Peter Jones, member of Newcastle bridge club, won the Second Mutton cup satellite thus gaining entry to the final in Madrid August 13th - !5th August.  Peter being able to take part will be confirmed when the inbound quarantine from Spain to the U.K. is lifted (expected to be this week)

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 23^rd. 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.

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No Fear Pairs - Thursday 27th February 2020. This day time event took place at Wolverhampton Bridge Club 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 Michael & Hilary Sedgley 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.  

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Championship Pairs - Played Sunday 8th March 2020

This all play all green pointed event was played at the County HQ, Wolverhampton Bridge Club on Sunday 8th March in two sessions with a total of 45 boards.  The winners were Paul Hackett & David Debbage with Kath Adams & John Hartley second and James Vickers & Martin Church third.  These first three pairs have qualified to play in the national event for the Corwen Trophy on 30th and 31st May 2020 at Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre, Milton Keynes,  MK7 6BZ.  

Four Pairs from this event will be invited to represent the County in the Edgar Foster Cups to be held on 20th September 2020, this year hosted by Staffs and Shropshire.

Many thanks are due to James Vickers for directing and scoring, Jeff Jones for the organisation and Tracy Aherne for the catering.

The Congress has to be cancelled in line with EBU and other directives regarding Coronavirus. Judy Mitchell will be contacting those who have entered and sent money so that she can refund them..

County members will also be sorry to learn about Harold who passed away on 15th March. He was 91 which by coincidence was the same age as Marion.

Harold first joined Newcastle Bridge Club in the 60’s and became a regular Tuesday and Thursday nighter until recently when his long illness made it difficult to attend. Over the years Harold has also been a member of the Club Committee in various roles.

Harold was a very good player who enjoyed considerable success at Newcastle. He was also selected to play for the County in Dawes matches, the Teams league with neighbouring Midlands Counties. Harold also enjoyed success at weekend EBU congresses.

Harold’s service with family members took place during the Coronavirus situation. If a Memorial Service is held, details will appear later on County website. 

SSCBA has just been advised by Ray Stubbs that Marion Jordan of Newcastle Bridge Club died on  Friday 17th April.    Ray passes on the message from the family about future arrangements:

“Clearly it is difficult to make firm arrangements in these challenging times. Flowers are not really practical so if you feel you would like to do something immediately then feel free to kindly make a donation to any charity of your choice.

The funeral by necessity will need to be low key but we do plan to have a larger scale memorial / celebration later in the year when normal life returns. It doesn't make sense to choose a date now but we will keep you informed and I know Marion would love to have as many of you there as practically possible.”

County Simultaneous Pairs - Played at clubs on Monday 27th January 2020

6 clubs took part in this event, results in from all 6 with a total of 39 tables as of Tuesday 28th January just short of midnight, thanks to John Withers burning the midnight oil.  First are Linda & Paul Laughlin (playing at Stafford, pictured), with Robert Hunt & Cyril Walker (Oswestry) second by a short head from Mike Sherriff  & Robin Adey (Stafford) who were themselves a short head from Val Prentice & Jill Bird (Nantwich) now fourth after the 6th club's results included.   Slight increase in the numbers taking part this year, 35 tables last year.  Many thanks to John Withers and Jeff Jones for all the work they put in to make the event so successful. Next SSCBA sim pairs is Wednesday 12th August 2020.

Congratulations to Kevin Goode and Peter Cartwright, and Helen and Peter Lees, who finished second and third in the Edgar Foster Cups on Sunday 22nd September 2019. Sadly, it wasn't quite enough to bring home the trophy, which was lost on a tie-break to Warwickshire. Full results can be seen here. .

Staffs and Shrops finished 5th of 9 in group D of this national event played in Daventry over the weekend 16th/17th November.  SSCBA had 4 wins & 4 defeats. Wins against:

• Berks and Bucks, the eventual winners, their only defeat
• Norfolk,
• Warwickshire,
• Northants.

Team :  Paul Hackett  & David Debbage, Jason Hackett  & Adrian Kenworthy, David Beavon & James Vickers, Geoff Davies & Paul Cutler.
 

The AGM was held on Sunday, 1st September 2019. An EGM was held in order to ratify the Proposal by the Committee that the current rate of the county fee paid via P2P should remain at 6p per session per player, which was agreed nem con but without a quorum at the Annual General Meeting held on Sunday 1st September 2019.  The motion was passed at the EGM.

European Championship Jason and Justin Hackett were in the winning team in Turkey at the European Championship Open Teams competition representing England.  The event started 15th June 2019 in Istanbul.

