If you are unfamiliar with RealBridge please ensure that you have read the Player Guide before you log in:
https://realbridge.online/player-guide.html

You can test your microphone and camera here:
https://play.realbridge.online/camera.html

The RealBridge Room will be open from 6.30 pm on Monday.   Please log in no later than 6.50 pm.
After clicking on the link please fill in your forename and surname, e.g. Ian Jones (not I. Jones or Ian J), and ID number (which is your EBU number).  Once you have logged in please sit at a table with your partner and chat to them and your opponents while you are waiting for the start.

If you require any further information regarding the event please contact Tim Evans: tim@suffolkclocks.co.uk

Members and visitors gathered at Nowton Court on Wednesday 5th April for an enjoyable evening of relaxed duplicate, with a glass of wine on offer to celebrate the return of this popular session. After a short presentation on Red Suit Transfers by Nancy, players settled down to seven rounds of bridge, with members on hand to assist with tricky bidding problems.

Congratulations to Jackie and Jane who topped the ranking with a creditable 62%. Chris and Laila were joint second with Celia and Elizabeth

Duplicate sessions will run every Wednesday evening, 6:30 for 6:45pm start. All members will be welcome to enjoy the sociable atmosphere and a relaxed pace of play. Results and boards will be available on the website, scroll down to Results on the right of this screen to view.

Celia discovered that some things are hard to keep quiet when Jonathan (directing) presented her with flowers on behalf of members in recognition of her big birthday last week

Celia started the tradition of Tuesday night bridge twenty years ago when she was teaching bridge at West Suffolk College and the club's home was Risbygate Sports Club. Many of her former students are current members and regular players at Abbeygate, and elsewhere in the county. 

Last year Celia was awarded Honorary Life Membership in recognition of her contribution to the club over the past two decades, click here to read more

George and Terry

Congratulations to Terry Sawers who received his Bridge Master certificate recently from the EBU on achieving 5000 Masterpoints. Terry has a way to go though before overtaking George Moody, who is an EBU Life Master, holding no fewer than 215,500 Masterpoints (as of last week, by this week it may be more!)

Masterpoints are a measure of lifetime achievement in bridge. Higher ranking players will usually have played for many years and competed successfully in county and national events. George has played card games since childhood and took up bridge in his thirties, going on to play in national competitions. He also played football until he was 59.

To find out more about Masterpoints, go to the EBU website, sign in with your EBU number and password and from the Home page select Gradings and Rankings. To see your own Masterpoint record, from My EBU select Masterpoints

LEARN BRIDGE IN SUFFOLK  AUTUMN 2022

 

If you know of anyone wishing to take up bridge please ask them to email learnbridge@suffolkbridge.co.uk

Find out more about the Deben Project on Suffolk County Bridge Association website - click on DEBEN

New members and guests are welcome at many West Suffolk bridge clubs. Click here to learn more

Members had an entertaining and informative session bidding slams on Wednesday, with a brief presentation by Nancy on the topic followed by a 15 board duplicate with an unusually high proportion of biddable slam deals. Six full tables provided healthy competition with a fair proportion of the sometimes challenging slams actually bid and made

Next Wednesday 20th December will follow a similar format. Nancy will present a seminar on red suit transfers, with a duplicate to follow which will include a few preset boards relevant to the topic. All members will be welcome, 6:30pm start

Celia

Celia Jeal has been awarded honorary life membership of Abbeygate Bridge Club in recognition of the outstanding contribution she has made to the club over many years

Celia started teaching bridge at West Suffolk College in 2000 and continues to teach online, as well as on cruise ships and on land. Many of us now playing at the club have been Celia’s students. At that time Risbygate Bridge Club, as it was then, met just once weekly on a Monday

Our popular Tuesday evening club duplicate was started 20 years ago by Celia and her then bridge partner the late Alex Parker, as a more relaxed event at which her students could play as they improved. This was so popular that Celia started an additional learn and play session on Wednesday evenings, which ran until 2020 and Covid.

As well as her teaching commitment Celia is actively involved in running the club as a committee member and regularly directing Monday Realbridge.

