Masterchefs:  Bernie and Di with just part of the superb buffet made and brought by members for the Anniversary Party night on 27 August.

Club shares out cups: Chris and Wilf handed over the Anniversary Cup, which they had held for the previous three years, to 2010 winners Maggie and Colin.  Their first-time victory continued the trend for trophies to be widely spread around the membership.

It meant that 33 of our 55 current members - exactly 60% - have now won a club competition. 

Bouquets for Di and Gayle:  Members applauded the work of two long servants of Bredon BC at the 20 August annual meeting.  Di, its former secretary, left the committee of which she has been a part since its formation, and Gayle stood down as current secretary but will remain a committee member.  The chairman paid tribute to both, and presented bouquets.  Di, who was away, had hers delivered by interfloral Bernie.

In response to comments on the chairman's annual report, Colin said it would be wrong for the club not to look at digital scoring, but that no recommendation for its introduction was likely this year.  He pledged that if it was considered a good idea, the proposal would be put to members, and the system would not be brought in unless members were properly trained in advance.

Howard reported that table money was likely to rise to £2 from April 2011, in line with what was already charged elsewhere.  He asked members to pay subscriptions now - and many responded on the night.

Members elected Gill as secretary in succession to Gayle.  Other committee members elected were Colin, Howard, Michael, Laurence and Bernie.

EBU magazine for all:  You should now have received the latest EBU magazine, which contains a personal letter about your membership.  Use the membership number (not your name) to log into the EBU website and then the password in your letter, to check your membership details.  Note: don't confuse the numeral 0 with the capital letter O.

You can register your home club, Bredon or elsewhere, and click the appropriate boxes to ensure you do - or do not - receive emails from the EBU or other bodies.  Let Colin know if you have any problems.

Free beginner sessions for your friends:  How often do friends say they wished they could play bridge, or regret that they cannot join a club because their social bridge is not up to the standard or pace required?  Now they can, thanks to an imaginative scheme led by Hilary and Ann B. at our neighbouring Tewkesbury Club.

From 15 September to Christmas they will host two free programmes running alongside their members' evenings on Wednesday nights.  One will teach absolute beginners, the other will allow improvers to play just 16 hands from the previous week's event, with the chance to discuss and compare their scores to those of members.  Tell any friend interested to contact Hilary on 01386 555976.

Bredon pairs in world top 50:  Gill and Wynne achieved 67.02% - a magnificent 48th position in the world - in the 24th World Wide Sim Pairs held at the club on June 4.  Chris and Wilf were just behind in 50th place with 66.75%.

The competition was contested by nearly 5,000 pairs in 32 countries.  In England alone there were 730 pairs, among whom our stars finished 6th and 7th.  The result also meant that Bredon was the only British club with two finishers in the top 50.  Fantastic.

Keeping up the standard at Bredon

The high standard of courtesy is one of the virtues that makes Bredon such a popular club, and we want to keep it that way.  At a recent directors' course, Andrew Kambites extolled the benefit of clubs having their own good behaviour guide for the benefit of all.  For this reason, your committee has adopted a code of conduct, backed by directors, which can now be seen under "club information" on this website.  It is also on the noticeboard and will be given to new members. 

Unintended bids - what can you do?  Who would be a Director?  On his first official night as a director, Colin was called to help with three revokes, including one adjusted score, one insufficient bid, an unplayable board, and one unintended bid.  Not everyone may be aware of what can happen on the last of these, so here is a quick guide.

An unintended bid or mechanical error can be corrected if done "without pause for thought" and if your partner has not bid.  Your left-hand opponent obviously has the option to withdraw any call made over the first unintended bid.

Law 25: "Until his partner makes a call, a player may substitute his intended call for an unintended call but only if he does so, or attempts to do so, without pause for thought. ... No substitution of call may be made when his partner has made a subsequent call."

Even then, there may still be options, or complications.  To avoid uncertainty, it's best to call the director as soon as possible.

This time Jessie shares the glory:

Jessie became the 35th member of Bredon to get her name on a club trophy when she and husband Laurence stormed to victory in the Bredon Pairs Cup, presented by Eve.  They won the event with a commanding margin of nearly 5% over Chris and Wilf, Bernie and Di.  Laurence had previously won trophies with Helen, and in teams with Gayle, Bernie, Di, Roger and Adam, but never before with his wife.

