We are sad to report that Nigel Guthrie passed away on 29 August 2022. Many members will remember Nigel as a regular player at Reading Bridge Club and in B&BCBA and EBU events until his return to Scotland in about 2010. He played in the League of 8 Reading A team with Stuart Maurice and in the B&BCBA Tollemache Team. He was Double Dummy compiler for Bridge Plus magazine. He was 11 times a winner of the B&BCBA County Teams, County Pairs, Mixed Pairs, Mens' Pairs, Swiss Pairs, Committee Cup, Waller Bowl and Jarrett Cup, about half of which were in partnership with David Barnes. Nigel will be missed by his many bridge partners and other friends. A longer tribute by former B&BCBA partner Paul Gipson can be found at:  https://bridgewinners.com/article/view/nigel-guthrie-rip/

The Loddon Vale team have won this years Committee Cup, the County's competition for teams of 4 rerpresenting their clubs.

The team was Gordon Maxwell & Marc Rivoira with Simon Roberts & Andy Kirk. They were 6VPs clear of the second placed team from Burnham.

Congratulations to the Loddon team and thanks to all those who took part.

Congratulations to Burnham A for winning this year’s League of 8.  They finished with 124 VPs from their eight matches in division 1, 7 VPs clear of Reading A in second place.

Burnham A represented Berks & Bucks in the EBU's Garden Cities regional final on 8 May and finished mid-field. 

Congratulations to the leading teams in the other 3 divisions of the League:

Division 2: Newbury 1^st, Chalfont 2^nd

Division 3: Yateley & Hawley/Camberley 1^st, Lane End A 2^nd

Division 4: Basingstoke 1^st, SBBC C 2^nd

Congratulations to Dave Owen and Bob Holder for winning the Waller Bowl.

They finished nearly 4% ahead of Trevor Morris and Vanessa Clark in second place.

25 pairs qualified for the final.

Entries are invited for the 2021-22 Brown Cup, the B&BCBA County League for Teams of Four. There will be four divisions so you will be able to play at a level that suits your experience. Each team will play five or six matches.

Although the league will begin as an entirely online competition, it is hoped it will be possible to play face-to-face matches later the season, subject to the agreement of both captains. Such matches are normally played in the home of one of the players.

If you are interested, please email Bob Dowdeswell, the League Secretary by Sunday 15th August at the latest, at bobdowdeswell@virginmedia.com or ring 01189 479585. Email is preferred.

Hearty congratulations to our team who finished 2^nd of 15 teams in Group B to qualify for the eight team final on 19/20 February 2022. Runaway winners of the group were London who lost only one match of the 14 by 9-11. Gary Jones was taken ill the night before the event and Steve Eginton stepped in to the breach. Our team was therefore Sally Brock & Barry Myers , Steve Eginton & Ed Scerri, Bob Holder & David Owen,  Mike Perkins (captain) & Ian Reissmann.  John Howard kindly covered for Ian in the first match on Remembrance Sunday. The event was extremely well run by the EBU and play was on Realbridge using “screens” and self-alerts. The screens meant that players were in audio and visual contact with one opponent only during the auction and play.

Swings can occur by inducing opponents to make a mistake. Board 39 was such an opportunity.

♠ J4

 ♥ 74

     ♦ 9643

        ♣ AK432

♠ KQ                                                 ♠ A85

      ♥ 1098                                              ♥ AQ6532

♦ 108752                                          ♦ -----

    ♣ J87                                                ♣ Q965

         ♠  1097632

♥  KJ

     ♦ AKQJ

♣ 10

The 10 of hearts was led to the ace and a heart returned. Declarer crossed to dummy with a club and led the jack of spades, won by west with the queen. A club was returned won in dummy and a spade led. East now thought for a while, raising declarer’s hopes, and rose with the ace. Was west putting the lead back to an entry less dummy hoping for a second losing spade finesse? There’s a case for East to double 4S which given west’s trump holding may lead him to find a diamond lead. This would net +500 for the defence. In the whole event 4S was allowed to make twice, failing 5 times. Part scores in spades also made 10 tricks 4 times. E/W can make 4H and did so 3 times with two lucky declarers playing in 3H doubled. 

The Bridge Plus Trophy is awarded to the winners of the end-of-season event for those who  played in the Graduate and Student Leagues in 2020/21.

Congratulations to the winners - Andy Armstrong on the left and Mark Wilsdon on the right, with the trophy.

The first Friendly Pairs of the season was held on Sunday 21 Nov. The new format has two sections, the Jack High Pairs and the 7 High Pairs. Although initially 24 pairs had entered there were a number of lastminute withdrawals and also some no shows. In the end there were 5 tables in the Jack high and 4 tables in the 7 High.

The winners of the Jack High were Keith Greig and Kenneth Rowe (who win the Tony Boothroyd Plate)

The winners of the 7 High were Andy Armstrong and Helga Armstrong.

Congratulations to them both.

