| Garden Cities Final |
There was an excellent performance by Taunton BC in finishing 4th in the Garden Cities Final on saturday.
The Taunton team were Jackie Waters + Heinz Brunsch, Richard Feetenby + Norman Massey, Colin Flood + Rob Lawy and Sheila Coda + Roger Sweet.
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| EBU Master Pairs |
The EBU are holding their Masters Pairs (green pointed) at the Isca Centre on 28th February. Anyone who has received a landmark promotion in the last year are eligible to take part free of charge. Their partner has to be ranked lower than Regional Master and, unless he/she has also got a recent promotion will have to pay the full amount, i.e. £24 (per person).
I have taken some names from landmark promotions in Somerset and if you know any of them perhaps you will pass on the message.
Thomas Morgan, A. Pike, Annette Rawdon, Hilary Shove, Grant Weston, Louise Hobhouse, Trevor Lewis, H. L. Lilly, M.V. Lund, Mrs. B. Badley, Robert Hobhouse, Pat Nelson.
Jean Whitlam
Chair, Exeter Bridge Club
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| BRIDGE CAFÉ at BEAH |
The next Bridge Café event with Bob Baker will take place on Saturday February 13th at the Beah Restaurant in Wells. The content will be:
10.00 Better Hand Evaluation - the true value of honours
11.15 Lebensohl - Dealing with interference after partner’s 1NT opening bid
13.30 Common Defensive Mistakes - and how to avoid them
14.45 The Danger Hand - how to keep the dangerous opponent off lead
This event is free and you are welcome to attend some, all or any of the seminars. Details of the venue are here.
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| Learn to play bridge in Cheddar |
A six week Beginners Bridge course will commence at Cheddar Bridge Club on Thursday, 28 January from 2 to 4 pm.
followed by two more classes on 4 and 11 February, a two week break for half term, then three more sessions on 3, 10 and 17 March.
The cost is £30 to be paid at the outset.
For more information: phone 01934 733783 or email Judith.strange@gmail.com
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| West of England Congress photos |
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| Lindsay Hewson |
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"He was a connoisseur in wines and was diligent in tending his own vineyard"
Lindsay Hewson lost his battle with cancer on Sunday night. He will be sadly missed both as a family man and a bridge partner. In many ways he was intensely private, and extremely modest, yet he loved nothing better than sharing good food and specially sourced wine with close friends around the dinner table. He was a devoted husband to Grace and a loving father to his two sons. Being a passionate follower of Bristol City, their huge success last year gave him special delight during his illness.
Lindsay and I started playing bridge together 30 years ago. In all of that time I cannot remember him once getting cross with me at the table. If Lindsay had been as interested in bridge as he was in wine, he would have been a phenomenal bridge player. Having said that he was a wonderful partner and we had our successes at both regional and county level.
Grace has requested that people do not ring her at this time, and I will let everyone know about the funeral arrangements as soon as they are to hand.
Michael Whittaker
Funeral Arrangements
The funeral for Lindsay will be held on Thursday 27 August starting at 9.30am at South Bristol Crematorium (Bridgwater Road, Bristol BS13 7AS). The funeral will be followed by a service and celebration of his life at 11am at Christchurch Clevedon (Chapel Hill BS21 7LL). All friends and colleagues are welcome to join the family for one or both services.
I have been requested to say a few words about Lindsay with respect to his bridge life. If any of you have any story you wish to share about Lindsay, and it does not need to be bridge related, I would be grateful if you could drop me a line at
whittaker.family@blueyonder.co.uk
as soon as possible.
Michael Whittaker
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| SCBA Percentage Qualifiers |
Click to see the qualifiers and reserves for the Percentage Final on Sunday May 8th.
Qualifiers - enter as soon as possible as individuals using SCBA website.
Any qualifiers who are unable to play - send email to carolinemacp@gmail.com as soon as possible then reserves can be invited to enter.