Without Celia’s contribution, Abbeygate Bridge Club would probably not exist as it is today, with its friendly and supportive atmosphere encouraging players of all standards, including those (most?) of us who are always striving to improve our game. Thank you Celia

Celia has written about her bridge teaching and the development of the club, click HERE to read

Bridget (centre) with Rani and Mo

Storm Babet threatened to put paid to the much anticipated Hospice event last Friday, Luckily sufficient intrepid players were able to make it to the Blackbourne Centre to go ahead and 66 players enjoyed an afternoon of relaxed bridge and the usual terrific tea. Many thanks to Ann Gibbs and her team for the tea, and to the talented volunteers who provided hampers for raffle prizes from the many generous donations received.

Overall winners were Kathy and Rob, Paul and Christine were runners up and highest scoring E-W pair

Almost £2,000 was raised for St Nicholas Hospice, and the amount raised since the Hospice Bridge Teas started in 2011 is well in excess of £40,000

Last but not least, very special thanks to Bridget Alexander, whose extraordinary power of organisation drives the success of these events!

We held an action packed committee meeting last week. Here are some highlights:

Slow play. This was raised at the AGM. The committee has agreed to buy a timer, to be deployed in the New Year

Scoring. We are currently a bit short of scorers. Any member who might be interested in learning to score please ask Tony, Christine or Jonathan or click here to send a message. It's easy!

There is a Club Teams of Four event to be held in March 2024 at Elmswell. So far we have three teams, please contact Tony or Pam if you would be interested in taking part. The more the merrier

Lighting. Nowton Court have supplied some temporary lighting in the Car Park, more lights are on order and there is still hope that the main lights might be repaired

Masterclass. Plans are afoot for a one day Masterclass exclusive to members at a discounted rate in 2024

Wednesday Duplicate. We hope to invite all members to play with Handicap Scoring, NGS and Masterpoints on some Wednesday evenings in 2024

The full minutes can be read by clicking here, or on Club Information on the main menu to the left of the screen

The Annual General Meeting of Abbeygate Bridge Club was held at Nowton Court on Tuesday 14th November 2023. Thank you to all members who attended and contributed to the discussion. The minutes of the meeting (including the treasurer's report and financial statement) and chairman's report are now available on the club website under Club Information on the main menu, or follow the links below.

AGM Minutes 2023         Chairman's Report 2023

Both membership of the club and numbers playing have increased in the past twelve months, and our financial position is healthy. Members discussed the club's charitable activities and plans for future development, including an EBU director course to be hosted by the club in Spring 2024. The committee will be pleased to hear from any member who might be interested in training as scorer, director or teacher either now or in the future, or who would be interested in representing the club in competitions

Congratulations to Elizabeth Abercrombie-Barnett and Jackie Over who have received their Bridge Master certificates from the EBU. Masterpoints are a measure of lifetime achievement in bridge and the Bridge Master award, on achieving 5000 Masterpoints, is a significant milestone. Well done both.

The last Tuesday Pairs before Christmas was party night, players enjoyed a glass of wine and appetisers before our usual duplicate. Congratulations to Joan and Susie who came top with an impressive score of 71%, and to John and Jackie in second place, the only pair to bid and make two slams. Many thanks to Terry and Mo for organising the party and supplying drinks, and to the many members who brought an impressive spread of tasty snacks

North picked up this hand at our F2F club duplicate last Tuesday. How would you bid it? You can see the full deal on board 17 on Tuesday 23rd January

Here are bidding suggestions from Derek Brinkley, Susan Nisbett and Pauline Hanson

Pauline: "You can use 4NT opening bid. Opportunities to use it don’t crop up very often" https://www.bridgebum.com/acol_4nt.php

Susan: "I opened 2C & we play Jacoby steps so if partner can reply 2H (4-6) or better then I can use RKCB and bid 7NT if AH is opposite"

Derek: "Playing Benji ACOL, North opens 2C (19/20 balanced or minimum 8 playing tricks). Partner responds 2D as a relay. North then bids 4NT (RCKB) with last suit bid (i.e. Diamonds) and gets a reply of zero key cards from partner. At which point North bids 6D with only one losing trick. Had South shown 1 key card, then North can bid 7NT"

