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Welcome to Roehampton Club Bridge Section

Bridge Blog November

Bridge calendar 2026

The 2026 calendar for is now out and available from the bridge noticeboards, on Bridgewebs or you can click here to download it. As previously mentioned, there are several new events to look forward to next year, in addition to the normal matches and competitions, which are mainly arising from the 125th anniversary celebrations.

Roehampton Club Swiss Teams

 On Sunday 19th October, we hosted our annual Swiss Teams event. Many thanks to Belinda for organising this so efficiently once more. The event went very well with 24 teams competing and our newly refurbished facilities offering an excellent venue. Congratulations and thanks to Steve and Gitte for running it so smoothly. The dinner was also excellent.

The icing on the cake was the performance of the Roehampton Club teams in claiming three of the top four places. Bragging rights went to the Roehampton Renegades of Peter M, Peter H, Ralph and myself in achieving a good win.

Excellent performances were also achieved from the Jovial Jokers – Garth, Jeanette, Joan and Richard in third place and the Roehampton Multinationals – Abteen, Diane B, Henryka and Soheila in claiming fourth place.

Matches

 The match season has started to ramp up again with matches recently completed against All England, RAC Woodcote Park and Hurlingham Ladies.

Congratulations to our team for winning the Annual Hough Cup event against the All England on 15th October. It was a very enjoyable and relatively close match with our team eventually winning by 19 imps. Much of this score apparently revolved around one hand where a slam was bid and made on our side but not by the oppos.

We had a very convincing win in our home match against Woodcote Park on 16th October by a surprisingly large margin. After Woodcote Park beat us not too long ago, it seemed appropriate to field a stronger team, who then all played well on the night.

We did however lose our home match with Hurlingham Ladies on 23rd October by 38 imps. It was a solid performance by the Hurlingham team which we were unable to match on the day.

Queens Centenary Cup 

On 26th October, we hosted the Queens Centenary Cup competition. This is an annual event between AELTC, Cumberland, Hurlingham, Queens and Roehampton Club. We finished a creditable second place on +52 vps compared to the winners Queens Club achieving +63. The match was played over 32 boards with each team playing every other team twice over four boards. Much revolved around one board where Queens made a thin game against us on one table which we were unable to achieve against them on the other. It was good to see the event go off well and it seemed like our hospitality was much appreciated by everyone concerned. Thanks to Steve as the TD and the catering team for their excellent support.

New sessions  

As discussed at the AGM, we are planning to try out a ‘relaxed’ duplicate session run by Niall in place of one of his regular practice sessions. This will on the first Friday morning of the month from 10am starting on 7th December. It should be a good opportunity for intermediate players to improve their play in a Gentle session and for less experienced players to develop Duplicate Bridge skills. As this will count as a regular session (rather than a teaching session) there will be no charge to Members (but the usual guest fee would apply).

We also plan to have a series of five revision teaching sessions run by James on Monday mornings from 17th November to 15th December. These are aimed at people who have completed James’ beginners’ course, or who have some knowledge of the game already, and would like a more intensive ‘catch up’ teaching session. Posters for these sessions with sign up details are on the bridge noticeboard.

We are also planning to bring back the Thursday mentoring sessions which have proved popular in the past. We currently plan to run a session on 11th December.

Club competitions and dates for the diary

On Monday 10th November we will be running the Handicap Challenge Trophy as a special duplicate session.

On Saturday 6th December we will have our Bridge Christmas party. Click here for more information

On Thursday 11th December we will have a dinner plus ‘play with a mentor’ session.

On Thursday 18th December we will have the Social Duplicate Christmas evening.

On Wednesday 24th December we will have the Christmas Eve mince pies and mulled wine and very relaxed bridge.

We also just learned that Hurlingham will have their invitation Swiss Teams event on 24th January next year.

Please do come and join us for these events and many others in the calendar.

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

Chairman's Bridge Blog - September 2025

September 2025

With the last few days starting to feel distinctly cooler, it seems appropriate that we are now well into our new schedule for autumn.

Niall restarted his Monday evening intermediate level classes on 8th September and his Friday morning sessions on 5th September. His Wednesday morning sessions have been continuing throughout the summer.

A new beginners’ class run by James Thrower started on Tuesday 16th September and takes place from 10am – 12pm. Click here for the poster and for more information

Loulou and Arnold restarted their supervised play sessions on Tuesday 9th September. These run from 2 – 4pm. The Tuesday evening supervised play sessions for less experienced players also restarted on 2nd September and runs from 7 – 9pm.

Maria and Pamela are running the Chicago session on Thursday afternoons from 1 pm onwards.

Matches

There is a busy upcoming match schedule with fixtures against Royal Mid Surrey, AELTC and RAC Woodcote coming up soon.

Our golf and bridge match at home against MCC on 29th August resulted in a narrow win for the golf and a more solid win on the bridge side. The bridge was brought forward to the morning to allow the golf to be played after lunch in notably better conditions.

