Ray Dawson 1921 - 2014

The club are very sorry to have to announce the death of Ray Dawson at the venerable age of 93.

Ray, along with his wife Maureen, was one of the longest established members of the club. He served as Secretary and Team Captain for many years and was President from 2002 to 2006. Ray and Maureen met in Bristol University Bridge Club and were partners both in life and at the Bridge Table for over 60 years. They won, over a long period, both County events (the Flitch in 1978) and Club events (the Mixed Pairs in 1976, 2008 and 2010 and were in the winning team in the Club Teams of 4 Championship in 2007).

His working life was varied, spanning the RAF during the Second World War, then BOAC, from where he took the option of a scholarship available to ex-servicemen to study Economics at Bristol University, then on to Oxford for a Statistics course (this was put to use over many years by his careful tabulation of attendances at the club). After a few years back with BOAC, Ray moved to the Road Research Laboratory (now TRRL). His work in this field resulted in his being awarded a Ph.D by Bristol. Since retiring, Ray and Maureen have been keen to indulge their other passion, walking, both in this country and on many memorable overseas trips.

We at Reading Bridge Club are privileged to have known Ray and offer our condolences to Maureen and all his family.

CONGRATULATIONS

To Sam Botfield and Peter Parsons who have won the Thursday event at the British Spring  SIM pairs with a massive score of over 73%. Great victory guys.

"Keen on Learning to Play Bridge?"

Reading Bridge Club is a long established club and has its own premises at 35 Jesse Terrace, Reading, RG17RS where the club is starting a class for beginners. (This is in addition to the existing session for Improvers also held on Mondays.) The teacher, Marilyn Murtagh, is a well respected local teacher and has many years of experience in giving novices a solid grounding in all areas of the game. Once you have covered the basics and played some supervised duplicate bridge the club provides an ideal step up into playing club bridge in the friendly and welcoming atmosphere of our Thursday night sessions.

The first phase of your move towards learning to play is a 10 week term on Monday evenings starting on the 4th of March. This will cost £60 and will allow you to play at the club at member's rates (£2 per evening) for the following year. If you are interested in taking part please contact Marilyn who will be happy to answer any questions you may have. You can get in touch with Marilyn by calling 01628 546969 or by text message on 07751308831 or by email at murtaghm@hotmail.com. Marilyn will phone you back if you provide a contact number.

RBC Annual Competitions 2012

The 2012 Presidents and Francis Cup Competitions were concluded on 20th November. This year retaining the Presidents Cup is Tim Rees, just ahead of Mike Perkins, with Peter Hawkes in third spot. The Francis Cup was also retained by Tim Rees but this year in partnership with Mike Perkins with Mike Ribbins and Pat Dowdeswell some way back in second place. Peter Hawkes and Chris Kinloch were third.

Eric Crowhurst

20.7.1935 – 21.5.2012

Eric, who was Reading Bridge Club's most illustrious ever member, achieved great success in bridge. He played five matches for England in the Camrose Trophy and coached the national women’s team in the 70s. He was in teams that won the Gold Cup in 1971 (and were runners-up in 1977), the Hubert Philips Bowl in 1979, the Crockford’s Cup in 1980, the Spring Fours in 1980, 1981 and 1991, and the Autumn Congress Teams in 1965. He won the Two Stars Pairs in 1967 and the Life Masters pairs in 1969 and 1972. He became a Grand Master in 1975, the thirteenth player to reach this rank, and in 2007 became a Premier Grand Master when that rank was introduced.

At county and club level he won most of the trophies at least once and also served on both the club and county committees. He was made a life member of both Reading Bridge Club and the Berks & Bucks County Bridge Association.

He wrote several books and was always thinking about developments to make bidding more precise. The ones that are most well-known are Precision Bidding in Acol (1974) and Acol in Competition (1980). The first check-back convention bears his name. He wrote regular articles for newspapers and magazines here and in the US. He helped the game develop through his lucid explanations of Acol theory and through teaching. He was always willing to offer advice, if asked, and it was common for opponents meeting Eric for the first time to confess that his books were their “bible”.

