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  RAC v Hurlingham Club (16 Sept 2019)

We selected a strong team of 12 for our annual match against the Hurlingham Club and ran out worthy winners by 57 IMPs. Dorette and Colin gained bragging rights as best pair by achieving a score of +64 IMPs, closely followed by Sally and Paul with +60 IMPs. The other team members are: Tony and Paul W, Marina and Terry, Andrea and John, David M and Michael. We used the BriAn mobile phone system to score the boards and we were ably supported by Gitte who was playing for HC. The banqueting staff did an excellent job in preparing the Terrace Room for the match and looking after our guests.

Results

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  RAC Centenary Cup Winner 2019 Roehampton
RAC Centenary Cup Winner 2019 Roehampton

The Centenary Cup for invited teams of 8 was played at the RAC on 13 May. It was won by Roehampton with 131 IMPS from RAC Blue with 122 Imps. The only two teams with positive scores.

This was the decisive board between the two teams. It featured the Circles old weakness slam bidding.

♠ KQJ82             ♠ A973
 42                     ( )
 Q96                   AJ1054
♣ AK2                 ♣ QJ95

South dealt and passed at Game All. The board was played 16 times and the cold slam on just three of those tables. Roehampton showed Paul and me how it should be done. West opened 1♠ and North bid 3 (weak) East 4 (splinter agrees ♠) – 4NT – 5 (two aces) and West 5♠ fearing a single  opposite. East with three first round controls bid the slam. All the tricks were there when the  finesse was taken. This cost 13 Imps effectively their winning margin.

It was as usual most enjoyable, with lots of old friends from the other clubs and a good dinner. Congratulations to Roehampton their first invitation and win.

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  RAC v O&C... (6 November 2019)

On Wednesday, the RAC played its annual match against the Cambridge Alumni at the O&C and kept its record of losing by 41 IMPs. The RAC players were Howard S. /Colin, Tony/Paul W., Andrew/David G. and Terry/Marina. Howard bravely captained his team against TWO – I mean TWO! – players just back from playing in the world bridge championship in Wuhan. We’ll do better next time.

— Marina

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  MCC Mixed Swiss Teams (13 October 2019)

Last Sunday, a RAC team obtained third place at the annual Mixed Swiss Teams event organised by the MCC, and played at the splendid Long Room at Lord’s. 32 teams competed in the event. Our thanks to Kitty Teltscher, Paul Weston, Terry Smith and Marina Chaning Pearce for this impressive performance.

The final score can be viewed here

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  Upstairs-downstairs match (22 October 2019)
Upstairs downstairs match Oct 2019

Smiles all over at the semiannual upstairs /downstairs match. There were only winners. Anne Catchpole’s team was well prepared - thank you Anne for your support and help.

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  RAC vs. In & Out (15 July 2019)

RAC defeated In & Out in our annual match on 15 July. A half time lead of just 7 IMPs was converted to a 20 point win for RAC. An excellent dinner and a most friendly atmosphere contributed to a good evening. The team was Tony (Captain), Paul, Michael, Lester, John K., Mark, Terry and Marina.

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  RAC vs. Lords Taverners

At last, on 26th June we managed to chase away the goblins and beat the Lords Taverners, most appropriately by the cricket score of 61 IMPs, winning all 4 sections of the game. The opposition very kindly agreed to play their away match at the RAC for which we were grateful. Well done team: Andrew, David G., Colin, Isabelle, Dorette, Robin, Terry and Marina (Captain).

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  RAC v ACF 2019 Result
RAC v ACF 2019 Result

RAC won both cups in this year’s encounter. The T8 by 17imps and the T4 by just 9imps. These margins over 40 boards are very small and reflect the competitive nature of the match throughout. Our guests were gracious as always but made no secret of their disappointment at the outcome! A curious feature was the lack of slam hands. There were two 50/50 which were not bid, and this one missed only once in both matches by ACF.

 

Board 32 West deals and is vulnerable.

 

♠ A10954          ♠ KQ876
 A72                 10
 J5                     AK84
 ♣ AK3              ♣ 872

Paul and I got there in just 5 bids. 1♠  –  4  (splinter agrees ♠,  shortage) – 5♣ (not minimum, club control, slam try). – 5 (control, any help?) 6♠ (yes!). On a trump lead Paul drew trumps, took the red suit cross ruff, losing a club at the end. Great fun, played in the right spirit and a pleasing end.

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  RAC prevail in Waterloo cup
RAC prevail in Waterloo cup

Members of the RAC took the first two places in the inaugural Waterloo Cup held at the In and Out on 17th June. 200 years to the day that the officers of the British army were enjoying a pre battle ball twenty eight pairs competed for a pairs trophy that is intended to become an annual event. Congratulations to Pauli Laumen and John Salter who were clear winners with a score of 65% four percent ahead of Dominic Flint and Pamela Reiss. I have written up hand 8 which was proved too difficult for most players but was played with Skill by Roy Ham.