We had a most enjoyable tennis and bridge friendly away to Hurlingham on 5th September. After two days of monsoon weather, we were fortunate in have a sunny morning for our tennis followed by very pleasant lunch. Roehampton Club narrowly won the tennis and after a flat first half we also won the bridge by a modest but respectable margin.

Important dates

On Sunday 19th October we are running our very popular annual Swiss Teams event. Many thanks to Belinda for organising this again. It should be a really excellent day, especially given the newly refurbished rooms that we are now able to use and showcase to our guests. The price is very good value (especially for Members) and no doubt we will get a strong level of interest from both Members and guests. Click here for the poster and for more information

The Sunday following the Swiss Teams (26th October), Roehampton Club will be hosting the Queens Centenary Cup. This is an annual event between AELTC, Cumberland, Hurlingham, Queens and ourselves. We have a good recent record in this event and hopefully our team will do well again.

On Monday 13th October we will be holding the AGM. As usual this will immediately follow the afternoon duplicate session at 5pm and will be followed by drinks. Please do come and join us then.

The Bridge Calendar for 2026 is well advanced and will be ready by the AGM if not before. There will be a few new dates going in for events being planned as part of the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations. One of these will be a new club competition that we propose to introduce as regular annual event. We also have plans for a very well know celebrity guest speaker (or two).

All in all, quite a lot to look forward to as we go into our new season.

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

Chairman's Bridge Blog - Oct 2025

Bridge Blog

It is good to see the new bridge year starting smoothly with both the lessons and regular duplicate sessions restarting well.

AGM

We held our AGM on Monday 13th October immediately following the regular duplicate session. It was a pleasure to have Belinda Stone and Linda Wareham elected to the committee. Belinda will be handling social events while Linda will be working on matches and competitions. We are really grateful to Libby and Buz, who stepped down from the committee, for their work over the past few years in handling similar activities and doing it so well on behalf of the section.

It was nice to be able to report positively to the AGM around different features of the section over the last year, including our robust financial position, the range of bridge activities we offer and our strong performance in different key events such as the Devonshire Cup, the Queens Centenary and some of the inter club and Surrey Team events.

The support of the Club’s administration was also noted gratefully in connection with catering and arrangements for the matches as well as their work in arranging our facilities during the refurbishment programme.

It was good to have a lively but constructive discussion around some of our different sessions. Clearly, we would like to attract more people to the Wednesday evening sessions, and we will aim to promote these more, possibly by having some occasional socials to precede sessions. The Wednesday game is very enjoyable and much appreciated by a number of regulars so it would be nice to have a few more tables to give it more of a ‘buzz’.

Another request that found support was for an additional daytime duplicate session. We are in fact planning to try out a gentle duplicate session to be run by Niall in place of one of his regular practice sessions. This will most likely be on Friday mornings on the first of the month starting in November. It should be a good opportunity for intermediate players to play in a gentle session and for less experienced players to develop duplicate bridge skills. As this will count as a regular session (rather than a teaching session) there will be no charge to Members (but the usual guest fee would apply).

We also plan to have a five-week revision course run by James on Monday mornings from 17th November to 15th November. These are aimed at people who have completed James’ beginners course, or who have some knowledge of the game already, and would like a more intensive ‘catch up’ teaching session. Another proposal that found strong support was to bring back the Thursday mentoring sessions which have proved popular in the past. We plan to revive this towards the end of the year when we have the capacity in place to organise them. It could then potentially generate some more playing partnerships for Thursday sessions.

Club competitions

The first competition of the season – the No Fears Trophy was held on 9th October. Many congratulations to Pussy Copeland and Jackie Beedle for winning with a creditable 63% final score against some strong opposition.

Events

On Sunday 19th October we will be hosting our annual Roehampton Club Swiss Teams event. Many thanks to Belinda for organising this so efficiently once more. It is very encouraging to see it well supported with 24 teams in the running. It will be very nice to be able to offer them our splendid newly refurbished facilities which I am sure will be well received and much appreciated.

The following week we are in action again in hosting the Queens Centenary Cup. This is an annual event between AELTC, Cumberland, Hurlingham, Queens and Roehampton Club. We currently hold the cup as last year winners and are hoping it won’t need to travel anywhere …

Matches

The match season is starting to ramp up again with matches scheduled very soon against All England, RAC Woodcote Park and Hurlingham Ladies. We had an enjoyable golf and bridge match against Royal Mid Surrey in September, which we narrowly won thanks to the team’s bridge skills having slightly lost out on the golf part.

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

James Thrower Benginners Classes - Mondays 10 am
James Thrower Benginners Classes - Mondays 10 am

Beginners’ Bridge Course

Beginners' Bridge Course with James Throwner - Monday mornings 10am to 12pm, see poster for details.  This will cost £96 per Member – which is a lot cheaper than at other bridge clubs.  Sign up for the term at Reception or give the team a call on 020 8480 4200

More information          

Roehampton Bridge Section

The Bridge Calendar is regularly updated so you will find the most up to date information about matches and events by accessing the 'Calendar Month' page on the left.

