MANCHESTER BRIDGE CLUB
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
4th JANUARY 2015
Review of 2014
INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE
Unbelievably five members of the club have won medals in the recent European Championships in Opatija, Croatia and will all be representing England in next year’s World Championships in India. John Holland and Paul Hackett were both members of the England Senior's team who won the Gold medal. This is Paul and John's third Gold Medal at Senior level, following World Championships in 2009 and 2010.
In the Open Championships Jason and Justin Hackett won bronze and in the Women’s teams the England Women won silver with club member Catherine Draper playing.
World Championship Medals for John Holland and Paul Hackett
In the World Series Seniors Teams John and Paul won bronze medals.
World Mind Games Medals for Catherine
In December Catherine won Gold in the World Mind Games Women’s Teams in China and Bronze in the World Mind Games Women’s Individual Event.
COMMONWEALTH NATIONS CUP
This event took place in Glasgow from Monday 8th September to Sunday 15th September. John Holland played for England with Ben Green and Alan Mould played for Scotland with John Matheson. Scotland reached the Quarter-Final while England reached the Semi-Final. Although both lost these matches England then won the play off match against India to secure a Silver Medal as the President’s team, to whom they had lost in the Semi-Final. were not eligible for medals. The President’s team were the overall winners and included club members Jason, Justin and Paul Hackett.
CHAIRMANS CUP SWEDEN
This big international event held in Stockholm was won by the England team of four which included Michael Byrne and Mike Bell.
OTHER INTERNATIONALS
Sinead Bird and Sarah O’ Connor played in the Channel Trophy and John Holland was part of the winning Camrose Team.
John Holland won the Sunday Telegraph Salver for the player winning the most master points nationally in 2013.
NATIONAL EVENTS
Manchester Bridge Players have done very well in National Events. The main highlights are:
Pachabo
The Manchester team achieved their best ever result in finishing runners-up to the North East out of 32 teams in the Pachabo held over the weekend of 7 – 8 June 2014. Well done to John Holland, Gary Hyett, Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, and Rodney Lighton.
Garden Cities
Manchester Bridge Club finished equal 2nd in the Inter Club Teams of Eight National Final at Solihull on Saturday 14th June 2014. The team of Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, John Hassett, Jeff Morris, Andrew Woodcock, Ollie Burgess, John Holland and Gary Hyett had qualified by winning the Gazette Trophy in Manchester and then finished second in the Northern final.
National League Final
The National County Teams of Eight finals took place at Solihull on Sunday 6th July 2014. The Manchester A and C teams had qualified for the National Finals by winning their respective Northern League divisions in 2013.
The A team of Michael Byrne/Michael Newman, Rodney Lighton/John Currie, Kath & Alan Nelson, Tom Slater/Alec Smalley finished second to Worcestershire. The C team were represented by Christopher Hine/Stephen Ward, Ken Hughes/Geoff Hull, Karen Reissmann/Irene Davies, Kevin Higgins/Richard Sinton.
Gold Cup
John Holland and Alan Mould both qualified in different teams for the Semi-Finals of the Gold Cup. While both these teams lost their matches, the team in which Alan played did particularly well to only lose by 6 IMPS to the eventual winners.
Hubert Phillips
Catherine Draper’s team (Andrew Woodcock, David Debbage & John Hassett) reached the last 16 of the 2014 Hubert Phillips bowl.
Crockfords Cup
Justin and Jason Hackett were both members of the winning team in the Crockfords Cup, the English Teams of Four Championship held over the weekend of 6 – 7 September.
Great Northern Swiss Pairs
Congratulations to Kath and Alan Nelson who won this event at Leeds on 4-5th October in a large field of 99 pairs.
Montenegro EBU Overseas Congress
In the EBU holiday congress in October Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield were second in the Swiss Pairs while Irving and Joy Blakey were third.
Tollemache Qualifying
Manchester won their qualifying group in the Tollemache held over the weekend of 22 – 23 November finishing ahead of the holders Berkshire & Bucks. Well done to John Hassett & Jeff Morris, Michael Byrne & Michael Newman, John Holland & Alan Mould, Gary Hyett & Ollie Burgess, Tom Slater & Alec Smalley.
Year End Congresses
In the year end event at Clayton-le-Moors on 28-29th December John Holland and Alan Mould won the Swiss Pairs.
