Here are the dates until half term. Several new families at the summer camp expressed interest and we hope that our Scottish players will move from minibridge to bridge shortly. Shireen has run every event so far- many thanks.  We have grown from 2tables in December to 10 tables in the spring. Help us to grow to 20 tables by Xmas. This game is friendly and sociable- translated as meaning lots of chat . A real bonus. Join us next time. To receive the RealBridge link contact Joan Bennett on 07548 782538 or joan@ebedcio.org.uk. I will send reminders to all the regular players but will only send out the link on request!

This was held at Kings Park in Northampton which has fantastic facilities.  We were thanked for the behaviour of the youngsters by the group sharing the venue which was lovely. Everyone had a good time, learned and played a lot of bridge, pool table tennis, rounders etc. Alan, Bernie, Charlie Michael(2), Richard and Sophie were all amazing and popular tutors. Roll on the next camp at half term at Woldingham School in Surrey-Nov 1st-3rd.

You can see the results for each of the 6 Grand Prix events in the menu on the left hand side. Outstanding winners by amazing distances were

Tom Furness U21with 84 points from David Sargeant and Lucy Norman both on 52

Sophie Morris U14- with 48 points (actually aged 10) from Cecilia Birdsall on 42 .

Both Tom and Sophie have represented England in junior international events as have Lucy and Cecilia. Well done to all of you.

This event has been running for 3 years and during the 2023 to 2024 season 88 juniors participated- a record.

The 2024 Spring Junior Bridge Camp was held in Cheltenham on 23rd and 24th March this year. Over 70 children and adults attended over the 2 days from beginners to internationals and enjoyed a fun mix of lessons and competitions. The competition results can be seen on the Gloucestershire county Bridge Association website. On Saturday the juniors played in a joint competition with members of Cheltenham Bridge Club and some of them were heard correcting their elders- a risky business. 

Dinner, bed and breakfast, supplied by Cheltenham Ladies College was of the usual high standard and  32 full sized pizzas followed by ice cream for lunch helped the afternoon concentration enormously. First place and the salver were won by Sophie Morris aged 9 and her partner Joseph Hedges aged 13 against much older and theoretically stronger opposition. Well done to both of them. Saturday evening competition was won by Thibauld Croznier and David Sargeant and the exciting late night speedball was Cecilia Birdsall and Ben Cadge. All winners received a plaque and large Easter egg.

This along with the Summer camp is the longest standing event in the youth calendar. It is held at Loughborough Grammar School on the 1st Saturday in March each year and consists of 4 competitions whose results are shown on the page. Habs won the Schools Cup by 1IMP from Loughborough. This is VERY hard on Loughborough since they lost it last year after a tie and play off. The Schools Plate was won by Kings College School of Wimbledon, the first time that they have entered in many years. The trophy for mixed schools was won by 4 girls Harriet, Sophie, Annabel and Sophia. Harriet and Sophie were also in the winning team last year. Very well done girls and the less experienced competition was also won by a new entrant, Northbridge House from N London. As at all other recent youth events, numbers are the highest since well before Covid. Pictures to follow- I hope.

This event was held at Richard Challoners School, New Malden for the second year running in the afternoon. It was run in 3 bridge sections as well as a minibridge pairs event. The cup competition comprised 8 teams of 4 and was won by St Paul's red, the plate consisted of 7 teams and was won by Habs D whilst the crystal group consisted of 6 teams and was won by Cardinal Newman. The minibridge pairs was won by Kartik Dabke and Tessa. Full results can be seen on the Surrey CBA website.Thanks to June Middleton for organising it, Richard Banbury for TDing and scoring and the school for the facilities. 

This event was revived on 23rd November by Stuart Haring of Habs Boys after a gap of 30 years. It was brilliant, attended by 80 juniors in 20 teams of 4 split into a cup and plate. The cup was won on the final board by Habs over Eton, and the plate was won by a Habs team with another in second place. This reflects the fantastic bridge club that Stuart is running at the school. TThe main thing to me as an onlooker was the constant hum of happy conversation and cooperation between opponents many of whom had never met a bridgemate or played in any competition before. Amazingly Stuart found the original cup and had it refurbished. There were large numbers present from the traditional bridge playing schools of Loughborough and Habs, but many new schools playing in their first competition - Merchant Taylors,  RGS High Wycombe, Cardinal Newman, Coldfall and Acland Burghey.

The Autumn Junior Bridge Camp was held at Tunbridge Wells Bridge Club on 21st/22nd October with 36 children from 8-17 attending. We ran four classes and held Swiss pairs and Speedball competitions on the Saturday and the Priday Cup on the Sunday. We played bridge until 11.30 on the Saturday evening, and even after 24 hours of solid bridge had 100%  participation on the Sunday afternoon. Thank you to Sussex CCBA for organising and underwriting the event, Kent and Surrey CBAs for sponsoring, TWBC for hosting the event free, and in particular the TD and teachers; William Clennell, Helen and Espen Erichsen, Bernie Hunt, Joan Bennett, Stephen Kennedy and Tony Cherrett.

