EL

There will be a collection for Marie Curie & St John’s Hospice and donations are welcome at this web address to donate for Peter’s daughter, Alexandra, who will be running a marathon in her father’s memory.

http://www.justgiving.com/alexandrarunsformariecurie

John Armstrong Memorial Award - Winner

Several nominations were made for this new award, for people who play the game in the spirit of John Armstrong, and they were as follows:

Bob Blackmore (Devon)
Michelle Brunner (Manchester)
Simon Cochemé (London)
Peter Crouch (Kent)
Jonathan Davis (London)
Bernard Goldenfield (Manchester)
Mathew Hoskins (Sussex)
Don Smedley (Derby)
John Reavy (Derby)

The EBU endorses this award in John’s name. It has been instigated, organised, and judged by Danny Davies, John Holland, Graham Kirby, Jack Mizel and Paul Hackett.

Bob Blackmore was announced as the winner of the first award yesterday by the EBU’s Chairman, Sally Bugden. Two trees will be planted at Heritage Wood, Derbyshire: one in memory of John and the other in Bob’s name.

Sally Bugden, Chairman of the EBU, congratulates Bob Blackmore

Bob Blackmore: Helen Foster writes, “Much of Exeter Bridge Club’s success is attributed to Bob. A Grand Master, he partners players of any standard on a club evening and will encourage partner throughout, never failing to point out his own mistakes. His services to Devon are much appreciated, and the club bridge room was named after him.”

The John Armstrong Memorial Award Nominations

Following Danny Davies' article, we have been very pleased to receive several nominations for this award, for people who play the game in the spirit of John Armstrong. They are as follows:

• Bob Blackmore (Devon)
• Michelle Brunner (Manchester)
• Simon Cochemé (London)
• Peter Crouch (Kent)
• Jonathan Davis (London)
• Bernard Goldenfield (Manchester)
• Mathew Hoskins (Sussex)
• Don Smedley (Derby)
• John Reavy (Derby)

Bob Blackmore. Helen Foster writes; Much of Exeter Bridge Club’s success is attributed to Bob. A Grand Master, he partners players of any standard on a club evening and will encourage partner throughout, never failing to point out his own mistakes. His services to Devon are much appreciated (the club bridge room was named after him) but John might well have wanted to be associated with him.

Michelle Brunner. While suffering a life threatening illness has continued to not only play bridge at the highest level but also has made a determined effort to represent England in the Open team. Her cheerfulness at the table is an inspiration to us all.

Simon Cochemé. For organising and promoting the Lederer Invitational tournament for several years and also without financial reward attempting to maximise the publicity for the recent TV Bridge programme.

Peter Crouch. For accepting John Armstrong’s word at the bridge table when if he had appealed there was a strong possibility that he would have won the appeal and thus represented England instead of John.

Jonathan Davis. For helping to put the Buffett Cup into action. Specifically setting up and maintaining a highly professional website at his own expense.

Bernard Goldenfield. Dave Debbage writes: A gentleman who was a regular teammate of John and has always conducted himself in the John Armstrong mold.

Matthew Hoskins. Raymond Roberts writes: Outside bridge I have had the pleasure of several chats about the world in general and the Antique market. I and many around have always shared my view that Matthew is always a gentleman, always prepared to help tyros and whilst being a great tournament player has never to my knowledge treated anyone other than with respect and in a fair and friendly way.

Don Smedley. Nominated by East Midlands Bridge Club as an inspiration to John in his younger days and a continuous asset to the club.

John Reavy. Nick Simms writes: He is always civil at the table and, equally importantly, was well liked by John himself. The two often played together at East Midlands Bridge Club. John has stayed in touch with John Armstrong’s mother and brother, Paul, and has been campaigning for a fitting memorial to John Armstrong at the EMBC.

The EBU endorses this award in John’s name. It has been instigated, organised, and judged by Danny Davies, John Holland, Graham Kirby, Jack Mizel, Paul Hackett. The winner will be announced by the judges at Brighton and two trees will be planted at Heritage Wood, Derbyshire: one in memory of John and the other in the winner's name.

John Robbins

We are sad to report that John Robbins died on June 20th after a long illness. He was a regular player on the national circuit attending congresses all around the country.