Thanks to Susan, Derek and Pauline for their excellent suggestions

Josh, Phil, Nancy and Nicki	Phill and Sue

Well done to Phill and Sue, Nancy and Nicki, joint N-S winners in Wednesday's relaxed duplicate. Josh and Phil took top place E-W with a stunning 80%, a great achievement for a first time partnership

12 pairs completed 18 boards, with several novice players taking the pace in their stride and finishing in good time. Special congratulations to Nicki Griffy (pictured with Nancy, her partner on the night), who took top spot playing in her first club duplicate event

Thanks to all who supported the ECats Charity Challenge on Monday and Tuesday in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and Mind. Well done Tim and Chris on Monday, and Richard and Paddy on Tuesday. Including donations the total amount raised was £238, which has already been forwarded to ECats

Hand records and commentaries are now available on the ECats website, Click here to find these.

Jen Godfrey and her team are busy creating some mouthwatering hampers for next months Bridge Tea. Any donations will be gratefully received, at Abbeygate on Tuesday or Wednesday this week or at any local bridge club. Anything in the categories "garden", "toiletries", or "food and drink" will welcomed

All Abbeygate members and guests are warmly invited to our next

Relaxed Club Duplicate

Wednesday 28th February, Nowton Court

Please be seated by 6:35 to start play at 6:45

From this week onwards all Wednesday evening bridge will be played as relaxed duplicate sessions. We will play 18 boards to EBU rules at a relaxed pace, hoping to appeal both to less experienced and established club players. The results will count for Masterpoints and NGS. No need to come with a partner - everyone who comes will be able to play. If you would enjoy an evening of duplicate bridge at a relaxed pace in a sociable atmosphere, please join us, and bring your friends!

There have been some technical issues with the handicap scoring, but we hope to have this up and running soon. Only actual scores are submitted to the EBU for NGS and Masterpoints

	Mo, Ann and Bridget

Another full turnout for the Hospice Bridge Tea raised £2,050 for St Nicholas Hospice, bringing the running total since the first event to more than £47,000. Winners were Andy Lewis and Julie Ashdown in Section A, and Elizabeth Ward and Liz Crowther in Section B, Elizabeth and Liz achieving the highest overall score of 75.5%

Thanks to Bridget for running the event, to Ann Gibbs and her team for providing the customary delicious tea, to directors Mo and Jonathan, to Jen Godfrey and her team for making hampers for the raffle, all who gave raffle prizes and to many, many others who helped on and before the day to make the event happen.

Special thanks to all who supported the event by playing and donating generously, to Cavendish and Stansfield Bridge Clubs for the loan of playing and scoring equipment and to Clare Bridge Club for their generous contribution to the raffle

Look out for the next Hospice event in October!

A number of items of lost property were left in the hall, please contact Bridget or any Abbeygate committee member to claim

Would you like to learn Bridge, or know someone who does? From September there will be opportunities for all to learn, through Suffolk Libraries during the day and also at Abbeygate Bridge Club with a new series of lessons starting on Wednesday evenings 

To learn more, please email or call Nancy Williams, telephone ‭07884 334376‬, email nancylouisewilliams@icloud.com or click on 'Learn Bridge' in the menu

Members of Abbeygate and Bury St Edmunds Bridge Clubs are invited to compete for the the Anne Nunn Trophy this Thursday

Southgate Community Centre, Thursday 16th May, 6:30 for 7:00pm

Wine, soft drinks and canapés on arrival

The Trophy will be awarded to the overall winners, handicap scores will also be available

Suffolk Bridge will be holding a bridge teaching event at Hintlesham Hall (IP8 3NS, between Ipswich and Hadleigh) on Thursday June 13. The event includes coffees/teas on arrival and a buffet lunch - all for just £40/head. Tickets are expected to sell quickly and space is limited to 20 tables - book early to avoid disappointment! Click on Suffolk for the County Association website, or Zeb Stocken for more details of the event and entry form

