Ralph Churney's son, Henry, has been in touch to let us know that the family are holding a memorial service (Stonelaying) for Ralph at 12pm on 28th February at Broadgreen Cemetery.

Anyone who wishes to attend would most welcome and to go back to Ralph's house afterwards - 5 The Ridgeway, Woolton. If you intend to go, we suggest you let Henry know in advance henry.churney@btinternet.com

Don't forget to get your booking in for the TD training courses at MBC. Only a couple of weeks to the first one!

The courses consist of three separate modules lasting one day each plus an assessment day. They will be run by well-known Tournament Director Mike Amos on the following Saturdays: 13 Feb, 19 Mar, 9 Apr, 28 May, If you are interested, please click above for further information. Bookings are required quickly, especially for the first module.

DUBLIN THRILLER!

30/31 May 2015 saw the annual Liverpool v Dublin match (M&CBA nowadays but still called Liverpool for historical reasons!).

As usual the match was strongly fought but in the most friendly way.  Angie Pinnington’s catering, fast becoming legendary, even in Dublin, was tremendous and the spirit of the match a credit to both teams.

After 10 boards Liverpool led by 154 to 85 VPs.  Dublin fought back and after 70 boards the most incredible thing had happened – it was 835 VPs plays 835 VPs!!!  There were only five boards left to play.  Three of our 4 teams’ scores were in and we waited for our Ladies, needing 10 VP’s from them – they produced 13 VPs and M&CBA had won by 899 to 891.  Phew!!!

The Team:

Alan Stephenson & Stuart Matthews
Dave & Jean Keen
Pam Edwards & Shirley Webster
Joan Marray & Avril Thompson
Jean McKeown & Stephanie Howard
Sheila Shea & Wyn Williams
Dave Edwards & Peter Richmond
Colin Humphrey & Angus Clark
Ted Reveley & Mike Swanson 
Paul Roberts & Julian Merrill

Dublin Team:

Heidi Lillis & Michael McGloughlin
Sean O’Lubaigh & Martin Brady
Pat Ryan & Pat McMahon
Ann Fitzgerald & Mary Stanley
Cathy Bearpark & Dermot O'Brien
Steve Bearpark & Brendan Curran
Rory Egan & Sheila Horkan
Seamus Dowling & Perdita Quinlan

Director : Ian Stanley

Thanks to Deva Bridge Club for providing a great venue and helping with the event – special thanks to Kate Beckett and Ian Taylor for their support during the weekend and to Fred for doing the boards.

The North East annual Green Point Congress was held over the weekend.
In the Swiss Teams the leading scores (average 70) were:

1  Liz Commins & David Stevenson   114 VPs
   Georgia & Steve Ray
2  Babs & Tim Matthews              91 VPs
   Joyce & Bill White

Georgia & Steve Ray are a well known North East pair. Congratulations to Liz and David.

The Andrew Rose Bowl, the County Mixed Pairs, was played at Liverpool Bridge Club on Thursday 14th May as part of the Merseyside Summer Festival.
The results:
1 Liz Commins & David Stevenson
2 Anne Dorricott & Barry Griffies
3 Liz Stevenson & Paul Holt

Congratulations to Al Stephenson and Stu Matthews, winners of this year's competition, seen here with County Chairman Paul Roberts. Many thanks to Bernard Kaye for organising and to David & Liz Stevenson for directing. Full results are uploaded to the website. 

Congratulations to Bob Pitts and Barry Lloyd Jones who won the Open Pairs in the above congress.  John Hampson and Julian Merrill were 3rd.

In the Seniors Swiss Teams, John Hampson, Bob Pitts, Julian Merrill, Simon Whitehouse were runaway winners. (See photo)

Beth and Barry Wennell were 3rd in the Seniors Swiss Pairs, with John Hampson and Julian Merrill in 4th place.

Congratulations to them all.  Full results can be seen by clicking here.