Michael joins the Bredon book club

Michael Hill has become the third Bredon member to have a book published - a remarkable record in a small club.  His charming volume of poetry, Recollections, recounts an eventful life as an evacuee and physicist, and is obtainable from him for just £5.95. 

His success follows publication of wife Jean's second novel, The Twisted Way, £7.95, a tale of murder, intrigue - and a little bridge, on sale at local bookshops.

Jenny Steel's award-winning short story The Handyman was included in the anthology The Book Lovers' Appreciation Society, Orion £6.99, with £1 going to Breast Cancer Care.  The collection, which also features work by best-selling novelists Meave Binchy, Alexander McCall Smith and Sophie Kinsella, was highly praised by the Daily Mail and Daily Record.

Entente cordiale wins top ten spot:  Ann and Daniel achieved a great result in the sim pairs held on 29 January 2010 for the Unicef Haiti Relief Fund, with 8th place among 484 players at 27 clubs in 12 countries.  Their 66.07% at Bredon, upgraded to 66.59% globally, was beaten by only four UK-based pairs, two in Canada and one in Thailand.  To see your world standing, see Results and click on Ecats.  The week-long event raised £27,000.

Thanks a ton for help to Haiti:  A cheque for £100 has gone to the Unicef Haiti relief fund following members' generous contributions at the simpairs event on Friday 29 January.  Despite another chilly evening, the event was fairly well supported.  Many members had already contributed to the relief appeal so it was pleasing to see the extra put into the pot.  Thanks to all who helped, including Gayle who made up the boards and Di who scored the event.

Master points - an update:  Every member can still register master points by sending the vouchers to the EBU for as long as they are valid - usually three years.  All club members automatically became EBU members on 1 April 2010, and they can still send vouchers to the EBU, even if they were not EBU members at the time the points were issued.  Scores now feed into a central database, so paper vouchers for master points are no longer needed.  

Chris and Wilf jitter but retain title, then cause for Mrs Wilf to celebrate

Congratulations to champions Chris and Wilf who retained the Scorer's Cup with 61.7%, despite a nervy final round that saw them record just under 41%, their lowest score of the year.  With Gill and Wynne just behind on 61.4%, they opened the door to their closest challengers, but they too were unable to improve on their best scores, with just 49% on the night.  The Scorer's Cup, donated by Laurence, goes to the pair with the best 15 results during the year.  Maggie and Colin finished third.  Wilf thought of wife Betty after also taking the award for Slammer of the Year, with 22 points, followed by Chris 17, Roger 14, and Di 13.  After choosing a prize, tee-totaller Wilf took home on 1 January a box of chocolates and a bottle of fine Cote du Rhone red.

Other highlights of the year:  The best score was by Jennifer and Liz with 74.8% on 4 September.  If all scores throughout 2009 were averaged, with a minimum of six games to qualify, they would have finished top, ahead of Helen and Laurence.  Gill had the best individual average throughout the year with 55.3%.  Best score by newcomers was 59.7% by Sheena and Shirley also on 4 September.

Comparing pairs scores with the previous year, Jean and Michael achieved the greatest improvement, up exactly 4% to 55.1%, 9th overall while Margaret and Peter rose by 3.8% to finish 7th with 56.2%.

Wilf and Gill independently scored 6276 and 4126 Masterpoints - the highest tallies in Worcestershire during 2009.  

Club happy to get new direction

Pauline and Michael have generously donated a handsome carved oak North sign for the club to display.  The beautiful piece of craftsmanship was made by their son Adam, and given by his parents to mark their Golden Wedding anniversary earlier in the year.

Going out with a bang

2009 finished in fine style, thanks to the splendid mulled wine and Christmas treats prepared by Bernie with help from Di, which members greatly enjoyed.  There then followed another exceptional night of slams, 15 this time, but all of them in East-West - recompense for the opposite situation a fortnight before.

Play of the week

While new Bredon partnerships Hilary and Jennifer, Wynne and Helen led the N-S and E-W scores on Anniversary Party night, hand of the night belonged to Anne and Clive, the only pair to bid and make 6 here.

East opens 1.  West also has an opening hand and great distribution.  With either hand likely to jump, the slam was worth investigating.  They duly made 6 +1.  Not necessarily enough points for 6NT, but with all Aces and Kings held, and long albeit weak clubs, 6NT also makes, with Q onside for the 13th trick.

The masterly contract kept Anne and Clive in the lead for Slammer of the Year, with 7pts, just ahead of Maggie, Colin and Wilf, followed closely by Chris and others.

See also: Results/Hands of interest.