On Friday 7 October the Chairman of the Club, Jeff Bond, invited Margaret Archibald to open our fabulous new extension which will provide an improved playing facility for league matches as well as opening up the main room for congresses and national events. Over sixty members attended the opening and Margaret, who is one of the longest serving members of the club, delighted everybody by making a short speech.

CONGRATULATIONS go to club members Julia Palmer, Jake Corry & Lucia Barrett who won the Scottish Mixed teams at the weekend with Jim Hay as the fourth member of the team.

This years's Manson Cup was won by Brian Short, Alan Goodman, Mike Ash and Alex Adamson. The Westchester Shield was won by Liz McGowan, David Liggat, John Hamilton and Dave Sharp. Congratulations to both teams.

CONGRATULATIONS to Veronica Guy and Fiona Greenwood who won the SBU Womens Pairs at the wekend in Perth.

CONGRATULATIONS to Tim McKay who was part of the winning mens team in Dundee at the weekend.

Congratulations to club members John Murdoch, Brian Short & Alan Goodman who have been selected for the Teltscher Senior Camrose team on the weekend of May 20 - 22 and to Iain Sime, John Matheson & John Murdoch who have been selected for the Senior Team for the Europeans in Budapest at the end of June.

CONGRATULATIONS go to Laura Middleton who, partnering Derrick Peden, won the the pairs tournament at the West District Congress last weekend. Stewart Morris & Tim Lambert were the best Bronze 2 pair in the same event.

CONGRATULATIONS to Amanda Aberdour, Tim Lambert, David Hamilton, Ed Meachem, Fred Namdaran & Robert Thornton on winning this years Pinkhill Trophy with a total of 53 IMPs.

The Ronaldson Bowl 2016 has been won by Iain Sime's team which included John Murdoch, Troy van-de-L'Isle, Jake Corry, Dougie Munroe and Julia Palmer with a score of 88VPs, well ahead of Derek Sanders team with 64. Click on this article to see the final table.

Twenty two teams competed in our annual Spring Congress on Sunday 10 April. Two teams tied for first place on 62 VPs. The two teams, pictured above were;

Derek Sanders, John Murdoch, Stephen Peterkin & Sam Punch
Norman & Betty Morrison, Jean Mole & Reg Drysdale pictured with club chairman Jeff Bond.
 

CONGRATULATIONS go to the following New Melville members who were successful in various events at the weekend. These were:

Liz McGowan for winning the Benjamin Trophy for Grand Masters (Individual) at the Carlton Bridge Club on Saturday.

Anne Perkins for winning the Harrison Trophy for Life Masters (Individual), also at the Carlton Bridge Club on Saturday.

Brian Short & Alan Goodman for winning the National Pairs final held at the New Melville on Sunday.

Alison Mutch & Pauline Waugh for winning the Kennedy Trophy, also held at the New Melville on Sunday.

CONGRATULATIONS go to Iain Sime and Fiona McQuaker who won the Scottish Swiss Pairs on Sunday at Prestwick with an impressive score of 110 VPs out of a possible 140 (78.6%)!

The Carlton Bridge Club beat the New Melville in the end of season friendly match between the two clubs with a score of +6160. The leading NS and EW scores for each club were as follows.

NS Melville -  John Hamilton & Dave Sharp +5430

EW Melville -  Iain Sime & Fiona McQuaker -2080

NS Carlton -  Veronica Guy & Carolyn Peploe +4430

EW Carlton -  Geoff Bailey & Elizabeth Peckham -1250

Thanks to everybody that took part.

The combined results of the three centres that took part (Manchester, York and Edinburgh) can be seen by clicking on this article. Congratulations to Keith & Ishbel Clark who finished third overall out of the 86 pairs that took part. Congratulations also to Christine Anderson & Jim Williams for winning our local heat.