At the table, Eric was a joy to play with both for his partner and his opponents. He was very calm, had a good sense of humour and rarely criticised; he would never take advantage of weaker opponents’ mistakes. Sadly Eric had not been able to play bridge for the last few years as Parkinson’s Disease took its hold.

Eric lived most of his life in Reading. After Leighton Park school he went to Southampton University where he started playing bridge seriously and formed some lasting partnerships. After qualifying as a chartered accountant he worked in Reading for Simmonds (later Courage) Brewery; when the brewery closed he went solo, continuing working into his late 60s.

Outside bridge, Eric was a keen follower of sport, especially football and cricket. He was a season ticket holder with Reading FC when they were based at Elm Park. He often took the opportunity to watch Sussex playing cricket at Hove; sometimes this happily coincided with his trip to Brighton to play bridge in the summer teams.

Eric was devoted to his family: his wife Anne, daughters Emma and Susan and, more recently, his grandson Sam.

Pat Dowdeswell 

CONGRATULATIONS

To David Barnes and the Reading "A" team who are the 2011-12 Champions of the Berks and Bucks Teams of 8 League. Although New Amersham "A" have one match left to play they cannot catch the leaders.

RBC 6-monthly Competitions

The current round of Tuesday 6 monthly competitions were completed last night. Although there is a remaining query over last nights results this will not affect the disposition of the trophies. Those successful in the Tuesday competition for the Brown Cup were Mike Perkins with 59.62%, followed by Tim Rees with 58.91% and Mike Ribbins with 58.05%. In the Laycock Cup (handicap competition) Mike Ribbins came out top with 54.49%, followed by Tony Parkinson with 52.55% and Dale Thomas with 51.73%. The Thursday competitions still have a couple of sessions to go and the recent positions are on the Notice Board at the club.

2012 Master Point rankings

The EBU have just released the Master Point ranking lists for 2012. If you want to see how far you are ahead of your partner then all the detail is on the EBU web site.

However the ranking for points won at Reading Bridge Club sessions in 2012 is:

1. Pam Hanson            738

2. Maureen Carver       695

3. Leon McArdle          667

PETER LEONARD WARWICK MBE
25th May 1940- 17th December 2011

Peter was modest concerning his own achievements, so although Bridge Club members may have known him for some years, even those closer to him may be unaware of this unassuming & competent bridge player's lifetime of service & achievement.

Peter was one of 6 children born in Newport, S Wales. His mother Joan survives him. After working in a steel mill, he followed his father & grandfather into the Army. He attained the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 (the highest in REME for an NCO). He saw active service in Malaysia, as well as tours of duty in Germany & Borneo.

When he left the Army in 1980, Peter joined the officers of the Houses of Parliament. He served in his 20 years of office 4 successive Speakers of the House of Commons. Such was the regard for Peter's service that the last Speaker he served, (Michael, now Lord Martin) even provided his own address of thanks at Peter's funeral service. Peter on occasions wore full ceremonial dress & even acted as the Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons by carrying the ceremonial Mace, (symbol of the authority of the Crown and of the House of Commons), from its place in the House in front of the Speaker. The Mace is laid upon the Table of the House of Commons during sittings. Peter was awarded an MBE in 2000 when he retired but he still continued to train others for a further 3 years as a House of Parliament Red Coat.

While serving in Malaysia, Peter met Sally to whom he was married for 48 years. He was a proud father & grandfather to Angela & Mick and Gareth & Elaine and his 4 grandchildren.

Having represented REME at rugby, in his retirement Peter was a staunch Welsh rugby supporter. A keen gardener, he also took up golf again with a handicap as low as 12 playing at Reading Golf Club until his health failed.

