*Booking for12th August*

This is the fifth in a series of Master Classes by Abbey at the Abbey Smith Bridge Club and will be about 'hand shapes' - how to use the bidding to count the shape of a player's hand and use the information in card play. Abbey will provide an entertaining and informative mix of teaching, practical advice and exemplar hands, in her own inimitable style.

From 20th June until 28th June 2026 booking is open for ASBC members at £20 pp. From 29th June 2026 bookings will be open to other bridge clubs for £25pp. For non members that don't know Abbey, Abbey regularly plays for England and her style of teaching is relaxed, fun and the Abbey Smith Bridge Club has excellent accessible facilities in Buckinghamshire 8 miles from Milton Keynes. The ASBC is one of the fastest growing bridge clubs in England and is thriving with more than 250 members that play regularly. **Please consider whether you are definitely able to attend before booking** Of course, things happen and you may not be able to make it, but please provide us with as much notice as you can to enable us to fill the place, it would be much appreciated!

The duplicate Weekly Winners at Abbey Smith Bridge Club W/c 13th July 2026 Congratulations go to:

Susan Solomon and Ian Besser (Monday)

N/S Melanie Munro and Sue Senior (Thursday)

E/W Nikki Geelan and Eddie Banks (Thursday)

N/S David Lynch and John Haseler (Friday)

E/W Steve Viney and Stephen Kleppen (Friday)

In July 2026 England ended the European Championships in Riga - Latvia - in 5th place out of 25, and with the top 8 teams qualifying for the World Championships in Barbados in August 2027, the England team will be competing on the World Stage! The three pairs that competed in Riga are Maggie Knottenbelt and Ben Handley-Pritchard (left panel|) our Abbey and Martin Jones (centre panel) and Sally Anoyrkatis and John Athey (right panel). The entire team are picture below with their non-playing Captain Michael Hornung.

The Abbey Smith Bridge Club has risen by 9 places to 38 out of 50 in the EBU ranking of clubs by player sessions between March 2025 and March 2026. This is fantastic news and a real indicator as to how the club is growing. Thank you to all the players that made this possible by supporting the club year on year! You can look at the full rank list here EBU Top 50 Clubs by Players

In June 2026 at the Abbey Smith Bridge Club overall we had 158.5 tables across all sessions and there were 43 different winners! Three players won three times: Allen Duff, Rob Timpson and Abbey Smith; three players won twice: Richard Devas, Steve Viney and Susan Mosier. With so many winners it would take a page to list them all but special mentions to two who are on the beginner’s course and partnered Abbey – Harrold Payne and Richard Whitehead! Well done everybody. Just to add a bit of history – in June 2016 we had 90.5 tables, compared with this year’s number it’s a clear indication of growth in Club membership and members playing!