Our Xmas Party was attended by 37 members (plus some in spirit who had kindly sent homemade food) and 3 guests all of whom enjoyed a thoroughly good evening! Along with the normal duplicate we had some fun prizes, delicious food (exceptional Xmas cakes), excellent wine and witnessed some dodgy Xmas jumpers all in the company of a couple of shady Xmas Elves. Dennis hosted the evening in a flashing tie and presented the winners of this year's competions with their trophies to enthusiastic applause (please see seperate section). No really, nobody looked silly!

The club would like to warmly wish all of it's members and guests throughout the past year the compliments of the season, may you have good health, weath and happiness next year. We hope to see you at the club very soon!

This years AGM was well attended and took place on Monday 26th October immeadiately prior to the normal bridge session, the minutes are here.

Many Congratulations to Brenda & Frans Vas Nunes for winning the Essex B-Flight Pairs at Barleylands on Sunday 10th April. They showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels and flew the Hutton flag with an excellent 63.02%. See the ECBA website for more detauils.

This season's league started with a 5-15* defeat at the hands of a strong combined Chelmsford side in Danbury. Our team fought gallantly and kept the match very tight until the final 6 boards where we suffered quite badly, the manual scoresheet may be found here.

The league continues with a home match against Southend & Leigh in March, if you're interested in representing Hutton please let Tony French or a member of the committee know.

* a redrafting of FL rules has caused this result to be restated as 6-14.

Those awfully nice people from Loughton Bridge Club were sent packing in our latest challenge match with Hutton victorious by 20-0 vps. Regardless of the outcome a superb night was had by all and Loughton have moved quickly to organise a return match already! Please see the results calendar for the Scorebridge output or this box headline for the full manual scoresheet. Of particular note is an excellent card from Tara and Jagdish with just 4 negative boards – but well done also to the rest of our team who led from the outset and never looked in trouble!

The Friendly League kicks off in February but we will continue with occasional challenge matches as well – please let a member of the Committee know if you’d like to be involved with this aspect of the club and join in the fun and cupcake eating.

Following their 20-0 drubbing just before Xmas Loughton took revenge on 26th January with a 13-7 victory in our most recent challenge match. Details for those brave enough to look can be found in the results calendar with the manual scoresheet on the information tab.

Despite the outcome and a somewhat late finish our team contines to enjoy making friends around the county and gaining experience, please contact a member of the committee if you wish to join in the fun.

Many congratulations to Dennis Valtisiaris & David Clark on their success in The Club Championship despite a valliant challange from Lorraine Butler and Jurek Szczuka! Please see results for details. 

Sadly, Hutton narrowly lost their last match so ended in third place and couldn't retain our trophy. Tony French writes:-

Party ruined on board 19! As well as costing us the match a single disastrous board destroyed any chance of our team holding onto 2nd place in the league as the Friendly League season came to a close in a very enjoyable party atmosphere at Barleylands. On behalf of the club I’d like to thank all those who have represented us and tried so hard, slightly disappointed with 3rd spot but it has really been a joy having you all as teammates and your support is greatly appreciated. The hosting and general help of Frans and Brenda also has our special thanks and congratulations must go to our regular Angela Fenton. Having been selected for the County Squad we will now miss her in our team next season. Speaking of which, planning is underway for next term and as this competition truly is a great introduction to team bridge and perfect for development of players Hutton DBC remains fully committed to it. Please do let me know if you’d like to play, we also plan some challenge matches so even our newest members or anyone who wishes can be included in the club’s programme.

This competition has outgrown its space on the Home Page - so please see the menu item on the left (or click this box).  

The team faced Barleylands in their 3rd match on Wednesday evening, 3rd June. Unfortunately, they lost 8-12. Tony French writes:-

The Good Ship Hutton sunk by 3 Diamonds on Captain's table! A misjudged diamond sacrifice proved costly to thwart Hutton's fightback over the last few boards as our Friendly League team succumbed to another close defeat. Retaining the trophy now seems unlikely as we lie in second place trailing by 13 points. The last match takes place on July 21st when I'm sure our team will make a herculean effort to beat the odds.

12th May saw the Challenge match against Upminster Bridge School, which Hutton narrowly won 11-9 after a first half shock from Upminster saw them race into a big lead. Sue’s cupcakes and Upminster’s homemade cookies at the interval must have revived our team as experience prevailed to take the bragging rights – just! A great night was had by all, many thanks to all participants.

Hutton entered three teams for the Ray Cornell Trophy this year, but results were not as expected. The A team came just below half way, which was disappointing, and the other two teams were heavilly out-gunned. However, it was good experience and we hope for better things next year. 

