Please see the report by SCCBA Chairman Andy Ryder on the Southern Counties Junior Bridge Camp at Ardingly from August 12th-14th at which a very good time was obviously had by all!

Andy Ryder (SCCBA Chairman) offers his huge thanks to Vivian Priday for an exceedingly generous donation of £5000 to Sussex Junior Bridge.  This will safeguard the Sussex Junior Bridge Festival for many years to come.  It has already provided the trophy shown which was first played for at Ardingly College in August.  The Tony Priday Junior Bridge Trophy was presented to the winners of the flagship duplicate on Saturday 13th August which was also Tony's birthday!

Reflections From the Sea End - September 2016

Congratulations to the team of Norman Inniss, Richard Creamer, Konrad Mau and Neeraj Tanna who won the Green Point Swiss Teams at Crowborough on Sunday July 24th.  The runners-up were Andrew Morris, Duncan Curtis, Eddie Lucioni and Jean Smallwood.

Many thanks to organiser and director Eddie Williams.

Summer 2016 Tournament Newsletter

Reflections From the Sea End - August 2016

Congratulations to Stephen Kennedy and his London partner Michael Alishaw who beat 87 other pairs to win the Swiss Pairs at the EBU English Riviera Congress played at Torquay over the weekend of July 2nd-3rd.

Since the EBU won't be holding a Junior Teach-In at Loughborough this year, the SCCBA are hosting a Junior Bridge Camp at Ardingly College over the weekend of August 12-14th.  For those aged under 21, there'll be "bridge entertainment, tuition, coaching and play plus plenty of fun and social activities!".  Please see attached for details of this event and contact SCCBA Chairman Andy Ryder if you need more information.

Congratulations to Janet Cretchley and Susan Napper who won this year's SCCBA Venture Pairs at Worthing Bridge Club on Sunday June 26th.  The runners-up were Marie Willey and Susan Pettit.

Many thanks to organiser Eileen Perrigo and director Keith Norman.

Reflections From the Sea End - July 2016

Congratulations to Jean Smallwood, Fran Thornton, Ros Wolfarth and Eddie Lucioni who, as they did last year, won the Henfield Candles (now being run by the county and a Blue-Pointed event) on Sunday June 5th.  In fact, Fran, Jean and Eddie have now been in the winning team in 4 of the last 6 years - a remarkable record!

The runners-up were Philip Hunt, Lindsay Geddes, Yves Lebrec and David Telfer and .....

..... the winners of the non-expert prize were Helen Kent, Wendy Keech, Mervyn Wotton and Hazel Ogden.

Many thanks to director Martin Pool and organiser Ros Wolfarth.

From an original entry of 18 teams, the team of Julian Mitchell (Peter Clinch, Andy Ryder, Pers Lindsten, Duncan Quibell, and Phillip Poulter) emerged victorious, beating Mandie Campbell's team in the final over 64 boards.  Julian must be sighing in relief having won his previous 3 matches by 2, 6, and 1 imps!  His team now qualify for the Pachabo Trophy which is an EBU National competition for the winners of each county's Knockout teams.

The Plate competition was won by David Franklin's team who beat Paul Londesborough’s team in the final.

The entry forms for next year's competition will be in the forthcoming county yearbook and on the web-site.   Please give it a go next season in what is the county's main teams competition and Green-pointed for each match.  First round losers qualify for the Plate competition for no extra charge.

Roger Poulter (Organiser)

Congratulations to Michael Prior and Mike Hampton who were clear winners (by 20 VPs!) of the Green Point Swiss Pairs on Saturday May 21st.

Many thanks to Organiser and Chief Tournament Director Eddie Williams, ably assisted by Kathy Williams.

The Non-Expert prize was won by .....

..... Susan Parkins and Mark Wiggins.

Reflections From the Sea End - June 2016

Congratulations to Ray Burnett & Carol Morrison and Dee Murray & Claire Weston who were joint winners of this year's Eastbourne Basic Bridge Pairs on Sunday May 8th.  The results published originally had to be amended because a board(s) had not been arrow-switched in the last round.

