| RAC PALL MALL APRIL NEWSLETTER 2025 |
Pall Mall Bridge Circle Newsletter
April 2025 |
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| Hello Everyone, |
| I have never said I am a good bridge player, I know full well I am not. So I never ever thought I would see my name in the Daily Telegraph bridge column, I mean why on earth would they mention a dope like me! |
| But, Nigel Clayton arrived at our Club Night a few weeks ago and said "I saw your name in today’s Daily Telegraph bridge column,” I thought I had misheard him or he was making a very cruel joke. Nigel is so charming he would not do that would he? |
| Well of course not! There was my name in the Daily Telegraph in the bridge column. I have our dear friend the late Colin Freeman to thank, as Tom Townsend was writing about the Lederer Cup and there it was in black and white “Our woman at the Royal Automobile Club is now Fiona McWatters". I will take that. |
1. I am proud to be linked to the Club in print.
2. I do not care what it is about, this dope was named in the Daily Telegraphbridge column! |
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| NEWS |
| Although there is a match report below for Saturday 29 March, I would like to mention our festive day here. As many of you know my husband is the Chairman of the Chess Committee at the Club. We both have reciprocal matches with a club in Paris, Le Cercle de L’Union Interalliee. As their chess team coming to London this year was quite small, we thought it would be a great idea to combine our matches. So, for the very first time ever, the Royal Automobile Club hosted a simultaneous bridge and chess tournament. |
| I will admit, it did take a lot of organisation and we were all squeezed into the Committee Room. But once Henry and I had decorated it with lots of UK and French flags, the scene was set. We had a marvellous afternoon and our guests were absolutely charming. |
| There was a longer than normal wait in between the tournament and dinner which meant all players had imbibed much Club champagne. This meant dinner went off with a bang, what a lovely party! |
| With much kissing and hugging we sadly said goodbye to our friends with offers of much hospitality in Paris etc. What I do want to make clear are my sincere thanks to my Club bridge team. You were such great hosts and made our guests so welcome. I have had many messages saying how much you enjoyed the day. So in conclusion, it was a long day starting at mid-day and ending at 10.30pm, but a great time was had by all! |
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| We have one more date in the diary, Monday 14 April, for Afternoon Bridge at Pall Mall. I am afraid even after a large number of Club members asked for an afternoon game and showed lots of interest, as in the past, things have not panned out so well. In order to continue I have stressed a number of times that we need to have healthy numbers. I am sorry but it is just impossible to run at a loss, numbers have steadily dropped each month so we will not continue with this event. |
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| INTER CLUB MATCHES IN APRIL |
Saturday 5 April
Château Sainte-Anne
Club team: Marina and Lester, Andrew and David, Pralab and David and John and Pascale. |
Wednesday 9 April
Woodcote Park Bridge Team
Pall Mall Club team: Fay and Pralab, Trevor and David and Paulo and Yuki (plus two). |
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| CLUB MATCH REPORTS |
| On Wednesday 26 March we were delighted to welcome the Queen's Club back to Pall Mall for our annual friendly match. On what turned out to be the warmest day of the year so far, we were lucky enough to be in the Terrace Room for the match and dinner. |
| It was lovely to spend some time on the terrace outside in the sun and set a sunny mood for the game. At half-time we were 1IMP ahead. With fingers crossed we keenly played the second half with hopes of winning. Where did we go wrong? The wheels fell off and we were down by quite a large amount which clearly meant a loss for the Royal Automobile Club. |
| Lester very helpfully sorted out the movements at the tables and the whole of the Club team were very welcoming. I was a little sad for them that we could not secure the win. |
| Club team: Lester and Steve, Paul and Sally, Fiona and Ina and John and Martin. |
| Report submitted by Fiona McWatters, Match Captain |
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On Saturday 29 March we held our first ever simultaneous bridge and chess match at Pall Mall with Le Cercle de L’Union Interalliee, one of our reciprocal clubs in Paris. No less than 40 bridge and chess players squeezed into the Committee Room at 2.00pm on Saturday afternoon for what turned out to be a huge success.
