The game is hosted on RealBridge so that you get to see and talk to your partner and the opposition – it is as close to face-to-face as we can get. Inter-County bridge events have always been for the most experienced players, but this event, run by the Midlands Counties, is to widen the opportunities to players of all standards to represent Staffs & Shrops. If you haven’t played on RealBridge yet, you can log on to RealBridge and play some practice games.

All events will be for NGS grade 9 or below. A player with one point higher can play with a player with 1 or more points lower. To find out if you are eligible, go to https://www.ebu.co.uk/ngs/STA.

Please persuade your partner to play with you in this Pairs event. The County with the highest THREE pairs will be declared the winner: so we need a good turn-out for the competition. 

Around 25 boards will be played, starting at 2 p.m., and S&SCBA offers free entry for its members to this event..  Click here for more details.

Three Staffs and Shrops pairs took part in the event on the 28th January, best placed were Ken Davies and Steve Lister coming 4th.  Click here for the results  Overall county winners were Oxfordshire with pairs coming 1st, 5th and 7th.. The session was followed by Q & A on some of the hands led by Ben Norton, a leading young international.  The next one of these No Fears events is likely to be played at the end of March. The No Fears have been aimed at pairs with an average NGS grade of 9 or lower.  

Thee competitions are hosted on RealBridge so that you get to see and talk to your partner and the opposition – it is as close to face-to-face as we can get. If you haven’t played on RealBridge yet, you can log on to RealBridge and play some practice games.  Free taster RealBridge sessions are held once a week, mainly on Sunday evenings (these have to be booked at least 2 hours in advance).  Click here to test your camera on RealBridge.

The championship pairs, a green-pointed event, was played on Sunday 5th March 2023 at Newcastle Bridge Club.  Two Howell sessions were played with 22 boards in each. The result was so tight it was not until the final board that was scored that the winners, Michael McCartney & Martin Church, were decided coming just ahead of Warren Perks & Michael Goodall. Third and fourth places also very close, Tony Togneri & Kevin Goode were third just ahead of John Hartley & Kath Adams.  The top pairs are eligible to play in the Corwen Tropy event on 3rd - 4th June.  Well done all. 

So many thank you's, first to the pair who stood in at the very last minute, to Neil Morley aided by John Whitelock for directing, to Pam for the picture, to Rita for looking after everyone, to Martin and Tracy for providing the great refreshments at the interval and to Judy for all the organisation beforehand to ensure the event ran so smoothly on the day.   

We played our final Midland Counties Online League (Dawes) match of the 2022-23 season on Sunday, 12th March, against Leicestershire. All three teams won, the division 1 team by 13-7 VPs, division 2 by 20-0 VPs, division 3 by 19-1 VPs. Those results should see the Staffshrops teams finish around mid-table in the second and third divisions, and the first team should at least not finish bottom. Thanks and well done for all who played. The final scoring tables are yet to be updated, but can be found at EBU Results | Midland Counties League 2022-23 Division 1. The full results of the day's matches with player lists and travellers can be found at Midland Counties Congress, Warwickshire CBA (bridgewebs.com). 

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

In 2023 any pair that scored over 55% in a club game between 5th Feb and 18th Feb will be entitled to play in the Regional Finals on 26th March (must enter though). The top 50 from the 5 regions progress to National final over a weekend in April.  Club members who have qualified to enter should have been notified by now and will be able to enter through myEBU.

If you have qualified to enter and are not yet an online bridge player there is time to get up and running provided you have a reliable internet connection.

There is to be an EBED Spring Junior Bridge Camp at the Pioneer Centre at Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire DY14 8JG on 15th-16th April 2023. Come and enjoy a packed weekend of bridge tuition and play for young people 8 - 21 years.  (Parents or grandparents are also welcome).  All levels welcome from beginners to junior experts.  See flyer and watch bridge4schools "2023 Spring Junior Camp" for details. See also fund raising event for juniors organised by Oxfordshire Bridge Association played on 19th March where some SSCBA members took part.