An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Club will be held at Mountnessing Village Hall on Thursday 31st August 2023, commencing at 19:00. The detailed proposal has been sent to all paid-up members of the Club, but the general gist is that - given declining numbers - the club is no longer viable and should be dissolved with immediate effect. This is a sad state of affairs, but the writing has been on the wall since the Pandemic. 

As the proposal has been widely canvassed at Club sessions, we expect the motion to be passed rapidly without dissent. Consequently, we may start our final session of bridge earlier than normal, probably at 19:15 or thereabouts. This will be for the Mary Rogers Trophy, carried over from last year. 

We sadly have to report that the Club will not be able to run a session this coming Thursday, so the Club will be shut. An email has been sent to Club Members. 

Note that it is expected that the Club will be open as normal next week (Thursday 17th August). The Website will be updated and members emailed to confirm in due course. 

Thanks for your patience!

As attendance is still uncertain, we will retain the procedure below for the next few weeks. 

If you are intending to come to the Club on the coming Thursday you MUST let our Chairman David Piper know by email (at davidrobertpiper@yahoo.co.uk) by the close of the prior Monday, saying who your partner is to be. David will then collate responses and decide on the Tuesday whether or not we have a quorum. We'll then send an email to the membership and update the website to say whether or not we're up and running for the coming Thursday.  

Congratulations to Robert Elliott for winning Player of the Month for July 2023. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

We sadly have to report that due to problems on the M25 there is no longer a quorum for this week's session, so the Club will be shut. An email has been sent to Club Members and expected attendees have been contacted by phone. 

Note that it is expected that the Club will be open as normal next week (Thursday 20th July). The Website will be updated and members emailed to confirm in due course. 

Thanks for your patience!

Congratulations to David Piper for winning Player of the Month for June 2023. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

Unfortunately, the same boards were played on 29th June as had been played on 8th June. As four players had had some exposure to the hands before it was decided to continue play but not load the results to the EBU or apply the results to the Club competitions. Comparison of the two sets of results shows that those who had 'seen' them before gained precious little advantage, to put it mildly. 

We sadly have to report that, with several regulars away, there is no quorum for this week's session, so the Club will be shut. An email has been sent to Club Members. 

Note that it is expected that the Club will be open as normal next week (Thursday 29th June). The Website will be updated and members emailed to confirm in due course. 

Thanks for your patience!

The Mountnessing Bridge Club AGM is to be held on Thursday 1st June, commencing at 19:10, with the usual session of bridge thereafter. Wine, beer, and nibbles will be supplied by the Club. It is suggested that attendees plan to arrive by 19:00 to charge their glasses and fill their plates so that the AGM can start and finish on time. 

The Agenda is unchanged from that previously issued and is here. It lists those Committee Members up for re-election. The minutes of the previous AGM are here, and those of the ensuing EGM - which superseded the AGM -  are here. The Club accounts are here.

There will be prizes for the evening's bridge in the form of 2 bottles of wine for the winners, 2 for the bottom pair, and 2 for the pair getting closest to 50%.

Congratulations to Theo Todman for winning Player of the Month for May 2023. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

Thanks to those who responded to the Chairman saying you intend to play at the Club this Thursday. As a result, we can confirm that the Club is open and running the usual session this Thursday. See you there!

Thanks to those of you who responded to last week's cry for help. We had the expected 6 tables this Thursday (4th April 2023). As attendance is still uncertain, we will retain this week's procedure for the next few weeks. So:-

If you are intending to come to the Club on the coming Thursday you MUST let our Chairman David Piper know by email (at davidrobertpiper@yahoo.co.uk) by the close of the prior Monday, saying who your partner is to be. David will then collate responses and decide on the Tuesday whether or not we have a quorum. We'll then send an email to the membership and update the website to say whether or not we're up and running for the coming Thursday.  