How to get an EBU number / join the English Bridge Union

Did you know there is a book / folder next to the computer in the Bridge Room for "signing up" to the English Bridge Union (EBU). All you have to do is fill in your details such as email and address and one of the bridge Directors will sign you up with the EBU.

ALL EBU Membership fees are paid for by the Roehampton Club - so this is free.

Membership of the English Bridge Union (EBU) offers many benefits, including: 

  • Competitions: Participate in a variety of competitions, tournaments, and simultaneous events at all levels 
  • Publications: Receive the EBU's magazine, English Bridge, four times a year 
  • Diary: Get a free 18-month pocket diary with listings of tournaments and competitions 
  • Advice: Get advice on all aspects of the game, including starting a new club, scoring, behavior, and ethics 
  • Discounts: Get special offers on bridge books and equipment from The Bridge Warehouse, the EBU's shop 
  • Online games: Play online games at home when your club isn't open 
  • Funbridge: Get a free one-month subscription to Funbridge, which gives you access to all Premium and Premium+ subscription advantages 
  • Bridge Club Live: Get a free 50-day trial of Bridge Club Live, an online club affiliated to the EBU 
  • Healthcare: Get exclusive offers on private medical plans through HMCA 

You can also receive a Member's Pack when you affiliate your club with the EBU. The pack includes a membership card, a new members' booklet, and other information. 

 

Wednesday Evening Duplicate Session & Scrapping fees for Supervised Play
  • Wednesday Evening Duplicate Session have moved from 7:00 pm to  7:30 pm as of 3rd April 2024
  • The £4 fee for supervised play on Tuesday afternoon has been scrapped. Loulou & Arnold's session is now free in line with Duplicate sessions
  • Teaching sessions such as with Niall Igoe will still incur a £10 charge (which is a lot cheaper than most other bridge clubs)
New Teaching Schedules- 2024
New Teaching Schedules- 2024

 For more on teaching please take a look at our new teaching schedules  - Access the Teaching Tab from the menu on the Left.

 Loulou's and Arnold's Supervised Sessions  - Tuesdays 2pm to 4 pm

 Chicago Bridge - Thursdays 1.30pm - Kindly organised by Maria

 

New books in the Bridge Room by Andrew Robson
New books in the Bridge Room by Andrew Robson
A series of books / bridge lessons has been added to the library in the Bridge Room - courtesy of the club.  Please return them in a reasonable time frame so that others can use them
 
Beginners Refresher Bridge Classes with James Thrower
Beginners Refresher Bridge Classes with James Thrower

New Refresher Lessons

We also plan to have a series of five revision teaching sessions to be run by James on Monday mornings from 17th November to 15th December. These are aimed at people who have completed James’ beginners course, or who have some knowledge of the game already, and would like a more intensive “catch up “teaching session. 

 

Introductory Duplicate Bridge Sessions with Niall Igoe
Introductory Duplicate Bridge Sessions with Niall Igoe

New Duplicate Sessions

As discussed at the AGM, we are planning to try out an introductory Duplicate session to be run by Niall in place of one of his regular practice sessions. This will on the first Friday morning of the month from 10 am starting in December. It should be a good opportunity for intermediate players to play in a Gentle session and for less experienced players to develop Duplicate Bridge skills. As this will count as a regular session (rather than a teaching session) there will be no charge to members (but the usual guest fee would apply). 

 

Swiss Teams Tournament Sunday 19th October 2025
Swiss Teams Tournament Sunday 19th October 2025
2025 Autumn Restart Bridge Schedule for Classes and Supervised Play

Niall will restart his Monday evening sessions on 8th September and his Friday morning sessions on 5th September. His Wednesday morning sessions will continue as usual.

A new beginners’ class to be run by James Thrower will start on Tuesday 16th September and will take place from 10 -12 am. More details are available on the board.

Loulou and Arnold will restart their supervised play sessions on Tuesday 9th September. These run from 2 pm to 4 pm.

The Tuesday evening supervised play sessions for less experienced players will restart on September 2nd and run from 7 to 9 pm.

Maria and Pamela will continue to run the Chicago session on Thursday afternoons from 1 pm onwards.

Many thanks again to all the people involved in running these sessions and especially to the club members who voluntarily give up their time to support the Bridge section.

Malcolm Bricknell

Chair-Bridge Section

Summer Bridge Schedule for Classes and Supervised Play

 

Summer Bridge Schedule for Classes and Supervised Play

 

Beginners classes run by James Thrower finished on Monday 7th July. We are planning for James to run a new beginners class starting in September. There may also be some revision classes for recent students to recap lessons learned.

 

Niall held his last Monday evening session on 14th July and will hold his last Friday session on 25th July, before having a bit of a summer break. However, he plans to continue with the Wednesday morning sessions over the summer. His other classes will then resume in September with dates to be posted in due course.

 

Loulou and Arnold will hold their last supervised play session of the season on Tuesday 22nd July after which they will also break until September.