Winners were as follows:

Priday Cup          Lucy Norman and Tom Furness

Saturday pairs    Nia Hencken and Tom Furness

Speedball          Cecilia Birdsall and Holden Clark

Novice winners were Shiloh Duncanson and Arabella Hedges, Emily Gonzalez-Baez and Tigerlily Thwaites. Arbiters awards given for good behaviour or good play went to Lottie Sutton(who came 2nd in the main competition on Saturday), Jennifer Button, Alex and Henry Rogers, Shiloh Duncanson and Mateo Noriega.

William Bourne

Whilst many bridge clubs are struggling post Covid, the juniors managed to buck the trend this weekend and turned out in record numbers. Over 70 young players, aged 8-21 years, the highest number for more than 15 years, arrived in Northampton to enjoy a brilliantly organized weekend of tuition. competition, games and fun.

Congratulations go to Lucy Norman and Lottie Bedford, winners of the Ashok Kwatra Cup which was played on Saturday evening. Further congratulations go to Lucy, winner of the Grand Prix and to Max Blicharz winner of the U14 GP section, which is run over 6 events during the year. During the course of the weekend 15 juniors were awarded minibridge certificates, 8 received their Bronze award, 7 silver and 5 gold.

Huge thanks go to Joan and Mark, who organised the event, and to the tutors Bernie, Alan, Nicky, Ewa and numerous volunteer helpers.

Our traditional Quiz Master, Michael Byrne, could not be with us over the weekend but, having left Marrakech early on Sunday morning and flown via Bilbao to Gatwick, managed to arrive on time on Sunday afternoon, to deliver the legendary, end of course quiz,

The Interschools online league (ISL) was won by Eton who then played a House of Lords team consisting of Tessa, Baroness Blackstone, Malcolm, Earl of Caithness, Archie, Lord Hamilton and Ruth, Lady Henig, the boys winning by 40 IMPs. At one board NS bid and made 2H, whilst an optimistic (but lucky) EW bid and made 5D. The Lords provided a tour, tea, and a 20 board match with the added excitement of having to leave the table to vote 3 times on the immigration bill during the afternoon! Season 3 of the ISL will start in September and new teams of 4 are very welcome. A division to suit everyone- your choice. email joan@ebedcio.org.uk or call 07548 782538 for a chat

Since we started in Berkshire the Bridge4schools team has taught bridge in over 45 schools in the local counties and has taught up to 600 children per week. Numbers reduced due to Covid, but are climbing again.

If you would like a bridge club at your school or would like to become one of our volunteer helpers, please phone your area contact (see Information).

Many current and old members of the Oxford Junior Bridge Club competed at the Young Bridge Challenge, including all of the Magdalen College School team (who won the Schools Plate), the bridge teacher of the Abingdon School team, two of the Eton College team (who came 3rd in the Schools Cup) and an OJBC team who were the youngest players by some way!

Full Story.

Holly Kilpatrick, OJBC 6-Mar-2023

The main competition for 18 teams of 4 players was held at Loughborough Grammar School on Saturday 4^th March. The Schools Cup was won by Habs B team on extra boards after an initial tie.and the Schools Plate by Magdalen College School Oxford. The Harry Scully Trophy was won by a mixed team from Durham, Lincolnshire and Westminster.

In the less experienced competition there were 8 teams and the tied winners were a team from Brookfield PS and a team from New Tricks.

Well done to everyone - the first year back to face to face and the highest attendance for some years.  More information.

The Lords Trophy is given to the top team in the league each year. 2021-22 was won by Eton, who played and beat a House of Lords team and were presented with the salver. This year the top four schools who will compete for the trophy (having done best in their matches this term) are St Paul's, Haberdashers', Loughborough and Eton.  The other schools will compete at a more comfortable level this coming term, many of them being youngsters who only started playing in 2022. There is a group for everyone. Complete your matches by Easter 2023, even if you have to pull in a substitute to avoid cancelling matches.

The matches are played on RealBridge which is a safe platform for juniors. The schools can arrange a convenient time for the matches to suit themselves, although many are played on Thursdays.. It is online, but you can see and chat to both your partners and opponents if you wish. If you would rather, you can turn your camera off, but still see the others, unless they have turned their cameras off as well. Do not worry if you do not know how this works. We will help you to get started, and if you are playing your first match against your friends, it will be even easier.

Division 1 plays 12-board matches, Division 2 plays 8-board matches and Division 3 plays 6-board matches.

Please sign up and give it a go. Contact Joan Bennett at joan@ebedcio.org.uk or 07548 782538.

June 2022

 A great residential weekend which took place at Bowles Rocks near Tunbridge Wells on 23^rd and 24^th October.

Top left Year 5 girls teaching minibridge to year 3 children at Kidmore End Primary School.

Top right New Scotland Hill winners of school minibridge SIMS

Left- junior players enjoying the sun and cake after a competition at Wallingford.

The Bridge For Schools Team brings bridge to all schoolchildren in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Its volunteers provide their time freely to teach bridge and minibridge in schools. Follow the Bridge4Schools tab on the left hand side of the screen for more information.

For a headteacher’s view of our activities please look at Bridge in a Village Primary School which you will find under 'Bridge & Education'.

In addition to in-school clubs the Team runs a Junior Bridge Club in Oxford that is open to all 8 – 18 year olds wishing to play bridge or minibridge, or to receive tuition as well as a fun weekend in Cheltenham at Easter each year. Follow the links on the left hand side for further details.