Release 2.19q
2023 Level 4 changes and 2022 Announcing/ Alerting Rules

See David's 2023 summary of Level 4 2023 changes, see complete revised Blue Book.

Some changes in the EBU announcing/alerting September 2022. David drew up a summary of the 2022 changes for directors.

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MEMBERS’ WELFARE

If you know of any member of the club who is unwell please let either Pat Martin or a member of the committee know so that appropriate wishes can be sent on behalf of all members.
The quickest response will be to tell either Pat Martin or any member of the committee at the bridge session then a card can be signed & posted immediately. Alternatively, you can email the secretary.

News

The EBU Combined Premier Life, Life, National and Regional Masters Pairs competition was played  on RealBridge over two days, 57 boards on Saturday 24th and  48 boards on Sunday 25th February,  Robin and Dave finished top of the Life Master section on Saturday  averaging +1.2 but dropped down to 5th place in the combined Saturday and Sunday result with an overall average score of  +0.39 in the Life Master section.  Many congratulations both.

Open Meeting - 6 p.m. Wednesday 17th January

An Open Meeting was held for all Club members on Wednesday 17th January at the Club, in the light of the Landlord's decision not to renew our lease after it expires on 30th June 2024.    Michael has visited a number of possible new venues, watch this space for more news. First mention of the club being at the showground can be seen in "as once we were, bulletin No 3 77-78".  The club has moved around various areas within the showground complex during that time including the room upstairs in the grandstand building.

EBU 2023 promotions

2023 EBU Master Point Promotions

One Star Master (10,000 MPs)

  • E Clarke
  • M Metcalf
  • G Sproston

Master (5,000 MPs)

  • J Whiteman

County Master (2,500 MPs)

  • K Davies
  • H Thompson
  • I Scanlon

District Master (1,000 MPs)

  • A Codling,
  • N Dunn,
  • D Nelson,
  • C Russell,
  • A Singh

Area Master (500 MPs)

  • F Townsend
  • S Townsend

For information source see EBU website.  See also the county overall board and SSCBA members ranks and  current NGS scores.

Children in need sim pairs  November 6th - 10th

With sim pairs the top pair at the club is not necessarily the highest ranking of the club players in the overall combined list. For example on Monday Pat A and Steve were top at the club but when the results from all participating clubs combined Robin and Gary were higher placed overall, in fact just a little ahead of Liz and Pat M. who were equal fourth at the club. No Stafford pairs made it to the ECats leader boards.

The following sessions are taking/have taken part in the ECATs Children in Need sim pairs. 

  • Monday 6th November (as at 5 p.m.12/11/23 after results for 1947 pairs playing at 126 clubs best overall placed Stafford pair Robin and Gary with 56.25% st Stafford and 58.43% overall,) Click for commentary.
  • Tuesday 7th November (as at 5 p.m.12/11/23  after results for 1466 pairs playing at 101 clubs best overall placed Stafford pair Robin and Dave with 60% st Stafford and 57.87% overall,) Click for commentary.
  • Thursday 9th November (as at 5 p.m.12/11/23  after results for 1486 pairs playing at 98 clubs best overall placed Stafford pair Steve and Liz with 56.25% st Stafford and 64.55% overall,) Click for commentary.
  • Friday 10th November (as at 11:20 a.m.15/11/23  after results for 818 pairs playing at 49 clubs best overall placed Stafford pair Clive & Nick with 61.50% st Stafford and 61.54% overall,) Click for commentary.

The same as last year, the club will not be collecting table money, but we expect players to contribute at least the £3.00 table money they would have paid every time they play that week, 6th - 10th November.  Payment to Steve by 12th November (Bank Transfer) if at all possible.  We will not be sending out September/October monthly bills until after we have finished receiving Children-in-Need donations.

Last year ECATs raised total of £60,678.43 which included the £675.86 raised by Stafford members, This year Steve  sent  a total of £711.25 (total money marked as Children in Need paid to the club account before 24th November) to ECATs and a member sent £10  direct making a total of £721.25 donated by Stafford members for the Children in Need sim pairs in 2023.  "That’s just amazing Steve, thank you so so much!  All the bestAnna"

First Round Shelley Handicapped Teams - 16th November 2023 (Copy)

Sadly just 6 teams for the first round in October as one team had to pull out at the very last minute causing David a bit of a headache to produce the new movement cards at short notice and Terry who will be back to the drawing board for calculating the new handicaps!  However the evening itself was a great success thanks to David's preparatory work on the movement cards and ensuring that the shared boards were where they were needed all the time.  It was good to welcome some new faces to the competition this year, Alan and Dave who have joined the club recently, along with a new SSCBA member, Jonathan playing in John's team partnering Geoff Neal. Jon and John played for the winning SSCBA team in the recent inter-county Edgar Foster Cups event. 