In November the 4th's challenge match a disastrous board 11 -1400 score led to Upminster holding a lead at the break, but only by a tiny margin. Then our magnificent team showed their greater experience to totally dominate the second half and become an unstoppable runaway train en route to a huge 20-0 victory! Take a bow Bettie & Julian, Sue & June, Tara & Jagdish and Brenda & Frans - a thoroughly enjoyable night was had by all.

We're currently scheduling other 'friendly' challenge matches against local clubs, please let Tony French or a member of the committee know if you'd like to play - your club needs you!

The EBU Master Points Lists for 2014 are now out. Follow This Link

Congratulations to Dave Brace for putting the Club on the map by winning second prize in the Club Champions Prize Draw. Follow This Link. 

Please note that all four ladder competitions for 2015 are now under way, and the results are updated every week (or monthly in the case of the "2nd Monday" Handicap). Follow the links on the left hand column of this page. 

Congratulations to Frances and Peter Drewe, who won the 2014 Club Championship on Monday 27th October. 

Winners of the ladder competitions were as follows:-

• Individual: David Clark
• Pairs: David Clark and Dennis Valtisiaris
• Improvers: Mike Harbour
• Handicap: Sheila Vincent

Well done to our winners, and thanks to all for taking part!

At the Club AGM held on Monday 3rd November 2014, our faithful Chairman Eric Field at last succeeded in handing over the reins - to our new Chairman Dennis Valtisiaris. The Club would like to thank Eric for his many years of unstinted service and wish Dennis every success in taking the club forward. For the minutes of the AGM, click this box. 

A couple of dates for the diary

Club AGM: Monday 3rd November - please arrive 15 minutes early to allow time for a full session of bridge thereafter.

CiN SIMS: Monday 10th November.

Annual subscription of £10 was due 1st September.

Apologies to all those who braved the storm on Monday 12th May to play what they thought were SIM pairs. Unfortunately, it transpired that the boards dealt were not those of the event. An investigation revealed that our suppler had accidentally re-dealt the boards for the SIMS of the previous Wednesday that he had supplied to Thorpe Bay. Naturally, charges have been waived, and the supplier has graciously insisted on refunding the cost of the booklets. So, there will be a full refund of the SIMS costs to the attendees on the night. If you want to know how you might have done nationally, or want to look at the commentary, please follow the link to the EBU site. Mr. & Mrs. Goldfish from Thorpe Bay had seen the boards before, but it didn't seem to do them any good.

This event, held on Sunday 27th April, was somewhat successful for club members. Theo Todman had beginner's luck in a new partnership with Gad Chadha and won the main event. Simon Moorman and Peter Oake won the Consolation Final, with Linda Fleet in second place. 

Hutton entered two teams in this year's event. The first team (David Clark, Fran Alexander, David Tennet and Theo Todman) came 9th / 23, and would have come 7th but for a very controversial adverse ruling on one board. The second team (Roger Bacon, Len Williams, Eric Field and Dave Brace) came 13th. Well done to both teams.  

The results of the 2013 Club Ladder competitions are now finalised and the winners were announced - and Cups presented - at the Christmas Party. 

• David Clark won the Individual
• David Clark and Denis Valtisiaris won the Pairs
• Roger Bacon won both the Improvers and the "Second Monday" Handicap

Roger Bacon and Len Williams won the Club Championship on Monday 21st October 2013.

Hutton entered a Team for the Essex Fletcher Trophy Teams of Eight Competition, held on Sunday 20th October 2013. The Team Captain, Dennis Valtisiaris, is to be commended for his efforts in raising a team when several of the usual members were either unavailable or had wickedly eloped to a rival team.

The Hutton team - consisting of Dennis Valtisiaris, Frances Alexander, Ann Morgan, Angela Fenton, Eric Field, David Clark and Brenda & Frans Vas Nunes - fought valiantly to end up in 8th place of 11. Well done Team!

Hutton came a creditable 3rd overall in the Essex Helliar Trophy on Sunday 17th February 2013. The "A" Team came 5th, the "B" Team 6th and the "C" Team 14th (out of 21 teams). Team members:-

• A: Peter Oake & Simon Moorman, David Clark & Sandy Riach
• B: Dennis Valtisiaris & Fran Alexander, Theo Todman & David Tennet
• C: David Brace & Eric Field, Lorraine Butler & Jurek Szczuka

Many congratulations to Eric Field and David Brace on their victory in the Club Pairs with an impressive 62.05%! This is the second time in three years that Eric and Dave have won this event. Sadly the rest of our representatives couldn’t do quite enough to secure the playing card prize for the club with the top 2 combined scores, although the 48.66% of Brenda & Frans Vas Nunes was a creditable effort. Well done to those mentioned and better luck next time to our other entrants, thanks to all for representing the club.