This EBU event, featuring the teams-of-four champions from each county, took place at the weekend. Berks & Bucks were represented by the winners of the knock-out teams competition, Dick Davey, Richard Bowdery, Ed Scerri, Gary Jones, Sally Brock and Barry Myers. Congratulations on finishing 7th out of the 29 teams.

The 5 top pairs from our County Pairs Championship represented Berks & Bucks in the Corwen trophy at the weekend, with 94 pairs competing. Ed Scerri and Dick Davey were second, Paul Dolphin and Steve Lynch 21st, Peter Hawkes and Roger Donato 32nd, Matthew and Heather Tan 39th and John Coleman and Marilyn Murtagh 75th. Congratulations to all.

Congratulations to ‘Mary’s Berries’, Gary Jennison (captain), Alan & Elena McBride, Sally Tilleray and Anita Wallace on winning the Graduate League over a series of 4 matches against Mike Etkind’s Finesse team. Mary’s Berries were taught by Mary Sharp, and are eligible to play in the Graduate League again next year, it will be interesting to see if they can retain their trophy against the newcomers from the Student League!

Congratulations to ‘Ruff & Ready’, Elaine Rushworth (captain), Peter Rushworth, Carl Dorsett, Clare Marshall, Jenny Wooding and Nicola Wilsdon on winning the Student League, 4 VPs ahead of Julie King’s ‘6 Queens.’ The winning team were taught by Rob Wilkinson and the runners-up by Clive Lewis.

As announced at the AGM, Sue Brown has retired as Secretary to the Association.   Sue has been secretary for an amazing 9 years and has simply been the best county secretary you could ask for, keeping us all in line with good grace and tolerance.  In order to mark Sue’s contribution to bridge in the County, the Committee has decided to make Sue a life member of our Association, which is a very well deserved honour.  And, as seen in the photograph, Sue was also presented with an inscribed bowl together with a small M&S token. Thank you Sue.

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Congratulations to Sue Brown & Dick Davey on winning the Mixed Pairs Cup.  Runners-up were Joanne Turner & Vincent Shaw. In third place were Joan Murphy & Bob Holder, and in fourth place were June Booty & John England. The BBL Cup for the highest placed married couple - the "Flitch" - was won by Dee & Peter Lindon.   Well done to all.  26 pairs competed.

51 pairs from 18 affiliated clubs qualified from the heats held in clubs and competed for the Club Pairs Championship Final - the Waller Bowl.    It was won by Colin Johns & Rob Wilkinson representing Lane End BC.    Runners-up were David Owen & Bob Holder (Ascot), with Marilyn Murtagh & John Coleman (SBBC) in 3rd place and Mike Nunn & Gary Stevens (Reading) in 4th place.    Well done to those and to all who qualified.

34 teams of eight representing 18 clubs competed in the 4 divisions of our league over the 2018/9 season.  The final results were:

Div 1 (10 teams): New Amersham A won with 137 VP (out of possible 180); runners up were Reading A on 133 VP

Div 2 (10 teams): Thame A won in style with 145 VP; runners up were Ascot B on 114 VP

Div 3 (9 teams): Maidenhead B won with 108 VP (out of possible 160); runners up were Bourne End B on 94 VP

Div 4 (5 teams playing each other twice): Stoke Mandeville B won with 106 VP (out of possible 160); close behind were Phyllis Court A on 105 VP.  Both these teams were new to the league this year.

Well done to all those who played.  A notice inviting clubs to take part in the 2019/20 season will be going out to club contacts in the coming months.

The Portland Bowl is a knock-out competition between British Universities.   This year it was won by Durham with three Reading Bridge Club members - Edmund Lea, Charles Bucknell (capt) and Euan Sarson - in the winning team.  [Edmund on the left of picture, then Charles, with Euan on the right.} Charles Bucknell was also part of the England team who won the Junior Camrose Trophy.

Sue Brown and Dick Davey won the Directors Cup in the Senior Pairs played at SBBC on 17th April.    Runners-up (only 1 Match Point behind) were Mike Fawcett & Roger Forster, and the Veterans prize was won by David Killick & Alan Bevan in 3rd place.    Well done.    24 pairs took part.

19 teams qualified for the final of the Committee Cup at Windsor.  Congratulations to the winners, representing New Amersham - Joan Murphy, Alan Bevan, David Killick & Nicola Sutton. 
2nd were Andy & Michelle Margetts, David Owen & Bob Holder from Ascot and 3rd Jonny Richards, Peter Jackson, Peter Hawkes & Mike Perkins from Reading.