Many thanks to organiser Kathy Williams and director Eddie Williams.

Reflections From the Sea End - May 2016

The County Management Committee is very sad to report the recent passing of Mike Webber after a very short illness. Mike joined Chichester Bridge Club in 1987.   He became a member of the club committee in 1990 and since then has worked tirelessly as director, newsletter editor, organiser/communicator, consultant on bridge matters, handyman and devoted all round servant of the club. When Chichester Bridge Club moved premises and took a licence on property at the Bishop Luffa School, Mike was active in assisting with the construction and fitting out of the new building and without him the club would not have the premises they have today.

Mike ran his own bridge classes and supported the teaching and development of new members.  He remained a loyal member of the committee for more than 25 years and as senior director was always ready to step in and help.  Until recently he was also a leading contributor to the hugely popular overseas bridge holidays run by Mercian.

Mike was an experienced bridge director (at national level for very many years) and helped to train and support new directors at Chichester Bridge Club.  He was always there to guide and mentor with his calm, authoritative manner.  His knowledge of the rules was legendary and any disputes or queries at the table were swiftly and pleasantly resolved to the satisfaction of all.

Mike’s exceptional contribution to Sussex bridge over so many years was recognised in 2013 with the award of the Gladys Hakki trophy, a richly deserved reflection of not only his devotion to the members of Chichester Bridge Club but also to the hundreds of others who learned and played the game we all love and enjoy under his direction and supervision. We will all miss him greatly.

Mike’s funeral will take place at Chichester Crematorium at 3.30 pm on 3 May. Enquiries should be referred to the funeral directors Dillistone and Wraights, 49/51 Spitalfield Lane, Chichester, PO19 6SG, telephone 01243 839777.

Very well done to England junior international Stephen Kennedy and his partner Michael Alishaw (London) who finished a very creditable 4th in the National Pairs Finals which took place over the weekend of April 16th/17th.

The Gladys Hakki trophy is awarded annually to a Sussex member who has given outstanding service to county and club over a number of years.  This year's very deserving winner is Hazel Beveridge, pictured being presented with the 'trophy' by SCCBA Chairman Andy Ryder on the final day of the Spring Congress on April 10th.

Hazel has been the Secretary of West Sussex Bridge Club since April 2009 and since then she has given invaluable help to 3 successive Chairmen.  Indeed, the club feel that it is difficult to imagine how, with 250 members, it could function so well without her dedication to sort out all the day-to-day problems that arise.

Despite living over 20 minutes drive away from the club premises, when she is playing she is always the first to arrive to check all is in order. Club members have no hesitation seeking guidance from her and any task the Committee asks her to do is undertaken with enthusiasm and efficiency despite often involving a considerable amount of work (such as creating a data base with all membership information).

She organises all the competitions run at WSBC and is available to everyone with great good humour.  She has also helped to run classes in order to encourage others to join the club.

Hazel also contributes much to the efficient and effective administration of the Sussex county association in her roles as Membership Secretary and as a member of the Management Committee.  She has been diligent in her attendance at MC meetings over several years and regularly makes thoughtful and perceptive contributions to discussion and debate.  In addition, she has established an accurate county membership database and a mailing list of the 1600 or so members who have email addresses. The mailing list has proved invaluable in improving communications with members across the county.

David Galpin, the county's long serving Treasurer, who was awarded a prestigious EBU Dimmie Fleming award in 2015, was presented with his award by Sussex President Martin Pool (representing the EBU) at the Spring Congress.

David has served the county association over very many years, not only as Treasurer for thirteen years but also in many other capacities, particularly as organiser of the Sussex League for the last sixteen years.

For a fuller list of David's much-appreciated efforts on behalf of the county, please see the announcement on the EBU web-site.

Congratulations to Jean Smallwood, Eddie Lucioni, Andy Morris and Duncan Curtis who won the Swiss Teams on the final day of the Spring Congress which was held at Uckfield from Friday April 8th to Sunday April 10th.

