Our flagship internal event, the Lord’s Teams competition for MCC members and candidates, took place on Sunday 17th March with the team of Lester Pereira, Nigel Clayton, Paul Filer and Simon Alterman (pictured L-R) coming out on top. Six teams of four competed in two sessions of 20 boards each.

The winners were strong favourites and they duly set the pace in the first session with a score of 54 imps, with Team Barua/Lane/Southam/Soanes compteting well with 29 imps in second place. The second half was more even but the gap between the two leading teams remained unchanged. 

The event, formerly known as the Lord's Trophy, was renamed this year so that the winners can collect the Peter Donovan Trophy. For full results, click here. 

Many thanks to Ronnie Bourne for organising the event and to our TD Victor Lesk for making the day go very smoothly.

Nigel Clayton and Harvey Laurance, part of the winning team a year ago, secured top spot with David and Simon Alterman in the 2023 Lord's Trophy competition on 26th March. The winning team (pictured) secured a comfortable victory with a score of +46 IMPs over 45 boards. Runners-up were Lester Pereira, Dominic Flint, Charles Dixon and Michael Stern. 

Jonathan Lillycrop directed the event, reserved for MCC Members and Candidates. The six teams were made up of one pair drawn from a "strong" group and one from the "even stronger" group. Thanks to all who took part and, in particular, to Ronnie Bourne for organising. Final standings available here, along with details from the two sessions.

The hot favourites -- Nigel Clayton, Peter Donovan, Harvey Laurance and John Davies -- duly won the Lord's Trophy after a keenly contested day of bridge on Sunday, 27th March. They were pushed all the way by the team of Mike Alsford, Tim Lawrence, Bill Coles and Simon Alterman, who were tied for first place after the morning session and missed out on an upset by just 4 IMPs. 

Many thanks to last-minute replacements Steve Bispham and Ian Landau, to Ronnie Bourne for his impeccable organisation, to Jonathan Lillycrop for directing the event, and to the members of all six teams who took part. Full results are available here.

The team of Richard Cumming-Bruce, Bruce Blair, Peter Brent and Shiv Datt won the 2021 Lord's Trophy on 28th March in a dramatic final round. They finished 5 VPs ahead of Dominic Flint, Pamela Reiss, Rob Hickling and Julia Campbell, who had led the competition all the way through until the last match. In third place were Roger Challis, Stephen Barry, David Alterman and Miles Golding, just 2 VP behind the runners-up. Top of the cross-IMP table were Steve Foster and Barrie Gilbert, with David and Miles in second place and Mike Alsford and Tim Lawrence third. Full results are available here.

A special mention to MCC Member Richard Holloway and his guest King Fook Chan who joined us from the Singapore Cricket Club. And thanks to Tina Cole and Michael Stern for stepping in as last-minute replacements for a pair forced to withdraw through illness, to Barbara Bourne for acting as a roving substitute when there were technical problems, to Ronnie Bourne for leading the planning, and to Gary Conrad for directing the event with his customary patience and efficiency.

Finally, thanks to all 20 pairs who took part. It was great to see so many familiar faces -- and some new ones -- live on RealBridge after such a long time.

The Lord's Trophy competition took place on Sunday, 15th March with seven teams of four. Congratulations to the winners (pictured l to r) were Gary Diamond, Russell Tenzer, Robert Buxton and John Davies. Many thanks to Ronnie Bourne for organising the competition so well, despite a number of late withdrawals. Sadly, it was the last bridge event for a while at Lord's but a splendid day for all who took part.

See the results here.