Very many thanks to David, as non-playing director, for ensuring that everything ran so smoothly.

The handicapped results for October are shown here, the raw unhandicapped results here.  In the lead after round one and including their handicap are Terry's team.

31st  August end of year party celebration  A very enjoyable event, just look at the smiles in the pictures!  A well organised group, exactly 4 tables, managed to play 15 out of the 18 prepared boards. Many, many thanks to Robin for all the hard work on the day and throughout the year.  Many thanks also to second in command, Terry, who not only helped throughout the year but also prepared 4 sets of boards for the party (to ensure no sharing necessary) and looked after the scoring.  Thanks too to Pat and Nicky for organising the spread in the kitchen and thanks to all the players who contributed to the food, drinks and prizes.  All in all a fun event, click here for the results

If anyone would like a copy of any of the pictures larger versions are available either from Steve or Ann. 

Several hands went up for taking part the Shelley handicapped teams competition in the coming season which was very encouraging following the Lesson Teams practice

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The Thursday 20th April 2023 lesson had practice teams session. 4 teams playing 24? boards at a good speed but in such a way that no sharing of boards was required which floored the scoring program for the tablets!  Terry scored by hand from the travellers and then applied handicaps.  Two more teams sessions have been run on May 4th(18 boards) and May 11th(24 boards), both times with success for the tablets! Un-handicapped results can be seen on an experimental results page along with the April 20th handicapped scores.

At the lesson party 31st August several hands went up to take part in the Shelley this coming season showing experiment worked well.

Stone Match 2023 Winning Pair
Stone Match 2023 Winning Stone Team 325
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Ten pairs from Stone Bridge Club visited our Club for a friendly bridge match with ten pairs from our own members on Wednesday 19th July 2023.  This is the first for four years or so of what used to be an annual fixture. The very successful social occasion was enjoyed by all, with much good bridge, and it brought great credit to the Club. Our warmest thanks go to David Drinkwater for organising and directing the event, and to Janet Drinkwater and helpers for the ample refreshments which were generously given and hospitably provided. Also, many thanks to the Club members who supported the match and welcomed our visitors - and even allowed them to win!

Many thanks, David, for the post match pictures of the winning Stone team.and the winning Stafford pair,

Have you read your May 2023 EBU magazine?

See David's question in "Ask Robin" item on pages 24/25/27. To look at the results in question click here or here for the overall SSCBA results.

County Mixed Pairs

County Mixed Pairs were played at Stafford on Thursday June 8th.

When the entries closed on June 5th there were 9 tables, just one table short of the limit, very good planning!   Winners from Stafford were Steve & Janet just ahead of Wolverhampton players Tony Leech & Linda Curtis and In third place were Friday night Stafford players Alan and Ann. Many thanks to David as non-playing director, and also to Rose and Carol for providing cakes. Pictured are Steve and Janet receiving their trophy and prize from SSCBA chair Pamela Booth-Jones. A very pleasant evening, click here for the results.  Message form Pat Andrews, our President, "Very well done to Janet and Stephen  for winning the event and to Ann and Alan for a very creditable 3rd place, Lovely to see that our club can hold their own in county competitions."

County Mixed Pairs - Thursday 8th June 

Stafford members Geoff and Anne played in the SSCBA 2022-23 winning league team.  Paul and David, their captain and his partner, have both played in Geoff's pre-Covid Shelley team at Stafford. Congratulations all. For full results click here.

The motion was carried overwhelmingly at the special general meeting on June 26th meaning that as from 1st July table money will be raised,

Proposal for consideration at Special General Meeting on 26th June 2023. the motion was carried overwhelmingly

SBC Committee proposes that table money shall be raised from July 1st 2023 as follows; 

  • regular playing sessions and Thursday lessons by £0.50 to £3.00, 
  • Friday morning lessons by £1.00 to £2.00, 
  • Visitors fees raised to £4.00. 

There will be no increase in online table money as members have to pay to be members of BCL as well as pay table money. 

Also that SBC annual subscriptions shall be raised  from 1st April 2024 for 2024 membership to £15.00 per year.

Click for the letter.