At the Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 15 June a former chairman of the club, David Briggs, was conferred as an Honorary Life Member. David, who served twice as chairman during his two stints on the Board, has worked tirelessly over the past few years in promoting and building up our Melville Bridge Academy. The Academy now boasts about 130 students each year and over the past few years the club has reaped the reward with more and more students progressing on to become full members of the club. David has also built up our Thursday ‘No Fears’ group from its early beginnings of one or two tables to arguably our busiest night with tournaments that regularly have sixteen tables in play. Congratulations David.

Photographs of the various winners of this years trophies, taken at the AGM, can be seen in the 'Club Competition Results' section of the website.

Congratulations go to club members Olivia Bailey and Jun Nakamuru-Pinder who have won a GOLD MEDAL at the 13th European Youth Bridge Pairs Championships at the Liepajas Olympic Centre, Latvia.

As far as we can tell, this is the first time a British pair has won a youth pairs Gold medal and it is a simply stunning achievement by the two young players. Certainly no others have ever won a Gold medal representing Scotland at the European or World level.

Read more and watch a video on Paul Gipson's 'Beer Card' blog - click on this link.

A reminder to all members that subscriptions for the 2016/2107 are now due. The rate is unchanged at £45 for the year. If you pay your SBU sub through the club then a further £7 should be added to your remittance.

Congratulations to Brian Short & Alan Goodman who have won this year's Calvert Cup with an average score 67.19%. The runners up were David Liggatt and Liz McGowan with 60.27%

Congrtatulations to Kairen Bergius & Amanda Aberdour who have won this year's Pinkhill Pairs Trophy with an average score or 58.93%. Runners up were David Hamilton & Tim Lambert who scored 58.04%.

This Friday 30th September we are holding a Bridge & Afternoon Tea event for the MacMillan Cancer Trust. The cost will be £30 per table or £7.50 per person for social Chicago style bridge starting at 1 pm and then a break for afternoon tea at 2.30 pm. Anyone not wanting to play bridge is welcome to come along and make a donation for afternoon tea only. 

We would welcome donations of home made cake(s).

There will be a table selling paperback books - donations welcome to this please.

Hope to see you here supporting this very worthwhile charity.

Scotland's womens team, that includes club members Liz McGowan and Fiona McQuaker, have reached the semi-finals of the World Bridge Games which is being played in Wroclaw, Poland. Well done to all the players! Their next match will be against France which is played over two days and 96 boarrds.

Sadly the team lost narrowly to France in a tight match that changed hands on several occasions.

The annual start of the season friendly match between the men and the women took place on Wednesday 7 September. 24 pairs took part comprising 11 pairs of men and 13 pairs of women with one women's pair playing for the men's team. The men's team came out the victors winning by 3780.

Please note that the club will hold an Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 15th June at 7.30 pm. There will be no bridge played that night. You can download the formal notice calling this meeting by clicking on this article.

A General Meeting is to be held at the club on Monday 29th February at 6:00 pm. Click on this article to read or print the formal notice describing the purposes of the meeting. Page 2 of the notice is a proxy voting form for those who can't attend the meeting.

Congratulations go to the winning team of Derek Sanders, Stephen Peterkin, Alan Goodman and Tim McKay at this year's Christmas Congress. They won by 9 VPs over Harry Smith's team who were in second place.

Congratulations are also due to Liz McGowan and David Liggat who won the Swiss Pairs at the congress on Sunday Evening. They were six VPs ahead of John Hamilton and Kirsty Goodman & Iain Sime and John Murdoch who were joint runners up.

On Thursday 17 December the New Melville held one of its biggest ever Christmas Parties with 96 people playing bridge after the meal. A big thank you to all those that helped to make this such a success, especially Pat Walkingshaw who organised the food and cocktails and who has made the club look really great with the tree and decorations. Rose Simpson should also be congratulated on her magnificent Canapes.

There are more pictures available for viewing in the Photo Gallery.

CONGRATULATIONS to Brian Short's team on winning the Scottish Cup at the weekend in Peebles. Dave Walker, John Matheson and Les Steel were members of the team. This was John Matheson's sixteenth win in this event, a new record!

CONGRATULATIONS are also due to Fiona McQuaker, Liz McGowan and David Liggat who were members of the winning Scottish Cup Plate team (along with Roy Bennett).