Entry now closed
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| First for Bridge |
We are delighted to announce that we have entered into a new sponsorship deal with First for Bridge.First for Bridge has recently introduced bridge improver holidays, where you can develop your game in a relaxed and friendly environment. So it is appropriate that they will largely be covering the cost of our two cafe seminars next season, which will continue to be free for our members. Anyone who has been to our previous cafe seminars, presented by our own Bob Baker, will have benefited from his professional presentation. Bob and his wife Jacky also run improver holiday breaks and indeed will be running First for Bridge's next improver holiday from 7th to 14th January 2016 in Lanzarote. First for Bridge will also be covering the cost of the prizes awarded to the winners of the Michael Coda Cup, which will benefit next year's nominated charity Somerset Cancer Care. Our deal with First for Bridge will be reviewed in June 2016. So that First for Bridge can monitor the success of their sponsorship, they have requested that you state the promotional code SOM2015 when booking a new holiday with them, In return, whether it be an improver's holiday or one of their standard bridge holidays, they will provide a discount of £20 per new holiday booked, subject to the following terms and conditions:
1. you need to be a member of a bridge club that is located in Somerset, North Somerset or North East Somerset, and
2. the new bridge holiday must be booked between 15th July 2015 and on or before 31st May 2016.If a couple book a new holiday they will each receive the £20 discount, for that holiday. It should be noted that the promotional discount cannot be claimed for any holiday you may have already booked with First for Bridge prior to 15th July 2015.
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| Andrew Robson visit to Somerset |
THE SOMERSET CBA
Presents
ANDREW ROBSON AT THE WEBBINGTON
On THURSDAY NOVEMBER 19th
At The Webbington Hotel ( http://www.webbingtonhotelandspa.co.uk )
SEMINAR 1 2.30 -5.30
Four Key Rules, (One, 11, 14, 16), drawing in lots of instructive areas for intermediate + players
Tricky Leads (what to lead with nothing obvious)
SEMINAR 2 6.30-9.30
Elimination & Throw-in
Bidding Big Hands
Bar snacks will be available and there is plenty of parking at the hotel.
Each seminar costs £12 or £20 for those attending both sessions.
To reserve a place please send a cheque for the relevant amount payable to SCBA to Tony Russ at Kitwe Cottage, High Street, Evercreech, Shepton Mallet BA4 6HZ. Please list those attending and give an email address for the group leader. This is a no ticket event- acknowledgement of your payment will be by email.
November 19th is a long way away but I advise early booking to avoid disappointment because Andrew's sessions are very popular.
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| Learn to play bridge in Cheddar |
Cheddar Bridge Club is hosting a free Taster Session - an opportunity to see what the game is all about and meet local players - on Saturday, 15 August, at 2.30 p.m. at the Catholic Church Hall, Tweentown, Cheddar
Lessons will start in October 2015. For more details contact:
Ray Beach, tel. no. 01749 870643; email - ray.beach@iwcl.freeserve.co.uk, or
Judith Strange, tel. no. 01934 733783; email - judith.strange@gmail.com, or
Google Cheddar Bridge Club.
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| Michael Coda Simultaneous Pairs |
We are pleased to announce that the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance will receive £1,416.55. Thanks to everyone who took part and for the many donations received. All the results can still be seen on the news page.
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| Portland Pairs |
Congratulations to Caroline Macpherson on coming second out of hundreds in the Portland Pairs event.
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| Michael Coda Simultaneous Pairs |
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| National Swiss Teams |
Dave Latchem, Sheila Coda, Bill Rowe and Rodney Marks played in the National Swiss Teams on 17/18 January 2015. After losing the first three matches 12/8,11/9,12/8 they thought they were only there for the beer, but by the end of the first day were lying 6th after some large wins. Sunday was another good day for the team, as they won 4 of the remaining 5 matches. They finished equal first but had not played the other team, so the tie was split by the number of wins. The other team had won 9 and Dave's team had only won 8, so they lost out on first place. This is a tremendous achievement for the team. Well done to them.
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