Abbeygate members took the two top places at the Suffolk Bridge Championship Pairs last Sunday 21st April. Tim Evans and Chris Park were event winners, with John Bloomfield and Richard Evans a whisker behind. The competition was closely fought. 26 pairs played 50 boards yet barely two percentage points separated the top four pairs at the end. Congratulations to all Abbeygate players who reached the final

The full results can be seen by clicking on Championship Pairs

Tim, Chris and John along with Celia help the club by directing Monday night online Realbridge sessions, which are run exclusively for Abbeygate members. These are well run, enjoyable sessions at which all members are welcome at any level of experience. Just 20 boards against familiar opponents, on what has become the UK's most reliable and popular platform for online club events. Click on Realbridge on the menu on the left to join, Realbridge Information to find out more

Abbeygate members Jayne Hunnable and Susan Nisbett not only came top at the club on the Tuesday evening ECats Simultaneous Pairs in March - they also came first in the national rankings, when all the results from clubs across the country were combined. A respectable score of 66% on the night translated to an impressive 71.3% in the national results. The Monday Realbridge session was won at the club by Tim Evans and Chris Park - who were ranked fourth nationally scoring 66.6%. Congratulations to both pairs! Click here for the full results

Two Abbeygate teams competed against some of the top players in the County last Sunday, in the SCBA Club Teams of Four event held at Elmswell. Pam Pope, Josh Clarke, Nancy Williams and Dave Allen took fourth place out of 23 entrants, while Peter Warren Denis Carter, Joan Hogarth and Susie Hull came in ninth. The result was closely contested, only 8 IMPs separating the first four teams after playing 44 boards. Nancy and Dave were the third highest scoring pair out of 46 on Cross-Imps. 

Congratulations to all our contestants. Any Abbeygate members who would like to know more about teams play and competitions please contact Team Captain Pam Pope

More than forty members turned out at Nowton Court on Friday for Josh's Masterclass on finessing. After a brief presentation (who knew there were so many types of finesse?) we were in at the deep end with some challenging and instructive card play, which kept us occupied for the rest of the afternoon.

Many thanks to Josh and to Celia and Nancy who provided expert supervision of the tricky deals, and to Nancy for tea and biscuits

Click on Josh Clarke to ask Josh about any aspect of today's Masterclass, and about bridge lessons for individuals and small groups

Click on Slides to see Josh's presentation, which ended with the diabolical deal shown above (6H by South. Lead: Two of Diamonds)

Click on Hands to see all sixteen boards with Josh's commentaries

This is gentle reminder that the start time for Tuesday sessions at Nowton Court is 6:40 for a 6:50 start

To start as close to 6:50 as possible the director has to decide the movement and set up the scoring system by 6:45. Subsequent changes to the movement cause errors and delay and are best avoided. For this reason the directors have decided that players arriving after 6:45 will not usually be able to play. We don't want members to be disappointed, so please arrive early!

The room at Nowton Court is open from 6:15. Thanks to all members who habitually arrive early and help set up the room

If you are held up e.g. by traffic or roadworks, please let the director know by phone so we can include you in the movement and reserve seats (please see the Club Information pages for directors' phone numbers)

Friday 18th October at the Blackbourne Centre, Elmswell IP30 9UH

1:15 for a prompt start at 1:30

About 18 boards at a gentle pace, with a break for a delicious home made tea, fabulous raffle prizes

Click here for a printable entry form

Click here to send a message to Bridget                                                                       

Once again the club will be taking part in the ECatsBridge Simultaneous Pairs in support of BBC Children in Need next week. Table money on Monday 11th (Realbridge) and Tuesday 12th November (F2F) will be set at £3.00 and all receipts will be donated to the charity. Additional donations can be made through your club account - use your name and CIN as the reference, or in cash to any committee member. Club results will appear on the website as usual, national results will be available on the ECatsBridge website

Could members please be careful to park only in designated spaces at Nowton Court, one car to one space, without causing obstruction to others. We are asked not to park in spaces reserved for residents. Additional parking is available at the front of the building, but please bear in mind that we are requested not to enter the building via the main entrance.

Abbeygate Christmas Party

Abbeygate will be holding two Christmas parties this year, and members and their guests will be welcome at either or both events

Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th December will be the last two club nights of the year, with Christmas drinks and light bites on offer starting at 6:00pm on both evenings.