There were a number of successes for club members who played at the SBU National Winter Congress in Peebles between 11th and 14th December. Congratulations to them all. The highlights were:

Open Teams of Four Winners: Iain Sime, John Matheson, Mike Ash (with Chris Chambers)

Swiss Pairs Winners: Robert Clow & Tim KcKay

Swiss Teams Winners: Liz McGowan & David Liggat (playing with Nigel Guthrie & Jim Forsyth)

CONGRATULATIONS go to club members Mike Ash and Laura Middleton who won the East District's mixed pairs McGregor Cup which was played at the New Melville on Friday night, with a score of 58.52%. They were narrowly ahead of the runners up Julia Palmer and Derrick Peden who had a score of 58.38%.

CONGRATULATIONS go to club members Brian Short, Alan Goodman and Derek Sanders who were part of the winning National League Team at the weekend. As a result Brian and Alan will represent Scotland in the first round of the Camrose home internationals next January with Derek acting as non-playing captain.

Click here to see the overall result of the Edinburgh Congress Trophy.

CONGRATULATIONS go to club members Iain Sime and Fiona McQuaker who have won the East District Simultaneous pairs with a score of +89.19 Butler IMPS.

CONGRATULATIONS go to George Plant who won the McEwan Cup Individual tournament with a score of 65.63% at the New Melville on Wednesday night.Thirteen players took part.

CONGRATULATIONS also go to Robert Thornton who won the No Fears Individual tournament with a score of 66.67%. Sixteen players took part.

CONGRATULATIONS to club members Iain Sime and John Murdoch who were members of the winning team at last weekend's SBU congress in Peebles. Iain was also runner up in the Swiss Pairs on the Sunday partnering club member Troy Van de Lisle.

From Monday 5th October we will be asking members to pay for their bridge and refreshments using a Club Swipe Card. These are now available for all members from the office. Please click on this article to read the full details of this new initiative and how it is of benefit to the members and the club.

Starting this Wednesday the club is organising a new weekly 'Ranked Pairs Tournament' which is aimed at the average club player who does not wish to compete against the club's top players in the cut and thrust of our traditional competitions. It is aimed primarily at members who have an SBU ranking between Club Master and *Master. Members who are Scottish Masters and above will not be permitted to play. The best thing is that you can come along without a partner and we will fix you up with one!

For further details, click on this article.

CONGRATULATIONS go to club members Julia Palmer and Jane Stephenson who won the Dunbar Congress Pairs on Sunday 27 September. Also congratulations go to club members Fiona Greenwood and Veronica Guy who were part of the winning team at the same congress.

CONGRATULATIONS to Robert Thornton and Tim Lambert who have won this year's Pinkhill Pairs Trophy with an average score of 57.3%.

CONGRATULATIONS also to Liz McGowan and David Liggat who have won this year's Calvert Cup with an average score of 59.45%. Iain Sime and Fiona McQuaker have won the Hamilton Trophy for the highest single score over the three nights (other than that of the winners).

CONGRATULATIONS to club members Brian Short and Fiona McQuaker who successfully defended their Stirling Pairs title at the weekend with a score of 61.71%. They were 1.2% clear of their nearest rivals Paul Maiolani & Jim Mcmenemy. Iain Sime playing with John Murdoch finished fourth. 58 pairs took part in the event.

CONGRATULATIONS to Donald Fraser who has won this year's Accumulator ahead of John Hamilton in second place and Troy van de L'Isle and Julia Palmer tied for third. For the full set of results click on 'Club Competition Results' in the main menu.

Our calendar for the new season will be available at the club in the usual printed format towards the end of the month. However, for those of you who wish to plan ahead a PDF version can be downloaded by clicking on this article.

The New Melville helds its first ever summer BBQ on Saturday 8 August and it was heralded a great success by all those that attended. In the afternoon we had thirteen tables playing in two sections and this was followed by some great food and drink that was expertly prepared by our in-house team of volunteers. The weather was kind and some even managed to sit outside to eat their food. The evening bridge session was also well attended with ten tables, again playing in two sections. One suspects the standard of bidding and play during the evening did not quite match that of the afternoon!!