 

The Tuesday evening supervised play sessions for less experienced players run by John Maskell is also now suspended over the summer with plans to restart in September.

 

Many thanks again to all the people involved in running these sessions and especially to the club members who voluntarily give up their time to support the Bridge section.

 

Malcolm Bricknell

Chair-Bridge Section

 

 

Updated Notice of changes to Bridge Sessions - June / July 2025

Updated Notice of changes to Bridge Sessions

Bridge Room Closure

The Bridge Room is now expected to reopen on Monday 7th July from which time sessions should proceed without further disruption. It is not clear whether we will be able to play in it on the 7th as setting up may still be going on but there will be a session on that day in any case.

Unfortunately, a number of further sessions have had to be cancelled in order to allow other functions to take place.

The updated schedule of cancellations, with more recent changes highlighted, is as follows;

Monday 30th June – All sessions are cancelled

Tuesday 1st July - Evening session is available but other sessions are now cancelled (including the afternoon supervised play session)

Wednesday 2nd July – Evening session is available but other sessions are now cancelled

Thursday 3rd July – Evening session is available but other sessions are now cancelled

Apologies for any inconvenience and your understanding is appreciated.

Chairman's Blog - April 2025

It’s good to see the Club renovations progressing well, including the plans for refurbishing the Bridge Room being fully developed. We are now scheduled to vacate the Bridge Room on 27th May and redeploy into the Fountain Room (or similar), as we did during the construction of the functions bar. A small number of sessions will be cancelled (as outlined below and posted elsewhere), but overall disruption should be fairly minimal.

Club competitions

The Club Teams Trophy took place on 7th April, with the winners being entitled to represent Roehampton Club in the Surrey EBU Wanborough Cup.

Nigel Aspinall, Ralph Evers, Philip Howard and Ron Wood emerged as good winners with a score of plus 70 imps, with three other teams in relatively strong contention.

Congratulations to the winning team, and especially to Ron and Ralph for ‘doing the double’ (having also won the pairs event).

Club matches

 The match programme is now picking up strongly with a mixture of home and away fixtures coming up including Hurlingham, Oxford and Cambridge, Queens, RAC and Royal Mid Surrey.

Our away match in March against the AELTC was most enjoyable as always. Scores were fairly even at half time, with Roehampton Club however moving to a comfortable win in the second half.

Our other friendly match – away to the MCC, was a different matter, with our team losing heavily to an imp score rivalling a good Joe Root innings. We will obviously need to relabel this for experienced pairs next year and field a stronger team.

Jennifer Greenwood

It was sad to learn that Jennifer had passed away recently at Kingswood Court Nursing Home. She was an active and popular member of the bridge section for many years and a formidable competitor. Arrangements for her commemoration are being made by her son Nick.

Club refurbishment and changes to bridge sessions

Upcoming changes to Club bridge sessions resulting from the Easter holidays and the Bridge Room refurbishment are scheduled to be as follows:

Supervised Play

Due to the Easter holidays there will be no afternoon Supervised Play on Tuesday 15th April and Tuesday 22nd April.

Friday Teams

There will be a Teams session on Friday 18th April (Good Friday). Starting in May the Friday Teams will revert to the third Friday of the month, only over the summer period.

Bridge Room closure

As mentioned above, the Bridge Room refurbishment will start from 27th May with plans to move us temporarily to one of the newly refurbished function rooms. This should conveniently allow us to play our regular Monday session on the 26th in the Bridge Room.

Most Bridge sessions will be unaffected, however a number of sessions will have to be cancelled in order to allow other functions to take place. The changes required are scheduled to be as follows;

Wednesday 4th June – all sessions cancelled
Wednesday 11th June – all sessions cancelled
Thursday 12th June – no morning or afternoon sessions but the Evening Social Duplicate will be available
Tuesday 17th June – no morning or afternoon sessions but the Evening Supervised session will be available
Tuesday 24th June – no morning or afternoon sessions but the Evening Supervised session will be available
Wednesday 25th June – all sessions cancelled
Monday 30th June – all sessions cancelled

The above covers Club sessions, but does not include teaching with Niall and James who will advise their classes separately on any changes to their scheduled sessions.

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

Cancelled Bridge Sessions partly due to Club Refurb

Notice of changes to Bridge Sessions

Supervised Play

Due to the Easter Holidays there will be no afternoon Supervised play on

Tuesday 15th April and Tuesday 22nd April

Friday Teams

CORRECTION: There will be Teams on Friday 18th April (Good Friday). Starting in May the Friday Teams will revert to the third Friday of the month only over the Summer period.

Bridge Room Closure

We are now expecting that the Bridge Room will be closed from May 27th for a period of around one month whilst refurbishment takes place. Most Bridge will be unaffected; however a number of sessions will have to be cancelled in order to allow other functions to take place.