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| The Club chess team were victorious and our bridge team almost won! At one point we were 27 IMPS down, within three minutes we were 5 IMPS down but all settled in the end at 13 IMPS down. |
| Interestingly, I learnt at dinner that Le Cercle have a huge bridge school with no less than five levels of classes. Clearly we have to go away and have a chat at committee level about our school! |
| Club team: Henry and Fiona, Howard and David, John and Trevor, Pralab and Robin, Andrew and Brigitte and Andrea and Pearse. |
| Below is a picture of the Team Captain of Le Cercle and her husband who are in fact National Champions. So perhaps it is not so surprising we did not manage to win and I would say, 13 IMPS down was pretty good against such stiff competition. |
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| Report submitted by Fiona McWatters, Match Captain |
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| CLUB TOURNAMENTS AND MATCH REPORTS |
| On Tuesday 29 April we have the first of two upstairs/downstairs matches, where our intermediate students play against some of our regular Duplicate players. Report to follow next month. |
| MATCH REPORTS |
| The Mountbatten Room set the scene on Thursday 27 March for one of our most exciting events of the year as 14 teams gathered to battle it out for the prestigious Ross Cope memorial trophy. After a sumptuous high tea, the event was run like clockwork by Victor and his assistant Rob. There was an excellent turnout by members and, in addition to the 14 teams in the main event, two teams of intermediates also took part. |
| The worthy winners for 2025 were Team Pereira, with Team 8 led by Paul Weston and Andrew Kisiel as runners-up. A special mention for the partnership of Michael Bailey and David Mannooch who excelled as the highest ranking pair. |
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Report submitted by David Wilson
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| BRIDGE SCHOOL |
| Our bridge classes continue and our players are all very enthusiastic. Myself and David Owen, who looks after our students and is on the Bridge Committee, have visited our beginners this month and we both agree they are charming. Mike tells us that they are very enthusiastic and are learning very quickly. This is fantastic news. |
| One of our mentor/mentee teams on their second outing together came top of the duplicate recently which is really very good. I am not naming names but you know who you are and very well done! |
| Mike Eden continues to gallantly stand in for Anne whilst she recuperates. He is teaching both beginners and intermediates. I know Anne wants to get back to us as quickly as possible and I hope we may see her at the start of April. |
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| GENERAL INFORMATION |
| Our WhatsApp group continues to expand and has 68 members, the numbers creep up every month. If you do not recognise someone looking for a partner, please do not discount them. We have some new additions as Club members continue to start playing bridge with us. |
| If you are looking for a partner to play bridge with at Pall Mall on Thursday evenings this is the place to find someone. |
| Please can I stress it is only for Thursday evenings or other Club matches which I advertise from time to time. |
| If you could use another form of connection for private matches or any other information, all participants would be very grateful. |
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| ST JAMES’S CLUB MEMBERS |
| We warmly welcome our St. James’s Club friends to join us on the last Thursday of every month for our regular Duplicate. We do encourage you to find a partner before coming along to the Club. |
| We hold a Team's Event four times a year on the last Thursday of the month which is open to both Royal Automobile and St. James’s Club teams. It has been very popular this past year and I am pleased to give you all the dates for the rest of the year: |
Thursday 29 May
Thursday 28 August
Thursday 27 November |
| Non-St James's Club guests are welcome to come and play at the Royal Automobile Club 12 times in any one year with a Club member. |
| I advise all players to visit the Club’s BridgeWebs page often as any news will be posted there throughout the month. |
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| IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY |
2025
Monday 14 April: Final Afternoon Bridge at Pall Mall, 2.15pm
Monday 19 May: Centenary Cup
Tuesday 8 July: Summer Party at Pall Mall
Sunday 26 October: Bowman Pairs Tournament
Thursday 11 December: Christmas Party |
2026
Thursday 19 March: Ross Cope Swiss Team's Event
Monday 18 May: Centenary Cup
Sunday 25 October: Bowman Pairs Tournament
Thursday 10 December: Christmas Party |
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| If you have any questions about the Pall Mall Bridge Circle, please do get in touch with me. |
| Best Wishes |
| Fiona McWatters |
| Chair, Pall Mall Bridge Committee |
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| This email was sent by the Royal Automobile Club. |
| To change your mailing preferences please go to the My Account section of the Club website. |
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| If you require assistance please email communications@royalautomobileclub.co.uk. |
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| Last updated : 9th Apr 2025 10:32 BST |
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| RAC Teams for matches |
Captains shown in bold
IF ANY ONE IN THE RAC TEAMS BELOW FIND THEY CANNOT PLAY, PLEASE LET US KNOW ASAP AS WE WILL NEED TO ASK OUR RESERVES TO STEP IN.
ITS VERY UNFAIR NOT TO GIVE THESE PLAYERS ADEQUATE NOTICE
Queen’s - home March 26, Wednesday. 1630 for 1700
Lester P/Steve B
Paul F/Sally F
Fiona McW/Ina W
John K/ Martin L
Reserves: Pauli L/Fay L
Le Cercle de l'Union - home March 29, Saturday. 1600 for 1630
Andrew K/Brigitte K
Howard S/David M
Pralab B/Robin K
John C/Trevor S
Henry McW/Fiona McW
Andrea G/Pearse E
Reserves: John K/Fay L/Pauli L
Château Sainte-Anne - home April 5, Saturday. 1430 for 1500
Marina CP/ Lester P
Andrew K/David G
Pralab B/David M
John C/Pascale H
Reserves: Paul W/Paul F/Sally F
Woodcote - away April 9, Wednesday. 12.00 for 1230 lunch
David W/Trevor S
David M/Brigitte K
Fay L/Andrea G
Paulo dR/Yuki S
Upstairs/downstairs April 29, Tuesday. 1800
Details later
Cumberland - away May 14, Wednesday. 1800
David W/Brigitte K
Howard W/Oliver W
Jeremy W/Isobel PH
Sandy J/Mike H
Reserves: Pralab B/Paul F/Sally F
Centenary Cup May 19, Monday. 1500 for 1530
Red team
Paul W//Marina CP
Andrew K/David G
Michael B/David M
Robin K/Brigitte K
Reserves: Promote from the Blue team
Blue team
John C/Pascale H
Paul F/Sally F
Henry McW/Fiona McW
Pearse E/John K
Reserves: Pauli L/Ina W
Roehampton - away Tuesday June 24, Tuesday. 1600
Michael B/Lester P
Paul F/Sally F
Mark A/Pralab B
Pearse E/David W
Reserves: Pascale H/Trevor S/Pauli L
Hurlingham - home June 30, Monday 1600 for 1630
Paul W/Marina CP
Lester P/Robin K
Andrew K/David G
Pralab B/Brigitte K
Michael B/David M
John C/Pascale H
Reserves: Paul F/Sally F/Martin L
New Club, Edinburgh - away July 12, Saturday
David W/David O
Oliver W/Lissa G
Sandy J/Mike H
Paul M/Yvonne R
Harvey R/Anne R
Reserves: Ina W/Pauli L
New Club were hoping for a team of at least 12.