Congratulations to Paddy Murphy & Tracy Capal who came 6th out of 103 of the strongest pairs in the country representing M&CBA in the Corwen Cup on 30/31 May 2015. Also finishing strongly were Dave Flacks and Laurence Stone. As for our 3rd pair, well we won't mention them, except to say they were a very poor substitute for John & Pauline Rudolf who were unable to play after Pauline broke her leg. Get well soon Pauline. 

There was a particularly strong field this year and no winners from Merseyside & Cheshire. The best result was Paddy Murphy and Liz Commins in Joint 6th place. 

Hughes Sim Pairs

The Hughes Sim Pairs, organised by David Stevenson, was held at the end of June.  Having grown over many years from a small Sim Pairs, solely in Merseyside, to now being played in 13 countries, with two heats in Merseyside/Cheshire at Deva BC and Hartford BC.  Unlike other Sim Pairs, which are either in favour of a Charity, or more commonly are fundraisers for a bridge organisation, this Sim Pairs is for the players, giving at least 50% of the money collected back in prizes, unlike the 10% to 20% of other Sim Pairs.

Members of this County, Liz Commins and Paddy Murphy, came second overall playing at Colwyn Bay CC with 72.45%, a mere 0.04% behind the winners, Helen Cantwell & Jeanne Anderson from Sale BC in Australia with 72.49%.  Full results can be seen at:        http://www.simpairs.com/default.asp?session=005892

Recently, Jean Keen's Team (Dave & Jean Keen, John & Pauline Rudolf) played their 4th Round Crockfords Cup Match against one of the top seeds Justin & Jason Hackett, Tim Rees, Colin Simpson & David Price. Justin's team had driven up the day before from the Spring Foursomes, where they reached the semi-final. One of them had to drive back to his home in Switzerland after the match!
After 8 boards Jean's team were 15 IMPs up; after 16 boards they were 23 IMPs up; after 24 boards they were 20 IMPs up. In the last set the Hacketts bid 4S with a trump suit of A9 v JT876 (Qx onside meant 1 loser!). John & Pauline reached a game needing 1 of 2 finesses, both failing and not reached in the other room. One or two errors and when the smoke cleared team Hackett were victorious.
A great match, played in the best of spirits - handshakes all round - 'for a time you had us on the rocks there'. Must get the entry sorted for next year!

Sun 26 October NWBA Harold Griffiths Cup GP Teams

Congratulations to Merseyside & Cheshire Teams who dominated the event:

1st Mark Weeks & Stuart Matthews, Jean & Dave Keen 

2nd Chris Pope & Andy Prothero, John Hampson & Paddy Murphy

• 

  Dave Rory Shield
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  Dublin 2015 dermot yummy
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  Dublin 2015 Heidi Seamus
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  Dublin 2015 milling
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  Dublin 2015 mingling
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  Dublin 2015 scrummy
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  Dublin 2015 SeanPat M Rory Pat R Avril T

We are pleased to announce that the M&BCA team were victorious in the match against Dublin held 30/31 May 2015. A full report can be found by clicking here. 

Congratulations to Merseyside & Cheshire pairs who did well in the above event: (the winners were Roger Allison & Peter Richmond, who both play in a lot of Merseyside events. Peter was until recently a member of M&CBA but now mainly plays in Lancs. Congratulations still go to them too, of course)

3rd - Ted Reveley & Bill Niccol

5th - Stuart Matthews & Mark Weeks

7th - John Hampson & Simon Whitehouse

9th - Chris Pope & Andy Prothero

The delayed final of the above trophy has finally been held. Congratulations to Team Prothero who beat Team Stevenson by 51 imps.

Congratulations to Gareth Thomas & Barbara Serres who came 2nd out of 1047 pairs with 70.31% in the Wednesday session playing at Blundellsands BC. Doris Coltman & John Roberts were 9= also playing at Blundellsands. David Flacks &  Laurence Stone were 17th playing at Merseyside Bridge Centre.