As always, the congress was extremely very well organised and directed by Eddie Williams, ably assisted by Kathy Williams.

There was an extremely close finish to the Blue-Pointed Swiss Pairs on the Saturday of the congress with 3 pairs finishing on 96 VPs and another pair just 1 VP behind.

Congratulations to Matthew Smith and Mark Denny who won the trophy via the 'split tie' procedure with Dave Franklin and Gerry Stanford sharing the runners-up position with Graham and Berry Hedley.  Geoffrey and Ros Wolfarth finished in 4th place.

Mervyn Wotton and Helen Kent won the Non-Expert prize.

Trying to look surprised at winning the Mixed Pairs are Chris Jepson and Neil Watts who won this event for the third successive year!

Other winners on Day 1 were .....

..... Martin Pool, Neil Watts, Dave Franklin and Nigel Urban who won the Multiple Teams and .....

..... Chris and John Mewes who won the Basic Bridge Pairs.

Congratulations to them all.

Congratulations to the West Sussex team (Andrew Southwell, Philip Hunt, Peter Brown, Matt Read, Liz and Ian Lancaster, Yves Lebrec and Neil Watts) who beat 10 other teams to win the county Teams of Eight event at Eastbourne on Sunday April 3rd.

To see how individual pairs did, see the cross-imp scores in Room 1, in Room 2 and overall.

Many thanks to organiser and director Eddie Williams.

Very well done to Katie and Stephen Kennedy who were runners-up in the Green-Pointed Swiss Pairs in the Norfolk Congress at Norwich on Saturday April 2nd.  See results on the Norfolk web-site.

Reflections From the Sea End - April 2016

At the first session of this year's Invitation Pairs which was held on March 29th at the Avenue Bridge Club, Richard Newton, Avenue Bridge Club Proprietor, is pictured (centre) presenting last season's winners Tim Dickinson and Shefton Kaplan with the competition trophy.  Congratulations to Tim and Shefton who won the event for the second year running.  Thanks to Julian Mitchell who directed.

Andrea Galpin, Competition Organiser
 

Very well done to England junior international Stephen Kennedy and his partner Michael Alishaw (London) who topped the list of qualifiers in the National Pairs Regional Finals which took place on Sunday 13th March.

Congratulations to Michael Keeping and David Benjamin, pictured being presented with the trophy by Andy Ryder, for winning this year's Sussex Pairs, the final of which was played at West Sussex BC on Saturday March 12th.  The runners-up were Richard Fedrick and Matthew Read and in 3rd place were Will Adler and Liz Hoskins.

Many thanks to Director Brian Gould who coped admirably to overcome technical problems with the scoring.  Many thanks also to Organiser Gerry Stanford and to West Sussex BC for hosting the final.

Have you thought about entering an SCCBA Welcome Pairs, Venture Pairs or Basic Pairs event but you weren't sure which one was right for you?  If so, try reading an introduction to these events by SCCBA Tournament Manager Ros Wolfarth.  It's accompanied by an extract from the Blue Book defining Level 2 conventions.

Please see the attached tribute from Worthing Bridge Club to their President, Alan Jeffery, who passed away peacefully on March 3rd.

Please note that there are two changes to the February Tournament Newsletter.  The EBU/SCCBA Green Point Swiss Pairs on May 21st will be at Uckfield (not Crowborough) and there is no limit to the number of master points that can be held by players entering SCCBA Basic Bridge Pairs events.

Reflections From the Sea End - March 2016

Congratulations to David and Gina Dickson, Martin Greeley and Hazel Keith who won Eastbourne Bridge Club's La Locanda del Duca Trophy Swiss Teams event with 79 VPs on Sunday 28th February and with it a first prize of £200.

In 2nd place were Chris Jepson, Nigel Urban, Neil Watts and Phillip Hunt with 77 VPs and in 3rd place were James Hobden, Matthew Smith, Tom Brogan and Mark Denny with 75 VPs.