Congratulations to Dick Davey's team of Sally Brock, Gary Jones, Barry Myers and Ed Scerri who won the Final of the County Teams of Four knock-out for the Crowhurst Quaich by 73 IMPs. 
They beat Peter Hawkes's team  of John Howard, Peter Jackson, Mike Perkins, Tim Rees and Ian Reissman in the final at South Bucks Bridge Centre on 1st April. 
This is the third time that Dick's team have won the event, for the past few years alternating with Peter's team.

Bucks retained the Philip Thornton Shield in the annual Berks v Bucks match played on 20th March - winning 2 out of the 3 matches.  The Bucks A-team won their match by 70v33 IMPs; the Bucks B-team won by 54v37 IMPs and the Berks C-team won by 56v43 IMPs. The Shield is held by the winning Bucks captains - Carole Mueller and Steve Lee.   Well Done Bucks.

Well done to Ann & Eric Smith on winning the Finchampstead Plate in the Friendly Pairs played on Sunday 3rd March.  Rita Evans & Steve DeLooze were the runners-up with Jennifer Hay & Martin Isham in 3rd place - well done to both pairs.    20 pairs took part.

The Masters Pairs is an annual EBU competition for players ranked below Regional Master.  This year, heats were held simultaneously in 11 venues throughout the country and scored nationally.  Well done to Roger Burkeman & Iain Mackenzie who, playing at South Bucks Bridge Club, came 2nd out of the 242 pairs who took part.  

Congratulations to Charles Chisnell, David Owen, Bill Godenzie & Evelyn Crossley on winning the Perkins Cup in the Teams event played on Sunday 17th February.   Runners up were Nigel Wolfendale, Bob Holder, Dick Davey & Paula Hopkinson.     (Sorry about the delay in posting the results.)

Winners of the 2018-19 County Pairs Championship and the Rex Avery Trophy were Roger Donato & Peter Hawkes. The trophy was presented by Chris Burley - see photo.  Runners up were Paul Dolphin & Steve Lynch, with a tie for 3rd place between Marilyn Murtagh & John Coleman and Ed Scerri & Dick Davey.  Well done to them - and to all who qualified for the Final.

Listed below are forthcoming national pairs competitions, heats of which are being held at local venues.     Click on each for further details.
Master Pairs:   24th February   SBBC, Oxford BC & Richmond BC
National Pairs:   10th March   Richmond     (Final 6-7 April)
Portland Pairs:   Mixed Pairs   24th March   SBBC, Oxford BC & Richmond BC

We are extremely sad to learn of the death of Alan Boothroyd.  Members will know Alan as a regular player in B&B events over many years.  Ealier this month he played in the County Pairs Qualifier - at which he qualified the play in the Final.  A fine player and a true gentleman who was respected by all for the way in which he coped with adversity.  Our thoughts are with Sandra at this sad time.
The funeral will be at 2.00pm on Wednesday 13th February at Slough Crematorium and then at SBBC.

Well done to Elaine Lloyd & Liz Clark on winning the Pat Husband Trophy in the Friendly Swiss Pairs.  Runners-up were Christopher Ainley & Alan Leach, with Erica & Christopher Sheppard in 3rd place and Janet & Bill Irvine 4th.    20 pairs took part. 

29 pairs competed in the Qualifiying event for the County Pairs Final and the County Pairs Plate.  The top ranked pair were Paul Dolphin & Steve Lynch with Pat Dowdeswell & Mike Ribbins in 2nd place and Janet & David Barnes in 3rd.     Well done.   The top 16 pairs qualify for the Final and the next remaining 13 pairs qualify for the Plate.    Both of these events will be held at Windsor on Sunday 3rd February starting at 1:30pm.   Click the header of this item for list of qualifiers for the Final & Plate (or click on the Final & Plate event on the right).
Any qualified pairs who are unable to play in the Final or Plate should notify by clicking on >> this link << as soon as possible.   This will enable other pairs to be promoted. 

Well done to Paula Hopkinson & Dick Davey on winning the Mixed Pairs event in a field of 76 at the London Year End Congress.

There's an interesting article on the EBU website pointing out a few high scores acheived in 2018.    One is that the the A-Flight in the Berks vs Bucks match had the highest standard of any county event with players having an average NGS of 62.39%.   Good evidence of the stength of bridge in the two counties.

As reported earlier on this page, Nigel Thompson received one of the EBU's Dimmie Fleming Awards.   This is awarded by the EBU to publicly recognise those people who do not hold an official office, but have, for a long time, worked hard for bridge in administration at County level.  The award to Nigel is in recognition of his Chairmanship of BBCBA (particularly during the P2P debate), Chair of Austenwood, work with the Student and Graduate Leagues, and with Minibridge in the schools.   Well done Nigel.    Well deserved.   Click to view the full citation for Nigel's award.
Nigel was unable to attend the award ceremony at the EBU AGM, so the award was recently presented to Nigel at Austenwood BC by Sue Brown on behalf of the EBU and BBCBA.