In a break from tradition, members are not expected to bring their own nibbles and snacks, as all refreshments will be provided by the club.

As in previous years, members don’t need to come with a partner, as both evenings will be hosted, so you are guaranteed to be able to play, even if your partner cannot make it.

Bridge will start as close as possible to the normal time on both evenings after the festivities

We look forward to welcoming you to Nowton Court on both nights

The Hospice Bridge Tea took place on October 18th at Elmswell Community Centre, with the customary fabulous tea and superb hampers for the raffle. The amount raised on this occasion was £1900, with 16 duplicate tables and 1 Chicago table taking part

"Bridge For Fun" in aid of St Nicholas Hospice first started in 2011 and since then has raised more than £50,000 for the Hospice. Thanks to all who supported the event by donating, taking part, organising and catering, and to our friends at Harry Huson, Clare, Stansfield and Cavendish Bridge Clubs for loans of equipment and generous donations

The next Hospice Bridge Tea will be in Spring of 2025

Our club duplicate next Tuesday evening, 28th January will be a qualifying heat for this year's Suffolk Championship Pairs. All pairs who achieve 50% or more in a club heat will be eligible to take part in the Championship Pairs final at Elmswell on Sunday 27 April  2025. 
Players may only attempt qualification once - please inform the director on the night if you wish to attempt qualification before play starts.
Abbeygate will be holding an online qualifying heat on Monday 24th February, open to players from all Suffolk clubs, who have not had the opportunity to enter before

Yours sincerely

Tony

Bury Swiss Pairs

Places are still available for Bury St Edmunds Bridge Club’s annual open Swiss Pairs event
Sunday 9th February starting at 11:00am

The event is Blue Pointed (lots of Masterpojnts to be won) and this year for the first time will be held online, on RealBridge. Play in the comfort of your own home with the opportunity to chat with your delightful opponents

Director Rob Sassoon. 42 boards to play. Click on BURY SWISS PAIRS to enter

Play Bridge with Sally Brock,  Friday 7th March

All places for the event are now filled, but if you would like to be included on the waiting list please enter using the link below

Blackbourne Centre Elmswell, Friday 7th March 9:30am - 3:30pm

9:30 Tea & Coffee
10:00 - 13:00 Club Duplicate 24 boards approx
13:00 - 14:00 Buffet lunch
14:00 - 15:30 Review of Deals by Sally, with Q&A

Click on Sally Brock for the online entry form on the Abbeygate website, cost £20:00 per person for members, £25 for non-members, including refreshments and lunch. There will be a maximum of 16 tables.

Abbeygate and Bury Bridge Clubs welcomed England International Sally Brock to Elmswell last Friday March 7th. Following a 24 board duplicate session in the morning and an excellent buffet lunch provided by Casper's Catering, Sally dissected the hands played and gave us a glimpse into the mind of an expert bridge player. Sally writes:
"If you’ve been playing bridge for a while and would like to improve, why not join one of Sally Brock’s online sessions. Sign up individually or as a pair (or even as a group of 4) and play an hour a week with Sally telling you where you went wrong. The commitment is for four one-hour sessions (at a time to be mutually agreed). The cost is £75 for the four sessions. Give it a go and see how you get on. Contact Sally on sally@sallybrock.net 07950 012547" 

South picked up this rare hand last Monday evening playing on Realbridge. Only 9 HCP but... how would you bid? Dealer is South, N-S vulnerable.

When you have decided on your opening bid, click here to see the full deal and comments made so far

Abbeygate members topped the rankings at the 9-High Corwen competition held on Realbridge last Sunday (6th April). Sam Pickering and Caroline Harris (pictured) were overall winners scoring 59.7%, closely followed by Bim and Sam Wilson in 2nd place, with Phil Peters and Amanda Roberts coming 3rd

Ten pairs entered, all those who played said it was a fun and relaxed event, not having to play against any big hitters. The three winning pairs will be eligible to represent Suffolk in the National final, which takes place on RealBridge on Sunday the 31st of May.

