How to Play Online at RBC every Thursday

Dear Members 

We hope you are all coping in the lockdown which is a new experience for everyone. In particular, we send our thoughts and good wishes to those of you that have had to contend with significant Covid 19 and also non-covid health events within your families over the last few months.

Online bridge

We are running a session every Thursday at 7pm starting 30 July.  Please register by noon the day before using the attendance box for the relevant date on the right hand side of the website.

If you have not played online before

• We strongly recommend that you practise with a few hands in the Casual section of BBO. 
• Pat Dowdeswell (patdowdeswell@virginmedia.com ) and Gill Smith (gill_smith99@btinternet.com) are happy to help  anyone who has not played on BBO before and/or to set up a practice session.

Registering on BBO

• In order to play you need to register with BBO at bridgebase.com.  This is free, easy and does not commit you to anything.  
• When you log on to bridgebase.com you will be asked to choose a username and password.  
• NOTE: you need to complete your registration by clicking a link that will be emailed to you
• You will need to give your username when you enter for the event.  
• Then you need to buy some BBO $s to cover the entry fee – do this on the BBO website. 
• You can find additional information on registering for BBO on the EBU website http://www.ebu.co.uk/ebuscore-wiki/bboinstructions

 Playing in the event on the day

• Please ensure you enter the event in advance on the RBC website, as set out above
• To play in the Club event, logon to BBO with your Username and password.
• Click on ‘Competitive’ then ‘All tournaments.’
• The screen will have a small box at top right saying Search.  In the Search box type Reading.  
• The screen will show the "Pending" Reading event.  This will be available from 2 hours before the start of the event.
• Click on the event name.  
• If your partner is late, please do not register with a robot but tell the director about the problem.
• You can then invite your partner to play using their BBO username (unless you have already received an invitation from them).
• We recommend putting the club director's BBO ID  ( vEBU204802 ) into your personal friends list on BBO.  Then when you are online on the night you can chat straight to the director about any problems.

If you have any questions please email   Pat Dowdeswell patdowdeswell@virginmedia.com

Best Wishes

RBC Committee

Chris Kinloch

Sadly, Chris passed away on 7th July.

Chris’s primary county was Hampshire and Isle of Wight but he also played in Reading and Berks & Bucks events. He was a regular member of the Reading B and Reading A League of 8 teams and a Reading League of 4 team for many years, continuing even after his move from Tadley to Andover. His most recent appearance was with Peter Hawkes against Thame on 11 March.

His professional career was in logistics, planning the efficient storage and movement of books and computer parts. His long bridge playing career began in Scotland and then continued in England. In 2008, with Miles Cowling, he won both the EBU South-West Pairs and the EBU National Pairs.

The funeral will take place at Andover Crematorium on Tuesday 28th July at 2pm. As there are restrictions on the number of people who can attend in person, there will be a live stream of the service. More information will be given on the Basingstoke Bridge Club website.

Funeral details are below:

Winter Competition Winners - September 2019 to February 2020

The winners of the 2019 Winter cup competitions are below.

Tuesday Competitions

Brown Cup 

1. Mike Ribbins       60.87%

2. Peter Jackson      60.12%

3. Mike Perkins        58.79%

Laycock Cup (Handicap)

1. Mike Ribbins         52.56%

2. Jim Chapman         50.37%

3. John Greenhalgh    50.31%

Thursday Competitions

Boucher Cup 

1. Oliver Dillon      62.01%

2. Ken Jones          61.66%

3. Sam Botfield       59.60%

Bilbey Cup (Handicap)

1. Martyn Jordan    55.57%

2. David Salmon      55.33%

3. Brian Pugsley      54.60%

Online Cocktail Pairs

Reading Bridge Club's first online Cocktail pairs took place on the 25th June using the online platform BBO.  

Congratulations to David and Janet Barnes who won with a score of 61.67% ahead of the 14 pair field.

Reading Bridge Club Closed

RBC is closed until further notice given the government guidelines on the COVID-19 outbreak

Leon McArdle  1972 - 2020    

Very sadly we learned that Leon McArdle died last weekend, after a two year struggle with cancer.

Leon is survived by his wife, Carolanne and their young son Sammy, who will be 7 years old next week.

We at Reading BC knew and admired him as a very fine bridge player, partner, team mate and club mate.

Leon was born in Reading and lived in Harcourt Drive near the new university campus and then the Tilehurst Road area (his mother and brother still live in the Reading area). Leon attended the former Meadway comprehensive school where he was regarded as a very intelligent pupil with a relaxed insouciance towards his work. He coped easily with the demands of his A levels and got on well with his fellow students.

Leon first played bridge when he was reading Mathematics at Sheffield University in the early 1990s and recalled that another current Reading BC member, Oliver Dillon, taught him the game.  Oliver recalls Leon as amongst other things an accomplished piano, snooker and basketball player.