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  St James Bridge Drive #9 (7 October 2019)

For the second year running the RAC had a representative in the winners enclosure of the St James Bridge Drive. This year is the 9th time the Cafe Bridge event has been run. This time organised by Selina on behalf of the Reform Club, ably assisted by Tournament directors Victor and Nicole, and played over 30 boards in 5 clubs: Reform, In and Out, Carlton, Athenaeum and RAC. 40 pairs competed for this year’s prize and the winning pair was Marina and Terry who managed an excellent score of 67% with another 8 RAC pairs finishing in the top 20.

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  Likely lads strike silver at Lords
Likely lads strike silver at Lords

Michael Bailey and Lester Pereira triumphed in the this years Lords Trophy. Partnered with Nigel Clayton and Robert Buxton they made a formidable team and won the event in some comfort.

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  RAC players win the Brunel Trophy (4 October 2019)

On Friday the RAC won convincingly the Brunel Trophy, a competition aptly played at the Institution of Civil Engineers. The team was captained by Marina Chaning Pearce, partnered by Terry Smith, Andrew Kisiel and David Glass, Andrew and David also came first in the Butler scoring, Terry and Marina came third.

PS: To be exact we played 24 boards in the morning but only 21 counted as we played three against one team who withdrew after we played them so three boards were scrapped giving +3 imp for everyone which cancelled out. So the result was over 49 boards!!
– David

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  Bridge Circle Christmas Dinner, honours and thank yous
12 December 2019
Xmas 2019: Michael Bailey presenting Sally Found with...

Michael Bailey presenting Sally with the Hero/Heroine Plate.

Xmas 2019: Michael Bailey presenting the Kisiels with...

Michael Bailey presenting the Brigitte and Andrew Kisiel with Joyce Goldstein Trophy for Top Partnership.

Xmas 2019: Michael Bailey presenting Robin with...

Michael Bailey presenting Robin with the Debbie Goldstein Trophy for Our player of the year with highest aggregate points (second to Marina Chaning Pearce). Robin and Frank also won the Cotton Cup for rubber bridge.

See more photos

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  match Olgiata V RAC (11 October 2014)

Report on the match Olgiata V RAC 11 October 2014

Our good friends from Rome arrived for the annual match on Sunday 11 October.

Our team was Marina and Ross, David and Andrew, Tony and Paul, Terry Smith suffered from a nasty tooth ache and Pamela stood in for him with Anthony Simmonds. The match was played over 40 boards in flights of ten such that all pairs played each other.

The Italians were playing essentially big club systems and a variety of two bids. I exhorted my four (David & Andrew) to pre-empt as much as possible and to interfere over an opening 1C whenever they could. The first 20 boards decided the match. RAC turned round down -135 imps. (Until records arrive I will not comment).

At half time Paul and I with nothing to lose decided we would go all out on an aggressive policy. On B21 I speculated in 6S but went three down with 3-0 trumps and a 5-2 side suit break -14. However 10 came back immediately when they held:

S AQ6 S.J97

H.10632 H.AQ9

D.105 D.93

C.KQ64 C. AJ982 East dealt at Game All and opened a “nebulous 1D” forced by their system and got a 1H response. I came in with 4D and E with a big problem bid 4H running into a 5-1 trump break. We then were on our own bidding 6H with.

S.K S.1087

H.AKJ653 H.Q10

D.A65 D.KJ732

C.AQ5 C.K73

Paul got a club lead, drew trumps and took the D finesse losing to the doubleton Q. -13imps. One of the features in our room was our joint inability to take a winning finesse all day!

Deep finesse who has never lost to a Qx says it is a make. Is there a legitimate line for mortals like you and me? Yes win the club and delay the D decision until the last minute. Going one extra down does not matter. So when you cash 6 trumps you find N has 4 throw 2 D from dummy. You cash three clubs ending in hand and N has 2. In the meanwhile he has had to discard 3 S the last one being the Q.

We are down to: We think:

SA. H. none. D. XXX.C.none

S.K. H.none D.A85 C.none S.10 H.none. D.KJ7 C.none

S. J H.none D.xx C.10.

The missing D are Q10964 where are they? Obviously the odds are 3-2 on N.

We exit with KS and N leads 10D covered with the J,Q and won with the A now Dec in desperation finesses the 7D in Dummy Wins!

Not so easy but can be done.

