Wilf and Julie Fearn were founder members of the Deva Bridge Club. Wilf was the club's Chief Tournament Director and a member of the EBU's Rules and Ethics Committee. They donated the Fearn Cup as the trophy for the club's individual championship and it remains the club's most prestigious individual competition with the holder's name being recorded on the honours boards.

The game of contract bridge cannot be played without a partner so most competitions are for pairs or teams made up of several pairs. The Fearn Cup therefore rewards the individual who does best when playing with a variety of partners. Like most of the club championships there is a qualifying competition and a final. The qualifying rounds are match pointed pairs events and for 2022/23 there are 15 heats (5 each on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Qualification for the final is based on aggregated percentages in 4 (previously 6) of these sessions each played with a different partner with the top 20 aggregated percentages qualifying for the final. If insufficient numbers then those playing with 3 different partners may be invited

In the final each player plays two boards with every other player so that there are 19 two board rounds played over two sessions all using a simplified convention card.

There are again 15 heats (5 Monday evening, 5 Tuesday and 5 Wednesday afternoon sessions) and the Final (for 20 finalists) is on Sunday 21 April (starting at 11am - 19 2-board rounds with a break for a buffet style lunch).

The current Fearn Cup ladder can be seen here. The dates of heats are:

1    Wednesday 18 October
2    Tuesday 24 October
3    Monday 30 October
4    Tuesday 7 November
5    Monday 13 November
6    Wednesday 29 November
7    Monday 4th December
8    Wednesday 3 January
9    Tuesday 30 January
10    Wednesday 14 February
11    Tuesday 20 February
12    Monday 26 February
13    Tuesday 12 March
14    Monday 18 March
15    Wednesday 27 March

There were 15 heats this year and the qualification criteria was the total of the best scores with up to 4 different partners. The final was held on Sunday 23 April and was in the club again, the first time since April 2019. There were 20 finalists and we played 19 2-board rounds, with a break for a buffet lunch. Congratulations to Mark Weeks, our new Fearn Cup champion, who was a mile ahead of the rest of the field. Runner up was David Smith with Keith Thompson in third place.

The standard system used in the final was:FearnCupSystem2023.pdf. The final qualifying table (Fearn Cup ladder) was: Competition - Fearn Cup Ladder (2022/23)
 

• 2022/23: Mark Weeks
• 2021/22: Frank Salt
• 2020/21: Chris Pope
• 2019/20: Vanessa James
• 2018/19: Philip Waring
• 2017/18: George Horton
• 2016/17: Frank Salt
• 2015/16: Jim Stambridge
• 2014/15: Jim Stambridge
• 2013/14: Frank Salt
• 2012/13: Frank Salt
• 2011/12: Jim Stambridge
• 2010/11: Janet Joynson