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 2024/25) include all regular Monday evening, Tuesday evening, Wednesday afternoon and Friday afternoon pairs sessions in the 5 months October to February. Qualification to the final depends on the total of the highest percentage scores with up to 4 different partners 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.

We held the final of the Fearn Cup on Sunday (21 April), an individual tournament named after one of Deva's founding members. 20 finalists played 38 boards, with each finalist playing 2 boards partnering each other finalist, with a break for a splendid buffet lunch provided by Sophie. All in all it was a good game of bridge and an enjoyable social experience. Congratulations to Alan Sharples who won with 60.9% well ahead of Jeremy Bishop 2nd with 57.4% and Jerry Hopkins 3rd with 55.8%. We will soon all be able to see Alan's name engraved on the board in the club, and on the Fearn Cup itself.

There were 15 heats (5 Monday evening, 5 Tuesday evening and 5 Wednesday afternoon sessions) and the final ladder can be seen here. We used the same standard system as used in the 2023 final, there is a link to it in the box below.

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