For the second year running, male players took the first three places in the final of this year’s Sussex Individual Competition final held at Patcham Bridge Club on Sunday 21 February.  The winner with a score of 62.5% was Robert Hirst from West Sussex Bridge Club.  Nigel Urban was runner-up with 60.4% and third with 57.1% was last year’s winner, David Towell.  Both Nigel and David qualified from the Horsham Heat of the competition.  Ron Robins from Patcham prepared the duplimated boards and scored the event and Patcham members provided as excellent tea for the 25 qualifiers.

PETER J BATES, Event Organiser and Director

Congratulations to the Horsham 'B' team of Roger Crabtree, Josephine Forrester, James Lawrence, Michael Butler, Jason Fairlie, Arthur Chopping, Josie Allen and Jim Downes who won the Elisabeth North Trophy at Horsham on Sunday February 14th.  This competition is for club members who have less than 25,000 Master Points and 25 Green Points.

Many thanks to Horsham Bridge Club for hosting the event, to director & scorer Keith Norman and to organiser Gerry Stanford.
 

111 pairs took part in the county's new Open Simultaneous Pairs (which has replaced the Seniors Simultaneous Pairs) in various Sussex clubs on Wednesday February 10th.

Congratulations to clear-winners John Burke and Mike Armstrong who played in the Wilton heat.  Runners-up are Graham and Berry Hedley who played in the Horsham heat and in 3rd place are Hortense Lott and Brian Cooper who played in the Patcham heat.

The overall runners-up are also winners of the 60-and-over category and the third-placed pair are also winners of the category where at least one player was under 60.  John Clark and Vi Boniface, who played in the Wilton heat and finished 7th overall, are winners of the 75-and-over category.

Many thanks to all the clubs who took part in this event.  Many thanks also to Peter Clinch who not only organised the event but selected the hands and wrote the commentary.

Congratulations to Lindsay Geddes and Philip Hunt who won the SCCBA Mixed Pairs Final on Sunday February 7th.

In second place were Neil Watts and Chris Jepson and .....

..... in third place were George Phillips and Janet Rumsey.

Many thanks to director and scorer Keith Norman, organiser Gerry Stanford and to West Sussex Bridge Club who hosted the event.

Congratulations to Veronica and David Strachan (pictured with organiser Ros Wolfarth) who won the David Pavey Trophy Final at Worthing Bridge Club on Sunday January 31st.   The David Pavey competition is for players who have less than 10,000 master points.

Many thanks to director David Galpin who was assisted by scorer Andrea Galpin, and to organiser Ros.

In 2nd place were .....

..... Robert Hirst and Sue Porter and in 3rd place were .....

 ..... Tim and Alison Finch.

Reflections From the Sea End - February 2016

Many congratulations to Chris Jepson who, with partner Catherine Curtis from Cambridgeshire, has put in another excellent performance to finish second in the Lady Milne Trials which took place over the weekend of January 22nd to 24th.  Consequently, Chris has again qualified to represent England in the Lady Milne Trophy.  This trophy is contested by the women's teams of the Home Nations and this year's event will take place in Northern Ireland in April.

Many congratulations to Ros and Geoffrey Wolfarth who were in the team which won the Swiss Teams at the National Teams Congress over the weekend of January 16/17th.  Andrew Southwell and Richard Fedrick also did extremely well by being in the runners-up team.

Congratulations to James Bugden and Bill Nicolle of West Sussex Bridge Club who are the confirmed winners of this year's Charity Simultaneous Pairs which was played in the week beginning January 11th.  The runners-up are Neil Watts and Nigel Urban, also of West Sussex Bridge Club, and in third place are Barbara Miles and Jean Meneely of Worthing Bridge Club.

Over £800 has been raised for this year's charities which are Pericles and The Oyster Project.

Many thanks to the clubs who held heats, to Andrew Southwell who selected the hands and wrote the commentary and to organiser Gerry Stanford.  Many thanks also to Ron Robins of Patcham Bridge Club for duplimating the hands.