Three Stafford members took part in the Tuesday morning BCL group that entered the U3A sim pairs in aid of Alzheimer's and Age UK, congratulations to Peter coming top overall with a whopping 70.87% (as at 10 a.m. 24th May). Click here for the BCL results   The overall results are available on ECATs.gradually showing results as they come in.

 

Final Round of 2022-23  Shelley Played Thursday April 20th
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County Events January - April 2023

County Championship Multiple Teams (Staffs Cup) Sunday April 23rd

This was held at Newcastle Bridge club, click here for details. with only one team from Stafford taking part.

MCC No Fears Pairs 25th March 2023

A MCC 9 High No Fears event was played on 25th March see Midland Counties Congress website for results, just one Stafford pair took part coming 5th. Nottinghamshire were the winners 

SSCBA Championship Pairs (Bearn) Sunday 5th March 2023

This was played at Newcastle Bridge club, click here for the results.  Best placed Stafford member was John Hartley coming 4th in a very tight finish.

SSCBA No Fears Pairs Sunday 26th February 2023

This was held at Newcastle Bridge club, on Sunday 26th February Click here for the results.  Winners were Stafford members, Sean and Graham.  Congratulations both.

County News Jan - Mar 2023

EBU National Pairs 

  • Regional Finals: Played 26th March 2023 (BBO and RealBridge);
  • Final: 15th – 16th April 2023, Online (RealBridge)

John H, Ken, Steve W, Ivor & Liz, David & Janet, Robin,  Pat A, Deirdre, Michael S, Michael M, Diana, Sandra, Ann & John, Bill, Sylvia H, Nick, Terry, Harry & Adrienne, Nicky, Hilary & Mike, Clive, Duncan and Margaret all received invitations to play in the (BBO or RealBridge) Regional Finals of the EBU National Pairs played on March 26th, only John H and Robin went on to play in it (click here for the results).  Combined scores determine the top 50 pairs who are entitled to play in the National Pairs Final, 15th - 16th  April on RealBridge, sadly John and Robin were outside the top 50, in fact just one pair from SSCBA made the top 50 when BBO and RealBridge results from all regions included

SSCBA No Fears Pairs Sunday 26th February 2023

This was held at Newcastle Bridge club, on Sunday 26th February Click here for the results.  Winners were Stafford members, Sean and Graham.  Congratulations both.

MCC No Fears Pairs 25th March 2023

A MCC 9 High No Fears event was played on 25th March see Midland Counties Congress website for results, just one Stafford pair took part coming 5th. Nottinghamshire were the winners 

SSCBA Championship Pairs (Bearn) Sunday 5th March 2023

This was played at Newcastle Bridge club, click here for the results.  Best placed Stafford member was John Hartley coming 4th in a very tight finish.

Jubilee Party 3rd June
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24 players came to the party night suggested by Angela after sufficient numbers indicated they would like to play on the bank holiday.  Some wonderfully inventive outfits and food items, Terry with a Jubilee Pudding, Margaret's Red-White-blue cakes and Nicky's coronation chicken sandwiches to name just a few.  A few pictures here with a couple of late ones added 22/7/22 of the very special Jubilee (made for the occasion) jacket and the previously missed socks!  Tablets behaved themselves and all in all a fun evening even if the last round had to be "skipped", NS winners Ruth abd Hazel, EW winners Michael and Terry.  Special thanks to Yvonne who made a special trip on a bank holiday to make sure all spruced up before the players arrived.

County events January 2023

SSCBA Sim Pairs Wednesday 25th January 2023

Stafford did not run a heat for this one as the club does not meet on Wednesdays at present however 9 Stafford members took part at one of the partaking clubs Eccleshall, Newcastle, Wrekin or Wolverhampton. See SSCBA sim pairs results on county site. The winners were Nick Cheadle & Libby Dale playing at Eccleshall.  Pre-Covid Nick was a regular Friday night player at Stafford, Libby played occasionally at Stafford too when Nick's usual partner was away.

Midland Counties Congress Played Friday 6th January/Saturday 7th January/Sunday 8th January 2023

Blue pointed events on the Friday and Sunday Saturday event Green pointed.   Click here for the results.  Can you spot the Stafford players?!

MCC 9High Swiss Pairs

Six Stafford members took part in 28th January event, best placed were Steve and Ken  Click here for results,

Five members of SBC took part in the previous MCC no fear 9 high Swiss Pairs event on 26th November 2022. click here for results coming 5th, 7th and 8th. Overall SSCBA came 2nd out of the 5 competing counties. 

Christmas Events
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Please note:  The showground requests bridge players leave the gates closed after club events from 21st December until the end of the holiday period, that is until 8 a.m. 3rd January Friday 30th next events in person at the club, both the morning lesson and the evening session.