The changes required are as follows;

Wednesday 4th June – All sessions cancelled

Wednesday 11th June – All sessions cancelled

Thursday 12th June – No morning or afternoon sessions but the Evening Social Duplicate will be available

Tuesday 17th June - No morning or afternoon sessions but the Evening Supervised session will be available

Tuesday 24th June – No morning or afternoon sessions but the Evening Supervised session will be available

Wednesday 25th June – All sessions cancelled

Monday 30th June – All sessions cancelled

Chairman's Bridge Blog - March 2025

I believe that this blog will emerge at roughly the same time as I touch down back in the UK after a much anticipated break in Madeira. Hopefully there will be no great unreported dramas occurring whilst I am away, but these days you never know …

Devonshire Cup 2025

The Roehampton Club Blue Team of Peter Bonnor Morris, Malcolm Bricknell, Ralph Evers, Peter Hardyment and Philip Howard succeeded in winning the Devonshire Cup competition on Tuesday 25th February thereby successfully retaining it for Roehampton Club for another year. Hurrah!

The competition is hosted by the RAC and features a number of West End clubs together with Sports Clubs like Hurlingham and Roehampton Club.

After a close first half, Roehampton Club Blue built on its slender lead and so managed a good win over an RAC team in the final of the Cup. Meanwhile a Portland Club team were victorious in the Plate over a Hurlingham team.

Fixtures 

The match programme is now picking up rapidly with away fixtures against AELTC and the MCC coming up soon. Selection is also underway for matches in early May against Hurlingham, Queens and Royal Mid Surrey.

Club competitions

The Club pairs competition – the Founders Trophy took place over two sessions on Monday 10th and 17th February. Winners of the competition are entitled to represent Roehampton club in the Surrey EBU Mary Edwards Competition.

Ron and Ralph emerged as convincing winners with an outstanding average over both sessions of 65 % – very well done.

There were also good performances from Peter Hardyment and Malcolm, Julie Bacon and Rita, Peter and Henryka Bonnor Morris and Marion Tamblyn and Kate Blake.

Club Refurbishment

The club refurbishment seems to be proceeding well with no real disruption to our Bridge programme to date. It appears that Bridge Room refurbishment will start towards early May with plans to move us temporarily to one of the newly refurbished function rooms. So hopefully disruption should be minimal across all of the Bridge programme. Good news also that the Club now has its planning to implement the extension to the Terrace and that this can proceed fairly quickly.

Charity Events

The RAC Ross Cope Teams event will take place at the Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall on Thursday 27th March starting at 6pm. Roehampton Club Members are invited to apply as a team of four to participate. Cost is £25 per person which includes a High Tea. The competition was named in remembrance of a well-known and popular member of the RAC’s Bridge Circle.

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

We have won the Devonshire Cup again.....2025!!!

Devonshire Cup 2025

Congratulations to the Roehampton Blue Team of Peter Bonnor Moris, Malcolm Bricknell, Ralph Evers, Peter Hardyment and Philip Howard on winning the Devonshire Cup trophy on Tuesday 25th February thereby successfully retaining it for Roehampton for another year!

We have won the Devonshire Cup again.....2025!!!

The RAC Ross Cope Teams event will take place at the Royal Automobile Club Pall Mall on Thursday 27th March starting at 6 pm. Roehampton Club members are cordially invited to apply as a team of four to participate. Cost is £25 per person which includes a High Tea.

The competition was named in remembrance of a well known and popular member of the Club's Bridge Circle.  

Application forms in the form below can be obtained from emailing    

bridge-support@royalautomobileclub.co.uk

Copies are also available from the Bridge noticeboard

Chairman's Blog - Feb 2025

Bridge Blog – Feb 2025

It was encouraging throughout January to see a good steady resumption of our different bridge activities with minimal disruption from the Club refurbishment programme. As I write, we are all now considering our third chair alternative, (if we include sticking with our present ones), and it will be interesting to see how the selection finally turns out. Personally, I am happy with any of the alternatives on offer and pleased that we have been well consulted and have a number of good options to choose from. Chair support and comfort is an important issue for many of our Members. Hopefully the final selection will work for everyone.

Fixtures

The match programmes are now resuming with away fixtures frontloaded as planned (for obvious reasons). The away fixture against AELTC is always very popular although trips to the MCC and RMS (Ladies’ Golf League) are also attractive options.

Club Competitions

The Club pairs competition – the Founders Trophy is taking place over two sessions on Monday 10th and 17th February instead of the usual Duplicate Bridge sessions. To be eligible to win, pairs need to be both Club Members and play in both sessions. Winners of the competition will be entitled to represent Roehampton Club in the Surrey EBU Mary Edwards Competition which is due to be held on 11th May at Wimbledon Bridge Club.

Club Refurbishment

The Club Refurbishment seems to be proceeding well with no disruption to our bridge programme, apart from the occasional banging noises during the daytime sessions. We expect to play in the Bridge Room through to mid or late March, after which bridge will switch to the Fountain Room (or similar) while the Bridge Room is refurbished.

Charity Events

On Tuesday 21st January the Bridge Room hosted the Lady Golf Captain’s Charity event. Congratulations to the organisers and supporters for raising an excellent £1,298 for FiSH and for introducing some new people to supporting their work. It was also nice to invite guests to our Bridge Room in support of a worthy cause. Well done Claire!