A special word of thanks must go to Pat Walkingshaw, Rose Simpson and Elaine Greenslade who bought, prepared and served all the food and drinks ably assisted by Peter Bowbrick and David Land. Thanks must also go to all those that helped in the clearing up throughout the course of the afternoon and evening.

The club will no doubt repeat this exercise next year when perhaps with even more advance notice more people might be able to attend.

More photos can be seen in our photo gallery.

Join us for a BBQ and a game of Bridge on Saturday 8^th August at the New Melville Club House. The BBQ will be held at 5.30 pm with a game of bridge before, starting at 2.00 pm and a second session at 7.00 pm. You may play in one or both sessions. The price will be the same. 

Tickets cost £15 per person which covers the cost of food, a glass of wine and both bridge sessions.

You don’t need a partner. Students from our Academy are very welcome and we will organise a separate bridge section for novice players if there are sufficient numbers.

Get your tickets at the club or email the manager on

manager@thenewmelvillebridgeclub.co.uk

Mike Ash is holding a series of

'Summer Seminars'

on the 'bidding battleground in bridge'. Click on this article for full details.

In recognition of the enormous success of the club's move to Pinkhill two years ago our club chairman Alan Goodman, who stood down from the Board of Directors at last night's Annual General Meeting, was awarded an Honorary Life Membership of the New Melville Bridge Club. Alan oversaw and masterminded the whole process, leading a small team of people whose first job was to convince the members that it was no longer viable to stay at Grosvenor Crescent. It was a remarkable achievement to have done this, sold up the old property and found our fabulous new home all within the space of eighteen months. Over his period of tenure and in particular since we moved to Pinkhill the club's membership has grown by over 50% and now stands at 351 members, an eight year high. The club's future  and prosperity now seems secure. Congratulations Alan, a job very well done!

Changes to Thursday evenings!

With the growth in the Thursday evening 'No Fears' game, it has been decided to split it into two separate games, starting on 7th May.

One game will be called 'Thursday Pairs', and is aimed at people who are more than a year beyond the basic SBU course of lessons. This tournament, which is match pointed, will also appeal to Club members who would like a relaxed game!

The second tournament will retain the 'No Fears' title, and is aimed at those who are still doing the SBU course, or have recently finished it. This game will be a bit slower than the other one, with opportunity for help and advice!

So there is something for everyone on Thursdays!

The annual match between the Melville and the Carlton took place on Wednesday 6 May resulting in a win for the Melville by approximately 1800. The final score was not completely reconciled between the two clubs but both team captains agreed that the Melville had won. This would seem to be three years in a row that the Melville has triumphed! Well done to everybody concerned! For a list of all the scores click on this article.

The New Melville held a very successful congress on Sunday 19 April. 58 pairs took part in the afternoon and 26 teams competed in the Swiss event during the evening. The photo above shows the pairs winners Archie Leith and Diana Drysdale receiving their prize from the president of the SBU Russell Frame.

Click on this article to see more photos and results.

We are looking for sixteen pairs to represent the Melville at this annual end of season ‘friendly’ match between the two clubs which this year is being held at the Carlton on Wednesday 6 May. This event is not aimed solely at the club’s top players. Experienced tournament players with a range of abilities are invited to put their names up as there will be four bands of players pitted against players of similar abilities from the Carlton.

Please sign up on the club's notice board if you are able to play or email the manager if you are not at the club in the next couple of weeks.

manager@thenewmelvillebridgeclub.co.uk

CONGRATULATIONS go to the following Academy members who did well in the Hugh Kelsey competition for novice players. About 180 pairs across Scotland took part.

In third place was Sheila Cochrane & Kay Wright with 66.86%

In eighth place was Ken McKenna & Bob Edwards with 64.39%

In tenth place was Hazel Murray and Frank Allmark with 64.10%

CONGRATULATIONS go to John Hamilton, Mike Smith, Liz McGowan, David Liggat and Reg & Diana Drysdale who have won this year's Ronaldson Bowl with 51 VPs two ahead of the Adamsons, Ash, Goodman, Greenwood and Matheson who scored 49 VPs.