The following have expressed interest in the University Club, New York, match on October 17, Friday - away
Lester P/Michael B
Andrew K/Brigitte K
Howard S/Pralab B
Nigel C/Andrea G
John C/Pascale H
Oliver W/Lissa G
Trevor S/ Mark A
Ivaylo V/Xiaoyu V
The University club are expecting a team of 16 – which we now have.
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| Last updated : 6th Apr 2025 22:02 BST |
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| RAC v Club Chateau Sainte-Anne |
We played the third instalment of our annual Bridge match during a spell of lovely spring weather in London matching the fine weather we had all weekend in Brussels last year. The Bridge match was played in a convivial atmosphere. After a first half played in a business like manner the RAC was 31 IMPs ahead. The Chateau Sainte-Anne team rallied to win a hard fought second half in which the cards were even livelier. The RAC finally won a closely contested match by 21 IMPs.
At our guests’ request we took the team photographs with the late Queen’s portrait as the backdrop. Once again our guests came bearing gifts in the form of the ‘best of the best’ fine Belgian chocolates which we shared around the dinner table after an excellent meal. We very much look forward to the next instalment - our visitors have already offered us dates for the return match in Brussels!
The RAC was represented by Marina/Lester, Pascale/John C, Pralab/David M and Andrew/David G.
Match report written by Lester Pereira RAC team captain
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| Last updated : 6th Apr 2025 15:51 BST |
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| RAC v Le Cercle de L’Union Interalliee. |
As many of you know my husband is the Chair of Chess at the RAC. We both have reciprocal matches with a club in Paris - Le Cercle de L’Union Interalliee. As their chess team coming to London this year was quite small we thought it a great idea to combine our matches. So for the very first time ever the RAC hosted a simultaneous Bridge and Chess Tournament. I admit it did take a lot of organisation, and we were all squeezed into the Committee Room, but once Henry and I had decorated with lots of UK and French Flags the scene was set. The RAC chess team were victorious and our RAC Bridge team almost won! At one point we were 27 IMPS down within 3 minutes 5 IMPS down but all settled at the end at 13 IMPS down. Interestingly I leant at dinner that Le Cercle have a huge Bridge School with no less than 5 levels of classes. Clearly we have to go away and have a chat at Committee level about our school!
We had a marvellous afternoon and our guests were absolutely charming. There was a longer than normal wait in between the tournament and dinner which meant all players had imbibed much Club champagne! This meant dinner went off with a bang - what a lovely party! With much kissing and hugging we sadly said goodbye to our friends with offers of much hospitality in Paris etc. What I do want to make clear are my sincere thanks to my RAC Bridge team. You were such great hosts and made our guests so welcome. I have had many messages saying how much you enjoyed the day. So in conclusion a long day starting at mid day and ending at 10.30pm but a great time was had by all!
RAC Team: Henry McW/Fiona McW, Howard S/David M, John C/Trevor S, Pralab B/Robin K, Andrew K/Brigitte K, Andrea G/Pearse E
Report submitted by Match Captain Fiona McWatters
   
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| Last updated : 1st Apr 2025 13:59 BST |
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| RAC v QUEENS CLUB |
On Wednesday 26th March we were delighted to welcome Queens Club back to Pall Mall for our annual friendly match. On what turned out to be the warmest day of the year so far we were lucky enough to be in the Terrace room for the match and dinner. It was lovely to spend some time on the Terrace outside in the sun and certain set a sunny mood for the game. At half time the RAC were 1IMP ahead. With fingers crossed we keenly played the second half with hopes of winning. Where did we go wrong? The wheels fell off and we were down by a quite large amount, which clearly meant a loss for the RAC. Lester very helpfully sorted out the movements at the tables and the whole of the RAC team were very welcoming and I was a little sad for them we couldn’t win. RAC team: Lester P/Steve B, Paul F/Sally F, Fiona McW/Ina W, John K/ Martin L
Report submitted by Match captain Fiona McWatters
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| Last updated : 26th Mar 2025 23:17 GMT |
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