He started playing bridge after leaving Birmingham University and was a dominant force in Midlands bridge, being Chair of the Warwickshire selection committee for several years and an active member and Director of West Midlands Bridge Club. He also represented Warwickshire in a number of national competitions.

He taught bridge and was always keen to encourage young recruits to the game. Having done his post-graduate degree at Oxford University, some years ago he and several other Alumni set up 'The Oxford Alumni' with the aim of meeting socially and enjoying bridge. He was very much involved in promoting this and played his last match against Cambridge shortly before he died. In the last few months of his life, despite being very ill, he continued to play in every competition going. It could literally be said, "He lived for the game.”

Dick Freeman (1933 - 2009)

We are sad to record the death, on 29th June 2009, of Richard “Dick” Freeman of Atlanta, USA, one of the world's great players.

Freeman was a Bermuda Bowl winner three times (1995, 2000, 2003) and runner up twice (1997, 2005). He was a World Grand Master, placed 13th in the world rankings at the time of his death.

Dick Freeman was also a member of the ACBL Hall of Fame.

Freddie North: 1921 - 2009

We are sad to announce the death, on 28th June 2009, of Freddie North, one of the last surviving giants of the rubber bridge era as well as a very popular bridge teacher and writer.

Frederick Lumsden North was born in Southsea in 1921. His father had been an officer in the First World War and Freddie followed in his footsteps, joining a young soldiers’ battalion at the age of 17. He was commissioned into the Queen’s Royal Regiment in 1941, promoted to Captain in 1943 and to Major in January 1945. After demobbing in November 1946, Freddie went on to the Imperial Service College (later amalgamated with Haileybury). In his youth, he had been a proficient rugby player as well as an accomplished race rider.

Freddie North was one of the first bridge professionals of post-war England. In 1950, he opened The Sussex School of Bridge, which flourished until his retirement in 2000. From the mid-70s until his retirement, Freddie also worked for P&O, organising and running bridge on cruise ships. In over fifty years of playing and teaching bridge, Freddie North also contributed regular columns to most of the English bridge magazines, and wrote over twenty bridge books, some in collaboration with the great Jeremy Flint. His elegant style of writing, lucid and gently humorous, endeared him to tens of thousands of readers and students.

Although primarily a very successful high-stakes rubber bridge player, Freddie North also excelled at duplicate bridge, becoming one of the EBU’s first Grand Masters. He won his first national title in 1948, The Sydney Woorward Cup, playing with Peter Heywood. He won the National Pairs in 1952 in partnership with Chris Hunt, The Field Cup in 1958 opposite the great Maurice Harrison-Gray, and The Daily Telegraph Cup four times (1950, 1955-56, 1963 and 1967). In tandem with John Pugh, Freddie won the Pachabo twice (1959 and 1962) representing Sussex CBA, of which he was President for nearly thirty years from 1972. They also won the Gold Cup in 1962, playing with Harrison-Gray, Rockfelt and the Sharples brothers, and Crockfords in 1967 with Louis Tarlo and Claude Rodrigue as team-mates.

Freddie represented Great Britain in the World Pairs Olympiad of 1962 and 1966, and played with Dimmie Fleming in the 1962 World Pairs. He also represented England in several Camrose matches in the late 1950s and 1960s.

Freddie North lived in Sussex, together with his wife, Margaret, and their dog, Sasha. He kept writing until the end; always the polished professional, he was preparing his next set of articles for English Bridge when pneumonia and a previously undiagnosed lung cancer brought a swift end to his long and busy life.

Our sympathies go to Margaret and Freddie’s family. He will be sorely missed by all his friends and readers.

Elena Jeronimidis

Stuart Sather

We are sorry to announce the death of STUART SATHER on 10th June 2009, in Charing Cross Hospital after a short illness. He follows his wife GWYNETH SATHER who died in November.

Stuart and Gwyneth were active members of the bridge circuit for many years, both in the USA and London where they moved in 1979, particularly at the Wimbledon Bridge Club where they played both as a pair and with others. They were very involved in the teaching side of the game and in their retirement years were ‘hired hands’ as tutors on a number of Fred Olsen cruises, which took them all over the world. Gwyneth was a teacher on the EBU books and looked forward to her weekly sessions with beginners even when she fell ill. Stuart lent his expertise in IT to the cause and developed the membership database for the Wimbledon BC, where he also served as Secretary.