Well done to Janet & David Barnes, Mike Ribbins & Jonny Richards - clear winners of the Carole Mueller Trophy in the Mixed Swiss Teams event.    Also to runners-up, Carole & Herb Mueller, David Perkins & Phil Thornton.   As there was a 3-way tie for the 3rd place, this was awarded on the basis of the head-to-head tie-break results to Evelyn Crossley, David Owen, Bill Godenzie & Charles Chisnall.   9 teams competed which meant that the format was multiple teams rather than Swiss.    No doubt all enjoyed the wine which supplemented the normal refreshments in this pre-Christmas event.

Well done to Jackie & Mike Tennant on winning the Tony Boothroyd Plate in the Friendly Pairs event held on Sunday 25th November.   And also to the runners-up Ethel & Tony Heyes and to 3rd placed Chantal Dolphin & Sue Johns.

The Berks and Bucks team of Tim Rees and John Howard, Mike Perkins and Ian Reissmann, Ed Scerri and Gary Jones, Sally Brock and Barry Myers won their Group in the Qualifying event for the Tollemache Cup (the inter-county team of 8 competition) over the weekend of 17/18 November. Many congratulations to them and good luck to the team in the final in February.  Click here for the full results and click on Group C for the performance of each pair, etc.    Good Luck.

The second event of the 2018-19 season was the Butler Pairs held at Windsor on Sunday 11th November.  Dee & Peter Lindon and David Owen & Charles Chisnall both headed the ranking with a Butler Score of 74 - leading the field by a clear margin of 25.   However, Dee & Peter Lindon won the tie break based on winning their head-to-head boards and so won the Jarrett Cup, with David Owen & Charles Chisnall the runners up.   In 3rd place were Dan Skipper & Laura Stephen with Evelyn Crossley & Eva Wallen in 4th place.  Well done all.   19 pairs competed.

B&B players found success in the EBU's Seniors Congress held over 2-4 November in Gloucester.     Pat Dowdeswell & Mike Ribbins were 3rd; Janet & David Barnes 9th; and Ian Mackinder & Bob Dowdeswell 14th in the Pairs A-Final.  Joan Murphy & David Killick were 9th in the Pairs B-Final.   Mike Webley (with Hugh Thompson) was 5th and Mike Wenble & Peter Hawkes were 9th in the Swiss Pairs.   Philip Thornton & Nigel Wolfendale were in the winning team; Janet & David Barnes were in the 2nd placed team; and Pat & Bob Dowdeswell, Ian Mackinder & Mike Ribbins were 8th in the Swiss Teams.     Well done.

Well done to Dee & Peter Lindon and Celia  & Derek Oram on winning the Burlington Cup in the Teams Secondary Final at the EBU Autumn Congress played over 20-21 October.    And a further well done to Celia  & Derek Oram who, playing with Alan Kay & Jeremy Dhondy, won the Gerard Faulkner Salver in the 2017-18 Senior Knockout Teams competition  - the 3rd time in the last 5 years that they have done so. 

The 2018-19 season kicked off with the the Blue Point Swiss Pairs event held at Windsor on Sunday 7th October in which 24 pairs competed.  The winning pair - winning the Denys Jenkins Cup - were Heather & Matthew Tan.  In joint 2nd place were Ilan Sirkis & Barry Read and David Owen & Bob Holder with Paula Hopkinson & Dick Davey in 4th place.  Well done all.

The second B&B county Simultaneous Pairs event took place over four days from Monday 17 Sept to Thursday 20 Sept. Twenty five B&B clubs participated holding 29 sessions between them. In all, 570 pairs played.
The top daily scores and winners of the daily £50 prizes were :-  Monday - Colin Johns & Paul Dolphin (Lane End) with 68%; Tuesday - Clive Lewis & Hilda Hope (South Bucks ) with 68%; Wednesday - David Balderson & Keith Jones (Chalfont) with 69%; Thursday - Carol Olivier & Anne Todd (Tessa Templeton) with 67%.   Congratulations to them all.  Full results are available on the EBU website under "Sims".
This year we introduced commentary documents for the four nights which were prepared by four of the top county players and are available for download here. We hope this increased the enjoyment for everyone.    Commentary Booklets (click as required):   Monday   Tuesday   Wednesday   Thursday
We look forward to running the event again next year.