It is with great personal sadness I have to report the passing of Dick Payne in the early hours of this morning, Saturday 11 May 2024. Dick first appeared at Maidstone Bridge Club in the early 1970's and went on to have successful bridge partnerships with Freda Wilding, Kathy Stratten and John Cullingworth. He played in many National Competitions reaching finals and semi finals and partnered Peter Law on many occasions. He had just celebrated his diamond wedding with his wife Wendy and their two children Andrew and Ruth. He was a keen games player of all sorts and in his younger days was a tennis player and in later life a good  golfer. He will be sadly missed. Funeral arrangements will be circulated when known.

Richard  Sissons - Chairman

There will be no bridge on Bank Holiday Monday 27th May

 Monday Pairs

Venue:  Civil Service Club, Recreation Close, Maidstone

Everyone welcome, members and guests - Host Available

FREE ON SITE PARKING

Play starts at 1pm and usually finishes around 4.15pm.  
Scoring using Bridgemates with pre-dealt hands.   We normally play 24 boards

Free tea/coffee and biscuits

 Table money:  MBC members £3, Guests £3.50.  Guests registered with the EBU, please bring your EBU Number with you.
  Cash payment only at present

Welcome to Maidstone Bridge Club

The club meets on Monday afternoons for relaxed sessions face to face, Wednesday evenings both face to face at the Civil Service Club and online using Real Bridge, and on Friday evenings on Real Bridge.

Although we do not run a host system on Wednesday and Friday competitions, if you are looking for a partner please give Barry a ring on 07442 132119 and he will do his best to help you

Any other queries, please email learnbridge@btinternet.com
 

Kent bridge club provides extras for Wes Anderson film

• Wes Anderson production wins Oscar at 96^th Academy Awards
• The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar wins Best Live Action Short Film Oscar
• Maidstone Bridge Club members play card-playing gamblers

Oppenheimer and Cillian Murphy’s acting talent may have dominated Sunday’s 96^th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, but amongst all the noise, glitz and glamour of the proceedings, Maidstone Bridge Club made a local Kent contribution to one of the big-name Oscar winners.

Members of Maidstone Bridge Club (“MBC”) starred as extra’s in Wes Anderson’s Academy Award winning production in the Best Live Action Short Film category. The 41-minute short film titled The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar was filmed at Maidstone Studios and premiered at the 2023 Venice Film Festival where it received critical acclaim. It was followed by a limited U.S theatrical release on September 20, and a Netflix premiere on September 27, 2023.

The film, adapted from the 1976 tale by Roald Dahl, stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsley along with 20 members of Maidstone Bridge Club who appeared as card-playing extras. It recounts the fortunes of a wealthy gambler who mastered the ability to read the reverse sides of playing cards. Armed with this superpower, Henry Sugar sets out to take a London casino to the cleaners, only to awake the next morning feeling more morally bankrupt than he had beforehand.

MBC’s Chairman, Richard Sissons said: “MBC is an active contributor to the local community with almost 100 active members, three club sessions a week and an ongoing education programme which aims to enable new learners to come on board and enjoy this stimulating game. For years I have tried to read the reverse sides of playing cards, so when the opportunity came along to see a master in action whilst also making our film debut, I and other members of MBC simply could not say no. We send our congratulations to Wes and his team for this outstanding award and we are delighted to share their success.”

Which club members can you spot in this picture!