On B25 they held. S.J86 H.KQ6 D.K. C.AKJ763 opposite dealer’s S.104. HA4 D.A109853 C.Q102. The opened 1D (could be anything) then 1H (no 4 card major) and I came in with IS note how difficult this makes their biding with no genuine suit announced. They bid 2D and Paul jammed the works with 3S – 4C- 5C now W decided that his partner must have a single S and bid 6C. We cashed the first two tricks. I had overcalled with only 4 S. +12.

We played the last 10 boards against their best pair and continued our aggression. We notched up another 38 Imps but a nail in the coffin was another slam on B 33.

They held S.AK432 H.K D.KJ86 C.KQ9 opposite S.Q9 H.AQ103 D.A532 C.876 They went to 6D and got the lead of a small H to the single K. When they played A and another D up came the Q and it was simple to draw trumps and ruff a S to set up the suit. Unfortunately in the other room the inferior 6NT was bid and although it can be made with difficulty, it was not .- 14. Our four did however win over its 20 second half Boards.

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  RAC beat Royal Mid Surrey

On 5th February a RAC team, valiantly led by Pauli Laumen, played an away game against  the Royal Mid Surrey Golf Club and beat the hosts  by a score in excess of 40 IMPs. Her teammates were: Roy, Pascale, Tony, Pearse, Mark  Sally and Paul Found. 

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  Cotton Cup 2019. And the winners are... (12 December 2019)
Frank Hollendoner and Robin Kilborn faced up to David Mannooch and Michael Bailey in the Club Room at 9.00am on the morning before the Bridge Circle Christmas Dinner to play the final of the 2019 Cotton Cup, so desperate were the four to produce a winning pair to be presented with the champagne and Cup at the dinner! After two hours Mannooch and Bailey held a 2-0 lead in the rubbers and the overall score was virtually breakeven but it was downhill for them for the final 90 minutes and Frank and Robin ran out worthy winners.

 

See Cotton Cup ladder

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  RAC vs. MCC at Lords

We played our annual match against the MCC in the pavilion at Lords and lost by 33 imps. The MCC have a strong contingent of regular duplicate players and no matter whom they select to face us have always managed to come out on top in their match against us. Perhaps this year it is reasonable revenge for RAC members doing so well in winning and coming second in their prestigious mixed teams competition. The MCC are excellent hosts and it is a delight to walk into Lords and make our way to the top floor room overlooking the pitch. This year dinner took place in a refurbished room where the photos of past MCC Presidents, which had adorned the walls for decades, were moved aside and replaced by an assortment of interesting cricket paintings and drawings.

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  Match against the Athenaeum

On 5th December, in the most convivial atmosphere, the RAC played the last friendly match of the year against the Athenaeum and won by 92 IMPs. The team included Colin (Captain), Tony, Pascale, John C., David W. Martin, Ross and Marina. Pair of the match were David W and Martin – well done guys!

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  Ros and Bob Bowman Swiss Pairs 2019 Championship
(3 November 2019)

A bit like Formula one racing or Premiership Football our annual Open carves up into the top 6 or so very experienced, high quality bridge pairs, the majority of experienced Pairs who threaten a Leicester City performance and the less experienced Pairs who gain enormous know how and development by competing and one year will move up the groupings.

Played over two sessions of 24 boards per session the leading pair changed position countless times. After the first session the leading were: Marina and Terry, Gitte and Mary, Ruth and Sami. The second session leaders were: Paul and Brigid, Richard and Rhonda, Malcolm and Susi.

Leaders session 1: Marina and Terry

Leaders session 1: Marina Chaning Pearce & Terry Smith

Leaders session 2: Paul and Brigid

Leaders session 2: Paul Weston & Brigid Battiscombe

The overall winners of the Cup were Gitte Hecht-Johansen and Mary Gordon-Smith with 110 VPs followed incredibly closely by joint second with 108 VPs: Richard and Rhonda Collins and Paul Weston and Brigid Battiscombe.

Overall winners: Gitte Hecht-Johansen and Mary Gordon-Smith

Overall winners: Gitte Hecht-Johansen and Mary Gordon-Smith

As a club the RAC can claim some success as Gitte is a regular friend of ours replacing Nicole as TD when she is not available and Paul Weston is home grown. Marina and Terry, last year’s winners and early leaders after session one came 5th and Andrew Kisiel and David Glass came 6th.

Thank you to the Club for making the Mountbatten Room available to us on a particularly busy Sunday in the events calendar and for the Banqueting team who provided a beautiful array of coloured sandwiches high tea.

