Elena Jeronimidis

We are very sad to report the death of Elena Jeronimidis on 22 September.  Elena was a member of Reading Bridge Club for many years and, despite her health problems, was playing regularly in local clubs until early August. 

Elena edited a number of bridge publications, including English Bridge from 2007 to 2015, for which she was made a life member of the EBU.  There is a 2013 biography of Elena on the EBU website https://www.ebu.co.uk/biographies/elena-jeronimidis

She will be sadly missed and we send our condolences to her husband, Giorgio, and the rest of her family.

Elena's funeral will be on Friday 2nd October at 2.30 pm at the Reading Crematorium. Family only to attend in person given the limit imposed by the social rules and also according to Elena's wishes. However, for those who wish, the service will be available on stream.

Website                                 https://www.obitus.com/

Username                             Kuze2003

Password                              320660

If you wish to contribute to the Children in Need charity that Elena supported, please go to the following website The link to the Memory giving Site is: http://www.memorygiving.com/elenadagmarjeronimidis

Chris Kinloch

Sadly, Chris passed away on 7th July.

Chris’s primary county was Hampshire and Isle of Wight but he also played in Reading and Berks & Bucks events. He was a regular member of the Reading B and Reading A League of 8 teams and a Reading League of 4 team for many years, continuing even after his move from Tadley to Andover. His most recent appearance was with Peter Hawkes against Thame on 11 March.

His professional career was in logistics, planning the efficient storage and movement of books and computer parts. His long bridge playing career began in Scotland and then continued in England. In 2008, with Miles Cowling, he won both the EBU South-West Pairs and the EBU National Pairs.

The funeral will take place at Andover Crematorium on Tuesday 28th July at 2pm. As there are restrictions on the number of people who can attend in person, there will be a live stream of the service. More information will be given on the Basingstoke Bridge Club website.

Funeral details are below:

Dear Members 

We hope you are all coping in the lockdown which is a new experience for everyone. In particular, we send our thoughts and good wishes to those of you that have had to contend with significant Covid 19 and also non-covid health events within your families over the last few months.

Online bridge

We are running a session every Thursday at 7pm starting 30 July.  Please register by noon the day before using the attendance box for the relevant date on the right hand side of the website.

If you have not played online before

• We strongly recommend that you practise with a few hands in the Casual section of BBO. 
• Pat Dowdeswell (patdowdeswell@virginmedia.com ) and Gill Smith (gill_smith99@btinternet.com) are happy to help  anyone who has not played on BBO before and/or to set up a practice session.

Registering on BBO

• In order to play you need to register with BBO at bridgebase.com.  This is free, easy and does not commit you to anything.  
• When you log on to bridgebase.com you will be asked to choose a username and password.  
• NOTE: you need to complete your registration by clicking a link that will be emailed to you
• You will need to give your username when you enter for the event.  
• Then you need to buy some BBO $s to cover the entry fee of 4 BBO$s – do this on the BBO website. 
• You can find additional information on registering for BBO on the EBU website http://www.ebu.co.uk/ebuscore-wiki/bboinstructions

 Playing in the event on the day

• Please ensure you enter the event in advance on the RBC website, as set out above
• To play in the Club event, logon to BBO with your Username and password.
• Click on ‘Competitive’ then ‘All tournaments.’
• The screen will have a small box at top right saying Search.  In the Search box type Reading.  
• The screen will show the "Pending" Reading event.  This will be available from 2 hours before the start of the event.
• Click on the event name.  
• If your partner is late, please do not register with a robot but tell the director about the problem.
• You can then invite your partner to play using their BBO username (unless you have already received an invitation from them).
• We recommend putting the club director's BBO ID  ( vEBU204802 ) into your personal friends list on BBO.  Then when you are online on the night you can chat straight to the director about any problems.

If you have any questions please email   Pat Dowdeswell patdowdeswell@virginmedia.com

Best Wishes

RBC Committee

Winter Competition Winners - September 2019 to February 2020

The winners of the 2019 Winter cup competitions are below.

Tuesday Competitions

Brown Cup 

1. Mike Ribbins       60.87%

2. Peter Jackson      60.12%

3. Mike Perkins        58.79%

Laycock Cup (Handicap)

1. Mike Ribbins         52.56%

2. Jim Chapman         50.37%

3. John Greenhalgh    50.31%

Thursday Competitions

Boucher Cup 

1. Oliver Dillon      62.01%

2. Ken Jones          61.66%

3. Sam Botfield       59.60%

Bilbey Cup (Handicap)

1. Martyn Jordan    55.57%

2. David Salmon      55.33%

3. Brian Pugsley      54.60%

Online Cocktail Pairs

Reading Bridge Club's first online Cocktail pairs took place on the 25th June using the online platform BBO.  

Congratulations to David and Janet Barnes who won with a score of 61.67% ahead of the 14 pair field.

Leon McArdle  1972 - 2020    

Very sadly we learned that Leon McArdle died last weekend, after a two year struggle with cancer.

Leon is survived by his wife, Carolanne and their young son Sammy, who will be 7 years old next week.

We at Reading BC knew and admired him as a very fine bridge player, partner, team mate and club mate.

Leon was born in Reading and lived in Harcourt Drive near the new university campus and then the Tilehurst Road area (his mother and brother still live in the Reading area). Leon attended the former Meadway comprehensive school where he was regarded as a very intelligent pupil with a relaxed insouciance towards his work. He coped easily with the demands of his A levels and got on well with his fellow students.

Leon first played bridge when he was reading Mathematics at Sheffield University in the early 1990s and recalled that another current Reading BC member, Oliver Dillon, taught him the game.  Oliver recalls Leon as amongst other things an accomplished piano, snooker and basketball player.

After university Leon joined Oracle, the database and computer company,  eventually becoming a Principal Software Engineer for them at their Thames Valley Park facility.

At Reading BC Leon won the Bilbey cup, the Boucher cup (twice) and the Founder’s trophy (with Pat Dowdeswell). In Chiltern competitions he won the Elimination Pairs in 2015 (partnering Oliver Dillon).

He was a regular league player for various Reading teams partnering Patrick Moore, Ken Jones and Chris Hall, including the B team beating the mighty 2016-2017 champions, our own A team!  He qualified as an EBU director with distinction and regularly supervised club duplicate sessions with authority, consideration and that prized attribute, good humour. He was a great contributor to the life of the club.

Thanks to strong performances with his university friend Ben Tarlow against high quality fields at Reading BC and Cambridge BC, they are currently the highest NGS ranked Berks & Bucks and Cambridge players in the EBU “evolving” partnership category.

A very talented bridge player, sadly never to reach his zenith, Leon will be greatly missed.

Leon’s funeral will take place at Reading Crematorium at 3:15pm on Friday 7th February, followed by a reception at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Caversham. All are welcome but please contact Patrick Moore (patrick.ac.moore@gmail.com) if you plan to attend  for further details.