The sale of Christmas Puddings and knitted chocolate novelty items has raised a fantastic £850 towards Pancreatic Cancer UK

So thank you to everyone who bought something and a huge thank you to Ann Wood for all of her work in providing these unique festive treats

Huge attendance for 50^th anniversary of Jeff Morris’ management of Manchester Bridge Club

Wednesday January 15^th saw our Club celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Jeff Morris taking over the management of Central Bridge Club, which then became Manchester Bridge Club when Jeff relocated it to Palatine Road.

The Club was packed out with 20 tables for a celebratory duplicate competition which was won by Tracy Sherman and Boris Ewart.

It was also great to see so many long-standing members return to honour Jeff. Fittingly, this is the largest attendance for a duplicate bridge competition we have ever had at our current Fallowfield location.

Jeff gave a short speech on the history of Manchester Bridge Club and his life’s work at the Club to develop bridge in Manchester. He reflected not only on the many world class players who are still members of the Club but also the dozens of members who have learned their bridge at the Club over the years.

An extensive selection of cheeses and biscuits were served at the interval and a good time was had by all.

I’d like to thank the Club committee – especially Anne Naylor, Mike Wood, Dave Fernley, Susan Triggs and Jeff himself - as well as Vera Lowson, who returned to help us ensure a very busy day and evening were a tremendous success. Thanks also due to TD David Sarabowski (assisted by Jeff Smith), Michael Byrne for his commemorative cake and Isaac Porteus for his help on the night.

The Manchester Bridge Club could not continue without the work of the Committee and our team of volunteers – if you’d like to help, please get in touch!

Paul Murray

Chairman,

The Manchester Bridge Club

As we approach the 50^th Anniversary of the formation of Manchester Bridge Club as we know it today Jeff Morris will be writing a short series of articles covering the history of the Club over its long and illustrious history leading to an Anniversary Event to be scheduled for early 2025

Jeff Writes   

I find it incredible to think that it was 50 years ago I found myself in Manchester taking over the management of the Central Bridge Club at 81 Central Road West Didsbury.

What was I doing giving up a secure job as an information scientist in the research labs of Laporte Industries Ltd on the Humber Bank to come to a new city to start a new career working for myself with an uncertain future?

I suppose that it was a rash thing to do but I was young and  fancy free and I loved playing bridge and what the hell!.......spend the rest of my life in the confines of a  research lab as some of my contemporaries seem to do?

The Central Bridge Club was a unique club in the North of England I t was the only club outside London that played rubber bridge - in fact rubber bridge was the main activity with only one duplicate session per week on a Wednesday night. That duplicate session was incredibly strong with many  top  players participating along with many of the talented university students. After the duplicate, players would retire to the bar to analyse the hands. Frank Wood was  the main guru- he sat on the radiator at the back of the bar dispensing words of wisdom to the assembled  acolytes .Frank Wood? Bet none of you have heard of him? Well think 'Steptoe 'and that will give you an idea of what he looked like. A painter and decorator by profession he was actually a talented pianist, owner of a Grand Piano -and a very good rubber bridge player. Most days he would come into the club at about 1.00pm, have breakfast(egg and chips) before playing in the £5 game .On one of the rare occasions he was persuaded to play in an international duplicate tournament he finished 2nd playing with Paul Hackett  in one of Europe's top pairs event held in Juan les Pain. 

Playing rubber bridge is a game that gives the participants a level playing field. Everyone plays basic Acol so nobody has any system advantages and at the end of each rubber you change partners.  Over an extended period you would expect your high card holdings to average out.  Frank Wood said it was the players who could minimize their losses with bad cards that ultimately end up being winners. Different stake games were played ranging from 5p per hundred up to £5 per hundred. What was so interesting were the fascinating  characters that came to play. In the 5p game(and don't forget 5p a hundred was not inconsequential in those days) I particularly remember Charlie Woolfe and Lottie Oppenheim. If you have read Victor Mollo's classic book the Bridge Menagerie there are a number of notorious characters. One was the Hideous Hog who would try and play all the hands regardless-well that was Charlie Woolfe! Lottie was a remarkable lady who came to England as a refugee from Vienna in the 1930s and is mentioned by Terence Reese in one of his books as a regular player at his London club. She was a harridan at the bridge table forever chastising her partners for doing the wrong thing('NEVER lead trumps' she would always say).I remember her moving out of her Manchester Old Peoples Home at the age of 94 because the residents were 'dying like flies'!