Congratulations yet again to David Piper for winning Player of the Month for April 2023, a repeat of his successes in January, February and March. A proposal has been mooted to award a bottle of wine to the winner but is on hold until David and Les stop winning. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

Only six members turned up last Thursday, 27th April 2023, so no session could be held, and we had to go home without a game. We don't want this to happen again, so we've agreed to the policy below:  

If you are intending to come to the Club on the coming Thursday you MUST let our Chairman David Piper know by email (at davidrobertpiper@yahoo.co.uk) by the close of the prior Tuesday, saying who your partner is to be. David will then collate responses and decide on the Wednesday morning whether or not we have a quorum. We'll then send an email to the membership and update the website to say whether or not we're up and running for the coming Thursday.  

Congratulations yet again to Les Curtis and David Piper for winning Player of the Month for March 2023, a repeat of their successes in January and February. A proposal has been mooted to award a bottle of wine to the winner but is on hold until David and Les stop winning. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

As per the standing announcement below, I sadly have to report that, with several regulars away, there is no quorum for this week's session so the Club will be Shut. An email has been sent to Club Members. 

Note that it is expected that the Club will be open as normal next week (Thursday 6th April). The Website will be updated and members emailed to confirm in due course. 

Thanks for your patience!

There have been occasions recently when the Club has had to close because it appeared there was no quorum. Please would members note that, if the club is to be closed on a particular evening, the website will say so and a message will be sent to all members. To make things clearer until things hopefully improve in the spring, the Club would be grateful if members could confirm by email that they are coming (or, if they are 'regulars', that they are not coming if they are not). Thanks all. 

Congratulations to Les Curtis and David Piper for winning Player of the Month for February 2023, a repeat of their success in January. Comfortably ahead of the only other pair to turn up on all the Thursdays in the month. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

OK - the month ended early - but they were well ahead - so ... congratulations to Les Curtis and David Piper for winning Player of the Month for January 2023. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

Sadly, we appear not to have a quorum this Thursday (26th January 2023) so the club will not be open. Hopefully, this is a temporary blip - several of our regulars have other engagements. Please do your best to attend the Club the following Thursday - 2nd February. 

It pains me to say this but ... Well done to Peter Oake and Simon Moorman who have made a second entry to the exclusive Seventy Club on Thursday 19th January 2023. 

Congratulations to Nick Hagan for winning Player of the Month for December 2022. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

The Club is open for business over the festive period - Thursday 29th December is booked - all members and interested non-members are welcome!  

Apologies for the short notice, but given the state of the MVH car park, and the freezing weather generally, the Club Committee has decided that we have no reasonable alternative but to cancel tomorrow's session and the party we had planned.

We anticipate temperatures to rise considerably on Sunday and remain above freezing the following week, so we expect to be meeting as planned on the 22nd and 29th of December.

The party will be rearranged for warmer times next year.

CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER

In the words of our esteemed Chairman: "Members and guests are all welcome, normal table money, 19:00 start, booze to be supplied by the club, attendees to bring a plate of scoff, Albert not to wear his appalling Christmas jumper." 

Update: Wine drinkers not wanting to use teacups should bring their own glasses. Non-Alberts are encouraged to wear Christmas jumpers. Bobble hats are compulsory. 

Well done to Les Curtis and David Piper for winning Player of the Month for November 2022. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

At the EGM last night, the new Committee was elected unanimously. The Committee is:-

• Chairman: David ('don't call me Dave') Piper
• Vice-Chairman: Nick Hagan
• Secretary: Simon Moorman
• Treasurer: Graham Beeton
• Webmaster: Theo Todman
• Committee Member: Mike Harbour

Watch this space for future updates. Simon is acting as Development Secretary and has several good ideas for improving the Club and increasing the membership. 

Chelmsford Bridge Club are celebrating their 70th Anniversary with F2F bridge on Friday 11th November, 19:15 start. For full details, click the heading. This event offers a free buffet with complimentary drinks.

To enter, Click Here. 

Congratulations to Club regulars Simon Moorman and Peter Oake who - with teammates - won the Swiss Teams, came runners up in the Swiss Pairs, and won the EW section of the Pre-Congress Pairs.

Well done also to Club member Cath Fox who - with her partner - was the overall winner of the Ladies', Men's and Mixed Pairs.

Well done to Renee Flanagan for winning Player of the Month for October 2022. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

The Club has been very short of attendees of late. As a way of encouraging attendance for members and non-members alike John McCoy, our former Chairman and the current ECBA Chairman, has offered to act as Host for next Thursday's duplicate. So, do come along whether you have a partner on not. 

