| A Most Extraordinary Hand |
The Reading BC and Loddon Vale members playing in the online Realbridge event on 30th November 2023 were treated to one of the most extraordinary hands they had ever seen.
Players sitting North for hand 11 picked up a 'zero loser' monster:
 A K Q J 6 5 2
 A K Q J 10 5
At a couple of tables their partner and dealer, South, had even opened. South no doubt admiring the concentration of all the points in their longest suit (Jxxxxxx) and a suit void elsewhere.
At one table West gave the clue by bidding 1 before North had their chance to bid. That North bidding a cautious 6 .
At most tables a very short auction led to a 7 contract for North. At one table a possible misunderstanding about 2C meaning game force!
The balance of probability was with the Grand slammers ( 80% ?), but the Gods of bridge had frowned at their temerity.
The extreme 5-0-1 split of the loose Spades gave West a stone cold hand to get the Grand slams down (10xxxx) with South having the void. Even so, several Wests didn't double and so shared a 50% score.
Why does Double Dummy say the optimum for NS is +300? The 7D contract for North makes and so EW should sacrifice at 7HX-2.
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| Paul Fanning |
We are sad to announce the death of Paul Fanning in early September. Paul was a member of the club for many years and played regularly on Thursday evenings prior to Covid. He also played on Thursday evenings once face-to-face sessions resumed and in the Tuesday afternoon sessions at Calcot Golf Club until very recently.
The funeral will take place on Thursday 5th October at 11am at English Martyrs Church, 64 Liebenrood Road, Reading, RG30 2EB followed by the wake at the Shoulder of Mutton in Playhatch from 1.15pm.
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| Competition Winners |
Congratulations to the winners of the 6-monthly competitions for the period March 2023 to August 2023.
Brown Cup - Chris Hall
Boucher Cup - Giorgio Jeronimidis
Bilbey Handicap Cup - George Sankey
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| Dale Thomas |
We are sad to announce the death of Dale Thomas in early May. Dale was a loyal member of the club for many years until his deteriorating health prevented him from playing.
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| Annual General Meeting |
The Annual General Meeting of the Reading Bridge Club was held on Thursday 1 June.
Click this item to view the minutes of the meeting. The minutes and associated documents can also be viewed under the 'Information .... Meeting Minutes' area from the menu.
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| County Teams Championship |
Congratulations to Mike Perkins and his team - Ian Reissmann, John Howard and Peter Jackson - for winning the championship for teams of 4 in 2022/23. They have decided not to represent the county in the EBU’s Pachabo Cup as it is being held online.
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| League of 8 |
The 2022/23 season of the Berks and Bucks League for teams of 8 has now completed. All three teams representing Reading Bridge Club have had great success.
Reading A finished top in Division 1 with 133 VPs ahead of Burnham A in second place with 128 VPs.
Reading B finished second in Division 2 with 121 VPs just behind Chiltern who finished top with 128 VPs.
Reading C finished top in Division 3 with 114 VPs ahead of Basingstoke B and SBBC B who were in joint second place with 96 VPs.
Congratulations to all team members. The team lists and links to the league tables can be seen by clicking League of 8 in the menu.
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| Competition Winners |
Congratulations to the winners of the 6-monthly competitions
for the period September 2022 to February 2023.
Brown Cup - Peter Jackson
Boucher Cup - Mel Thomas
Bilbey Handicap Cup - Mel Thomas
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