Thanks to organiser Joy Mayall's efforts, 29 teams entered this year's event.  Many thanks also to Tournament Director David Galpin, Assistant Director Brian Gould and scorer Rob Robins for a smoothly-run event.

Congratulations to this year's winners Philip Hunt, Matt Read, Peter Brown and Yves Lebrec who were presented with their prizes by Sussex President Martin Pool. 

In second place were .....

..... Richard Fedrick, Andrew Southwell, Peter Clinch, and Liz Hoskins and in 3rd place were .....

 ..... Gerry Stanford, Dave Franklin, Neil Watts and Nigel Urban.

A delicious hot and cold buffet, supplied by John Porteous, was enjoyed by all.

The 2017 NYST will be held on Sunday 8th January.  If you can't wait that long for another Swiss Teams plus buffet at Henfield, than why not enter the Henfield Candles, now run by the SCCBA, on Sunday June 5th?

Many congratulations to Sandra Landy who has been awarded a Diamond Award by the EBU.  This award is given 'in recognition of excellence and success over a sustained period for England's international teams'.

Sandra was truly delighted with her award and it was lovely that her family were there to witness the presentation at Patcham Bridge Club on Sunday 3rd January.   The Avenue, West Sussex and Worthing Bridge Clubs, where Sandra has played over the many years she has spent in Sussex, all had tables at the event, making it a true appreciation of Sandra's bridge playing career.

Reflections From the Sea End - January 2016

Yesterday, November 24th, 12 Sussex Juniors took on the peers at the House of Lords!  We had a fantastic day and managed to find a couple of new radio stars who were interviewed on BBC Surrey radio (scroll to 2:09:40) following their great experience.

The annual SCCBA Charity Simultaneous Pairs will be held in the New Year between Monday January 11th and Friday January 15th.  Because it can be played on any weekday, it can easily be played on your usual club afternoon or evening.  Each year, the charities are selected from suggestions by our members and we try to choose charities from different parts of the county.  This year, the money raised will go to :-

• Pericles which is a training-and-work project based at West Hoathly for young people and adults with special learning needs and/or mental health problems, and
   
• The Oyster Project which is based at Westgate Chapel in Lewes, creating empowerment environments where disabled people can demonstrate positive role models and challenge negativity and prejudice.

To arrange for your club to enter, please email Gerry Stanford. Please note that, since the boards will be the same throughout the week, individual players may only play in one heat.

The Sussex team was drawn into a tough group in the Tollemache qualifier played in Birmingham over the weekend of 21-22 November.  They put in a very creditable performance to finish fifth out of nine and a VP score just above average. Well done to Peter Clinch and Julian Mitchell, Ian Lancaster and Andrew Southwell, Dave Franklin and Gerry Stanford, Matt Read and Richard Fedrick, Chris Jepson and David Clifton.

Neil Watts (Non-playing Captain)

This years event, which took place on Saturday November 21st, was held for the third consecutive year at the Ark in Turners Hill and the venue was full!  If the noise was a sign of people enjoying themselves, then a good time was had all round.  There were interesting cards, catering by John Porteous, stratified scoring and the C section swept the board!!  Many thanks to director and scorer Keith Norman and to organiser Helen Kent.

All pairs were placed into one of three Stratification Levels (A, B and C) according to the higher of their two Master Point rankings.  Prizes were awarded in three groupings - Levels A+B+C (i.e. overall), Levels B+C and Level C only.

Congratulations to overall winners Joan Moxham and Carol Mitchell.  Other prize-winners were ......

...... Jim Downes and Tomasz Serkowski who were overall runners-up and ......

...... Pat Comer and Susie Swadling (mum & daughter!) who won the Stratification Levels B+C grouping and ......

...... Christine Wright and David Underhill who won the Stratification Level C grouping.

Updated Tournament Newsletter

Reflections From the Sea End - December 2015 (including a Christmas Quiz!)

