We are pleased to announce the team selected to represent M&CBA in the President's Cup which will be held on 28/29 June in Carlisle.  They are:

Alan Stephenson (Capt) & Stuart Matthews

Chris Pope & Andy Prothero

Dave & Jean Keen

Matt Foster & Paddy Murphy

Reserves: John and Pauline Rudolf

Good luck to you all!

The first - hopefully in a long series of such events - Bridge4Fun with an Expert took place at Merseyside Bridge Centre on Thursday 26 June. It was a massive success judging by the smiles on everyone's faces alone. One of the Experts said he had never played bridge with so many smiling faces around him. The comments slips left afterwards confirmed that impression.

The "teams" (3 friends plus their Expert) were divided into different sections, roughly along lines of ability/experience - and each team played against the others in their section in 3 matches of 8 boards, with each team member partnering the Expert for one match. There was no TD and mistakes were to be handled at each table. The partners were allowed to check systems with each other during play and the Expert at each table would, if asked, comment on better ways of bidding, playing + defending.

The teams were able to score up on returning to their home table if they wished but there were no winners in bridge terms. To add some spice to the occasion, bottles of wine were "won" by a random draw at the end of each match.

So thanks to all the Bridge Experts for giving up their time, to Merseyside Bridge Centre for hosting the event, to the County for paying for it (!) And especially to Dave + Jean Keen for the smooth + very successful organisation of the event.

Photos were taken during the evening and these can be seen by clicking here.

The final of the Lady Connell will be between Andy Prothero's team and David Stevenson's team. Unfortunately, they are unable to play the final before 8 May, due to other commitments. A team to represent the County in the Pachabo Cup has therefore been made up from the two finalist teams. Chris Pope, Matt Foster, Peter Kaufmann and Simon Edwards will carry the M&CBA flag. Good luck.

The final of the consolation event, the Ceshire Salver was played between Julian Merrill's team and Bob Pitts' team.  The winners were Merrill.  Congratulations to Julian Merrill, Paul Roberts, Rick Alcock and John Hampson.

Congratulations to Joan Marray and Avril Thompson who were worthy winners of the County Ladies' Pairs event on 26 April. It was a disappointly low turnout though. This seems to be happening with a few local events.  We have just learned that the (usually) popular May Day Swiss Pairs at Merseyside Bridge Centre has had to be cancelled due to lack of interest.  It's such a shame when so much effort goes into organising events.