MCC Bridge Society
Bulletin

Club Nights in Members' Lounge unless told otherwise over next few weeks

0 0 0 0 0 0
Pages viewed in 2026
Release 2.19r
Welcome to MCC Bridge Society
MCC Mixed Swiss Teams 2026

The annual flagship event is open for booking. Click here to secure your entry

Annual Dinner - 19th November
Annual Dinner - 19th November

Assuming the Law or the International Bridge calendar doesn’t get in the way this year’s guest speaker at the annual dinner will be Patrick Lawrence KC.  For those of you that spectate at the RAC when the Lederer takes place, he needs no introduction. Along with his son, Oliver, he is a core member of the Periculo team alongside Andrew Robson and Alexander Allfrey. Tickets can be purchased through the club website or by clicking on the link here. This may require you to enter your MCC Login credentials.

Andrew Robson Seminars at Lord's 14th December -- in Aid of MCC Foundation
Andrew Robson Seminars at Lord's 14th December -- in Aid of MCC Foundation

The famous road show arrives on the 14th December when the pre-eminent columnist of The Times will conduct two of his legendary seminars in the Long Room at Lord's. Along with a light lunch, there will be an opportunity to bid for a variety of items in an auction. All profits from the event will go to the MCC Foundation. Bookings are for Members and Candidates only at this stage, but they can brings guests (either to make up a pair or a table of four).

Tickets are availble here. You may be required to log in.

2026 Rubber Bridge Tournament Reaches Quarter Finals

The draw for the semi-finals of the 2026 MCC Rubber Bridge tournament has now been made, with two winners of their leagues facing to league runners-up. Click here to see the draw, along with the full results of the league matches in three leagues and the quarter finals. 

MCC beat Singapore BC in Online Match (2nd October)
MCC beat Singapore BC in Online Match (2nd October)

Although seemingly one sided, the Ximp scoring method is volatility on steroids. With a team of 16, the end margin can be quartered to provide some comparison to the more usual head-to-head method. Nevertheless, this was an emphatic victory for the members from the home of cricket. The last time this was attempted was in the dark days of covid at it is very much hoped that this will become a more regular fixture. A picture of the opposing captains is shown here from the final day of the Pakistani test much this Summer.

75% of the MCC team were made up from members that live too far away to play on the face-to-face sessions at Lords on Tuesday nights, so there is clearly still some appetite for on-line bridge 

MCC v New York University Club
MCC v New York University Club

MCC, captained by Trevor Southam played their return match against the University Club of New York on Friday 26th September. As a result of a fixture conjestion situation, the bridge and dinner took place in the Mall room at the RAC. Clearly home advantage came to the assistance of the MCC, and last year's defeat was avenged with an 83-0 Imps victory for MCC. The excellent dinner was enjoyed by all with much chat and laughter. 

 

Representative Matches 2025-26 and 2026-27

The 2025/2026 Season has now ended with a comfortable win against the RAC at Woodcote Park. With 14 wins and only 4 losses, this has been one of the most successful years for the club's representative teams. Several fixtures have already been arranged for the 2026/2027 season. Applications to play can be made online here.

International matches: 

25th September 2026: Home match vs University Club, New York. This is meant to be a "home" match but due to cricket related constraints, we will be hosting the match at the Mount Room at the RAC Pall Mall. This is a self-paid event and the cost  is likely to be in the region of £100 per head, including drinks and dinner. We propose 2.30 for a 3.00 pm start.

Selection preference will be considered for those who are likely to apply for the AWAY game in September 2027: please indicate your intenetions in your application. This away trip will include, apart from the match vs. The University Club where we enjoyed excellent hospitality and a great time in 2025, a match against the very interesting Metropolitan Club in Washington).

The full list of regular domestic matches can be found here.

Nigel Parmenter
Nigel Parmenter

Nigel Parmenter is the reason we have a flourishing Bridge Society at Lords today. He was not only the Founder member but worked ceaselessly to build a vibrant Bridge Group since 1992.

Amongst his many passions, cricket and bridge fell very high on the list and when he spotted a notice from Roger Knight asking members to come forward to help set up other activities at the MCC to encourage members to use the pavilion more, Nigel never looked back. This was manna from heaven for Nigel, the great organiser, and the MCC Bridge Society came into existence under Nigel’s able leadership and dedicated effort.