Outside Competitions

We were slightly unlucky in our first round of the Devonshire Cup with only one team going through to the next round. One of our losing teams appears to have been on the wrong end of some dubious TD decisions. It does however give us good chances in both the Cup and the Plate events.

 On a personal note, it was nice to be in the winning team for the Wimbledon Bridge Club team’s competition – the Boschler Cup. Diane did a great job in holding her end up, as well as modelling her designer knitwear. Jim Boschler was a character who many of us will have enjoyed playing against.

 

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

Chairman's Blog - Nov 2024

Bridge Blog

It’s hard to believe that we are now well into autumn and starting to think about our plans for the Christmas party season. As usual we have had a busy autumn programme with a number of very interesting fixtures and results.

Swiss Teams

 Many thanks to Belinda for organising the Roehampton Club Swiss Teams event on 20th October with her usual flair and efficiency. It was good to have 26 teams playing and the larger playing area overlooking the garden worked well and was appreciated by the players.

 It was also very encouraging to have two Roehampton Club teams finishing in the top positions. The winning Roehampton Club Woodentops team of Ron Wood, Nigel Aspinall, Diana Wilson and Sue Dodson conquered all with a very impressive winning margin of 13 imps, presumably with the help of a few splinters. Has to be a blossoming team for the future …

 Congratulations also to the runners up Peter Hardyment, Malcolm Bricknell, Peter Bonnor-Morris and Ralph Evers on a solid effort.

Centenary Cup

 On Sunday 27th October we played in the Queens Centenary Cup competition at the Cumberland Club with our team competing to retain this trophy against strong competition from the four other clubs involved (AELTC, Cumberland, Queens and Hurlingham).

 With all our team playing well we managed to win by the large margin of + 116 imps compared to + 7 for the second placed Cumberland Club team, with the other teams all slipping into negative territory.

 Well done to Peter Hardyment, Malcolm Bricknell, Peter Bonnor-Morris, Ron Wood, Danny Gesua, Sally Gesua, Viv Harris and Marion Tamblyn.

Handicap Pairs

 Congratulations to John Maskell and Marianne Atterbury for winning the Handicap Pairs competition on 11th November.

 Well done also to Sue Gabriel and Ron Wood for claiming second place and to Claire Martin and Daniel Cohen for finishing third.

No Fears Trophy

Congratulations to Corinna Evers and Stephanie Woods for a very impressive performance in winning the No Fears Trophy on 10th October by a comfortable margin. Good performances were also registered from Sally Harper and Mikaela Parker and Caroline and Alan Jenkins in claiming the next two places.

Important Calendar Dates

 We are looking forward to having our Bridge Christmas Dinner on Saturday 7th December. The poster has gone up for this and bookings are open. This is of course our biggest social event of the year and should be a fun occasion with some very relaxed Bridge to follow.

 

Click here for the poster and menu

 Bookings are now open for the Social Duplicate Christmas special on 12th December. Click here for the poster and more details

Bridge Room Closure

We were grateful to Marc Newey and Michael Hill for joining us after the duplicate session on 28th October to explain the plans for the Club refurbishment scheduled for first half 2025. The Bridge Room itself is likely to be closed for some time around the period of March and April with alternative arrangements being planned. We are all hoping that the arrangements we had during the construction of the new bar can be repeated, although apparently this cannot be guaranteed at this stage.

Completed Matches 

We had an enjoyable and relaxed match against the All England Club on 16th October. The Roehampton Club team were unusually trailing by 5 imps at the half way stage. However, a really strong second half performance ensured that in the end we managed a solid victory of 82 imps thereby retaining the Hough Cup for another year.

Our ‘friendlies’ against RAC Woodcote and Hurlingham Ladies in October went well with a modest win in the Woodcote match and a narrow defeat in the Hurlingham game.

Playing Schedules

The Friday Teams sessions has now reverted to the first and third Fridays of the month. Thanks to Nigel for stepping back in again to run these.

Following the discussions in the AGM, we have arranged for 27 boards to be played at the Monday afternoon sessions and 20 or 21 on Thursday evenings.

Charity Events

On Friday 13th December Roehampton Club will host the Annual Bridge Drive on behalf of the Friends of Queen Mary Hospital. This will take place from 2pm to 5 pm and includes afternoon tea and a raffle. Further details of this worthy event which Roehampton Club regularly supports are available on the noticeboard.

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

Chairman's Blog - Oct 2024

We are now well and truly into our new bridge season as we go into October and the weather starts to turn more autumnal and the days get shorter. As our new bridge season kicks off, there are plenty of activities for Members to look forward to.

Teaching and Supervised Play

Niall started his new term of Monday evening classes on 11th September (7pm to 9pm). His Wednesday morning sessions are at the usual time of 10am to 12pm and he is also running a regular Friday morning session from 10am to 12pm covering guidance on special hands and play. So, plenty of opportunities to attend his classes.