The new Tessa Templeton Trophy will be awarded at the end of the season for the best overall pair in the 7 High events.      

The Metropolitan Cup, a team of 8 competition held between counties in the South East, was held on Saturday 20^th November. Berks & Bucks entered teams in the three sections ( A, B and C ).

The A team finished 4^th= out of 7 teams, the B team finished 3^rd out of 6 teams and the C team finished 3rd out of 8 teams. As you might expect the scores were all very close in all three sections with only a few VPs separating a number of teams.

The event was organised by Middlesex and run on Realbridge. Thanks to Gary Conrad, the chief TD, and his team of TDs for running the event so smoothly.

Thanks to all the Berks & Bucks players who took part.

Swiss Pairs

There were 112 pairs and the winners were Rob Lawy and Harry Anoyrkatis with 113 VP

There were many good performances by local members including :-

3^rd  Mike Wenble and Angela Adams

5^th David Owen & Bob Holder

6^th =  Ed Scerri & Steve Eginton

6^th = Dominic Cooke & William Clennell

 Special congratulations to them and well done to all who took part.

Swiss Teams

There were 36 teams. The winners were James & Alan Hobden / David Telfer & Peter Burns with 107 VPs.

There were many good performances by local members including :-

2^nd = Peter & Dee Lindon with Celia & Derek Oram

2^nd = Bob Holder & Chris Mooney with David Owen & Naomi Gibbs

5^th = David Calcutt & David Green with Andy & Michelle Margetts

5^th = Ed Scerri & teammates

Special congratulations to them and well done to all who took part.

The EBU’s Pachabo Cup for counties teams of four was held over the 11^th and 12^th  of June.

Twenty four counties took part, playing 92 boards over the two days.

Berks & Bucks were represented by Ed Scerri, Barry Myers, Mike Perkins and Ian Reissmann.

At the end of day one they were in second place and then finished fourth overall at the end of day two.

An excellent performance. Well done !

This season’s three events for the Tessa Templeton Trophy were completed on Sunday 20^th March.

The competition is for players with an NGS rating of 7 or less and is in memory of Tessa who do so much for beginners and improvers.

To qualify for the trophy, pairs had to play in at least two out of the three events with the average of their two best results counting for the final table.

The results for the top eight qualifying pairs were :- 

So congratulations go to Bob and Marge Williams. Very well done.

The EBU Masters Pairs this weekend, for those ranked below Regional Master, was won by Berks & Bucks Clair Sirkis & Marc Rivoira, with a score of 61.16%. They will receive the EBU’s Anne Staveley Trophy.

The EBU has announced its masterpoint winners for 2021 in a number of categories.

One category is the Club Champions prize which is determined by a draw from each club’s top Masterpoint winners. This year Sue Oliver of Newbury Bridge Club was drawn second out of the hat and wins £200, and Richard Macclesfield of Naphill Bridge Club wins £100 for being drawn third.

Congrats to both and I expect members of Newbury and Naphill clubs will be looking forward to the cream cakes or maybe something of the liquid variety !

The EBU’s Tollemache final was held over the weekend with 8 counties taking part.

The event was won by Gloucestershire with Berks & Bucks coming third in a very close finish for second, third and fourth.

Well done to our team of Barry Myers & Sally Brock, Dave Owen & Bob Holder, Ed Scerri & Gary Jones and Ian Reissmann & Mike Perkins (Captain).

A special mention for Barry and Sally who came third in the cross imps out of the 46 pairs.

Dick Davey and Nigel Wolfendale won a keenly contested County Pairs final on Sunday. They narrowly beat Bob Holder and David Owen by 0.7% over 30 boards. They go forward to represent Berks & Bucks, along with Ian Reissmann/Mike Perkins, Gordon Maxwell/Marc Rivoira and Stuart Townsend/Simon Roberts who finished 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th respectively, in the EBU’s Corwen Trophy event later this year. Congratulations to all five pairs and good luck in the Corwen.

Congratulations to the winners of the County Jack High and 7 High competitions held online on Realbridge on Sunday 30^th Jan.

There were 14 pairs in the Jack High event which was won by Leon and Amanda Abecasis with a score of 63.3%. Well done indeed.

Of the 10 pairs who entered the 7 High event, June and Stephen Murphy came out on top with a score of 64.6%. A great effort.

The third and final round of these two events will be on March 20^th. All are welcome to join in even if you have not played so far.

Congratulations and well done Paul Ernest & Alexandra Donaldson winners of the End of Season Pairs event.

Congratulations and well done to team 'Tricks up our Sleeves' Beth Fagg (Captain), Jeanette Square, Caroline Wopshott, Ginny Williams and Jenny Longbourne winners of the Berks and Bucks Student League 2022

Congratulations and well done to team 'Ponte Vecchio', Liz David (Captain) Helena Hilditch, Andy Armstrong and Mark Wilsdon winners of the Berks and Bucks 2022 Graduate League.