Stowmarket Bridge Club will be restarting their popular Wednesday evening Duplicate sessions in May. All welcome to play. See the flyer below or click here for the Stowmarket website
 

Eighteen Teams took part in the annual Club Teams of Four competition at Elmswell on Sunday, with three teams representing Abbeygate Bridge Club finishing 3rd, 5th and 7th overall. Particular congratulations to Nancy Williams and Dave Allen, who were the highest scoring pair on the X-Imps table by a clear margin, scoring 69.73

The successful teams were:
3rd Abbeygate Gems, Dave Allen & Nancy Williams, Pamela Pope & Josh Clarke
5th= Abbeygate Deuce, Pauline & Con Hanson, Chris Kennedy & Andy Higginson
7th Abbeygate 4, Celia Jeal & Susan Nisbett, Richard Evans & John Bloomfield

Competition winners, awarded the Thornway Cup, were the Dovercourt Diamonds (Debbie & Martin Burwood, Derek & Rita Brinkley)

Congratulations to all and thanks to all members who represented the club

Full results are posted on the SCBA website, click on Teams of Four results

Did you know that all Abbeygate members are eligible to play in our Monday evening Realbridge sessions online? We usually have eight to ten tables, playing 20 boards in a little over two hours.

Abbeygate Realbridge sessions are open to Abbeygate members only, so you will be playing mostly with familiar opponents. And of course you can play wherever in the world you might find yourself on a Monday evening

On Wednesday evenings Bury Bridge Club runs an online session on Realbridge, now jointly with Cambridge Bridge Club. Abbeygate members are cordially invited to join these sessions, but get in touch with Bury Bridge Club to register your interest in playing

Online bridge has vastly improved since the days of Covid and BBO. The Realbridge platform allows you to see and speak to your partners and opponents. The platform is easy to use and director calls are almost eliminated, so we complete the session more quickly than playing face to face. Click on Realbridge player guide to learn more. You can test your microphone and camera here as well

To join a Monday online session, select 'Realbridge' from the menu on the Abbeygate website. The online bridge room opens at 6:30pm, play starting at 7:00pm

The links for the Wednesday evening session can be found on the Bury Bridge Club website. Join from 7:00pm to start play at 7:30pm

The Annual General Meeting of Abbeygate Bridge Club was held at Nowton Court on Tuesday 12th November 2024. Thank you to all members who attended and contributed to the discussion. The minutes of the meeting, which include the treasurer's report and financial statement, and the chairman's report, are now available on the club website under Club Information on the main menu, or follow the links below.

AGM Minutes 2023         Chairman's Report 2023

Membership of the club has increased in the past twelve months, and our financial position is healthy. Potential activities for the coming year were discussed. The committee will be pleased to hear from any member who would be interested in representing the club in competitions

Anne with Trophy

All Abbeygate members are warmly invited to join Bury St Edmunds Bridge Club members to play for the

Anne Nunn Trophy 

Thursday 12th June 2025, 6:30 for 7:00pm, drinks and light bites before

Southgate Community Centre, Caie Walk, IP33 2PJ (off Home Farm Lane, behind The Macebearer)

Anne is long standing member of Bury and Abbeygate and she has served on the committees of both clubs. She presented the trophy a few years ago as a replacement for the Roberts Bowl, our old pairs competition trophy, as there wasn't the space for any more names on its base! The competition for the Roberts Bowl ran on Sundays and had a big turnout, Anne was the main organiser of the refreshments. We are hoping for a good turnout for this landmark annual event, an opportunity for members of both clubs to enjoy a friendly club level competition together 

(No need to enter - just turn up on the night. For Bury St Edmunds Bridge Club members, the AGM will take place at 6:00pm before drinks and nibbles)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The minutes of the latest committee meeting held on 29th May 2025 are available on line to read here, or by clicking on Club Information on the menu to the left of this page
Your chairman announced that he will be standing down at the next AGM. Tony and Rani are planning to move to Newcastle next year to be nearer to family. Richard Barton has indicated that he is willing to stand for election as chairman
The committee also discussed the club's policy on charity events and this subject will be raised again at the next AGM

Jane, Mo and Amanda with Hampers

Last week's Bridge Tea raised a record £2,250 for St Nicholas Hospice, thanks to a full house at the Blackbourne Centre and strong ticket sales for the 14 hampers on offer. Thanks to everyone who supported the event and also all those who donated cash and gifts for the magnificent hampers.