Our match against Derby was held on Sunday 21 June at  Spondon. We are pleased to report that the team from M&CBA won by 28 IMPS. Congratulations to all who played. 
The team

Ann Davies & Dorothea Gilbert
Dave Edwards & Peter Richmond
Paul Holt & Peter Sumption
Paul Mathews & John Gibb
Angie Pinnington & Helen Wight
Barbara Serres (capt) & Gareth Thomas

Thanks to all our friends at Derby for making us feel so welcome. 

In the Great Northern Swiss Pairs held on the weekend of 4-5 October in Leeds, Pauline & John Rudolf were 3rd and John Hampson & Simon Whitehouse were 9th out of 99 pairs. A very good result for both pairs. Pauline and John especially are having a really excellent year!

Congratulations to the team of David Stevenson, Peter Kaufmann, Matt Foster and Paddy Murphy who won the above competition on 11 June at Heswall Hall. A healthy turnout of 18 teams underlines the continuing popularity of this event. 

Congratulations to John and Pauline Rudolf who won the Championship Pairs in the above event against very tough competition. Click here for full results of the Pairs event.

A Merseyside & Cheshire team came a close 4th in the Swiss Teams. Well done to Al Stephenson, Stuart Matthews, Mark Weeks and Bob Pitts. The teams results can be seen here.

The annual Green Point Teams at the North Wales AGM was dominated by two Merseyside/Cheshire teams, Liz Commins & David Stevenson, Mark Weeks & Stu Matthews and Bob Pitts & Barry Jones, Paddy Murphy & John Hampson, who came 1st & 3rd respectively. Sheila Shea & Wyn Williams were in the team that came 4th. Well done.

Congratulations to Dave and Jean Keen, who, with Neil Thomas and Nicholas Greer of Manchester came a close second in the above competition in a very strong field. As Dave says "we only had one easy match ... And we lost that one!". Also a good result for Ted Reveley, Mike Swanson, Stuart Matthews and Alan Stephenson whose team were joint fourth.

Congratulations to Al Stephenson who was a member of the winning team in the above event, along with Filip and Diane Kurbalija of Wales and Paul Denning of Gloucestershire. Also to Dave and Jean Keen who came third along with Joy and Irving Blakey of Manchester. For further information click here.

Congratulations to Peter Kaufmann and Chris Pope who were joint 3rd in the above event. Other M&CBA players finishing in the top 10 were Liz Commins and Paddy Murphy (7th) and John Hampson and Simon Whitehouse (9=).

For full results click here

In the Northern Ireland Spring National Congress held in Belfast [formerly Armagh] the Championship Pairs was won by Liz Commins and David Stevenson.

However, in the Championship Teams, Liz and David together with Robin Burns and Ian Lindsay of Northern Ireland failed to retain their trophy, only coming second this year.

Congratulations to Richard Davies & Stuart Scholes and Bernard Krasner & Dave Shaw who won the above event - again with a disappointing turnout of only 4 teams. Picture shows l-r Dave, Bernard, Stuart and Richard.

Congratulations to Bob Pitts & Barry Lloyd Jones who finished first in the above green-pointed event held at Colwyn Bay on Sunday 12 April. In second place were Paddy Murphy & John Hampson, 3rd Sheila Shea & Wynn Williams and 4th Barbara Serres & Martin Thorne - all M&CBA members! Click here for full results. 

Congratulations to Mark Weekes, Barry Jones, Alan Stephenson and Stuart Matthews who won the above event. A really good turnout and a very pleasant evening was had by all - many thanks to Ted Reveley for smooth running of the event and to the members of Wirral Duplicate Bridge Club who took care of the organisation. To see full results click here. Picture shows l-r Al, Stu, Barry and Mark.

Only 4.5 tables for this event, which was very disappointing.  Liz Commins and David Stevenson were the winners.  Well done to them.

Congratulations to Peter Kaufmann and Chris Pope who finished 2nd in the above event. Also well placed were Tracey Capal and Paddy Murphy in 5th= place.