They are survived by daughter Lynn, son Trevor and seven grand-children.

Online Tournament Survey

To help with the development of our competitions programme, the Tournament Committee undertook an on-line survey earlier this year. The full results are now available.

Download full report

Exhibition Bridge Match – 4 July, Bath

An exhibition bridge match (organised by Chris Dixon) will be taking place in the King’s Lounge of the Pump Room complex, Bath all day on Saturday 4th July, between the England Women’s team (the World Championship gold medal holders) and the England under-twenty-fives team prior to their departure for the European Championships commencing on 8 July 2009 in Romania.

EBU members and members of the public are welcome to see the teams in action by visiting the Pump Room on 4th July. There will be one session in the morning from 10.00am and one in the afternoon from 2.00pm.

The match is being held to promote mind-sports in the run up to the European Bridge Championships in 2010 and the second World Mind Sports Games in 2012. All welcome!

If you would like to attend, either come along or contact Matt Betts.

Further information

Alec Salisbury

We are sad to announce that Alec Salisbury passed away last week. Alec was the EBU's Schools and Youth Officer for many years.

Alec was educated at Isleworth Grammar, gained a Degree in Electrical Engineering, and Commissioned during his period of National Service.

Alec was very influencial in bridge and particularly youth bridge, later acting as Schools and Youth Officer for the English Bridge Union. He also helped support the Educational Trust for British Bridge, when it was first founded in 1991. With Sandra Landy, he produced a Manual for Teachers, which included card play via Minibridge, simple bidding and defence. They both visited many schools together to tell them about the new Bridge for Schools publication and to encourage teachers to introduce bridge into their schools. It was by this method that the game of Minibridge was first introduced into all the home counties.

The Alec Salisbury Award was later created to honour his work with youth bridge. The award is given to teachers who promote bridge in schools.

He was still teaching well into his seventies and regularly ran bridge weekends, particularly at Marlborough School and The Earnley Concourse (in Chichester). He was also a regular player on various cruise ships.

Alec will be remembered for his cheerful disposition, always willing to help whatever the circumstances. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

A funeral will be held on Friday the 5th June 2009 (friends are welcome to the house afterwards, but please call Mary Macrae for details: 07852512023). There will also be a Memorial Service on the 6th June 2009. The Memorial service is at Wokingham Baptist Church at 10.30am and is open to all.

EBU Members Benefits - Theatre Offer

Rodgers & Hammerstein's - Carousel
Starring Lesley Garrett

Carousel tells the story of two star-crossed lovers – Billy Bigelow, a handsome but ill-mannered carousel barker, and Julie Jordan, a naive and selfless young mill worker. This truly great classic musical is set to one of the most ravishing and celebrated scores of all time, including The Carousel Waltz, If I Loved You, June is Bustin' Out All Over and You'll Never Walk Alone.

'Lesley Garrett's 'You'll Never Walk Alone' had me weeping into my notebook' Observer

***** Daily Mail

**** Daily Telegraph, Mail On Sunday, Evening Standard, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Express, The London Paper, Time Out, The Times

Best seats just £29.50 (normally £61) for all performances until 30 July*

To book, call 0870 164 8787 and quote ‘EBU’ offer or online at www.ambassadortickets.com/carousel and enter the promo code EBU.

*Subject to availability

Savoy Theatre, The Strand, London, WC2R 5DE

3rd National County League Final 2009

The following counties have qualified for the NATIONAL COUNTY team of 8 final at West Midlands Bridge Club on Sunday 5th July 2009.

	A	B	C
NORTH	Manchester	Yorkshire	Manchester
EAST	Norfolk	Northants	Hertfordshire
S’WEST	Dorset	Avon	Avon
MIDLANDS	Gloucestershire	Derbyshire	Oxfordshire
S’EAST	Kent	Kent	Essex

Coffee served from noon, - start at 12.30. Meal at 3.45 pm

New York Times - How Bridge helps the Brain

For all that scientists have studied - the brain remains the most complex and mysterious human organ — and now it is the focus of billions of dollars’ worth of US research to penetrate its secrets. The New York Times has been following recent developments through a series of articles. Last week they looked into how Bridge has been helping a group of people aged 90+ to keep their mind alert.