Special thanks to Bridget and her team of friends who have taken the Hospice Bridge Tea from strength to strength since the first event in 2011. 

The next Hospice Bridge Tea will take place on Friday October 3rd at Elmswell

David	Phil	Paul	Tony	Sekhar

Five Abbeygate members have recently qualified as EBU recognised Club Tournament Directors following a four day course hosted locally by Abbeygate Bridge Club. All five participants found the course to be somewhat challenging, with huge relief at passing the assessment on the final day. Abbeygate, Harry Huson Bridge Club and Clare Bridge Club all contributed to the cost of training. Abbeygate member Derek Brinkley also qualified, sponsored by Stratford St Mary Bridge Club. Several other participants from across Suffolk and neighbouring counties also took part and qualified as TDs, which is a significant addition to the pool of directors now available to local clubs

Cafe Bridge returns to Bury St Edmunds this year on Thursday August 21st. Entries are now open, 20 35 pairs have already booked for this popular event which last year raised more than £1,300 for St Nicholas Hospice. Early booking is advised to secure your choice of venue for lunch. Click here to find out more, or Click here to go straight to the entry form on the SCBA website

Sadly I must report the recent death at 98 of my friend and Bridge Partner Mick Spencer.

He taught me to play bridge and many Abbeygate members will have attended his classes at Bury. Always showing a friendly manner at the table, he encouraged beginners with his sound advice and never chided me for my mistakes!

He was a founder member of Bury Bridge Club and played regularly at Risbygate, Abbeygate, Stowmarket and latterly at Woolpit and Cavendish Hall.

Mick was a regular at all the Suffolk events and made many friends around the other Suffolk clubs.

His funeral is planned for Wednesday 20^th August at 3pm at Nacton Seven Hills Crematorium IP10 0FG and will be followed with an informal get-together with family and friends at Tostock Gardeners Arms pub at about 4.30pm. All are welcome.

Mike O’Reilly

Cafe Bridge returns to Bury St Edmunds this year on Thursday August 21st. Entries are now open, more than 50 pairs have already booked for this popular event which last year raised over £1,300 for St Nicholas Hospice. Early booking is advised to secure your choice of venue for lunch. Click here to find out more, or Click here to go straight to the entry form on the SCBA website

Josh has designed an all new course on Competitive Bidding, to run on Fridays this term from September 19th for ten weeks

Where and When: Nowton Court, Fridays 1:45 - 4:00pm

Dates: 19th September to 28th November (not 3rd October - Hospice Bridge tea that day)

Cost: £80 per person, includes all tuition, course materials, catch-up sessions, table money and refreshments

Open to members and non-members

Josh's course notes:

"I'm delighted to announce my brand new course for Abbeygate Bridge Club! The topic is "Competitive bidding" and we'll cover a wide range of contested auctions, such as when and (more importantly!) when NOT to overcall as well as how to deal with interference as the opener and responder. We'll also cover some conventional bids, such as Landy, Michaels, the Unusual 2NT, negative doubles (Andrew Robson's favourite), the Unassuming Cue Bid, sacrifice bidding and more! This course will be a bumper 10 week course, running throughout the autumn, starting at 1:45pm and finishing at 4pm every Friday. For anyone who's worried about missing the odd session, I'm offering free catch up sessions that can take place online or face to face in groups of up to four people, so don't ever worry about not being able to maximise your learning and enjoyment! For more information please don't hesitate to get in touch. I hope to see many of you there!"