Monday afternoons was partnership rubber bridge at 5p per hundred and would attract between 5 and 10 tables of ladies with the occasional husband . Eve Lighthill's mother in law Elaine used to be a regular and the standard was pretty good. Oh and by the way those 'acolytes' I mentioned earlier -what became of them?-Michelle Brunner (Multiple World and European Champion,),John Holland (Double World Champion),Rosie Hudson (European Champion),Gary Hyett(Gold Cup winner and international)Alan Mould (Gold Cup winner and international)Barry Myers(International player).......and many more!!

The Gazette Cup is the Manchester County qualifier for the national Teams of Eight competition - the Garden Cities Trophy. 

The winners will represent Manchester County in the final in the summer.

Traditionally, Manchester Bridge Club has entered more teams in the Gazette Cup than any other club in the county - and we'd like that tradition to continue in 2025.

Please mark the day in your calendar.

If you are interested in playing then let me know by email or register via the entry form below. 

Please don't worry about forming your team as the Committee can help once we can assess interest.

Please enter the format is a lot of fun and played in a friendly but competitive spirit.

If you have any questions, please email me or call me.

Thank you very much

Paul Murray

Chairman

The Manchester Bridge Club

We are pleased to be holding the Cantor Cup on behalf of the Manchester County Bridge Association.  The Cantor Cup is for players who have recently learned to play bridge and play mainly in supervised play sessions.  The Cantor Cup is being held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 23rd February and will start at 2pm.  We will play 18 boards and expect to finish by 6pm.  Only simple bidding systems are allowed and no Master Points will be awarded.  This is a social, fun competition for new bridge players.  Non - EBU members are welcome to enter. The prizes are very generous with a prize of £100 for the winning pair and further cash prizes for 2nd and 3rd placed pairs.  The entry fee is £10 per player.

If you want to enter for online entries please go to the Manchester Events website at https://www.bridgewebs.com/manchesterevents/ or email Susan Triggs - grasan30@gmail.com with your name and your partner's name.

Please pay via BACs: MCBA  sort code 01-07-20 account number 41526708 ref:Cantor 2025

As the January Seminar was cancelled because of the weather we are now running the seminar on Suit Preference Signals next month on Friday 14th February 2025 and moving the rest of the seminars forward by one month. 

The start time for each seminar is 10.30am and will finish at approximately 12.30pm.  As usual there will be notes of the seminar and copies of the 8 example hands.  This topic is suitable for both improvers and intermediates and for more experienced players who want some revision on the main suit preference signals.  You do not need a partner to attend this seminar.  The cost if £8 for members and £10 for non-members.

If you will be attending this seminar please either add your name to the list below or email me via grasan30@gmail.com.

Below is a list of all the seminars we have arranged with Nicholas for the winter/spring 2025 period.  We have tried to provide topics which reflect the feedback we have received so these next seminars are mainly on defence and declarer play.  

Any further ideas for topics please email me.  Finally - thanks to Anne Jerrold for all her work on helping to arrange these seminars.

Friday 14th February - Suit Preference Signals

Friday 14th March - Tactics for Declarer when playing a NT Contract

Friday 11th April - Surround Play

Friday 9th May - Improve your defence in a NT contract

There will be a further seminar on Friday 13th June - please email grasan30@gmail.com with any suggestions for topics

On Sunday we held our traditional Manchester Bridge Club Santa Claus Pairs.

As usual, the SCP attracted a large field (62 players this year) including several of the very best players in the country. Under Jeff Smith's expert direction we played 2 sessions of 18 Boards with the final result coming down to the very last hand as Stuart Shalom and Daniel Kelsall were pipped at the post by David Sarabowski and Eve Lighthill in the tightest of finishes.   

The Committee had a busy morning setting up the rooms, laying out the tables with Xmas crackers and chocolates and setting up a mince pies and mulled wine station - and all this before the caterers arrived at the half way point to set out an excellent buffet. 

