Final Update - Monday 4th May (May the 4th be with you <(º . º)> I'll get my coat...!). The Team competed in the Hamilton Cup, a Swiss teams event as part of the Spring Fours, there were 40 teams entered and Team Anoyrkatis were tied in 7th place with Team Andresen - players from Denmark and Norway. The winners were Team Moran with players from England and Scotland. Abbey reports that 'it was a great practice event for the Europeans, and we [Team Smith] spent alot of time together and really bonded as a team'. This bodes well for the Euros!

Update Sunday 3rd May: Team Anoyrkatis lost two matches and are now competing for the Punch Bowl (I don't think they'll actually be a Punch Bowl but you never know...). Abbey reports that 'we have played 3 extremely good teams and were competitive in all 3 matches. We had a tough draw but good to play lots of top class open players!' Abbey knew there were some top teams and players in the competition, when looking at the entrance list last week, but was really looking forward to playing against players that Team Smith will face in the Europeans, starting at the end of June.

Update Saturday 2nd May: Team Anoyrkatis won their first match against Team Ashe 72 to 56. Team Ashe (comprising players from Netherlands, Denmark and USA) were in the semi-finals last year so good start by Team Anoyrkatis! Play starts this morning at 10am with the team playing Phoenix (comprising players from Kuwait, France, Denmark, USA and England - James Thrower).

Abbey explained earlier this week that the format is a little complicated, after Round 1 (2nd May) the players that won their match go to a 'winner's pool' and those that didn't enter a 'loser's pool'. Then after round two, there is a pool for 'those that won both their games' and a pool for 'those that have lost their second game', so after each round the teams enter a pool that has the same number of wins or losses. Then there's a round robin bit and the teams in this compete for a trophy or a punchbowl depending on which pool they end up in - you can keep up with the scores and pool shenanigans here: 

EBU Spring Fours results

The EBU report that "The Spring Fours is one of the great events in the English calendar. The principal event has become one of the toughest events in domestic bridge played for the Provost Cup. It is run on double-elimination lines over nine sessions each of 32 boards. A secondary event, the Punchbowl, will be open to teams eliminated before Saturday evening. It has a round-robin qualifier followed by a mini knockout. The Hamilton Cup is a more relaxed event for teams seeking a game on Monday (bank holiday in England)". Abbey will be playing with Martin Jones in Team Anoyrkatis, with Sally Anoyrkatis and her son Sam, who at 17 plays at International level and won Gold at the International Online Team Championships earlier this year. The Spring Foursomes is a face-to-face event taking place in Bristol, updates direct from Abbey will appear here over the weekend. The image is of Abbey and Sally when they played for England in Latvia late last year.

Abbey and her team-mates won the EBU Easter Swiss Teams event by a significant margin not seen since David Gold and Andrew Robson's team won quite a long time ago. Along with Abbey is her partner Martin Jones (next to Abbey) and they played with team members Sally Anoyrkatis and Sally's partner John Athey. This win stands them in good spirits for the forthcoming European National Team Championships event in early Summer for which they qualified in first place earlier this year.

Abbey is playing for England in the British Isles Mixed tournament this weekend. It is an online tournament and Abbey will partner Tom Paske in a team with Diana Nettleton and David Gold as team Nettleton.

You can view play on RealBridge and the link is here:  https://kibitz.realbridge.online/

All you need to do is put a user name in, the name isn't stored anywhere or used for anything, and it is free there is no cost associated with it. This will get you in to the list of available matches to view, when the match is 'live' there will be a 'runner' icon on by the match. Abbey's first match is at 4.30pm today (13th March) and I'll add daily updates with any news from Abbey.

*Update 7* team Nettleton won the tournament by 30 points, winning 77-2 on the final match!

*Update 6* News from Abbey 'We won [round 7] 20-0 so we need a good win next [round 8] to take the pressure off the last match [round 9]'. Scores after Round 7: Nettleton 108.71, 2nd place team have 95.55 and 3rd place 85.70. It's still close but team Nettleton are increasing the gap!

*Update 5* News from Abbey 'We got quite a few tough teams out of the way yesterday, 3 more matches today. We are only 6 VPs ahead so need a solid day today. It's quite tight although 2nd and 3rd play each other in the final round'.

*Update 4* After round 6, the final round of Saturday 14th March, Team Nettleton are still at the top with 88.71 with the 2nd placed team on 82.32 and third placed on 77.28. It's getting close at the top!

*Update 3* Match 4 in the bag! Team Nettleton are at the top with 71.40 with the 2nd placed team on 57.00 and third placed on 53.05. Exciting times!

*Update 2* 'At the end of match 3 we're top of the table (56.55) but matches 4 and 5 are important as they are the teams that are second (41.54) and third (40.59). Come on team Nettleton!

*Update 1* 'Couldn't have been a better start' Abbey reports, 'we won 20-0 our first two matches!' And the table of ten teams has Team Nettleton at the top after the first two rounds. Round 3 starts at 11am this morning.'

Here we have an audio file of a short interview with Abbey about some aspects of her trip to Prague playing for England. No video yet but we'll progress to that in time! Have a listen to some gold chat with Abbey!

Abbey is playing for England in several international competitions in 2026 and these can often be viewed on BBO or RealBridge. Nearer the time there will be detailed instructions, and answers to 'how to' questions that members have asked about. The next competition will be the 2026 Online International Mixed Teams championship, 13-15th March. We will be able to watch Abbey play on RealBridge!

February 17th 2026 - Prague Day 3

In case you're just finding the Abbey Smith Bridge Club website for the first time, Abbey is playing in the European Bridge League European Winter Transnational Championships in Prague, and pairing with Tom Paske in the mixed teams. The team name is Nettleton, and the picture above is Abbey and Tom (left) and Diana Nettleton and David Gold (right).

It's day 3 and the format for the competition has changed ('again!' Abbey reports). 'Now everyone is in the semi-final A and the top 20 qualify for the final. The semi-final is over two days again. There is a carry forward from the previous two days but not much so it's a bit like starting afresh - a little behind'. Photo is Team Nettleton, Abbey and Tom Paske, Diana Nettleton and David Gold.

Live Results Here

The area to look at on the results section, I think, will be 'purple' section, European Winter Mixed Team Championships SEMIFINAL, update here if that isn't true!

February 16th 2026 - Prague Day 2

It's day 2 of qualifying for Team Nettleton who ended day 1 in 37th place, but Abbey is confident day 2 will be better. As every one of us says after a dreadful first 6 rounds at any duplicate 'the only way is up!!', and I'm sure its no different at Abbey's level (we'll find out when Abbey gets back, how do the team approach day 2 after a tricky day 1?).

Live Results Here

Abbey's working environment today is very cold and picturesque outside, and very dull and bridge-like inside, as the pictures show us.

February 14-15th 2026 - Prague arrival and Day 1

Abbey just arrived in Prague, its cold (-2!) and we all know Abbey doesn't like cold! But the hotel is, I am sure, warm. Anyway, Abbey is playing in the European Bridge League European Winter Transnational Championships, and pairing with Tom Paske in the mixed teams. The team name is Nettleton, it's Diana Nettleton's team. The schedule is hectic: qualification rounds are on the 15th and 16th, the semi-finals are on the 17th and 18th, and the final is on the 19th. if the team don't qualify, then Abbey will play with Tom in the mixed pairs starting on the 17th!

Live Results Here

**Update** Team Nettleton are 16th out of 47 after Round 2!

The Nettleton Team are qualifying today and tomorrow, Abbey is partnered with Tom Paske and Diana Nettleton is with David Gold. On the results section it is the Mixed Teams Qualifying you need to look at.