Read Article

John Armstrong Memorial Award

Can you win like John Armstrong?

A few months ago Graham Kirby and I were driving home from a Crockfords match. We had just played against Paul Hackett and our conversation had naturally turned to the person whom all of us were lucky enough to play bridge with, John Armstrong. As we had a long way to go, Paul had asked Graham and I to think about the memorial trophy for John.

We briefly discussed how suitable the planting of trees in John’s name and the annual winners name was – as John loved the outdoors and orienteering. But it didn’t take long for our conversation to shift to how different playing bridge with John was, compared to playing with anyone else. We shared stories about the spirit in which John played the game which has contributed as much to British Bridge as being one of the exceptional players of several generations. John was welcoming to anyone he met at the table, whether they had been playing for two months or if he was playing against some of the best players in the world. John would encourage opponents who were total beginners and if they asked, he would take time to help them improve. At the same time, I remember him laughing and joking on the other side of the screen with the great Norwegian, Gier Helgemo in the middle of the European championships.

John took time and care playing at his local club in Derby and gave up a lot of his own time to help junior teams and teach. The first time I spent more than an hour with John, he had agreed to Captain our junior team in the European Championships in Cardiff. My mum always told me how she loved it if she was lucky enough to play against John and Graham. This was not because she did well, but because of how charming they both were and how much fun it was to visit their table.

After playing in Cardiff, John had, in his usual selfless way, offered to give me a lift back to the North. During the journey, there was a moment that changed my outlook on bridge forever. John suggested we play together in the Premier League the next year and I was totally honoured, excited and in awe. We played in and won several Premier Leagues with Paul Hackett and Tony Waterlow, then later with Tom Townsend and David Gold. There was not a single cross word in any of our teams. In fact, whether we were in the Gold cup semi-final and I stupidly played in a redoubled cue bid costing us a place in the final or whether we were beating Forrester / Robson and the Hackett twins by 1 imp after 128 boards, John always smiled, laughed and treated everyone with respect.

I learned how the game should be played with John. People often talk about how the British are missing that winning mentality and boy did John play to win. He never lost concentration, gave away a sloppy overtrick or did anything less than the meticulous preparation required for playing international bridge. What all of those lucky enough to play the game with John have realised is that being a winner is not to the exclusion of charm, whit and warmth.

If you know anyone who plays the game in the spirit of John please nominate them for the John Armstrong memorial award by emailing Paul Hackett on: Paul.h@ukonline.co.uk

Danny Davies

P2P Files

Today we announced the file format for future P2P submissions. We have contacted all the scoring system authors we know about but if you didn't receive our email, please contact us now to find out more.

• Email Us

Membership Benefits from HMCA

Healthcare and related benefits for EBU members.

Members of the EBU are now eligble to join the health-related member benefit schemes offered by HMCA (The Hospital & Medical Care Association).

These arrangements provide members (and their families) with a simple means of securing the benefits and services offered by HMCA, at an exclusive rate. The services, which are provided exclusively by HMCA for members of associations and professional groups, have already been appreciated by thousands of members of other participating organisations over the past 30 years.

The schemes on offer include the following plans:-
Private Healthcare Plan
Personal Accident Plan
Term Life Plan
Income Protection Plan
Dental Plan
Hospital Sickness & Injury Cash Plan
Travel Plan


For more information, please visit our special site.

Seniors Camrose: 29 - 31 May 2009

The England teams have now been announced for the Seniors Camrose 2009:

PATRON:Bernard Teltscher & Tony Priday
Chris Dixon & Victor Silverstone
David Price & Colin Simpson

ENGLAND:Paul Hackett & Ross Harper
Gunnar Hallberg & Peter Czwerniewski
Ian Panto & Tony Waterlow
NPC John Williams

There will be no vu-graph but spectators can watch at the open tables.
More information

Tournament Focus

The first edition of Tournament Focus has now arrived!

Tournament Focus is written especially for the tournament player – whether you play in just one or many. We hope that our newsletter will inform, entertain, and provide views from our tournament players, every quarter.

View here

EBU Prizes & Puma Hotels

We are pleased to announce that the EBU has arranged a special deal with Puma Hotels to enhance the value of EBU prizes!