MANCHESTER AREA EVENTS
Manchester Congress
The pairs was won in 2014 by Michael Byrne with Andrew Murphy of Berks & Bucks. This was a remarkable third win in four years for Michael. The Teams Competition was won by a team including Bernard & Rhona Goldenfield partnering Jim Luck (Wales) and Marianne Farr (Lancashire) respectively.
Gazette Trophy
Manchester A won the Gazette Trophy the inter club teams of eight at Altrincham on Sunday 2nd February with a score of 72 VPs and thus qualified for the Garden Cities Regional Final. Well done to Michael Byrne & Michael Newman, Jeff Morris & John Hassett, John Holland & Alan Mould, Kath Nelson & Alan Nelson. Five teams entered from Manchester, Altrincham and Bramhall & Cheadle Hulme Clubs.
Life Masters Pairs
Congratulations to Martin Taylor who won the Life Masters Pairs with Mike Bell over the weekend of 22 – 23 February 2014.
Green Point Pairs
Congratulations to Bernard & Rhona Goldenfield on winning the Green Point Pairs held on 9 March 2014.
Merville Goldstone Trophy
Michael Byrne’s team (Michael Newman, Alan Mould, Rodney Lighton, John Holland) defeated Jeff Morris’s team (John Hassett, Joy & Irving Blakey) in the final played on 2nd June which is the qualifier for the Pachabo.
Green Point Teams
Congratulations to John Hassett, Jeff Morris and Alan Mould who were members of the winning team in the Green Point Pairs held on Sunday 20 July.
Ben Franks
Congratulations to Michael Newman & Alan Mould in the Ben Franks who won this year’s 24 pair event on Sunday 7 December.
Higson Cup and Plate
The Higson finals were held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 27th April. St Titus (Michael Byrne, Ollie Burgess, Alan Mould, Michael Newman and Rodney Lighton) were runners up to Team Mayhem who have primary allegiance to Merseyside & Cheshire.
The Plate was won by Tricksters (Dave Matthews, Ann Thornton, Kevin Higgins & Richard Sinton).
MCBA PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2013 - 2014
Rhona Goldenfield won the MCBA Player of the Year 2013 - 2014 just ahead of husband Bernard.
CLUB COMPETITIONS
Michelle Brunner Memorial Event
19 teams took part in the third Mixed Pivot Swiss Teams held on Saturday 19th July in memory of Michelle Brunner. Winners were Michael Byrne, Alan Mould, Sally Brock & Barry Myers. Second were Eve Lighthill, Raymond Semp, John Hassett & Jeff Morris. Over £1800 was raised for The Christie Hospital and St Anne’s Hospice.
Club Championship 2014
Martin Taylor won the Club Championship for the fourth year running which is awarded to the best performance over 21 sessions on Wednesday night duplicates.
Geoff Nuttall Trophy 2014
Stephen Ward won the Geoff Nuttall Memorial Trophy which is awarded to the best performance on Monday nights over the period January to April 2014.
Tony Wood Memorial Trophy 2014
Nicholas Greer & Ross Allen won the Tony Wood Memorial Trophy donated by Tony’s partner Beryl and his sister Janet. It is awarded to the best performance on Monday nights over the period May to August 2014.
Cheadle Royal Cup
David Sarabowski and Lesley Johnson won this event for the best performance on Monday nights from the beginning of September to the end of December 2014. This is their third win in the last four years.
Ruia Cup 2014
Winners were Michael Byrne, Gary Hyett, Rodney Lighton, John Holland and Alan Mould. 12 teams played.
Eve Lighthill Trophy 2014
This year we organised this event as a three session multiple teams which seemed to be a popular format with the players. Although we had fewer teams taking part we did not interfere with the regular Thursday activity of Swiss Pairs.
Winners were Michael Byrne, John Holland, Gary Hyett, Ollie Burgess, Alan Jones, David Barton, Jeff Smith & Bernard Goldenfield.
Santa Claus Pairs
Twelve tables played and the winners were Kath & Alan Nelson.
Peter Ader Memorial Trophy 2014
Winners were Ollie Burgess and Mike Barlow.
CLUB NEWS
One of the most pleasing things about this last year has been the success of our beginners and supervised activities.
Beginners Courses
This year Beginners Courses start again on Wednesday 7th January 2015 in the evening and on Monday 12th January in the afternoon. Please tell your friends.
