Congratulations to Team England on winning the Camrose Trophy, the annual competition between England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The event is played over two weekends different team playing in each weekend. The England Team of Andrew Black, David Gold, Peter Crouch, Simon Cope, Tom Paske, Andrew McIntosh & NPC: Peter Hasenson finished top in the second weekend with a total of 148.44 VPs, thus winning the overall evemt. Also representing England in the first weekend of the Camrose were - John Atthey, Neil Rosen, Graham Osborne, Frances Hinden, Chris Jagger, Derek Patterson (NPC: David Burn).

Congratulations to Team England who came second in the 1st weekend of Camrose Trophy 2024. From left: Neil Rosen, Frances Hinden, Derek Patterson, John Atthey, David Burn (NPC), Graham Osborne, Chris Jagger.

Congratulations to
Graham Pollack and Andrew Whittome
and their team on winning the
Noel Hill Cup, Green Pointed Swiss Teams,
held on the 17th March 2019 as part of Norfolk Congress. In a strong 33 table competition they beat the three Hacketts to the second place.

Congratulations to
Stefan Syplywczak & Bill Hirst
on winning the
Kent Men's Pairs (Hunter Homines).

Congratulations
to
Helen and Ashley
on winning
Swiss Pairs
at the Really Easy Congress in Eastbourne. They were nearly 60VPs ahead of the next pair. They also did brilliantly coming first on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday afternoon, both with scores over 70%.

Congratulations
to Derek and the Black team (Andrew Black, Peter Bertheau, Gunnar Hallberg, Phil King, Andrew McIntosh) on coming 3rd in Cavendish 2019 Teams
(Watch Derek play 1  2  3)

Congratulations to Chrissie and her partner Liz Blande who have retained the Fleming Femina (the Kent Ladies' Pairs). This is the fourth time they have won the event in the last ten years.

Congratulations to Derek and his team Andrew Black & Gunnar Hallberg, Phil King & Andrew McIntosh and Derek's partner Gerald Tredinnick on coming top in the first weekend of the 2019 Camrose Trophy. This competition is between the teams of the 'home nations', and it was hosted by the Welsh Bridge Union in Mold, North Wales from 4^th - 6^thJanuary. Derek's  team was representing EBU. 
The final weekend takes place in Coventry, England, 1st-3rd March.

Congratulations to Derek and his team Andrew Black, David Gold, Gunnar Hallberg, Phil King & Andrew McIntosh on winning the bronze medal at the EBL Champions Cup in Eilat, Israel, where they were representing England, playing against national champions of other European nations.

In Children in Need Sim Pairs we have raised £188.15
Click here to see results.

Congratulations to
David and Hilary
on winning the Gentry Trophy for married couples at Kent Congress.

Congratulations to Derek and his team (Gunnar Hallberg, Andrew McIntosh & Phil King) for coming shared second, just 4VP behind the winners, in the Summer Festival Four Star Teams competition on the 19th August. Derek and his partner Gunnar Hallberg were also topping the XIMP Pair Ranking for the event.

Congratulations to Helen and her partner on winning Welcome Pairs in the Really Easy Congress held in Warwick on the 10th August.

Congratulations to
Pat and Marco
on their Golden Wedding Anniversary
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Congratulations to
Derek
on becoming Premier Grand Master
the EBU highest masterpoint rank.

Well done to Derek and his partner Paul Hackett for coming 3rd in Cross-imps in Gold Coast International Invitational Pairs, part of 5th Commonwealth Nations Bridge Competition held on Gold Coast in Australia from 13th to 18th February.

Congratulations
to
Marian, Brad, Stuart and Gerald
on winning the
Knock-out Teams Final.

Congratulations to
Derek and his team Willie Whittaker, Andrew Black, Gunnar Hallberg, Phil King and Andrew McIntosh who have won Gold Cup 2016/2017. Splendid victory. Well deserved. Wow!

In the heat of Children in Need Sim Pairs held on Tuesday 14th November we have raised
£300
Big thank you to all who contributed.
Click here to see the results on Ecats.

Congratulations
to
Michael Prior and Mike Hampton
who won the Surrey Swiss Pairs on 28 August. Also well done to
Phil Jones and Keith Ashcroft 
who were 3rd.

Congratulations to Derek and the Kent team Jeremy Willans, Ian Draper, Michael Prior, Phil Bailey, Pat Collins, Mike Hampton, Bill Hirst, Peter Law, Norman Selway and Kay Preddy - who won their section of the Tollemache Cup Qualifier (County teams of 8), 18-19th November.  The top two teams from each of the four sections will play in the final held over the second weekend in February. See EBU website for results.