Loulou and Arnold’s supervised play sessions restarted on Tuesday 10th September and takes place from 2pm onwards in the Bridge Room.

James Thrower has also recently started a new course for beginners which takes place from 10am to 12pm on Monday mornings. Opportunities to join this course are still available.

Maria is again running her Jackpot Chicago sessions on Thursday afternoons which all are welcome to join.

The Friday Teams continues the afternoon of the 3rd Friday of the month until November when it will revert to the first and third Fridays of the month. Thanks to Nigel for stepping back in again and to Maria and Ron for keeping it going over the summer.

John Maskell has just started a new supervised play session mainly aimed at supporting the beginners’ classes and less experienced players who work and are therefore unable to attend Club daytime sessions. These sessions will take place on Tuesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm and interested parties can get in contact with him for further information.

Important Calendar Dates

On Monday 14th October we will be holding the Bridge AGM which as usual will take place immediately after the afternoon Duplicate session and will then be followed by a reception.

We will be holding the Roehampton Club Swiss Teams event on Sunday 20th October. I gather from Belinda that we have received strong interest, so I am sure this will be a great showcase event for the Club as usual.

On Sunday 27th October we will play in the Centenary Cup at the Cumberland Club where our team will compete to retain this trophy, as we managed to win it last time.

We also have a number of interesting upcoming matches including All England, RAC Woodcote and Hurlingham Ladies.

Completed Matches

We had an eventful golf and bridge match against Royal Mid Surrey on Friday 27th September. The weather was shockingly bad with heavy rain forcing us to abandon our golf after only five holes being played. We did however have an enjoyable game of bridge, which Roehampton Club won fairly convincingly, and a pleasant lunch afterwards.

Charity Events

On Friday 13th December Roehampton Club will host the Annual Bridge Drive on behalf of the Friends of Queen Mary Hospital. This will take place from 2pm to 5pm and includes afternoon tea and a raffle. Further details of this worthy event which Roehampton Club regularly supports are available on the noticeboard.

Royal Mid Surrey are inviting clubs it is involved with to join them for Sunday Lunch (optional) and Duplicate Bridge on 20th October and / or 17th November. Further details are available on the Board or through BridgeWebs.

Purley Downs Golf Club is running a Charity Bridge Drive on Monday 11th November with afternoon tea and prizes. Start time is 1.30pm and the beneficiary is Maggie’s at the Royal Marsden.

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

New Supervised Bridge Session for Beginners and Developing Players

New Supervised Bridge Session for Beginners and Developing Players

When: Tuesday Evenings from 7 pm to 9 pm during Winter and Easter Terms

Starts: Tuesday 1st October 2024 and every Tuesday Evening in Winter and Spring, but maybe not summer

Where: Bridge Room

Price: Free

Following on from the enormous success of Lou Lou and Arnold’s Supervised Tuesday afternoon sessions we are going to launch an evening session which is perhaps more focused on beginners and those with gainful employment who cannot make the afternoon session.

There will be some experienced players on hand to answer questions.

The advice given will generally follow the Paul Mendelson way of playing Acol Bidding and Play.

Or if you would like a similar Acol crib sheet version then use the one from Nofearbridge.co.uk

Please turn up individually or as a pair or as a table of 4. It will be fun.

Please spread the word around and if you are experienced and would like to help, please get in touch with John Maskell on 07557 965 952.

Bridge Restart Dates

As we go into September there are a number of restart dates for Bridge Members to be aware of.

Niall Igoe will continue running his intermediate classes each Wednesday morning from 10 -12 am in the Bridge Room. His Monday evening classes have now restarted and take place from 7 to 9 pm. Niall has drawn up a schedule of subjects he intends to cover in each session which is available from him on request or at his lessons. 

Niall has also now started a new regular Bidding and Play session on Friday mornings from 10 am to 12 am.

Loulou and Arnold have now restarted their Supervised play sessions which will run each Tuesday afternoon from 2 pm in the Bridge Room. 

James Thrower has just started his new beginners’ course which will run on Monday mornings between 10 and 12 am. 

The Friday Teams Practice will continue to be once a month on the 3rd Friday until November from when it is planned to be run twice a month on the first and Third Fridays. Start time is 1.30 pm.

Charman's Blog - Sept 2024

Beginners’ Bridge Course

There is going to be a new beginners' Bridge Course with James Throwner - Monday mornings 10am to 12pm,  from 16th September to 4th November.  This will cost £96 per Member – which is a lot cheaper than at other bridge clubs.  Sign up for the term at Reception or give the team a call on 020 8480 4200

More information                                                                                                            

Teaching and Supervised Play

Niall is planning to start his new term of Monday evening classes on 9th September (7pm to 9pm). His Wednesday morning sessions will continue at the usual time of 10am to 12am.

The supervised play sessions run by Loulou and Arnold will restart on Tuesday 10th September from 2pm onwards in the Bridge Room.

Important Calendar Dates

There are a number of upcoming matches for Members to look forward to including AELTC, Woodcote, RMS and Hurlingham Ladies. The no fears trophy competition is scheduled for Thursday 10th October.