As usual there was a best Santa jumper prize - won by Lesley Richards in a high quality field - and lots of festive raffle prizes.

In summary, over 6 hours of play, a good time was had by all in a seasonal and festive atmosphere. 

Happy Christmas everyone! Hope to see you all at the Club in 2025! 

We are delighted to announce that the following Member of the Club achieved an EBU Master Point ranking promotion in November 

Stuart Shalom  Premier Regional Master
Tessa Connolly  Master
Ron Butler  County Master
Carole Gavin  Club Master


Congratulations to all 4     

Beginners Bridge Taster Courses.

If you are interested in joining one of our future courses, (likely to start March 2025) please fill in the form below and we will keep you updated about our plans for our next courses.

Please be careful when you enter your email address. There have been a couple of incorrect email addresses entered so if you have not had a reply please try again.  You will always receive a personal response in 24 hours. 

Each course will last 10 weeks and covers the basics of play and bidding. We teach the 5 card major, strong No Trump and short club system.  We will also cover basic defensive tactics.

Most importantly, the classes will be friendly and sociable. Bridge can be a complicated game and will stretch your mind, but we aim to make bridge fun to learn and hope you will quickly come to love the game as much as we do.  Once your course is finished we have a wide range of supported, follow on sessions for you to join to continue to learn this wonderful game.

The course will cost £80 payable in advance 

Interested?  Find out more by emailing Susan on grasan30@gmail.com or completing the online form below

We now have three IntoBridge sessions each week.  These are on a Monday and Friday afternoon at 2pm and on Thursday evening (Swiss Pairs) starting at 7.15pm.  All these sessions are well supported and will continue.  The Manchester Bridge Club Committee decided that we would have to cancel the Sunday afternoon session because there have been so few people playing on a Sunday in recent weeks.

We now have supervised sessions for beginners, learners & improvers at the club:

Monday afternoon at 1pm for Improvers with Paul Murray.

** NEW** Monday evening at 7:15pm for beginners with Frank/Chris

Tuesday evening at 7pm all levels with Nicholas

Thursday morning at 10:30 for beginners with Susan Triggs.

Members £6 & Visitors £8

Everyone is welcome

Please be aware that the BridgeWebs attendance Module is not a real time system. It reflects entry fees spent on online and face-to-face games but does not reflect money paid into your online account until it is manually updated from the Club's bank statement. Our 'WebMaster', Dave Fernley performs these updates periodically- usually weekly. If you need to know your balance between updates, call Paul or Dave.

The new Bridgewebs Attendance Module for tracking payment money for online games is now live.

It provides you with a real-time view of the games you have played, the current balance of your account and payments made and received by your account. 

To see this information you will need to log on to the Members Only area of the website and then select thePayments Account tab.
Detailed instructions logging onto this area are available here

A detailed description of the Online Account, how it works, etc, is also available here within the Members Only Area (log-on needed).

Account statements will also be sent out periodically by email. This ensures that people who choose not to actively monitor their account balance are still aware of it. The statement provides a regular update to non-members who play in our online games who do not have access the member's area and therefore the real time benefits of this system.

See Calendar on the right of this home page for our Weekly Schedule

Face to Face table fees for Duplicates at the Club are £4 for fully paid-up MBC members & £6 for Guests

Supervised Face to Face table fees at the Club are £6 for fully paid-up MBC members & £8 for Guests

(includes free tea/coffee & biscuits and occasional treats! However, sandwiches/supper will not be served)

Online bridge entry is £3.75 for members & £4.50 for non-members

For Online games a pre-arranged partner is preferable. However, if possible, partners can be found after you log on to our tournaments. Just wait on Partnership Desk on IntoBridge. 

Please transfer entry fee (or more for convenience / multiple games) into the MBC bank account (see below).

MBC will reduce your balance after each session played and email you with a regular statement to help you stay in credit.

The Manchester Bridge Club Bank details are –

Natwest Sort Code 01-02-02   Account Number  21867577

Please put your First Name and Surname as the payment reference

Thank you for supporting The Manchester Bridge Club