England's Women have won the silver medal in the Venice Cup at the World Championships. This great result means that England's Women have won medals in the last three Venice Cups - the only country to do so since 2003 - and in seven of the last eight major World and European competitions. 
Congratulations to: Sally Brock & Fiona Brown; Catherine Draper & Nicola Smith; Sandra Penfold & Nevena Senior; Coach David Burn and our Derek as NPC.
Read some highlights from Derek's blog:

• Board 26 from Semi-Finals, Day 11
• Board 11 from quarter-final,  Day 10
• Taming the Russian Bear, Day 9
• "Lightning" Strikes! Day 5

Congratulations
to
Marian, Brad, Christine and Norman

for coming an excellent 4th in the Eastbourne Seniors Congress Teams, in a very strong field of 22 teams, rubbing shoulders with international players and winning £80 of prize money.

Congratulations to Pat Collins and Bill Hirst for coming close second in Phillimore Cup (KCBA Swiss Pairs) and to Mike Hampton and Michael Prior for coming third. Also well done to Colin Shaw and Rodney Meredith for coming 8th in a very strong field of 38 pairs. Click here for full results.

Congratulations to the team representing Kent of Mike Hampton & Phil Bailey, Patrick Collins & Peter Law who have won the Pachabo Cup. This is the EBU's teams of four competition, qualification for which is via the Arnold Cup. Derek & Michael Prior played in the team in the earlier stages of the competition. There were 29 counties competing for the Cup over the weekend of 10th/11th June.

Congratulations to Keith Ashcroft & Michael Collins who won  the Sussex Green Point Swiss Pairs on Saturday 20th May. Also well done to runners-up Michael Prior & Mike Hampton. This was like Ladder all over again! And here are the pretty pictures...

Congratulations to England team Nick Irens, Tony Forester, David Kendrick, Norman Selway & John Holland who won the Senior Camrose this weekend in Belfast, ably lead by Derek as NPC. Colin Simpson was selected for the team but due to ill-health was unable to take part.

From 9th March BridgePals are used regularly in the Red Section. They are replacing BridgePads, which have been in use in the club for 9 years now, in the Red Section only for the last five years.

Big thank you to all those who represented our club in the Corbett Cup/Plate and Mitchell Salver. We did reasonably well but were unable to win first prize...

Derek 

Congratulations

to Derek and Gerald, Pat Collins and Peter Law, Michael Prior and Mike Hampton for coming equal second as part of the team in the Tollemache Cup Final (National Inter-County Teams of 8). Click here to see full results on the EBU website. Very good cross-imps!!

Congratulations
to 
Derek and Michael
for winning this year's Hunter Homines (Kent Men's Pairs).

More success for Bill Charlwood & Jon Chapman  at the Kent Congress. They won the Invicta Cup (Swiss Pairs) and the Lukey Cup (Swiss Teams) playing with John Hemington. Congratulations to them all.

Also well done to Michael Prior & Mike Hampton who were equal second in Swiss Pairs.

Congratulations to

Bill Charlwood who was in the team that won the Gerard Faulkner Salver for the EBU Seniors Knockout Teams.
Also, well done to Pat Collins, Bill Hirst and Peter Law who were in the opposition team in a closely contested final.

Congratulations to England Women's Team on winning the gold medal in the European Teams Championship in Budapest, after an exciting finish. The team were Heather Dondy & Nevena Senior,  Sally Brock & Nicola Smith, Fiona Brown & Catherine Draper, with coach David Burn and our very own Derek as non-playing captain. The team qualifies for the 2017 World Championship Venice Cup in France.

Also well done to England Seniors and our Pat Collins  who were second before the last day, but had a disappointing finish, ending 10th out of 24.

Pictures - Interview - Closing Ceremony

Women's Team Matches:
England vs Poland CR
England vs Poland OR
Netherlands vs England CR
Netherlands vs England OR
Turkey vs England OR

Senior Team Matches:
Poland vs England OR

Congratulations

to Gerald Tredinnick and Derek and their teammates Kay Preddy and Norman Selway for coming second in Swiss Teams in Easter Festival in London.

Congratulations

to Naseer Dashti and his partner for coming second out of 56 pairs in the Really Easy Pairs in Easter Festival in London.

Congratulations to Chislehurst A team who won the Corbett Cup for the 9th year running. The members of the team were Derek, Jon Chapman, Bill Charlwood, Pat Collins, John Griffiths, John Hemington, Peter Law, Michael Prior, Gerald Tredinnick and Stuart Tredinnick (Derek with Bill, Pat and Jon pictured above). The team qualifies to play in the The Garden Cities Trophy, the EBU's inter-county championship for club teams-of-eight.

Also very well done to Chislehurst C team who came second in the Corbett Plate. The members of the team were Adrian Lis, Pat Alcalay, Marco Alcalay, Brian Davies, Roy Lambert, Bob Middleditch, David Powell and Barbara Schultz.

Well done also to Chislehurst D team for their brave effort in the Mitchell Salver division. After a great start they came 2nd after the first half, dropping down to the 6th place at the end. They say they thoroughly enjoyed the event. The members of the team were Chris Clegg, Jim Cormack, Peter Cox, John Hunt, Barbara Jackson, Eleanor Keeley, Graham King and Diana Potter.