CONGRATULATIONS also go to Elspeth Burnside, Ian Fraser, Sheila Cochrane and Ann Shepherd who have won this years's Pinkhill Trophy which is a teams event for players below the rank of District Master. They were 25 IMPs ahead of the second placed team scoring a total of 92 IMPs.

Why not come along to the third in our series of Master Classes on Wednesday 8 April at 7.00 pm

The topic will be Slam Bidding including the use of methods such as ‘Splinters’ and ‘Jacoby’.

This is aimed at experienced club players.

The format will be:

• a talk by Liz for about an hour
• a short break for tea/coffee
• a play session of 14-16 hands
• a discussion about the hands

Please sign up on the club notice board if you would like to take part.

Congratulations to Mike Ash and Laura Middleton who won this years Westchester Mixed Pairs. Fiona McQuaker and Iain Sime were runners up with Brian Short and Fiona Greenwood in third place.

Click on this article to see the full result.

CONGRATULATIONS to Iain Sime's team on winning the Purves Clock 2015. Team members included Jun Nakamu-Pinder, Fiona McQuaker and Sheila Adamson.

Click on this article to see the table of results.

Click on this news item to see the combined Manson Cup Qualifier Page.

CONGRATULATIONS go to Brian Short's team which won the prestigious Scottish Cup on Sunday. Team members included Dave Walker, John Matheson and Les Steel.

After three rounds of the Purves Clock Iain Sime's team is in Pole position to win. With just one round to go next month and the best three results counting, Iain's team is going to be hard to beat!

Click on this article to see the current standings.

CONGRATULATIONS to  club members Alan Goodman, Brian Short and John Matheson who along with Les Steel won the Winter Foursomes in Falkirk at the weekend. Derek Sanders and Iain Sime won the Subsidiary Event playing with John Murdoch and Stephen Peterkin.

The Christmas Congress in full swing on Saturday 27 December with 36 pairs competing in the Swiss Pairs. Congratulations to Iain Sime and John Murdoch who were the winners with Heather and Peter Braid being the runners up.

The Congress Teams had three joint winners! See the results page for full details.

Please note that Bridge on Tuesday mornings is suspended until further notice. We may start it again at a different time later in January. An announcement will be made on the website and by email to members.

On Wednesday 10th December at 7.00 pm John Matheson is holding the first of our 'Master Classes'. His theme will be 'Benchmarks'. The evening consists of a talk by John on this topic followed by a play session of specially prepared hands to illustrate the points with a discussion after the play is over. About sixteen hands will be played.

Please sign up at the club if you intend coming.

If you played in one of the club's heats of the National Pairs qualifiers click on this article to see if you qualified for the next round on Saturday 31st January at the Carlton Bridge Club.

Members of the club will be saddened to hear of the death of John McWhinney who passed away last night in his sleep. It is believed that John suffered another seizure. Our thoughts and sympathies go to his wife Bron who is also a member of the club. She and John enjoyed a very long and successful bridge partnership as well as being a devoted couple.

CONGRATULATIONS to our club chairman Alan Goodman who won the SBU's Arthur Trophy for Grandmasters at the weekend. Alan was partnered by Anne Symons. The tournament took place at the Melville alongside other ranked masters pairs on Sunday afternoon and evening.

CONGRATULATIONS also to Lucia Barrett and Andy Jamieson who won the Fairlie Pairs for Scottish and National Masters which was played alongside the Arthur at the club on Sunday.

CONGRATULATIONS also to Anne Young and Alex Sutherland who won the Johnston Pairs for District Masters. This was played at the Melville on the same Sunday and Simultaneously at other venues.

CONGRATULATIONS to Tim McKay who won the Club's annual individual contest, the McEwan Cup, on Wednesday evening with a score of 62.92%. This year twenty members competed for the trophy.

The New Melville hosted a Macmillan – World’s Biggest Coffee Morning event, on Wednesday October 15^th 2014

Thanks to everyone who supported this in some way.