Click here to email Josh to find out more or to register interest. Click here to enter online

Andy Billinge will be offering a free Beginners Course, to run from Friday 26th September, 11:00am to 1:00pm. The venue will be Stowmarket library. Please ask anyone you know who might be interested to get in touch with Andy directly, or click here for more information

Tim and Chris will be offering a new Improvers Course starting in October, based on the EBU Green Book – continuing bridge.This will also be a 10 week course, 2 hour sessions starting on Monday 6th October at the Risbygate Sports club. Click here for more details 

Would members please note that we must only enter and leave Nowton Court via the French doors to the bridge room, or the lobby doors (the set of doors with steps up from outside that are near our store cupboard). Both these doors must be left locked when we leave the building
If these doors are locked when we arrive for bridge, one member should ring the bell at the front door and wait for a member of staff to open the door. There are phone numbers on the door to call if needed. No-one else should enter or leave through the front door on bridge nights
If any member wants to enter the building at any other time, for example for lost property, please don't just walk into the building, even if the door is open. Ring the bell and make yourself known to a member of staff, and sign the visitor book both on arrival and leaving the building.

♥ Congratulations to Abbeygate Team Members ♦ 

Dave Allen

Josh Santinelli-Clarke

Nancy Williams

Pamela Pope

Winning 52-35 (by 17 IMPS) against Allendale Bridge Club A Team

in the First Round of the National Inter-Club Knockout Tournament (NICKO)

Full Results HERE

Congratulations!

Andre Gray  - National Master

Jo Harpur  - National Master

Bury St Edmunds Bridge Club will be hosting their annual

Swiss Pairs event on:

Sunday the 15th of February 2026 – online on RealBridge.

This will be a ‘Blue Pointed’ competition and is open to all players.

Full entry details can be found HERE:

Sunday 29th of March

Suffolk Bridge (SCBA) will be running the qualifier for the '9 High' Corwen.

This event was introduced last year by the EBU to run alongside the full 'Corwen', where  the winners of the Suffolk Championship Pairs go on to represent the county in a National event.

The '9 High' Corwen is an event for the intermediate player who is a Suffolk player with an NGS between 2-9 as at 1/1/2026. This event will run online on RealBridge on Sunday the 29th of March starting at 11 am with 24 boards and a break at half time. The top three pairs will go on to represent Suffolk in the final also being held online on Saturday the 30th of May. The booking form is on the SCBA site HERE.

More details can be found HERE.

NICKO Success for Abbeygate 'A'... ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ 

Abbeygate 'A' members Nancy, Pam, Josh and Dave played Amersham Bridge Club 'A' in the 3rd round of the National Inter-Club Knockout (NICKO) on the 27th Feb and won by 42 to 34!

In a hard-fought contest over 24 boards, it all came down to a few contracts. On one hand Josh and Pam bid and made 4 spades while the opposition left it in 3 spades. On another hand, Nancy and Dave got the opposition down in 6 spades.

Great Teamwork!

With round 4 coming next, the pressure is ramping up :-)

Congratulations to the team!

A celebration of the life of George Moody will take place on the

12th April at the

Dun Cow, Up Street, Bardwell, IP31 1AA

Between 12 and 6 pm

All are Welcome!

Entry Form HERE

Right click image to download linked PDF file

Congratulations!

to Neville Hounsome and Alun Booth

who have both recently become Local Masters, reaching 100 Master points!

Enter HERE

Congratulations!

To Nancy and Dave, winners of the Suffolk Championship Pairs Final

Held at the Blackbourne Centre, Elmswell on Sunday 19th April

Details on the Suffolk Bridge Website HERE

Mo and Terry

The Hospice Bridge Tea on Friday 21st April raised over £2,000 for St Nicholas Hospice Care. Players enjoyed an excellent tea and an afternoon of duplicate bridge at the Blackbourne Centre in Elmswell. 

Congratulations to Carol Smith and Ivor Thulborn, winners East-West in their section in their first tournament since starting to play bridge as complete beginners last year. Overall winners were Mo and Terry. Nick and Jane Foster tied for second place with Celia and Elizabeth, just a whisker ahead of Caroline Harris and Sam Pickering. Jonathan and Paddy topped their section North-South. Click here to see the full results and boards

Many thanks to all who worked hard to make the day a success, especially Anne and the catering team, also to Stansfield Bridge Club and Cavendish Bridge Club for the loan of Bridgemates and bidding boxes

Congratulations to the overall winners of the Suffolk Summer Pairs, held on Sunday 26th July –

Steve and Richard!

Full results HERE