Congratulations to the winners by a massive 45 Imps: Dave Edwards, Gill Jones, Earl O'Keeffe and Robbie Roberts representing Blundellsand Bridge Club. 

Thanks to Liz Stevenson for her hard work in organising the event. But a very disappointing turnout of only 5 teams - 3 of them from Merseyside Bridge Centre! 

Congratulations to David Stevenson & Liz Commins who, with Alan Oddie and Iain Roberts of Beds, came 2nd in the main teams event in the above Congress. For full results, click here

Congratulations to the team from Merseyside & Cheshire who won the match by 69 VPS. After 18 matches the score is now 9-9. Full report and photos now on the site.  Click here.

Congratulations to Jean Keen’s team (Jean & Dave Keen, Pauline & John Rudolf) who have advanced to the 4^th round of Crockfords Cup after beating the Lancashire- based Mike Tomlinson’s team by 45 IMPs.  The team is also still in the Gold Cup but have drawn the #5 seeds, a very stiff task.

Jean & Dave along with Barry Lloyd Jones, are also in Bob Pitts' team, which has reached the semi-finals of the Welsh Cup.

As if this were not enough success, M&CBA are also guaranteed a team in the 3rd round of the Crockfords Plate (the consolation event for the Crockfords Cup) as Bob Pitts' team is drawn against Julian Merrill's team. 

M&CBA successes in the South of Ireland 71^st Congress – Killarney - 18-25 May 2014:  Ted Reveley almost swept the board, with help from John Salisbury & Chris Pope – yet more Irish crystal to add to his hoard! Jean Keen was in the team which won the Ladies' Teams. For full information click here.

A team from Deva will be representing the County in this event. They are: 

Al Stephenson & Stu Matthews,
Chris Pope & Andy Prothero,
Dave Flacks & Laurence Stone,
Matt Foster & John Hampson (capt)

For more information, click here. Good luck to the team.

A fun day’s bridge at Merseyside Bridge Centre on St David’s Day for the Ladies - 9 teams entered the Jean Keen Trophy teams event.  The winners, with a splendid total of 105 VP’s, were Joan King, Pat Crossley, Lollo Murthwaite & Mui Fellows. In 2^nd place, close on their heels with 98 VP’s, were Dorothy Hislop, Lucy Jones, Anne Davies & Dorothea Gilbert – congratulations to both teams!  

Thank you to all involved for their support & assistance in making this an enjoyable & successful day. 

On 17 May the final of the Cambria Cup, the Welsh Bridge Union's Mixed Pivot knockout teams, was held in Llanidloes. The winning team of  Paddy Murphy,  Liz Commins,  David Stevenson &  Barry Jones are all members of M&CBA as well as North Wales.

Congratulations to our own Liz Commins, who was a member of the winning Welsh team in the above competition. 

The Lady Milne, international event for the five countries of the British Isles plus a sixth team provided by the host nation, England this year, was won by Wales.  While they may have won it before, not for such a long time that anyone can remember when!  They won two of their matches, while other teams won three, but they had the highest total VPs.
The Welsh team lay third after the penultimate match, then beat the leaders, Scotland, also overtaking Northern Ireland and holding off the late challenge from England, who finished second.
 

A good turnout on 1 February for the County Trials. Congratulations to Al Stephenson and Stu Matthews who were clear winners at half time and continued their winning streak to the bitter* end, finishing on +133 (butler scoring). In second place were Matt Foster and John Hampson on +56.

Thanks to Liz Stevenson for a good-natured competition, well organised and directed. 

* it was only bitter for us mere mortals!

Congratulations to John and Pauline Rudolf, winners of the above competition. Full results have been uploaded.

Congratulations to Jean Keen’s team (Jean & Dave Keen, Pauline & John Rudolf) who are through to the 3^rd round of the Gold Cup after defeating the strong Catherine Draper team (Catherine Draper, Andrew Petrie, Andrew Woodcock & Ollie Burgess) by 58 IMPs over 48 boards.

