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:
Showing posts with label awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label awards. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
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
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
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
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.
Tuesday, 11 July 2006
Tom Bradley Award - 2006
Congratulations to Cedric Cockcroft who has received the first Tom Bradley Award! Cedric has been a great supporter of youth bridge and is a well respected bridge teacher - there is even a waiting list for his teaching!
The Tom Bradley Award was created after the recent death of our former Treasurer of the EBU, who was a champion of attracting new persons into the game of Bridge and was particularly supportive of endeavours which were aimed at the younger player. Tom left a legacy in his will.
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