Winners may now exchange their winnings for Puma benefits, as below.

Agreed prize values:
£50 prize money = A one night Bed & Breakfast stay for two people.
£80 prize money = A one night Dinner, Bed & Breakfast stay for two people.
£100 prize money = A two night Bed & Breakfast stay for two people.
£150 prize money = A two night Dinner, Bed & Breakfast stay for two people

Peter Garner Gray

We are sorry to have to announce the death of PETER GARNER-GRAY on 1st April 2009, and we offer our sincere condolences to his family and close friends. Peter was a well known member on the bridge circuit.

• Read Merseyside and Cheshire Bridge Association Obituary

Club Focus - Issue III

Another bumper edition of Club Focus is now available to read.
Read Issue III
View past editions

More Membership Benefits

Since the announcement of very economical personal insurance benefits, we can now announce special rates at any Puma UK hotel!

If you are a member of the EBU, you can now enjoy breaks at Puma hotels for less! EBU members can now enjoy 25% off the best available rate at the time of booking*. To take advantage of a 25% discount on all stays at Puma's 21 UK hotels simply visit our special website and use code: EBU001.

* This discount is NOT available on their "7 Day Advance Purchase Rate".

• Special booking page
• List of Hotels

Master Points on-line

Please note that it is currently not possible to check your Master Points on-line. However, the Master Point system continues to be updated as normal, and if members would like to know their status, they should contact the Secretary. On-line checking will be available again as soon as it is possible.

Sky Arts

Sky Arts are reshowing the whole series of Bridge:Celebrity Grand Slam nightly from 18 May at 5.30pm.

We have been informed by the producer, Hugh Dehn, that many people had huge problems leaving comments on the SKY website before and during the first showing of the programme because the spam filters kept rejecting them! We have had a request that if any of you are able to write into Sky Arts and tell them a)what you were trying to say; b) that you tried but were unable to leave a message on the website, it would be very useful.

The address is: Sky Arts, BskyB, Grant Way, Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 5QD

Corn Cairdis – Cup of Friendship: 2009 Results

Congratulations to the England Team who won the Corn Cairdis by 190 VPs to 165.

English County:
Paulie Lang & Steve Mattinson
Graham & Berry Hedley

English Club:
Martin Cantor & Baz Caygill
Gayle & Colin Webb

English Officials:
Peter Stocken & Max Bavin
David Harris & Malcolm Oliver

Full results:

Series	Match 1	Match 2	Match 3	Match 4	Total
County	2-25	11-19	25-3	18-12	56-59
Club	21-9	5-25	18-12	18-12	62-58
Officials	11-19	20-10	20-10	21-9	72-48
Totals	34-53	36-54	63-25	57-33	190-165

English scores listed first.

• Photos

European Championships, Romania, 8th - 18th July 2009

Under - 20s
Daniel McIntosh / James Paul
Graeme Robertson / Tom Paske
James Thrower / Rob Myers
NPC: Michael Byrne
Coach Alan Shillitoe

Under - 26s
John Atthey & Chris Owen
Fiona Brown & Alex Morris
Mike Bell & Ed Jones
NPC: Chris Dixon
Coach: Ben Green

Ladies
Alice Kaye & Sarah O'Connor
Amy Stout & Emily Middleton
Jennie Marvin & Elizabeth Roberts
NPC: Heather Dhondy
Coach: Susan Stockdale

Portland Bowl Winner

Report by Michael Byrne:

Congratulations to Oxford A team (Ed Jones, James Paul, Alice Kaye, Ian Angus, Greg Moss, Joe Claley) who won the Portland Bowl this weekend. This, the national Universities Championship, is run on a knock out basis and the finals are hosted by the Portland club.

In the Semi Final, the Oxford A team overwhelmed Oxford B team by over 200 imps. In the other Semi final Edinburgh A team beat Cambridge B team by 9 imps, with the lead changing hands constantly. The final was also one sided, with the Edinburgh A team (Anna Logan, Danny Hamilton, Cyprian Laskowski, Adrianna Terriakidis) losing by 134 imps. This is the 3rd time that Oxford have reached the final - in 2007 they beat Durham, whilst in 2008 they finished 2nd to Durham.