Duplicate bridge became increasingly Peter’s interest in retirement. After heart problems he became even more attached to bridge, being a regular Reading Thursday evening player, usually partnering Jenny Storch. Peter’s breathing became so short that in the last few weeks he could only attend the Club with the support of an oxygen bottle, but that did not stop him playing every week, more than holding his own. 2 days before his death in his final evening at the Club his mind was as sharp as ever as he finished midway in the results table. He was a fighter to the end!

It was fitting that so many RBC members attended Peter’s funeral held at Reading Crematorium. Anyone wishing to make a donation in his memory are invited to do so to ‘Breathing Matters’ or the Gurkha Welfare Trust either directly or via the funeral directors, AB Walker & Son 36, Eldon Rd, Reading.

Tom Moore

1^st November 1936 – 15^th December 2011

We are sad to report that Tom Moore, a very popular member of Reading Bridge Club, passed away on 15^th December at the age of 75.

Tom had been a successful bridge player at club, county and national level, but will be remembered especially for his warmth and ready friendship: always ready for a laugh and a pint. Tom knew how to enjoy his bridge and the social dimension of the game. Tom’s health was poor over the last year or so and it restricted his appearances at the club. However, when he did play, he showed that he had not lost his skill and still retained his mischievous but warm sense of humour. His many friends will miss him.

Tom was also a bridge teacher and his pupils benefited from an enthusiastic and very successful tutor.

Tom celebrated his 75^th birthday by playing at Reading Bridge Club with a fellow club member whose birthday date was also November 1st. The next time their birthdays would fall on a Tuesday would be in 2016, and they had already made plans to take part in the Reading duplicate at that date.

Tom Moore leaves a wife, Phyllis, two sons, Tam and Iain, and grandchildren of whom he was very proud.

The funeral will take place at Reading Crematorium on 3^rd January 2012 at 3.15pm. Donations to the Gurkha Welfare Trust directly or via the funeral directors, Lovegrove of Tilehurst, Reading.

Gold Cup Win for John Howard

Winning the Gold Cup, the major British Teams trophy on the Bridge calendar is pretty much the high point of ambition for all Bridge players. This year John Howard joins this elite group. I'm sure he would be the first to admit to the assistance of his regular partner Andy Bowles and four other teammates, but it is nevertheless a great achievement and on behalf of all in the club I offer him our very warmest congratulations.

John becomes I think the 5th member of Reading Bridge Club to win the Gold Cup, following Eric Crowhurst and Alan Wardman in 1971 and David Mossop and Tim Rees who won in 2000 (and then retained the trophy the following year). Now there's a new challenge for John!

Tony Parkinson, President RBC

All master points awarded for the Duplicate sessions up to the end of March 2010 have now been registered with the EBU for those members who have a valid EBU membership number.  Now that the Pay to Play Universal membership system has commenced all club members are members of the EBU (you will shortly, I believe by the beginning of June, receive confirmation of this along with details of your EBU Number) and will have their Master  Points electronically registered after each session.  There is an explanation on the EBU web site as to how they will deal with paper Master Points issued before April 2010. Everyone should therefore extract all their current certificates from the boxes on the mantel shelf and register them without delay.

If any of these "new" EBU members need to know their EBU number before receiving the information directly from the EBU then they can email me and I can let them have it. The numbers are also recorded in the Player Database on the Reading Bridge Club Scorebridge system.

Tony Parkinson

BRIDGEMATES

We have now used the Bridgemates to score both the Tuesday and Thursday Duplicate sessions this week. I hope you are all happy with how it has gone so far. Using new methods slows us down a little initially but I think over the next couple of weeks you will all become more au fait with what needs to be done. One difference is that players identities are now input via the Bridgemates. To do this each member (and most visitors) have an RBC Scorebridge Database Number which is input at the beginning of the session. There is a list of these numbers on the Notice Board in each room. The other major difference is that the overall result will be available as soon as the score on the final board in play has been entered. You won't have to wait while the scorer keys in 24 travellers. One thing which remains the same however is that you need to make sure you play the boards the correct way round, otherwise all your good scores go to your opponents. The Bridgemates do specify at the start of each round which pairs should be at the table, which way they should be sitting and which boards they should be playing. If you check this each round then everything should go swimmingly.