After university Leon joined Oracle, the database and computer company,  eventually becoming a Principal Software Engineer for them at their Thames Valley Park facility.

At Reading BC Leon won the Bilbey cup, the Boucher cup (twice) and the Founder’s trophy (with Pat Dowdeswell). In Chiltern competitions he won the Elimination Pairs in 2015 (partnering Oliver Dillon).

He was a regular league player for various Reading teams partnering Patrick Moore, Ken Jones and Chris Hall, including the B team beating the mighty 2016-2017 champions, our own A team!  He qualified as an EBU director with distinction and regularly supervised club duplicate sessions with authority, consideration and that prized attribute, good humour. He was a great contributor to the life of the club.

Thanks to strong performances with his university friend Ben Tarlow against high quality fields at Reading BC and Cambridge BC, they are currently the highest NGS ranked Berks & Bucks and Cambridge players in the EBU “evolving” partnership category.

A very talented bridge player, sadly never to reach his zenith, Leon will be greatly missed.

Leon’s funeral will take place at Reading Crematorium at 3:15pm on Friday 7th February, followed by a reception at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Caversham. All are welcome but please contact Patrick Moore (patrick.ac.moore@gmail.com) if you plan to attend  for further details.

2019 Presidents & Francis Cup Winners

The Presidents and Francis cups concluded at the end over November. These are the prestigious yearlong Individual & Pairs competitions. Again, this year Peter Jackson has managed the double, winner both competitions. 

Presidents Cup

Peter Jackson - 56.77%

Mike Perkins - 55.87%

James Bond - 55.01% 

Francis Cup

Mike Perkins & Peter Jackson - 58.85%

Mike O'Neill & Roger Donato - 53.98%

Jim Chapman and roger Burkeman - 50.13%

Congratulation to Peter and to Mike. Next Year the competitions rules for the Francis will change slightly, reducing the required games with a single partner from 8 to 6.

Proposed move to Caversham Heath Golf Club

Following the recent vote on the possible move to CHGC all the votes have now been counted and the results are as follows:

Members voting    107

YES - 61

NO - 46

% in favour - 57%

It had been agreed that for the move to go ahead at least 60% of those members casting their vote would need to support it.

As the 60% in favour was not achieved, the proposed move will not go ahead.

Regards 

RBC Committee 

Keith Goswell 1951-2019

Keith was a popular and loyal member of Reading Bridge Club for over 20 years.  He played most weeks with a wide range of partners and also captained club teams,in both the county and Chiltern leagues, mainly playing with Dale Thomas. He won the Bilbey Trophy in 2000, the Laycock Cup in 2005, 2011 and 2018, and the Founders Trophy  in 2013 and 2015.

Keith played at other clubs around Reading and at SBBC day time sessions.  He also had some success in the Oxfordshire Seniors (played over the year at Wallingford) which he won (with Dale) in 2012/3 and 2013/4.

He played regularly in county and EBU events.  He was always willing to partner anyone who wanted to have an outing in one of the county friendly competitions and had some success at these, winning the Tony Boothroyd Plate in 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2015/6, and the Pat Husband Trophy in 2009/10 and 2013/4.

Keith’s life took a major upturn when he formed a relationship with Elaine, a bridge player, in 2009.  This made the last 10 years of his life very happy.

As well as being a good player, Keith enjoyed the social aspects of the game.  He organised several RBC dinners at Calcot Golf Club and enjoyed several EBU overseas congresses, initially with Dale and later with Elaine.

Keith was born and raised in Reading and lived here all his life.  He was employed as a buyer with Sigmund Pulsometer Pumps and later Radyne.

He was a keen sportsman although he had to give up active participation in later years because of his health/mobility. He played cricket for Theale and then Redingensians as an opening batsman from more than two decades before becoming a local umpire with an excellent reputation for his knowledge of the Laws, his camaraderie with players and his decision making ability.   At one time he was a football referee on the local Reading Leagues but rarely ventured outside the centre circle!!  He also played golf at Calcot Golf Club.

Keith's funeral will be on Thursday 21st November. There will be a service at the crematorium at Henley Road (West Chapel) at 9.45 am followed by a Thanksgiving service for Keith's life at Grace Church Peppard Road Caversham at 11am.  All are welcome to either or both.There will be refreshments at the church after the service. If people could let Elaine know if they are planning to come either by email or on 0118 9479994 or 07711578844.