Michael

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  Ros and Bob Bowman Championship Pairs
Ros and Bob Bowman Championship Pairs

The 2018 Ros and Bob Bowman Championship Pairs event went to the wire and any of the leading 5 pairs going into the final round could have won. We are delighted to report that Marina Chaning Pearce, our committee match secretary, and her partner Terry Smith crossed the line as worthy winners by one victory point with Andrew Kisiel and David Glass finishing in 4th place. The standard of play was excellent and the competition was played in the correct spirit of fierce competitiveness and good manners at the table. Marina and Terry got off to a good start by winning the first session of 24 boards. Michael Bailey, our committee chairman, and his partner Emma McCormack came from behind to win the second session and finished in 7th place. The banqueting team provided a splendid high tea at the halfway point and Nicole did a superb job as Tournament Director.

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  Lansdowne storm to victory in Centenary cup
Lansdowne storm to victory in Centenary cup

Terry Smith, looking for a 4th consecutive victory had to settle for second place in this year's Centenary cup.

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  RAC Intermediates edge out Hurlingham Intermediates
RAC Intermediates edge out Hurlingham Intermediates

Congratulations to the eight RAC Intermediates who won their Pairs event against Hurlingham on November 16th at Pall Mall.   The winning score for the RAC was +10 IMPs played over 24 boards.  Captained by Roger Wolf, the RAC pairs were Isobel Pollock-Hulf, Stuart Carroll, Henry and Fiona McWatters, Ina Wolf. Our team led by 23 IMPs by the half-way point and dinner, only to see Hurlingham reduce our winning margin to 10 IMPs by the end of evening.   A return match at the Hurlingham Club was kindly offered for next summer.   Special thanks to Marina Chaning-Pearce, our Match Secretary, and Anne Catchpole, our bridge instructor, who provided organisational advice prior to the match.

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  Lederer update

And the winners were the Englan Open team. Full details and scores are available on the  event blog.

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  RAC v Hurlingham

We played our annual match against the Hurlingham Club, with our opponents having home advantage. However this year we played as two teams of 12 and I am delighted to report that we ran out winners by 32 Imps. Both teams fielded strong partnerships and we won due to some steady play over 24 boards, supported by a couple of chunky scores in the first half, arising from overbidding by our opponents, successfully doubled.

Our team comprised 3 teams of four as follows:

Michael (Captain) – David Ma             Dorette – Robin

Andrew – Brigitte                                 Terry – Barbara

David G – Lester                                   Ross – Paul  W.

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  CAFÉ BRIDGE

One of the social highlights of the Bridge Calendar is the Café Bridge played on the 8 October. Forty pairs play 30 Boards and walk to each of the five venues on Pall Mall. The Carlton, In & Out, Reform, RAC and this year’s organising club the Athenaeum. Scores are transmitted on quality software to the Organisers and results are instantly available It is sociable and ends with drinks and dinner. It was won this year by Arun Suri and our own Tony Scouller with the huge score of 69.4%, they owned up to a lot of good luck! The club, we are pleased to note had five pairs in the top ten. In 2019 the event will be run by the Reform Club. Entries are limited so when details are published get in!

 

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  RAC Open Pairs 2015

RAC Open Championship Pairs

The 2015 Open Pairs event proved highly popular, with  38 pairs playing in afternoon and evening sessions.  It was strongly contested: at one stage in the final round of the evening, the results screen was showing the four leading pairs within 1 point of each other. RAC pairs were among the high placings but prizes eluded them.  The afternoon session was won by Graham Barber and Michael Taub of the Cumberland Club, and the evening session was won by Jonathan and Gail Hoffman of the Lord's Taverners, last year's overall winners.  However, this year's overall prize and the RAC Open Pairs cup went to Terry Hewett and Simon Cocheme of Hurlingham.

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  RAC versus Olgiata on 13th October 2018

Our annual match with Olgiata Golf Club was played this year at Pall Mall, with 8 player teams competing over 40 boards for a handsome cup.  RAC was represented by Marina Chaning-Pearce, Terry Smith, Paul Weston, Ross Cope, Andrew Kisiel, David Glass, Tony Scouller and Lester Pereira

Olgiata are one of the two strongest teams we play against, and had recently been promoted to Serie B in the Italian National league. (Serie A teams are all professionals). For the last five years they have beaten us soundly. However, our team had put a lot of work rehearsing for the match, and we went into the match with fingers crossed. 

Although RAC took a lead in the first session, Olgiata proved too strong in the later sessions and finished ahead by 48 imps.  However, for RAC, there were clear signs of progress:  the overall score was a major improvement over the previous three years, and one half of the squad achieved an overall positive score.  Again, the result came from a few ‘match deciders’, to use Tony Scouller’s phrase. 

Our hospitality was greatly praised by our guests, as was Nicole’s directing, which involved her using her Italian language skills to fine effect.  Overall, we will keep our fingers crossed for next year in Rome.

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