Our Chairman David Piper would like to thank those who have confirmed to him their attendance. We expect to have in excess of 6 tables, so all systems go! 

The new Committee would like to thank John McCoy, our recently retired Chairman, for all his efforts in getting the Club started up again after the Covid lock-down. We wish him well as ongoing Chairman of Billericay Mayflower, our sister Club, and in his new role developing bridge throughout Essex as Chairman of the ECBA. 

Well done to Graham Beeton for winning Player of the Month for September 2022. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

Well done again to Roger & Jill Tattersfield who have made a - surprisingly - first entry to the exclusive Seventy Club on Thursday 22nd September 2022. 

Well done to Graham Beeton & Ray Clarke for jointly winning Player of the Month for August 2022. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

Well done to Peter Oake for winning Player of the Month for July 2022. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

Well done to Graham Beeton for winning Player of the Month for June 2022. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

Well done again to Les Curtis and David Piper who have made a second entry this year to the exclusive Seventy Club after a remarkable session on Thursday 14th July 2022. Their score of 74.4% puts them 6= in the all-time list. 

The minutes of the Club's AGM held on Thursday 9th June 2022 will be published shortly. 

Enough for the moment to reassure members and other interested parties that the Club is very much open for business and the Club Duplicates will take place as normal.

There will be an EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting) prior to the Duplicate on Thursday 7th July 2022.

Click here for further details of those standing for election to the new Committee. 

Well done to Val and Paul Mollison for jointly winning Player of the Month for May 2022. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

The Club AGM will now be held on Thursday 9th June. This has been moved due to the late announcement of the proposals.

This will be an important meeting for the future of the Club, so please would members make a note in their diaries and make every effort to attend.

To provide time for full discussion and bridge afterwards, the AGM will commence at 19:00.

The following are attached:

AGM Agenda 2022.pdf

Working Party Report.pdf

Merger proposal.pdf

David Piper Proposal.pdf

Minutes AGM 2021.pdf

The ECBA is holding its annual AGM at Barleylands on Saturday 14th May, at 14:30, with a free session of duplicate bridge after the meeting. This AGM is important as the ECBA Committee is up for re-election, with our own John McCoy standing as the new Chairman and other Club members also standing for places on the ECBA Committee. For further information, see the ECBA Website. 

Well done to Les Curtis and David Piper (yes, them again, and again) for jointly winning Player of the Month for March and April 2022. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

There was a problem with the scoring system on Thursday 14th April which we were unfortunately not able to rectify, so the results couldn't be calculated, loaded to the website, or sent to the EBU. Please accept our apologies for this. Thankfully the problem (with Windows 11, for which the EBU has supplied a fix) is now resolved. 

Well done to our intrepid Scorer - Cath Fox - who, as of March 2022, has gained the EBU rank of National Master. 

The Club Membership fee for 2022/23 is £10 per person. Table money is £2.50 per person for Members. The cost for Visitors is £4.00. All our regulars are encouraged to become Members, not only for the cost benefits but to enable them fully to participate in Club Competitions and Ladders, and to be eligible to vote on matters of Club business. 

For those who can't make it to the Club at the moment, but who want to retain membership, the Application Form, with instructions for payment, is here: PDF, MS Word. 

The ladders for the past year have reached their conclusions. Congratulations to:-

1. Val Mollison for winning the Ladies' Ladder, and thereby the Faye Wernick Trophy
2. Peter Oake for winning the Gentlemen's Ladder, and thereby the Lionel Wernick Trophy

Peter also has 'first refusal' as Club Captain for the 2022/23 season.

Click on the links above for full details. 

Thanks to all who competed for the Mary Rogers Trophy on 24th March 2022 which doubled as support for the Ukrainian emergency. All table money was donated to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, and - including members' generous donations - a total of £205 was raised which doubled to £410 when donated via theBigGive. 

Well done to Les Curtis and David Piper who have joined the exclusive Seventy Club after an excellent session on Thursday 3rd March 2022. 

Well done to Mike Harbour for retaining his title as Player of the Month - for February 2022. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners - together with progress for the current month - can be found here.