The event has raised the fabulous sum of  £1480 for Macmillan! 

Anne, Pat, Denise

CONGRATULATIONS go to the following club members who were successful last weekend at the SBU National Congress in Peebles.

Jake Corry playing with Yvonnne Wiseman won the Pairs A Final. Liz Mcgowan and David Liggat were runners up.

Brian Short and Sandy Duncan won the Swiss Pairs.

John Matheson was part of the winning  Teams A Final.

Derek Sanders, Jack Paterson, Deirdre Sanders, Jeff Bond & Katherine Dempsie won the Teams B Final.

Congratulations go to club members Brian Short and Fiona McQuaker who won the SBU's Stirling Pairs which was played at the New Melville on Saturday. Club member Iain Sime playing with John Murdoch was runner up.

The annual start of the season friendly match between the men and the women took place on Wednesday 10 September with fourteen tables competing.

Overall the men came out the victors with a score of +3900.

This year for the first time, there were four tables of 'No Fears' players competing in their own sub-section, playing 20 of the 25 boards. The No Fears women did particularly well in winning both the NS and EW prizes in the overall field.

Click on this article to see the full table of results.

CONGRATULATIONS to David King who has won this years Accumulator finishing narrowly ahead of runners up Troy van-de-L'Isle and Judith Louch.

The full table of results is shown on the Accumulator page (see menu). As you will see, David played on all sixteen occasions and was the only person to do so. So it pays to play as often as possible!

CONGRATULATIONS to New Melville Bridge Club members Alan Goodman, Brian Short, Alex Adamson and Sheila Adamson who  retained the Clarendon Bowl (an invitation teams of four for Scottish bridge clubs) on Sunday 31 August in Dundee.

The club calandar for the 2014 - 2015 seson is now available to members as a printed folded card. This year's version will fit inside a diary. Members can collect theirs next time they visit the club.

Bridge novices enjoying a gentle teams game in the warm July sunshine in the car park under the watchful eye of Assistant Club Manager Anne Perkins.

CONGRATULATIONS to club member Veronica Guy who, partnering Sheina Lang won the Pairs Final at the Central District Congress in Montrose at the weekend. Veronica met with more success in the Teams Final winning that event with the same partner and club member Rona Moss who was playing with Pam Leith.

CONGRATULATIONS also to club member Derek Sanders who won the Brighton Bowl at the weekend playing with T Rees, S Punch and S Peterkin beating 103 other teams at the Brighton Summer Meeting.

At the AGM in June it was suggested that the use of symbols (♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ ) for suits was hard to read and that S for Spades and H for Hearts etc would be easier. This change was implemented a few weeks ago.

Congratulations to the following club members who were successful at the Peebles Congress held on the weekend of 11/13 July.

The  Congress Pairs was won by John Hamilton (playing with Russell Frame)

The  Congress Teams was won by Deirdre Sanders, Jeff Bond and Derek Sanders (playing with Stephen Peterkin) as pictured above.

The Congress Consolation Teams won by John Hamilton, Russell Frame, Mike Ash & Sandy Duncan

Printing Master Point Certificates is a thing of the past!

From Monday 7 July all Master Points won by SBU members who play at the New Melville will be directly credited to members SBU accounts. They will no longer be printed out.

Printed Master Points won up to and including Friday 4 July will be available from the filing cabinet in the cloakroom where members can collect them as usual in order that they can send them to the SBU Master Points secretary.

These printed certificates will be kept for three years whereupon they will be destroyed as they will no longer be valid. It would be helpful if as many members as possible would collect these certificates in the near future.

All SBU members will be able to check on-line their Master Point holding using MEMPAD. Visit the website at:  http://www.mempad.co.uk/ where you can log in. There are instructions for first time users on the site.

Is is now more important than ever that SBU numbers are entered correctly on the Bridgemates. Members should check that their names show up on the Bridgemate screens at the start of each round. If not, then the TD should be informed so that this can be corrected.

Correcting mistakes after the electronic submission has taken place will be much harder.