Lesson Christmas Party was on Thursday 22nd at 10 a.m.  to which all Thursday and Friday morning pupils were invited.  A fun session with 18 hands designed by Robin and dealt by Terry (many possible slams, a prize given for the  grand slam bid and made on board 12). In the end chat so convivial only time for 15!  An unusual movement such that players could only work from the tablets to see which board to play and where to go next (all added to the fun?). Maybe a good thing that hands could not be analised on the tablets due to a hiccup by the scorer or even 15 boards might have been too many!    Liz said a few words to thank Robin and Terry for all their hard work over the year, Liz also mentioned all the others who made the party itself go so well both at the table and in the kitchen. "Thanks Rose, for your Herculean efforts in making this commemorative pudding and so successfully so too –  I remember watching the TV programme at the time and was overwhelmed by what was required!!!!  This morning went very well though sad there were not more people there – here’s to an increase in numbers in 2023! In the meantime all very best wishes to you both for a Happy Christmas and New year - Liz."


An American Supper was held on Saturday December 17th.  A good turn out and some wonderful food.  Sadly one or two were unable to come either due to the icy conditions or illness but nevertheless 5½ tables, lots of Christmas sweaters and hats.  An accident with the scoring added a fun challenge for David who had everything sorted in no time at the end.  The N/S (Harry and Adrienne) and E/W (Beryl and Michael) winners finished the evening on the same table.  A really good evening, many thanks again to David for directing, Michael, Terry, Carol and all the committee for their hard work to ensure the success of the event and indeed so much over the year which has not been easy for anyone.


Friday night Christmas "do" was on Friday 16th December.  A fun evening with lots of lovely food, wonderful cake and prizes for Digger and Benji. Winners of the bridge were Duncan & Margaret (NS) and  Michael & Alan (EW).   Following the survey there will be no bridge on Friday 23rd, however Friday 30th will be on.  If you wish to change your survey response to 30th please contact Ann.  Photos from photographer Rose to follow?

A readership record!
A readership record!

On December 28th 2022 the club website reached a record 100,000 views during 2022 (the counter is reset to zero on New Year's day every year),   Aside from results, by far the most read pages of course, the most viewed pages are two of Robin's, CRO bids and McKenney signals and discards.  Updating web pages accounts for a large number in the total views count - see left hand side below the menu.  Webmaster always pleased to get constructive criticism to improve the site.

Children in Need

Monday 7th November, Tuesday 8th and Friday11th November sessions all took part in the Children in Need (CiN) sim pairs events organised by ECATs.  Steve is so pleased to report that he sent £580.86 to ECATs on 12/11/22 and a further £95 on 21/11/22  making a total of £675.86, being the amount donated by members through the club. Anna from ECATs responded to Steve:  You can’t be as pleased as I am Steve – that is generous indeed and so much appreciated believe me. I hope you have a way to tell them all how much we thank them for their wonderful support and kindness ... we can’t get over how great bridge players are ! With best regards Anna  

Result Links  as at 17:55 16/11/22
Day     Top ECATS ECATs Pos Top at SBC
Monday 7th ECATs SBC Garry & Sam 460th out of 1850 pairs
playing at 114 clubs in 4 countries
Rose & Pat M
Tuesday 8th ECATs SBC Garry & Robin 49th out of 1243 pairs
playing at 86 clubs in 3 countries
Garry & Robin
Friday 11th ECATs SBC Hilary & Mike 43rd out of  579 pairs
playing at 39 clubs in 4 countries
Robin & Ken
Beryl & Ann

The club bank account has now changed, June 2022, if paying by BACs please click the link here for the NEW details.  Any problems please contact  the Secretary, see committee page.

Ann Stevenson's Birthday
Ann Stevenson's Birthday

It was party night again at the club on Friday 26th August 2022 when it was discovered that Ann had celebrated her 90th birthday with her family the week before.  Club president Pat Andrews made the cake, additional food items came with others, the coffee break was a little longer than usual to give time for a glass of bubbly,  Ann herself brought wine so all able to raise a glass for the occasion.   Chairman, Michael, on hand to see that everyone had a glass.  Rose had her camera to hand to take the picture.

Six tables still managed to complete their 24 boards by 10:30, several additional players arrived for the celebration and a couple of partnerships had a practice game ready for the Shelley.  All in all a good evening.

family"Thank You" card that Ann brought in with an "on the day" picture

designsSome of the designs that Ann has produced over the years for the club