Of the winning team, Ed Jones was a losing finalist last year and Joe Clacey a losing semi finalist in 2007 and 2008, whilst James Paul is in his first year of university, so played for the first time. The other 3 players were in the team that won in 2007.

Manchester Bridge Players Success recognised by the Lord Mayor

Report by Jeff Morris (Manchester Bridge Club):

At a special reception held in the Lord Mayors Parlour at Manchester Town Hall the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Mavis Smitheman, said she was delighted to welcome the Manchester Bridge Association to the Town Hall and to congratulate the players on their remarkable achievements on the world stage. Other sporting heroes from last year’s Beijing Games have been honoured by the City and it was fitting that the achievements of our Mind Sports Competitors should be equally celebrated and applauded.

Kevin Comrie, Chairman of the Manchester County Bridge Association, responded by saying that as a Mancunian he was proud of his home town and proud of the successes of Mancunians especially those he knew personally. He introduced from the Manchester Bridge Association delegation a number of distinguished players -Michelle Brunner, former World and European Champion and current England player, Barbara Hackett former World Champion and current German International, John Holland current England Player, Kath Nelson former European Silver Medallist and current England Player, and Paul Hackett, former World Championship finalist ,England player, and captain of the winning European team in last years Europe vs America match. He also introduced two Manchester members of the Board of the English Bridge Union who have done much for bridge on the National stage, Alan Nelson, former Chairman of the English Bridge Union Tournament Committee and Jeff Morris owner of Manchester Bridge Club and the inspiration behind the inaugural Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championship, held in Manchester in 2002.

Kevin then went on to say that today's gathering was to celebrate the latest achievements of three Manchester players in Beijing. He introduced Michael Byrne to the Lord Mayor.

Michael Byrne is a graduate of Manchester University. Since finishing there some 6 years ago Michael has made huge contributions to local and national youth Bridge. Michael is a very good player in his own right. As a junior he represented England 14 times. Since turning 25 he has twice been selected for English Open teams. He is Squad manager of the English Under-20 team giving his time and energy over many weekends to encourage and train young bridge players. His hard work with the juniors was rewarded in Beijing in October when he captained the under 20 team to a Silver medal, losing narrowly to favourites France in a closely contested final.

Kevin then went on to introduce twins Jason and Justin Hackett. He recalled with pride that in 1996 he was lucky enough to be in the Town Hall to celebrate Gold Medals won at the World Junior Championships in Bali by the British team containing the twins. Since then Jason and Justin have moved effortlessly from Junior Champions into the Open Bridge Scene and have become the backbone of the England Open team. Currently Justin is 22nd and Jason is 26th in the World Rankings. No other English players are ranked in the top 50.

Last year Justin and Jason were selected for the English Open team in the World Mind Sports. The Open teams championship is universally regarded as the premiere championship of the World Mind Sport Games. It is played over two weeks and players can play over 100 hours of bridge within this period. It requires skill, endurance, patience, intense concentration and good temperament.

England surpassed all previous achievements in reaching the final where they faced Italy, the favourites, whose six players are all ranked in the world top seven! After a closely fought contest played over two days Italy emerged as narrow winners and England took the silver medal. Arguably this was the best ever performance by an English team. Jason and Justin are a credit to Manchester and the game of bridge.

At the end of the reception the Lord Mayor presented Chairman of the Manchester County Bridge Association, Kevin Comrie, with a hand painted Manchester Coat of Arms.

See photos.

by Jeff Morris

Minibridge Initiative Event, Manchester

Are you a primary school teacher or an interested player in the North West? Why not come along to a practical demonstration of Minibridge at the Early Years Show on 24 April 2009, in Manchester.

Teaching Maths doesn't have to be so stressful!

• Further information
• Introduction
• Why is Minibridge good for children?
• Contact

Bridge on TV - Update

This weeks Radio Times, discusses Bridge: Celebrity Grand Slam. Here are two of their comments:

"Hidden Gem: Forget poker. Celebrity card games get the country-house-hotel treatment courtesy of Clive Anderson as host and a dazzling mixed hand of celebs chasing overtricks for charity. Worth seeking out."