Congratulations to the Orion league team who beat Pied Pipers on Tuesday to win the East District Knock-out Cup.

The Scores were: Orion 23,180     Pied Pipers  21,530  so Orion did not need their handicap of 3,200 in order to win!

The team members for the final were: Marjorie Gibbens & Sheila MacKay, Mary & Andrew Grant, Rita Stockdale & Rita Chester, Rose Simpson & Brenda Cullen.  Moyra Forrest, Pat Ransley, Elaine Greenslade and Isobel Jones played in earlier rounds.

All of the above are members of the New Melville!

The New Melville Bridge Club was sad to announce that former Chairman Gloria Stuart passed away on Friday 20 June. Gloria had been suffering with Leukemia for some time and was recently moved to a Marie Curie hospice where she spent four days and died peacefully.

A service to commemorate Gloria's life was held at Teviot Row House in Edinburgh on Saturday 28 June.

At Gloria's request, donations to Marie Curie or Macmillan Nurses.

European Teams Championships in Opatija, Croatia

22nd June - 1st July

Eight members of the Melville Bridge Club are representing Scotland in the European Championships which takes place in Croatia between the 22nd June and the 1st July. Two are playing in the Open Team, three in the Women's Team and three are playing for the Senior's Team. Full details are below.

The Club members are –

Seniors – Iain Sime (with John Murdoch), Alan Goodman & Brian Short, (Danny Kane & Irving Gordon) – NPC Tony Wilkinson

Women – Liz McGowan (with Sam Punch), Sheila Adamson (with Anne Symons), Fiona McQuaker (with Yvonne Wiseman) – NPC Harry Smith

Open – Mike Ash (with Frazer Morgan), (Alex Wilkinson & Phil Stephens), Paul Barton (with Brian Spears) – NPC Sandy Duncan

The official web site of the competition which will include results is at http://www.eurobridge.org/52nd-ebl-team-championships.aspx

Follow Harry Smith's blog on: http://scottishbridgeinternational.co.uk/

For a pre-tournament form guide see the June 11th entry on Paul Gipson's excellent blog at http://thebeercard.blogspot.co.uk/..  He will be providing regular comments as the action unfolds.

Results and information are also available at:

http://sbu.org.uk/index.php/international/internationa-news/357-2014-euro-updates

Club members Iain Sime and John Matheson won the Scottish Swiss Pairs in Irvine on Sunday 18 May with an impressive score of 113 VPs out of a possible 140 (81%). Mike Ash and Alex Adamson were second with 103 VPs and David Weir partnering Douglas Mitchell were third on 102.

Congratulations go to club members Alan Goodman and Brian Short who along with Anne Symons and Paul Gipson won the Atholl Cup. Runners up were Iain Sime, Patrick Home, Simon Gillam and Jun Nakamaru-Pinder.

The annual match between the New Melville Bridge Club and the Carlton Bridge Club took place on Wednesday 7 May at the New Melville. Sixteen pairs for each club competed in this aggregate event.

The New Melville Club came out the winners with a net aggregate score of 5130.

The Club held its fourth annual Spring congress on Saturday 26^th April. This year 56 pairs were entered for the handicapped pairs in the afternoon and twenty four teams entered the Swiss teams in the evening. The pairs event was won by Dilys Gellatly and Marjorie Murray who were almost 3% ahead of their nearest rivals David Weir & Douglas Mitchell.

The winning team consisted of Jake Corry, Danny Hamilton, Martin Stephens & John Faben who finished with an impressive 72 VPs out of 80 i.e. a 90% score! Only one team out of four, namely Peter & Heather Braid and Irene Sime & David Kaye managed to get any VPs out of them at all otherwise they would have been heading for a 100% win, which is almost unheard of.

For a full list of all the congress scores click on our results section.

Many thanks should go to our Congress Convenor David Briggs, our Tournament Director Bob McPaul and Anne Perkins who not only prepared all the pre-dealt boards but also organised the catering arrangements.

A good time was had by all and we look forward to running a similar event this time next year. Of course we will also be holding our usual Christmas congress in December.