Jean’s team are also through to the 3rd round of Crockfords Cup when they are drawn against Michael Tomlinson's team from Lancashire.

The County Mixed Teams event was held on Thursday 15 May at Liverpool Bridge Club. In a disappointingly low turnout of only 5 tables, the joint winners were Ann Davies & Roger Arnold and David Stevenson & Liz Commins.  The photo shows l-r Liz, David, Roger and Ann with the trophy.

Congratulations to Peter Hall who, with Nigel Marlow of Berks and Bucks, came fourth in a very strong field. Mark Weeks and Stuart Matthews came 9th.

For a full report on the Higson Finals click here.

Dave Keen reports:

"On Sunday 27th April, we won the Manchester League KO Finals (The Roy Higson Cup).   They have 7 divisions and over 70 teams so this event has KO rounds leading to a 10 team finals day.  This year's finals were on BBO viewgraph.

Congratulations to Team Mayhem (Jean & Dave Keen (M&CBA), Pete Foster & Neil Thomas (Manc)) who beat Division 1 rivals Bare Bones by 51 IMPs to reach the Higson Trophy Finals (Manchester League KO).  The team won this event by some distance last year after a very strong finals event.  Like last year, this year’s finals will be shown on Vu-Graph and take place on 26 April at Manchester Bridge Club.

Congratulations to Pete Foster and Mike Amos (see photo) who were the overall winners of this event. In second place were John and Pauline Rudolf and third were Al Stephenson and Stuart Matthews. All three pairs will be invited to represent the County in the Corwen Cup National Pairs Competition in Birmingham at the end of May 2015. In fourth place and leading the field in the first half were Dave Edwards and Peter Richmond. 

Many thanks to Liz Stevenson for organising the event and to Sarah Amos who directed the event with her usual efficiency and good humour. 

David Stevenson writes:

"We played the Webber over the weekend, the top WBU weekend teams event, and the first two teams were:

1  KURBALIJA  [South Wales]
   Filip Kurbalija, Diane Kurbalija, John Salisbury, Tony Ratcliff

2  COMMINS    [Mersey/Ches]
   Liz Commins, David Stevenson, Simon Edwards, Chris Pope   

Liz and I have had many firsts in various events, but what we rarely mention is the even larger number of second places.  But this event was different: there was a trophy for second place!  Called the Philip Angel Cup, we forgot to get a picture of the four of us with the trophy [sorry Chris, Simon!].  So the enclosed pictures are only two of us with the trophy!"

Congratulations to Peter Richmond who was in the team that came 4th in the Swiss Teams at Ilkley on 5 April. The other members of the team were Roger Allison and George & Maureen McConkey from Lancashire. 

Congratulations to Sue Fjortoft and Margaret Ainscough of Lancashire, winners of the County Ladies Pairs event held at Blundellsands BC on Sunday 27 April. Photo shows l-r Sue, Gareth Thomas (TD & Chairman of Blundellsands BC) and Margaret.

Some fine showings by M&CBA members in the North Wales Spring Congress. In the pairs, Barry Lloyd Jones & Bob Pitts were in second place with Liz Commins & David Stevenson in third place. In the teams, Barry & Bob teamed up with Welsh Internationals Mike Tedd and John Salisbury for a resounding victory. Tracy Capal was in the team which came second and Sheila Shea, Wynn Williams, Beth & Barry Wennell were third. Congratulations to them all. 

Full results: Pairs. Teams

M&CBA were represented in the above heat by a team from Deva: Matt Foster, John Hampson, John Rudolf, Pauline Rudolf, Julian Merrill, Paul Roberts, Laurence Stone, David Flacks. In a strong field they came 5th.