"Today's Choices: After the TV poker boom, bridge gets the celeb treatment, and an astonishing piece of TV it is too.Where else could you see Pattie Boyd (of Layla fame) and Sue Lawley "go to Blackwood" and end up in seven no-trumps, doubled by Kay Burley? If you play, you'll love the cut and thrust. If you are new to the game, it's a fascinating way to learn."

Facebook

Are you on Facebook? We have recently set up a group for bridge players, so why not come and join us?

• View here

Bridge on TV!

Bridge: Celebrity Grand Slam, a brand new series of 30 minute programmes will be shown at 7:00 pm on the Sky Arts 2 channel from April 20 to April 26.

The programmes start with a double bill on Monday 20th and finish with a grand final on Sunday 26th April.

Eight celebrity players will playing an individual tournament for charity, with £20,000 at stake.

The participants are :
· Actress Susan Hampshire
· Cricketer Mike Gatting
· Photographer and writer Pattie Boyd
· ITN journalist and newscaster James Mates
· Radio and TV presenter Sue Lawley
· Best-selling author Val McDermid
· Blur drummer David Rowntree
· Sky news anchor Kay Burley

The programmes are compered by Clive Anderson, assisted by bridge experts Andrew McIntosh and Glyn Liggins.

To download copies of the deals, and other information, go to www.skyarts.co.uk/bridge

View photos here.

*Please note that Bridge: Celebrity Grand Slam is an independent production by SKY, and is not an EBU production.

Water Rates

The EBU has learnt that bridge clubs will face increased costs due to new water rate rules from next year.

Clubs are literally watching their money go down the drain as water companies start to bring through surface area-based charging. The Water Industry Act 1991 classes only two categories of customer – domestic and non-domestic. From 2010, all non-domestic customers will be charged according to the surface area of the site rather than through the rateable value of the property; this means that many of our clubs and other voluntary organisations will end up paying more than ten times their original rate.

CCPR has launched a petition to urge the Prime Minister to instruct utilities companies to charge community clubs affordable rates for services. Please support this by signing up on link below.

• Sign Petition
• About the CCPR

Congratulations to...

..Vida Bingham, a bridge player from Sussex, and international who represented England twice. Vida owns the horse Mon Mome, which won the Grand National at the weekend. He won by 12-lengths at odds of 100/1, making Mon Mome the longest-priced winner since Foinavon in 1967.

Many congratulations to Vida and her team!

Tournament Players Survey Draw - Winner

Karen Pryor was the lucky winner of the Tournament Players survey draw. She has won a free weekend at a Barcelo hotel. Thanks to Barcelo for providing the prize.

Karen enjoyed some champagne to celebrate her win!

Maurice Weissberger

We are sad to announce that Maurice Weissberger of Sussex passed away on 3rd March, aged 89. Maurice had success in a number of European and International events, coming 2nd in the 1966 World Mixed Pairs with Joan Durran.

You can read a full obituary on the Avenue Bridge Club website.

EBU win the Camrose!

The EBU team managed to hold onto their lead from the first weekend and emerged the victors, 9 VPs ahead of England, and have won the Bridge Great Britain Camrose Trophy for the home nations. The weekend was extremely close throughout with all teams in contention but the two English teams pulled ahead towards the end and it was the EBU who did the most in the final match, beating Scotland 25-1 and winning the trophy. This win puts an end to four successive Irish wins.

The teams (from both weekends) were:

English Bridge Union:

Alexander Allfrey & Andrew Robson
Andy Bowles & John Howard
Jon Cooke & Martin Garvey
Peter Czerniewski & Ian Panto
Jeremy Dhondy & Alan Kay
Michael Byrne & Mike Bell

NPC: Chris Dixon

England:

David Gold & Tom Townsend
Espen Erichsen & Norman Selway
Michelle Brunner & John Holland
David Bakhshi & Tony Forrester
Peter Crouch & Glyn Liggins

NPC: David Price

Club Focus - Volume II, Issue II

Our second issue of Club Focus is now available to read. Articles in this edition include: Down Our Club, Banking, Bridge Tails, Bidding Tools, EBU Updates, Bridge on TV, and much more...
Read Issue II
View past editions

Masterpoint reports

The annual Master Point reports are available to view online. Congratulations to Tim Rees for winning the Sunday Telegraph Salver for the most points in the year (followed by Ed Scerri and Clive Owen). Tim also leads the Gold Point ranking list, ahead of David Bakhshi and Michael Byrne.
Top scorers of 2008
Gold Point ranking list
All time top scorers
Full index of county by county lists

Douglas Romain

We are sad to report the sudden death of Douglas Romain from Jersey. Douglas, was a former winner of the Gold Cup and of the National Masters Pairs (where he partnered Irving Rose). He also won the Teams event at the Jersey Congress several times.

