 SSCBA Events
EBU Webinar - Message from Judy Mitchell
Three people from our county attended an on-line seminar on virtual bridge clubs organised by the EBU and Suffolk CBA for county representatives, though there were some club reps as well. John Withers, who was one of the three attending, has emailed me following the seminar – see below - and he recommends that you search on the EBU website, click on the relevant site and watch proceedings at the seminar. It is a very interesting presentation.
It would be excellent if S&SCBA could set up a virtual “club” so that county events, such as leagues or pairs, and even the simultaneous pairs, etc., could be offered to our members, and we are therefore looking for a team to set this up. The seminar gives lots of information and tips on how to organise a virtual bridge club, and this applies to both County and Clubs. I’ll forward this to club secretaries too, in case they want to look at this for their own clubs or group of clubs.
I appreciate that most of our county events are not well supported, but one of the reasons for this is the reluctance by members to travel a distance to participate. With no travelling involved, this is the time to invite them to play in county events!
For now, I admit I have just plucked some names to send this to, but if you know of someone (or more) who might be interested in getting involved, please feel free to make an approach and forward these emails.
Please let me or a County Committee member know if you are interested in being part of this team.. There will be help from the EBU to do this, and I am sure Suffolk CBA would help too.
Keep safe and well
Judy
John Wither's Report: The EBU organised an online seminar by Suffolk County Bridge Association, on The Virtual Club and their experiences in developing this resource within their County
I watched the seminar this is what I “took away” from the presentation.
Lockdown has universally changed the bridge world, now “the only game in town “ is online.
Playing bridge sitting opposite your opponents, in clubs, is unlikely to resume before September and maybe as far away as the New Year.
There is a growing number of Counties and local bridge clubs that are organising online Tournaments, in which players pay table money to compete with people they played/socialised with prior to March 23rd. The organisers receive 50 – 70 % of the table.
The organisers of Tournaments must have access to a qualified host/director to run the competition, practical experience recommends that initially two directors are needed to ensure the smooth running of the event.
Sixty percent of players in Suffolk on now playing online.
I urge members of SSCBA committee to watch the recording of the meeting, available via the EBU’s website, It runs for an hour. If the committee is then interested in pursuing/promoting the introduction of a Virtual Club/s within the County, it could quickly determine if any local clubs are organising or playing in online Tournaments and what is needed to “Marshall” or train directors.
John Withers
Mixed Pairs - Thursday 11th June 2020, please contact Jeff Jones on 01952 620496 or e-mail jeffjt@btinternet.com.
Recent Results
The County Championship Pairs competition, previously the Bearn was played at Wolverhampton on Sunday 8th March 2020. The winners were Paul Hackett & David Debbage. Second were Stafford members John Hartley & Cath Adams, pictured above. John and Cath have therefore qualified to play in the national event for the Corwen Trophy on 30th and 31st May 2020 and will be invited to represent SSCBA in the inter County Edgar Foster Cups competition on 8th September which will take place at Wolverhampton this year.
Four SCB members took part in the Championship Pairs this year, pictured, including one of the pupils from the lessons. 
This day time event took place at Wolverhampton Bridge Club on Thursday 27th February 2020 with a delicious light lunch included. One player came from as far as Manchester to take part. 30 boards were played using a Mitchell movement. North South winners were Janet Bradley & Christine Hartley, East West winners were Brian McLaughlan & Isobel Rees with a special prize for occasional SBC players Michael & Hilary Sedgley (pictured) as the best scoring runners up. Congratulations to you all. A very enjoyable day and thanks are due to those who provided the lunch, the organisers, the scorer and to Jeff Jones for directing.
On Monday 27th January 2020 six clubs took part in this SSCBA competition, Chasetown, Nantwich, Newcastle, Oswestry, Stafford and Wolverhampton, a total of 39 tables. The winners at Stafford, where there were 8 tables, were Paul & Linda who were also the overall winners of the whole event. Many congratulations. There was just a difference of 0.2% between 2nd and 4th in the overall results with Robin & Mike S, second in Stafford coming 3rd overall. Anthony & Carol leapt up the overall rankings when the results from the 6 clubs were combined from being tied half way down the field at Stafford with 51.06% to being in the top one eighth overall with 56.89%! Third at Stafford with 58.99%, Mike W and Ruth, slipped down to 52.52% overall such are the funnies that happen in sim pairs scoring. Many thanks to David for being a non-playing director and scorer for this event and Terry for entering the club and dealing the boards although unable to play on the day himself.
Dawes Matches
If you wish to be selected for a team in the inter county Dawes matches contact Paul Cutler on 07939 977499.
Andrew Robson - Thursday 31st October 2019
The seminar took place at Stone House Hotel in Stone.
- Morning session 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. After 1 No Trump – Stayman, Transfers, Landy; Bidding bad hands – when a bad hand becomes very useful.
- Afternoon Session 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Listening to the opponents bidding – to find some well-reasoned opening leads; Fourth Suit Forcing – a great convention which is so much more than a stopper-ask.
Could have been as many as 20 Stafford members there, webmaster lost count! The room was full for both sessions.
Many congratulatulations, Geoff, on being selected to represent the County in the group D section of the, teams of 8, Tollemache National event played at Daventry. The SSCBA team came 5th out of the 8 Counties in the group. The full team were Paul Cutler, Geoff Davies, David Debbage, Paul Hackett, Jason Hackett, Adrian Kenworthy, David Beavon, James Vickers all of whom have played at Stafford at some point and some in the 2018/19 Shelley competition.
County League
The County League is played on the second Wednesday in the month, Geoff was in the winning team of division one in 2018/19 season with Paul Cutler, Roger Keane and David Beavan all of whom have taken part during 2018/19 in Geoff's Shelley team at Stafford. As a result of his success in the league Geoff went on to represent SSCBA in the national Tollemache Qualifier event at Daventry on November 17th and 18th, the full team being Paul Cutler, Geoff Davies, David Debbage, Paul Hackett, Jason Hackett,Adrian Kenworthy, David Beavon, James Vickers. Sadly the team did not make it through to the national final to be played on 15th/16th Februrary 2020 at Coventry.
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