Congratulations

to Derek and the rest of the Kent team (including our members Gerald Tredinnick, Mike Hampton, Patrick Collins, Peter Law) who came second in the Tollemache final (national inter-county teams of eight).

We raised a total of
         £288.39.
Big thank you for all donations. Congratulations to the countrywide overall highest placed pair from each section who qualify for a small prize.This is Paul & Nick from Green Section, currently 24th and Rick & John from Red Section, currently 35th out of 2069 pairs.
Click here to see  the results on Ecats.
Well done Chis!

Congratulations

to Derek and the whole of Kent Team for coming top in Group A in the Tollemache Cup Qualifier, thus qualifying for the Final in February 2016. The team was Derek playing with Gerald Tredinnick (topping the Ximp table!), Ian Draper & Jeremy Willans, Kay Preddy & Norman Selway and Peter Law & Pat Collins.

Congratulations

to Derek and his team Andrew Black, Gunnar Hallberg, Phil King, Andrew McIntosh and Gerald Tredinnick on winning Premier League Second Division. They had a very strong finish to the event, scoring 58.55 out of a possible 60 in the final three rounds, and won by 19.29 VPs. The team is promoted to the First Division in the next season.

Congratulations to the England Ladies Team on winning the bronze medal in the Venice Cup at the World Championships  in Chennai.

The members of the team were:
Sally Brock  & Nicola Smith; Fiona Brown & Catherine Draper; Heather Dhondy & Nevena Senior; Coach: David Burn with Derek as non-playing captain.
Derek wrote blogs throughout the championship. You can read them here.
Look at reports and photos on EBU website.

Well done to the English Ladies team who won by 164 IMPs in a friendly match against the French Ladies national team in Paris. Playing were Catherine Draper, Fiona Brown, Sally Brock and Nicola Smith with some help from their captain Derek Patterson playing with coach David Burn. This was a successfull warm up exercise for the World Team Championships - Venice Cup in India at the end of September.

We were sad to hear that the great film and bridge star Omar Sharif passed away at the age of 83.
Do any of you remember seeing him in the Macallan International Bridge Pairs Championship 1999? This was a star studded competition held in the White House Hotel in London. Omar was a real star there, he played bridge for the audience, some of the audience being us from our local bridge clubs. (June, Brigid, Joyce, Eth, Marco, Ron, Jonsey and more - apply to webmaster to have your name added/removed)
I still have the brochure, hand records and my notes  about bidding, play and the conversation at the table.
Here is one hand where Omar played against two German ladies champions, Sabine Auken and Daniela von Arnim. They were dressed to kill. Omar, wearing a rose in his button hole, said that he should be having dinner with them, not play bridge. Sabine and Daniela responded with Mona Lisa smiles.

N/S:  Omar Sharif and Christian Mari (France)
E/W:  Sabine Auken and Daniela von Arnim

Auction:

Omar: "Is 2♥  a transfer?"
: "No, it is natural."
Omar: "And 4♠ now shows spades and clubs?"
: "I hope so." 
(Macallan rules state that bidding should be as natural as possible)
Lead: A♥ 
A♦ at trick two was ruffed by declarer and she then led J♣ which held, discarding from dummy. Then 10♣ was led and ruffed by South. South returned a ♥ , declarer ruffed and played A♠  and K♠. Now top clubs and  the contract was over - South had to either ruff with his last trump and lead to dummy's winners, or duck and then be put on lead with declarer's last trump.
If Omar led K♥  at trick two, life would have been much more complicated for the declarer and she would have to struggle to make even 9 tricks. At least that's how it looks to me when I run the hand through Bridge Solver. Perhaps Omar thought that continuing with K♥  would setup heart winners in dummy for a possible diamond discard, so he tried to cash A♦  while he could.

Come on, ladies, let's listen to Lara's Theme from Doctor Zhivago.

Congratulations to
Pat & David
and
Marco & Dave
on winning the
North West Kent League Division 2

John's double dummy Bridge Solver is now hosted on Bridgewebs. Click on the 'Play it again' button under the hand diagram and then on 'BS Online'. Bridge Solver is also still available via the 'Play it again' button on our own style results pages.

BridgePals, Android based electronic scoring units (designed by John and Mirna), introduced in the Green Section. BridgePads moved from the Green Section to the Red Section.

BridgePads electronic scoring devices introduced in the Green Section.

Technology arrived in 2007. We acquired a dealing machine - australian made Dealer4. This was one of the first machines of this kind in the country. Unlike well known Duplimate machine which needs bar coded cards, Dealer4 can read ordinary cards. There was some doubt about true random nature of the deals ("Too many singleton Kings!"), but statistical analysis of the deals put any doubts at rest.