Congratulations to Gerry Stanford and David Cairns who, playing at Horsham, came first overall in the Thursday (November 12th) heat of the 2015 Children in Need Simultaneous Pairs.  Well done also to Christina Backholer and Peter Griffin who, playing at Patcham, were runners-up overall in the Wednesday heat.  Over 2000 pairs competed in each of these heats.

The good venue and with a good tea and supper provided by John Porteous the organisation was appreciated by all taking part.  Thanks to David Galpin for directing in a calm and efficient manner and to Andrea Galpin for scoring.  Thanks also to U3A for lending the tables.

Currently, the Chairman's Cup is held every two years and is competed for by the winners and runners-up of various other SCCBA competitions plus a limited number of pairs who are invited from neighbouring counties.

Congratulations to Shefton Kaplan and Tim Dickinson (pictured with SCCBA Chairman Andy Ryder and organiser Julian Mitchell) who won the cup this year at the Avenue BC on Sunday November 8th.  This was just days after Tim and Kaplan had also become overall winners of the Invitation Pairs!

Many thanks to Julian & Sarah Mitchell for their great organisation and to Richard Newton for hosting the event.

Congratulations to Sussex pair George Phillips and Valerie Fearson who won the Kent Mixed Pairs Championship on Sunday November 1st.  See results on the Kent web-site.

Please see the EBU web-site for the results of the Paris Open Youth Bridge competition (played over the weekend of October 28th to November 1st) in which Sussex Junior Chris Derrick represented England. 

The draw for the Championship Teams Plate has now been made.

Reflections From the Sea End - November 2015

Very well done to the Sussex team of John Jackson, Yves Lebrec, Peter Brown and Leon Northeast who were runners-up in the Blue-Pointed Swiss Teams at the Kent Congress on October 25th.    See results on the Kent web-site.

Many, many thanks to all those who supported our charity evening on Friday October 16th which raised £245.50 for the SCCBA Fund for Junior Bridge.  We are all deeply indebted to Gunnar Hallberg and Geoffrey Wolfarth for their kindness in giving their time to come down and be raffled for the charity and for staying and giving an expert commentary on the hands after play.  Many thanks of course too must go to Richard Newton who gave all table monies to the charitable fund. 

SCCBA Tournament Manager Ros Wolfarth has produced the first in a series of Tournament Newsletters.

Congratulations to Oliver Powell who received the trophy for the best Sussex junior of 2015 from SCCBA Chairman Andy Ryder at The Avenue Bridge Club where he is teaching juniors.  In addition to this, he is a member of the England Junior Squad and has played once for England in the last 12 months.  As an extra, he also helps at Supervised Practice where he helps and advises players of all ages.

We are delighted to announce that our nomination of David Galpin, our long serving Treasurer, for an EBU Dimmie Fleming award in 2015 has been accepted.  David has served the county association over very many years, not only as Treasurer for thirteen years but also in many other capacities, particularly as organiser of the Sussex League for the last sixteen years.  He is thoroughly deserving of our heartiest congratulations.  David has opted to receive his award at the next SCCBA AGM on 10 April 2016, an added incentive to attend for all those members who wish to underscore the award by acclamation.

Dick Wheeler (Hon. Sec. SCCBA)

This year's Autumn Congress on September 12th and 13th was again held at Adur Indoor Bowling Club in Southwick and, as usual, was smoothly directed by Eddie Williams aided by Kathy Williams.

Unfortunately, due to entries not flowing in early enough, both events on the Friday had had to be cancelled.  But, maybe thanks to the early start times of 11am on the other two days, the entry for the Swiss Pairs showed an increase of 3 1/2 tables and the entry for the Congress Teams held steady.

Congratulations to Dave and Jill Armstrong who won the Swiss Pairs on the Saturday and to .....

..... Mike Keeping, Philip Hunt, David Benjamin and Matthew Read who won the Congress Teams on the Sunday.

A collection was made in support of the people and communities affected by the Shoreham Air Show incident to add to the £1 per entry that SCCBA had donated. See Sussex Community Foundation – the Charity advised on the Adur & Worthing Website for how further donations can be made.