Summer Competition Winners - March 2019 to August 2019

The winners of the 2019 summer cup competitions are below: 

Tuesday Competitions

Brown Cup 

1. Mike Perkins      60.47%

2. Peter Jackson   60.45%

3. Tony Parkinson   58.68%

Laycock Cup (Handicap)

1. Joyce Baldock    50.01%%

2. Pat Dowdeswell   48.39%

3. John Greenhalgh     48.14%

Thursday Competitions

Boucher Cup 

1. Oliver Dillon    59.20%

2. Ann Ellis      57.03%

3. Martyn Jordan    56.32%

Bilbey Cup (Handicap)

1. Oliver Dillon  56.89%

2. Avril Catto    55.37%

3. Monique Illingworth    55.01%

Congratulations to the winners and to Oliver on doing the Thursday Double

Founders & Cocktail Pairs  

On Thursday 21st June the clubs Open and Mixed Pair competitions were held. 15 pairs competed for the Founders (Mixed) and Cocktail (Open) Trophies. 

Mel Thomas and Martina Zwieflhofer (Right) won the Founders Trophy with a score of 58.56%. They were 2nd behind Mike Perkins and Peter Jackson (Left) who won the Cocktail Pairs. 

Congratulations to both pairs.  

Perkins, Greenhalgh Rees and Cooper Win the Bridge Plus Cup

The Bridge Plus Cup was held on Tuesday 12th June with 4 teams taking part. The winner were Mike, John Tim and Chris with a winning score of +34 imps from the team of Mike Wenble, Jim Chapman, James Bond and Peter Jackson on +4 imps.

This was the 7th time Mike has won the Bridge plus cup moving him into =2nd on the winners list behind T. Rees (9) (S.Johnston is also on 7 wins).

Congratulation to the winning team.
 

Richardson Team Wins the Reading Spirit Teams of 4

5 teams contested the Reading Spirit Teams of 4 event on the 8th May. The Handicap teams of 4 event is an "all play all" teams event where your team is given a handicap based on the grading of the players in your team. An A team player will receive no handicap, a B team player will receive a handicap of +5, a regular Tuesday player will receive a handicap of +8 and all other players will receive +10. (i.e. if you had 4 B team players in your team you would start on +20 imps).

After playing 6 boards against each team the winners by 6 impd were the team of Mark Richardson, Jennie Griffiths, Iain Mackenzie & Roger Burkeman with a score of +31 (-4 on the night and a handicap of +35). 

The team of Jim Chapman, Jonny Richards & Pat Dowdeswell & Chris Hall were second on +25 (+15 on the night and a handicap of +10).

Congratulations to the winning team! 

Annual Berks vs Bucks Match

Bucks retained the Philip Thornton Shield in the annual Berks v Bucks match played on 20th March - winning 2 out of the 3 matches. The Bucks A-team won their match by 70v33 IMPs; the Bucks B-team won by 54v37 IMPs and the Berks C-team won by 56v43 IMPs.

The RBC representatives were:

A Team          

Mike Perkins & Peter Jackson

Jonny Richards & Mike Ribbins

David & Janet Barnes

Ian Reissmann & John Howard

James Chapman & John Greenhalgh

B team

Mick Green & Gordon Maxwell        

George Jeronimidis & Cyril Berkeley

Ilan Sirkis

C Team    

Sam Botfield & Martyn Jordan

Roger Burkeman & Clair Sirkis

Carey & Dianne Sayer

Mike Nunn & Gary Stevens

John Tattersall & Doug Baker

Congratulations to all those who took part.

RBC Pair Win County Pairs Championship Final

The County pairs final took place on the 3^rd February. Roger Donato & Peter Hawkes were the winners of the Rex Avery Trophy with 59.52%, 4% clear of 2^nd place. Congratulations to both Roger and Peter.

Winter Competition Winners - September 2018 to February 2019

The winners of the 2018 Winter cup competitions are below.

Tuesday Competitions

Brown Cup 

1. Peter Jackson     62.16%

2. Tony Parkinson     59.58%

3. David Barnes        58.97%

Laycock Cup (Handicap)

1. David Barnes       54.38%

2. Janet Barnes         52.53%

3. Roger Burkerman  51.35%

Thursday Competitions

Boucher Cup 

1. Roger Burkeman   60.44%

2. Sam Botfield           60.16%

3. Christine Sanders   59.63%

Bilbey Cup (Handicap)

1. Roger Burkeman    57.14%

2. Jackie Paxford         56.61%

3. Linsey Joyce            56.23%

If you want to see how you did in these competitions then head over to the Competition Archive Section of the website.

2018 Presidents & Francis Cup Winners

The Presidents and Francis cups concluded at the end over November. These are the prestigious yearlong Individual & Pairs competitions. This year Peter Jackson has managed the double winner both competitions. 

Presidents Cup

Peter Jackson - 58.12%

Mike Perkins - 55.55%

David Barnes - 53.47% 

Francis Cup

Mike Perkins & Peter Jackson - 57.89%

Mike Perkins & Peter Hawkes - 55.79%

Mike Ribbins & Pat Dowdswell - 53.82%

Congratulation to Peter and to Mike. Next Year the competitions rules changes slightly to include every Tuesday in these competitions. See the competition page for details.