• 25 May, 6pm: Gloucestershire County Bridge Association AGM, followed by bridge, Cheltenham Bridge Club 
• 29–30 August: Cheltenham Bridge Congress, Dean Close School, Cheltenham

The Cheltenham Bridge Club CIO held its 6th AGM on 11 April 2026 with 81 members in attendance. Alan Wearmouth (Chair of the Trustees) and Sophie Jaques (Chair of the Management Committee) reported on a successful year. We heard about organisational developments following Steve’s appointment as Operations and Development Manager, about strong performances and well attended events.

Alan reminded us how important volunteers are to the success of the Club and explained that future budgeting and developments would depend on whether more people are prepared to volunteer or whether the Club would need to pay others to do the work.

A new Management Committee was elected (see below). There was a healthy debate about the revised Rules and Delegation of Authority document, and members raised helpful suggestions on future accessibility and funding.

A copy of the proposed changes to the Rules is  available here which clearly identifies all proposed additions and deletions.

At the AGM, we bid farewell and thank you to our outgoing Officers and Management Committee members:  Sophie Jaques (chair), Angela Gatliff (treasurer), Caroline Bristol (secretary) and Robert Huguenin (catering). Newly elected to the Committee are: 

• Mary Woolley (Chair)
• Toby Roberts (Treasurer)
• Teresa Thomas (Secretary)
• Nicola Renshaw (Volunteers Lead)
• Deborah Kahn (Marketing and Social Media)

One position remains to be recruited, that of Social Secretary. If you are interested in this role please contact Mary Woolley on qcwoolley@outlook.com.  A full list (with mugshots!) of the current Trustees, Officers and Management Committee members is here.

Starting on Thursday 30th April, from 18.45 - 22.00, the club will be running 5-High sessions. The aim is to play 18 boards with a short refreshments break. These sessions will be an excellent stepping stone towards joining the club’s Gentle sessions on Wednesday evenings and Thursday  mornings. The individual 5-High rule will be strictly applied and you will need to attend with a partner. If necessary, please use your WhatsApp groups to find one or you can click on the event on the club calendar and use the “find a partner” option.

In March and April we introduced mentored pairs to Friday evenings to run alongside our normal duplicate pairs. Friday evenings now have a healthy number of tables and a really good atmosphere, aided by the availability of wine and beer from the café/bar from 6pm.

As promised, we are continuing to ring the changes. From this Friday we are trialling something new: a Pro-Am session running alongside the regular duplicate pairs.

• Sign-up: if you’d like to play in the Pro-Am in any week, please sign up by the Wednesday of that week.
• Pairings: we will create pairings whose combined NGS rankings are as similar as possible.
• Prize: free entry the following week for the Pro-Am pair scoring closest to 50% (more fun, less pressure, no fear). N.B. regular duplicate partnerships will not be eligible for the prize.

To sign up for this week, or for any week in May, just click on this form and enter your name on the date(s) you wish to play (if the form doesn’t work then email me with the date you wish to enter). Please add your name for this week by Wednesday evening. And  don't forget the wine and beer from 6pm!

The GCBA AGM will be held at Cheltenham Bridge Club at 6pm on Monday 25th May. To make it a worthwhile outing, it will be followed by a free game of bridge for all attendees. The bridge will be a handicapped match point event to give everyone a chance and there will be prizes to be won. Please try to attend to show your support for the county that supports us.

Our experts have answered another great question, this time about how to get to a slam contract after a Weak 3 opening. Don't forget you can ask your own question too.

In January, 62 members of the club enjoyed four nights in Bournemouth – playing in a range of bridge events, enjoying the facilities of the new hotel and taking day trips. The weather was pretty good too – for January!

The organisers are now setting the ball rolling for the 2027 bridge holiday which will again be held at Hotel Collingwood from 17 th to 21 st January 2027. Key booking dates are as follows:

• 11 May: an email will be sent to all who went on the 2026 holiday (priority bookers).
• 11 June: an email will be sent to all club members advising them of the remaining available rooms, prices and further information.
• Waiting list: everyone on the waiting list will be advised when a room becomes available. Every year, a significant number of members on the waiting list attend the holiday.

Martin & Nicola Renshaw, Neil Smith and Mark Giard (the holiday organising team)

Congratulations are due to:

• Jonathan Bailey & Jaimie Mussi, Roger Eaton & Geoff Foster on taking silver in the Newent Bowl, just 2 VPs behind first place in a field of 19 teams.
• The Gloucestershire County Team on winning Division 1 of the Midlands Counties League (the Dawes Trophy), making it six wins in the last seven years. Gloucestershire teams also secured second place in the Porter (Division 2) and Markham (Division 3).
• Toby Roberts and Arun Nanda on winning this year’s County Pairs Championship.
• Helen Bryant and Diana Davies on winning the 9-High County Championship.
• Jack Armorgie & Garry Watson, Alastair Catchpole & Patrick Shields on winning the County League.

Peggy Beeson, a long-standing member of the bridge club was 100 years old on Saturday 25th April. She had a party and her nephew flew over from Australia to be with her. In addition to the card from the King and Queen, she received one from the club!

Whether you are you new to Bridge or wish to refresh your game, Cheltenham Bridge Club offers a wide range of courses for beginners through to experienced players.

Please see our learning and development page  for more information and details of contacts who can help you choose the best path for you.

Do you ever play a hand, think you have done really well, and then when you see the results find you are in bottom place?  We know some of you like to study those hands at home, but still end up scratching your heads and wondering what you could have done differently. 

Help is now at hand with our "Ask the Experts" service.  Find it on the club's home page under the "Learn Bridge" menu item.  This will give you instructions on how to use the service.

Once you have sent in your query, an expert Bridge player will get back to you with some answers which will also be published in an Ask the Experts - Answers section (also on the club's home page under the "Learn Bridge" menu item)