Tony Parkinson

Master Points and Pay to Play

Now that the EBU's Pay to Play system is up and running you no longer receive paper slips indicating your haul of Master Points from your Duplicate Sessions. All Master Points are now directly credited to your EBU account whenever the results of a session in which you did well are uploaded to the EBU. At Reading this usually happens around a week in arrears. You can check your Master Point holdings by logging in to your account with the EBU via the Members Area section of the EBU website. To access this you need your EBU number and password both of which you will have received in the last few days attached to the letter accompanying the June issue of English Bridge. Be aware that the Members Area pages are extremely slow to load, even with broadband, so don't kick your PC thinking it's died.

Any problems email me via the link on the LH column of this page.

Tony Parkinson

Berks and Bucks Bridge and the EBU Pay to Play system.

The method of financing the organisation of Bridge in England has changed from today, 1st April 2010. All members of affiliated Bridge Clubs now pay a small levy via their table money each time they play in a licensed event rather than paying an annual fee to the county and the EBU. Interestingly, they always did pay such a levy, since the Master Points that were awarded had to be paid for. The difference now is that all members of such clubs automatically become members of the EBU. All Reading Bridge Club members who were not previously EBU members have been issued with an EBU number and will shortly be receiving confirmation of this from the EBU.

The Berks and Bucks County Bridge Association have issued a welcome notice to all those new members which explains the changes in more detail and can be accessed by clicking on this news item.

Once everyone has received notification of their EBU number (which I understand will occur by the beginning of June) I intend to change the way that players identify themselves on Duplicate evenings via the Bridgemates, so that they use their EBU number rather than the Reading Player Database Id number. This will mean that we do not have to maintain the separate list of individual numbers and members will only need to remember one Bridge Id number.

Tony Parkinson

Having been asked for the password to this part of the site, my first reaction was that nothing had so far been loaded into it and therefore there was no point in accessing it. The request however caused me to look into what facilities are available and it is apparent that there could be advantages in using the area. The one facility available automatically is that you can email yourself copies of results that are of interest to you. The other obvious use would be in issuing requests for partners etc. Members would be able to log such a message, thus saving the secretary from circulating them. This would however depend on members "joining up" and looking and would thus require them to be more pro-active than merely responding to an email in their inbox. I will ask the secretary to circulate the club password to the members area to all members. In order to get access you then need to register yourself as a user and define your own password. Any messages you leave in the area are then your responsibility and can only be amended and deleted by you. We can then consider whether the process is successful or not. I will consult with the committee over what other facilities should be available. There could be the list of members available for instance to enable them to contact each other. If you have views then let me (or any committee member) know. You can email me by clicking on the link in the left hand column asking for your views on the site.

Tony Parkinson

The club's Annual Dinner was held on Friday 30th October at Calcot Park Golf Club. Members enjoyed an excellent meal with wine followed by some light-hearted bridge. The format was an Individual competition organised as a Teams event with instant scoring and an expert other pair. In fact each member was effectively part of a team completed by either David Price and Colin Simpson or by John Holland and Gunnar Halberg, two thirds of the England Seniors Gold Medal winning team at the recent World Championships. The sixteen board event was a rerun of the third session of the final against Poland and each participant computed their IMP score on the board by comparing with their expert teammates original score on the board.

The winners, who each received a bottle of wine for their efforts were:

North/South  Mike Parker +61, Pete Bamford +35, Mike Ribbins +32

East/West  Ann Brown +48, Margot Wignall +44, Dora Stoilova & Jackie Paxford both +27

Thanks to Molly Andersen for organising an excellent event.