Bidding Refresher Course
A “Brush Up Your Bidding” Course starts on Tuesday 6th January – five lessons on Tuesday nights to remind you about modern bidding after the Christmas break.
Sunday Seminar Workshops
Ben Beever has a number of Sunday workshops planned for the New Year all at 3.15pm. Each seminar has elements of interest to everyone and players of all standards are welcome to attend whether they are new to the topic or just want some revision.
SUNDAY 18th JANUARY - "WHEN TO DRAW TRUMPS?"
(Suitable for Improver and Intermediate level upwards)
Working out whether to draw trumps immediately is a crucial skill every aspiring player needs to have. This lesson will explain how to decide.
SUNDAY 1st FEBRUARY - "ACCURATE HAND EVALUATION"
(Suitable for Intermediate level upwards)
High Card Points are sometimes a long way off describing the strength of the hand. In this lesson you will see how to adjust the points (both up and down) in order to judge whether you should be in Part-score, Game or Slam!
SUNDAY 15th FEBRUARY - "HOLDING UP & DANGER HANDS"
(Suitable for Improver and Intermediate level upwards)
The ‘hold-up’ is a technique regularly used by good declarers in order to make it harder for the defenders to take lots of tricks in a particular suit. In this lesson we cover this skill along with how to prevent a particular defender (the danger hand) gaining the lead!
SUNDAY 8th MARCH - "TO COVER HONOURS OR NOT?"
(Suitable for Intermediate level upwards)
‘Cover honours with honours’ is fine for beginners, but this adage isn’t always correct. Here we look at the relevant issues in order to work out whether to follow the principle in any given situation.
SUNDAY 22nd MARCH - "FINESSING"
(Suitable for Intermediate level upwards)
We all learn about finesses early on in our bridge career. In this lesson we see the wide variety of different types of finesses and learn how to choose which suit to finesse in and which card to finesse!
Each seminar starts with a discussion on the topic of the day. This is followed by the opportunity to play a number of set hands that have been designed to illustrate the topic and help establish the new techniques learned. There's a short break in the middle for light refreshments provided by the club and the workshop lasts around two hours.
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Swiss Pairs on Thursday Evenings
The weekly Swiss Pairs on Thursday evenings is now very popular. It encourages players of all levels to mix and play together and is a very sociable and enjoyable evening with some delicious home-made suppers on the last Thursday of every month.
Martin Braid Memorial Event
Martin’s widow, Sue, would like us to run a pivot teams in memory of Martin on a Sunday afternoon/evening in March. We will fix a date as soon as possible.
National Pairs
On Thursday 22nd January 2015 at 7:30pm there is a qualifying competition for the National Pairs. If you are interested please add your name to the list in the hall.
Tom Middleton Memorial Rubber Bridge Competition
A date for this event will be chosen by the Committee in consultation with Farhad Seka.
Memorial Charity Event for Michelle Brunner
As in the previous two years this will again be a Mixed Pivot Teams. The date this coming year will be Saturday 18th July 2015 at 1.00pm.
Premier League
Manchester Bridge Club will once again host one of the Premier League weekends in the Autumn of 2015.
Concluding Remarks
It remains for me to conclude my report by thanking the members of the Club for their support during the last year.
We are sad to record the death of Cecil Franks early in the year. Cecil was MP for Barrow in the 1980s and was a good friend and loyal supporter of the club playing many hours of rubber bridge here. More recently I was sorry to hear that Nancy Beattie passed away after two years of illness. Nancy played with her daughter Jackie Shah in one of the club’s league teams. On a happier note the club was very pleased to help celebrate Shirley Leak’s 90th Birthday on a Monday afternoon duplicate.
Manchester Bridge Club has continued to be a centre of excellence for bridge producing considerable numbers of talented players at all levels of the game. I still find it incredible that one club in the North of England can produce so many medal winners at European and World bridge level.
I would also like to thank the Club Committee, so ably chaired by Eve Lighthill, for making this year such a success. I would like to personally thank the Committee for the support they have given to the club over the last year and the ideas they have contributed to improving the way the club operates. I would particularly like to thank Annie Curtis who has been fantastic in keeping the website up to date and flagging up forthcoming events.
Finally I would like to wish members of the club a Happy and Healthy New Year.
Jeff Morris
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