Kent Bridge

The Kent Green Pointed Swiss Pairs is being held on Sunday 1st March, in the comfortable Tunbridge Wells Bridge Club. A two course meal can be booked.  Click this link to enter.

 

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Dordogne Festival of Bridge

Essex members have been invited to an event in the Dordogne on Saturday 13 June.  See  http://as-de-lembras.fr// for details.

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Important Notices

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Pages viewed in 2026
Welcome to Essex Contract Bridge Association
Cornell

Congratulations to Mid Essex, who won the Cornell on Sunday.

The winning team were Graham Beeton & Tanya Genthe, teaming up with John Sutcliffe & Bernie Hunt.

 

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Championship Pairs

The Blue Pointed Championship Pairs will take place at Barleylands at 1.30pm on 8 March 2026.  There will be around 48 boards finishing at about 7.30pm.

This event is open only to players with primary allegiance to Essex; the top four pairs qualify for the Corwen.  If they are not available, lower placed pairs can replace them if they have scored more than 50%.

Entry £30 per pair. Payment to ECBA a/c: 63373487 sort:207289   Contact Linda Fleet linkarb@outlook.com with any questions about payment.

Prizes £50, £35, £25

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Essex and International Invitation Events

In our first one day Teams event we welcomed a team from the Bahamas and two teams from Sweden.  The event was won convincingly by Essex team "Llama" who are invited to represent Essex in the Pachabo.  The international feature of the event added to the enjoyment.

We have the Essex and International Invitation Pairs on 29th March open to all Essex members and anyone who has played in the Wednesday International event - enter now. For more information contact Ian Moss imbridge7@gmail.com 

13.00 on RealBridge. Entry £25 per pair. Prizes £50, £35, £25 per pair.

Payment to ECBA a/c: 63373487 sort:207289  For Paypal payments from outside the UK contact Marc Chawner marc.chawner@aol.com.  

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Margaret Curtis International

On 21 January 2026 there were 18 pairs with the top places going to the overseas players. Top Essex pair were George and Maureen Vede tying for 5th place. 

If you are interested iwithn participating or have any questions, please let Marc (marc.chawner@aol.com) know, so that he can send you a RealBridge event link. When you request a RealBridge event link, please let Marc know who you will be partnering. If you require a partner, please let Marc know and he will attempt to find a partner for you.
 
Here is the link to see the latest ladder scores:    (View only on a PC or Laptop; do not view on an iPhone). Essex International Pairs. The link will be updated after each event. 
The ladder competition will run until 18 February. See panel on the right for the rules.
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Swiss Pairs (Blue Point Event)

The Swiss Pairs, run as a joint venture with Hants & IOW on 11 January 2026, attracted 52 pairs from many different counties. 

Congratulations to the winners Derek Maggs and Joanne Norman from Dorset; in second place were Miles Cowling and Ian Walsh also from Dorset.

The best placed Essex pair were Tony Verran and Mark Josephs in fourth place.

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Boot camps - Marc Chawner
Boot camps - Marc Chawner

Following the Boot Camp on 12 May  Marc Chawner has now produced a new guide Know your Percentages to add to; Defence, Play in a No Trump contract and Play in a Suit contract 

 

Most of the best players in Essex were set the task of playing the hands in each category -  not always successfully.

 

See if you can do better, if not with Marc's hands maybe the next time you play at the club.

 

 Download the PDFs Defence, No trumpSuit contractsKnow Your Percentages

 

They will give you everything you could ever want to know!

 

Once again the ECBA would like to express their sincere gratitude to Marc for this formidable work.

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Uppsala Series On-line

Essex Saxons' momentum was reduced in round four when we picked up only 4.76 VP.  However, our team remains in a strong position with three rounds to go.  Current results here:: https://www.svenskbridge.se/uppsalabridgen/lag/tvl/15595

 

 

 

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Margaret Curtis International

Announcing a New Competition for all our Wednesday Essex and International Pairs players. Starting at the next session, 11th June and running until 18th February 2026 we will hold a Ladder Competition. The average of your 8 best scores in the above period will determine your final position on The Ladder. You will need to play at least 8 sessions in order to have them count towards your final overall place. The progress of The Ladder will be available on-line. The player, or pair, with the highest qualifying average at the end of the season (18 Feb 2026) will receive a special prize: Free Entry to the Essex Invitation Pairs on RealBridge 29th March 2026!!

The latest Ladder Table can be viewed here: Essex International Pairs.xlsx

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New Essex Club

NOTLEY BRIDGE CLUB

Newly affiliated

Monday 13:30 at Great Notley Community Hall, currently in the small hall using the entrance nearest the playground.  The address is Great Notley Community Hall, Great Notley, Braintree, CM77 7US.

Contact Chris Smith chris.smith2000@live.co.uk  077 3939 7842 for information     

 

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Director Course

We have another directors course at Barleylands on the following dates 

Day 0.  April 5th

Day 1. April 19th

Day 2. May 24th

Day 3. May 31st 

Gary Conrad is the Director 

All enquiries to Clive Turner at the EBU. 01296-317212  Tues-Fri

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Essex Contract Bridge Association
..... see less

The ECBA was formed in 1946. We have around 1,500 members and 15 affiliated clubs. ..........

..... see more
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Essex Leagues

The Essex leagues started in September. For details see Essex Leagues

Bernie Hunt ran a seminar on teams play on 10 September. Here are the Teams seminar notes

For results see here

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Essex County matches
The latest County Matches versus Suffolk were a great success for the Essex County Teams:
 
The Essex 'A' Team Won 20-0
The Essex 'B' Team Won 11-9
The Essex 'C' Team Won 14-6
 
The 'Highlight' of the day, was this hand held by South on board 29. Have you ever held a hand worse than this?
 

♠ 65432

 3

 7432

♣ 732

Here is the RealBridge link for the match:  https://play.realbridge.online/dy.html?p=251214125131&q=uXgWLOAZNDwE

The current league tables can be observed using these links

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Essex County Matches

ECBA Player Availabilities 2025-26.xlsx

 

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Margaret Curtis Events

The Essex Bridge Academy are using money bequeathed by the late Margaret Curtis. Money which is to be used for events such as our Wednesday event which is 100% funded from the late Margaret Curtis bequest.

Consequently, invitations to join our Wednesday evenings and the session links can only be issued by the organisers in Essex.

All current players continue to be welcomed. If you wish to invite other players, please email Marc (marc.chawner@aol.com) first to confirm eligibility.

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Results
Cornell
Barleylands
Essex International Pairs
RealBridge
Essex and International Invitation Teams of 4
RealBridge
Essex International Pairs
RealBridge
Calendar
Wed 18th Feb 2026
Essex International Pairs
RealBridge 7pm
Sun 1st Mar 2026
ECL v. Bedfordshire (Home)
RealBridge 1pm
Sun 8th Mar 2026
Championship Pairs BP
Barleylands tba
Sun 29th Mar 2026
Essex and International Invitation Pairs
RealBridge tba