Double win in Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer!

The England juniors won both age groups in the annual home international series. The U20s stormed the event, coming just 2 VPs short of the maximum 200 VPs — a remarkable achievement. Congratulations to Alex Morris, Fiona Brown, Mike Bell, Ed Jones, Tom Dessain, Dom Maloney and NPC Simon Cope (under 25s) and David Faria, Liam Jones, James Paul, Daniel McIntosh, Graeme Robertson, Tom Paske and NPC Michael Byrne (under 20s).
Local results page

Club Insurance

After detailed negotiations with our insurance brokers and consultation with the Financial Services Authority, the English Bridge Union is delighted to announce the provision of a new and valuable service for all of our affiliated clubs, whether or not you currently use the insurance services provided by Osbornes.

The Union will provide a group policy for all clubs, regardless of size with an unbeatable package of cover at a very economic price.

For clubs that are interested the facility will be provided with a start date of April 1st, 2009. If you state your intention to proceed with this, all we will need is your club name and the location of where you meet, and the type of policy required. If you require any additional policy details, as described on link below, you will also have to contact Osbornes directly for just those parts.

The EBU will provide suitable documentation to the brokers. That will be the entire administrative requirement for our clubs, other than to pay us in a timely manner to ensure that your coverage is continuous.

We will be able to provide the words of the policy booklet by email in due course, but we do not want to go into the cost of mailing the entire pack, because of cost.
Full details

If you would like to proceed email Karen Durrell. For insurance questions please contact Osbornes directly on 01844 213161.

Corn Cairdis – Cup of Friendship

Applications are invited to play in a club and a county team of four in the annual friendly encounter between England and Ireland. This will take place in Ireland (Malahide, just east of Dublin) from Saturday 25 April to Sunday 26 April. Players will be responsible for their own travel costs, but full hospitality will be provided as guests of the Irish players in their homes. The stress is on friendly, social players.

Please address enquiries and applications initially to Dawn Mertens, with a brief pen portrait and details of your local club and/or county as appropriate.

Kent win the Tollemache Final!

Congratulations to Kent for winning the 2008/09 inter-counties teams-of-eight trophy! They were: Ian Draper, Jeremy Willans, Denis O'Donovan, Patrick Collins, Derek Patterson, Peter Law, Gerald Tredinnick and Stuart Tredinnick. Second was Middlesex.

Full results

Club Focus - Volume II, Issue I

Happy Birthday to Club Focus! It’s our first birthday this issue, and so it’s quite apt that we have another bumper edition for you to enjoy.

This issue includes: our Limerick Competition, Down Our Club, Bridge Tales, Bidding Tools, Calling the Director, Bridge Tails, Dummy Can’t Revoke?, EBU events, and much more...

• Read Volume II, Issue I
• Look at past issues

Hedy Brown

We are sad to report the death of Hedy Brown a few weeks before her 96th birthday. Hedy was a founder member of both Berks & Bucks CBA and Reading Bridge Club, which she attended regularly until the end.

A Grand Master, Hedy was very successful on the national women’s bridge scene, and also won the Portland Pairs, aged 84, with Nigel Guthrie. Her zest for bridge was unmatched and she will be much missed by all her many friends.

Master Point Price Increase - directly credited master points

It was announced after the last Board meeting that the cost of directly credited master points would rise by 2p to 40p from January 1st, 2009. Although this represents slightly more than a 5% increase, it is the first since 2006.

After further discussion, it has been determined that in order to give time for all clubs to make their submissions by the final qualifying date (for the Master Point competitions) of January 26th, 2009, we will not impose this increase until after that date. Therefore all submissions received by January 26th will be processed at the old rate of 38p per award. All submissions received after January 26th will be invoiced at the new rate of 40p.

FAQ on the trial of discounted entry to Ranked Masters

View here