On Monday 14th October we will be holding the Bridge AGM which as usual will take place immediately after the afternoon Duplicate session and will then be followed by a reception.

We will be holding the Roehampton Club Swiss Teams event on Sunday 20th October. I gather from Belinda that we are already seeing strong interest, so I am sure this will be a great showcase event as usual. Click here for the poster 

On Sunday 27th October we will play in the Centenary Cup at the Cumberland Club where our team will compete to retain this trophy, as we managed to win it last time round.

Completed Matches

We had a great bridge and tennis match against Hurlingham on Friday 30th August. The weather was wonderful and the grass courts in really good condition, especially considering the time of year.

Our team consisted of Danny Gesua (Captain), Nick Baybutt, Malcolm Bricknell, Lorna Bhasin, Nicola Dearman, Sally Harper, Simon Lucas, Mikaela Parker, and Nikki Walker. We managed an excellent all-round performance with the final score being 23.5 to 8.5 in favour of Roehampton Club. Thanks are particularly due to Danny for some great organisation and stepping in to play tennis at the last minute. Also, to Nikki for similarly stepping in to play Bridge at very short notice and to her and Nicola for then winning all their matches!

Our golf and bridge match against the MCC at Beaconsfield was also eventful, after one of the Roehampton Club players had to be taken to hospital from the golf course. Fortunately, after being retained for a period of observation, he has emerged looking fitter than ever. It was good to hear that the match was actually completed after two of the local lady Members kindly stepped in to make up our numbers. In spite of everything a Roehampton Club win was reported, although I think in the circumstances a draw might be considered a fairer outcome!

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

Chairman's Blog - Aug 2024
Chairman's Blog - Aug 2024
Chairman's Blog - June 2024
Chairman's Blog - June 2024

Bridge Blog – 13th June 2024

Many thanks to Libby for organising the Bridge Summer Party which took place Thursday 6th June. The weather favoured us, so we were able to enjoy our Pimm’s in the Garden before moving on to a super buffet followed by some Chicago Bridge. It was a very pleasant social event for the Bridge Section. Congratulations to Ellie and Myles for the top score and to Arnold and Loulou for bidding (and making) their slam.

Club Matches

I am happy to report that our teams are continuing to do well in different matches and competitions. The Bridge Room trophy cabinet is now officially full up! We had a convincing win by 81 imps in our home match against Queens Club on 7th May. Congratulations to the team captained by Ron on such a formidable result. Our match on 14th May against the Oxford and Cambridge Club was a much closer affair with Roehampton Club eventually winning by the slender margin of 7 imps. With a large number of relatively flat boards the result was largely decided in the end by Marion Kreiling making a difficult Six Diamonds doubled resulting in a big swing to the good guys.

Competitions

Congratulations to the Lady Golfers team captained by Sandra Fox in retaining the Windmill trophy again this year ahead of Burhill, St Georges Hill, Royal Mid Surrey and Royal Wimbledon. The winning team seems to have involved quite a wide group of players including Viv, Sally, Marion, Loulou, Gunilla. Claire, Wendy, Ellie, Diane, Henryka, Sue Gabriel and Joan. Congratulations also to Belinda Stone and her team for doing really well in the Surrey Tennis League and collecting a trophy, although not quite as the winning team this year. The regulars included Belinda, Val, Sue Norgate and Caroline Jenkins with Henryka, Ron and Kate Blake standing in when others were away. Seemingly very enjoyable and relaxed Bridge for everyone involved. Peter Hardyment and I had a good session at Wimbledon Bridge Club on Sunday 12th May in winning the Mary Edwards Cup. This is the Surrey Pairs competition for winners of the individual club competitions.

Peter and I represented Roehampton Club in place of Peter and Henryka Bonnor-Morris (winners of the 2024 Roehampton Pairs competition) who were abroad at the time. Peter and I were joined by Danny and Sally Gesua last Sunday in representing Roehampton Club in the Surrey Teams competition playing for the Wanborough Cup. Leading after five rounds by a slender margin we dropped heavily after two bad boards but finished a creditable 3rd out of 12 teams against some strong opposition.

Paul Mendelson will be visiting soonish and hopefully joining our duplicate session on 1st July and I am sure quite a few people would like to catch up with him then.

Malcolm Bricknell, Bridge Chair

NEW Intermediate' teaching sessions: every Friday. Sign up on bridge board....10 am - Midday. Where: Bridge Room. Members Only Please
NEW Intermediate' teaching sessions: every Friday. Sign up on bridge board....10 am - Midday. Where: Bridge Room. Members Only Please
Calendar
6th December 2025
Bridge Section CHRISTMAS PARTY
6:00 pm til 11:00 pm
7th December 2025
Free
8th December 2025
Beginners Refresher Bridge Classes
Bridge Room 10 am
Director: James Thrower
Results
Jackpot Chicago
Director: Gitte
Duplicate Bridge
Director: Steve
Duplicate Bridge
Director: Steve