Though he stopped playing regularly at the club, members who had the privilege of knowing him remained in very close touch and regularly enjoyed his hospitality in Cluny and Fife where he had set up residence. Apart from his wide-ranging interests in music and theatre, politics and sports, his intellect and ability to engage with kindness, courtesy, politeness and gentleness left an endless stream of friends and admirers.

It is with the deepest regret and sadness that we have to inform that on 1st July, Nigel fell unwell and was admitted to hospital in Bristol. His situation deteriorated and he finally succumbed to his illness on the 7th July, He died very peacefully with his daughter Vanessa by his side.  He will be deeply missed.

MCC Bridge goes to capital of Europe
MCC Bridge goes to capital of Europe

Expanding the reach of our overseas matches, MCC sent a team of eight to Brussels to take on the Royal Golf Club of Belgium. The bright April sunshine lit up the spectacular surroundings of the course and the hospitality of our hosts was just as splendid. After the bridge, there were cocktails on the lawn, a birthday was celebrated, and a fine dinner followed. The least that could be done by the MCC team (captain and organiser Pralab Barua, Trevor Southam, Dominic Flint, Pamela Reiss, Gary Diamond, Paul Filer, Simon Alterman, and Malgosia Alterman) was to lose narrowly to our generous hosts.

We look forward to returning to Brussels next year, perhaps for a golf and bridge event, and to seeing the Belgian golfers at Lord's too.

MCC Wins Centenary Cup by Landslide Margin
MCC Wins Centenary Cup by Landslide Margin

On Monday 19th May 2026 MCC played in the prestigious Centenary Cup at the RAC, a team of eight competition. Our team was Russell Tenzer (Capt)/Gary Diamond, Lester Pereira/Nigel Clayton, John Pemberton/Simon Alterman, Pralab Barua/Geoff Lane. MCC won convincingly with 151 IMPS, the second-placed team had 68. MCC came first and second in their teams of 4 and were in 3 of the top 4 positions in the pairs X-imps.

We were told that apart from the RAC, no other team RAC had won the tournament more than once until MCC, who have now won this competition twice. With thanks to our friends at the RAC for putting on a lovely evening.

Lord's Teams Competition -- 2026 Result

We held the Peter Donovan Lord’s Trophy on Sunday 22 March. A very successful day excellently directed by Victor Lesk.

42 boards were played. The final victors were not known until the very last hand.  The winners were Richard Cumming-Bruce, Bruce Blair, Pralab Barua and David Hudd. The won with 46 IMPS , in second place with 36 IMPS were Norman Agran, Jonathan Hoffman ,Ronnie Bourne and Malcolm Green.

Richard Cumming-Buce and Bruce Blair convincingly won the top pair competition , they managed to bid 4 slams, no other pair bid more than one.

Represent your Club

Fixtures are being added day by day. Now is the time for you to register your interest to adorn yourself with your club tie and take on the opposition. You can do this by either using the menu option or by clicking here.

Master Point Rule Change

The committee have had many representations as to the format of the master point trophy. At present the best scores up to a maximum of 6 are taken for any pairing. This allows pairs to keep playing until they have had 6 maximum scores. From the 1st October 2024 we are going to tweak this a bit. For the 2024/25 season, only the first six scores with any other member/candidate will count. This hopefully means that there will be many more different pairings and make the competition a bit more exciting.

MCC Member or Candidate? Sign up to our Mailing List

MCC Members or Candidates for membership can sign up to receive emails about Bridge Society activities from the Club and from committee members organising events. You can access the form here

On line Bridge update

For those of you who enjoy playing Bridge on line Dominic Flint is keen to reach out to those interested in representing the club. Currently he is on the hunt for opposition near and far with games against Hurlingham, the North of England and on the other side of the Atlantic. To register your interest complete the form 

Calendar
20th October 2026
MCC Tuesday Pairs
Lord's 1900
Director: Victor Lesk
25th October 2026
Mixed Swiss Teams
Long Room 10.00
Director: Victor Lesk
27th October 2026
MCC Tuesday Pairs
Lord's 1900
Director: Rob Sassoon
3rd November 2026
MCC Tuesday Pairs
Lord's 1900
Director: Victor Lesk
10th November 2026
Ecats SIM for Children in Need
Lord's 1900
Director: Victor Lesk
Scorer: Victor Lesk
17th November 2026
MCC Tuesday Pairs
Lord's 1900
Director: Victor Lesk