Congratulations to David Stevenson and Liz Commins on winning the East Wales Congress Teams, together with teammates Tracy Capal of Manchester and Mike Pownall of Hampshire and Wales.  Picture shows l-r Liz, Mike, Tracy and David. Following the event, Liz was disappointed that there was no trophy. She has therefore purchased the Liz Commins Cup and donated it to East Wales, who promptly gave it back to her as a member of the winning team!

In the first round, held on 3 August, the M&CBA teams were:

Congratulations to Liz Commins & David Stevenson, who with Robin Burns & Ian Lindsay from Northern Ireland won the Northern Ireland Spring National Congress Green Point Swiss Teams in Armagh. Sadly Liz and Dave were unable to defend the Mixed Pairs trophy that they won last year.

Congratulations to the winning team of Gill O'Neill, Margaret Howe, Joan Marray and Avril Thompson. Click here for a full report.

Congratulations to Pat Arthur & Stephanie Howard, playing at Merseyside Bridge Centre, who came 10th in the above heat; and to Doris Coltman & Cameron Boyd who came 15th playing at Blundellsands Bridge Club.

Congratulations to Laurence Stone (left) and Dave Flacks, who were overall winners of the above event. Thanks to Liz Stevenson for organising and directing the event. The full results have been uploaded - see latest results.

Congratulations to David Edwards & Gareth Thomas who finished 9th overall in the above event, playing at Blundellsands. Also to Lollo Murthwaite & Mui Fellows, who finished 18th playing at Merseyside Bridge Centre.

Congratulations to Paddy Murphy and John Hampson who won the above event on 30 March (Paddy's birthday!) The top half of the field was dominated by players from M&CBA, so well done to all! Click here to see the full results.

Many congratulations to M&CBA members Jean and Dave Keen and Pete Foster, who, with Neil Thomas of Manchester won the Roy Higson Cup in Manchester on 27 April. For a full report click here. 

The teams have now been selected for the annual match for the Cantor-Dowling Shield, which will be held in Dublin on May 31st/June 1st  

Open

Alan Stephenson & Stuart Matthews; Dave & Jean Keen  

Ladies

Pam Edwards & Shirley Webster; Joan Marray & Beth Wennell  

Club

Geoff Cowie & Cameron Boyd; Sheila Shea & Wynn Williams; Dave Edwards & Peter Richmond  

Officials

Ted Reveley & Mike Swanson; Paul Roberts & Julian Merrill

Good luck to them all.

Congratulations to Peter Richmond and Dave Edwards who were the overall winners of the Wednesday competition of this event, out of a total of 1347 pairs and with a score of 73.99% over 2% clear of the second placed pair!

Congratulations to David Stevenson, Liz Commins, Simon Edwards and Chris Pope who came second in the above competition (the premier WBU teams event) and were awarded the Philip Angel Cup. For full report click here.

Congratulations to John and Pauline Rudolf on coming 3rd in the National Pairs heat at Solihull on 16 March. They qualified to play in the National Finals in Bedford, on the weekend of 5th and 6th April 2014 and finished a creditable 16th in the A Final.

They kept very quiet about it, but three of M&CBA's ladies played in the Welsh Lady Milne team which finished a creditable 3rd, beating the England ladies! Well done to Beth Wennell, Sheila Shea and Liz Commins who are on the right of the photo.

Congratulations to Stuart Matthews and Mark Weeks, who won the above event held at Telford on Saturday 26 April. For full results click here.

Congratulations to David Stevenson and Liz Commins who were joint winners of the above event, being joined at the last minute by Tracey Capal and Mike Pownall of Manchester. Also finishing well were David Flacks and Laurence Stone in 4th place, Peter Kaufmann and Chris Pope in 5th place, Pete Foster and Mike Amos in 6th place and Bob Pitts and Barry Lloyd Jones in 8th place. Go M&CBA! Full details can be found on the NWBA website.

Congratulations to David Stevenson, Liz Commins and Paddy Murphy who, with Tracey Capal of Manchester, won the Swiss Teams at the above congress on Sunday 20 April 2014. For full results, click here.