Well done to Alaric Cundy and John Sutcliffe for winning the above event at Club level. Alaric & John came 8th nationally, though in a disappointingly small field.

The National results and the booklet / hand analysis are available online here.

The latest joint Players of the Month - for January 2022 - are Albert Kitchin & Mike Harbour. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners can be found here.

The latest Player of the Month - for December 2021 - is Robert Elliott. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners can be found here.

The Club is now closed until the 6th Jan.2022.

It is just left to wish all a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Also a big thank you to all who have attended or given messages of support.

Not forgetting those who come early to help setting out the tables, do the scoring and all the various directors without whom we would not play.

This has been cancelled due to the re-newed Covid outbreak. It will be re-arranged for safer Times.

The Christmas Party will be on the 16th December, wine and food provided. 

All are welcome - it will be hosted so just come along.

And the best thing is it's free!

The latest joint Players of the Month for November 2021 are Les Curtis & David Piper. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners can be found here.

Well done to Les Curtis and David Piper who comfortably won the Club winter championship in a good turnout for these Covid times. 

Click here for the full table of results. 

The latest joint Players of the Month for October 2021 - from a rather diminished list of qualifiers - are David Tennet and Theo Todman. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners can be found here.

We're now into our second month of re-opening F2F. Table money reverts to £2.50 per person, though many Members will have received - or will receive - 4 x £2.50 vouchers in lieu of their paid but unused membership fee for 2020/21. 

Table money for Visitors will be the same as that for Members until the new Membership Year commencing April 2022. 

The latest joint Players of the Month for September 2021 - now the Club has re-opened - are Graham Beeton & Ray Clarke. Click the box heading for the results. A complete historical record of past winners can be found here.

The approved minutes of the AGM and the Annual Accounts are available here, or from the menu-item on the left, as are the latest Covid Rules (also under the Information section). 

It was great to see eight full tables in play this past Thursday, and it was clear that those present were delighted to be playing with real cards against real opponents again. We have high hopes that the Club can now return to normal, and look forward to seeing as many members as feel comfortable attending regularly on Thursdays.

There was a problem with the scoring system on this 'come back' event, explained in an email to Members, repeated in the 'New News' page. We don't anticipate a recurrence. 

Following a decision at the AGM held on 2nd September 2021, Membership for 2021/22 is FREE. Table money reverts to £2.50 per person, though many Members will have received - or will receive - 4 x £2.50 vouchers in lieu of their paid but unused membership fee for 2020/21.  Table money for Visitors will be the same as that for Members until the new Membership Year commencing April 2022.   

Firstly, a big 'thank you' to all those members who attended the AGM on Thursday - and special thanks to those who volunteered to fill gaps on the committee.

Committee appointments: John McCoy (Chair), Nick Hagan (Vice-Chair), Linda Fleet (Treasurer), Theo Todman (Secretary; also Website), John Sutcliffe, Mike Harbour

Fees for 2021/22: No membership fee, Table Money remains at £2.50. Additionally, the 37 members who paid £10 for their 2020/21 membership before the club became dormant in March 2020 will be offered two alternative ways of receiving a refund; members to whom this point applies will be contacted through a follow-up email.

Covid Precautions: Anyone entering Mountnessing Village Hall is bound by the Hall's Covid mitigation measures. Additionally, it was agreed to adopt the same Bridge-specific measures as are in place for the Tuesday night Mayflower Club. The rules are here. 

We must apologize that the above Bridge Session went horribly wrong. The key reason for that was that the scoring system hadn't been used for 18 months and memories were rusty, and the movement was set up incorrectly following a change of movement. The necessary lessons have been noted to ensure that such things don't happen again. With only 15 boards scored, the event did not meet EBU requirements for a valid session, and therefore it has not been submitted to the EBU, though it has been posted onto the Club's website. On a more positive note, it was great to see eight full tables in play, and it was clear that those present were delighted to be playing with real cards against real opponents again. No table money was charged for the session.

To celebrate the re-opening of the Club, there will be no table money charged during September 2021. Come along and enjoy your F2F bridge for free!

Also, the Committee has decided that - when charged - table money for Visitors will be the same as that for Members during the period when the Membership fee is waived.