Spring Foursomes

Jason and Justin Hacket were in the winning Scharpiro Spring Foursomes team, played 3rd - 7th May 2019

National Swiss Teams

On May 12th 2019 Dave Debbage and Paul Hackett finished second in the National Swiss Teams with team mates Croz Croswall and John Sansom.  

Buffett Cup

The Hackett family much involved in the European team taking part in the Buffett Cup April 2019 in China, in the southern coastal city of Haikou, capital of Hainan Province. Paul was captain and Jason and Justin both in the team. The final result was down to the last board with Europe finally losing to the USA and China coming third.

The County Mixed Pairs took place at Wolverhampton Bridge Club on Thursday 13th June 2019.  The winners were John Withers & Judy Mitchell, with Roger & Elaine Taylor second and Dan Crofts & Celia Day coming third.  Congratulations all.

Trying to attract a younger demographic to the game of bridge, the Students’ Union at Staffordshire University are offering their current students 4 taster sessions.  These will be held from 4-6pm on Wednesday March 27th, April 3rd, May 1st and 8th.  Newcastle-under-Lyme Bridge Club members have kindly offered to come to the university to deliver sessions to the students.  It is hoped that students are inspired and may set up a bridge club at the university but let’s not get ahead of ourselves as firstly, we need to entice the students to try the game.  If you know of any Staffordshire University students or staff please encourage them to go along.  A report will follow these events.

The winners of the Swiss Pairs are Giles and Gabriel Ip from Norfolk, narrowly beating Sandra Nicholson & Krys Kazmierczak in second, with Eddie Lucioni & John Dakin in third.

There joint winners for the Swiss Teams:

Giles & Gabriel Ip, John Dakin & Eddie Lucioni (who received the trophy) and Sheila Shea, Edward Jones, Wyn Williams and Margaret Barnes. In third were Andrew Thompson, Tom Fisken, Dan Crofts, Ollie Burgess.
  
Very sadly, because of the diminishing numbers entering the Swiss Teams over recent years, and particularly this year, there will no Swiss Teams next year.   We hope that there will be a one-day Swiss Pairs on Saturday 25th April 2020.
 

Phil Topley passed away on May 1st aged 94.  He will be remembered fondly by some of the longer standing members of the County.  Phil was one of the earlier grandmasters and won many competitions at both club and county level.  He was also very successful at national level.  Over the years he won most of the major national competitions.  He also represented England at national level.

His first major success was to be in the winning Gold Cup team in 1955.  The captain of the winning gold cup team in the previous 3 years was no other than Terence Reese, a prolific author who to this day is still regarded by many as the greatest ever British player.  An early testament to Phil's immense ability. He also won the Crockford's cup, another of the EBU's prestigious teams competitions.  The list goes on, national life masters, seniors  teams (won 4 times from 2000 to 2006).  He also won the Tollemache Cup, the inter county teams of 8; firstly in 1955, again in 1956, playing for the North West and then in 1976, being the only time Staffordshire has won the Tolly.  Over the years Phil played locally at Stafford, Newcastle and Wolverhampton.

Phil was very supportive of his partners who always appreciated his helpful advice.

Our thoughts at this time are with his wife Ann who was a regular player at Stafford during Phil's time at the Stafford club.

Phil's funeral will be on Thursday 23rd May 3 o’clock at Stafford Crematorium.

The SSCBA Championship Pairs, previously the Bearn, were played at Woverhampton Bridge Club on Sunday 17th March. The winners were Mike Cornes & Annette Lucas with Barbara Hackett & Dan Crofts second and Keith Shuttleworth & Brian Nicholls third. Apologies no photographer on hand, archive picture used from an Edgar Foster cup event!  The top players may go on to compete for the Corwen Trophy, a national event, on 1st/2nd June in Daventry.  The SSCBA team for the Edgar Foster Cups are also chosen from the results of this competiton which is to be played in Warwickshire this year, date yet TBA.

Paul Hackett playing in the Norwegian team won the open teams event in the Southeast Asia Bridge Federation Championships, Manila, Philippines 1st December 2018. Paul was also in the winning team at the Seniors Trials, 15th - 16th December 2018, which took place at West Midlands Bridge Club.

Jason Hackett playing with Richard Bowdery won the Oviedo tournament on 23rd November 2018 

Many congratulations all.

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The winners of the Shrewsbury Open Swiss Pairs were Michelle Davies & Jolanta Coggle with Patricia & Henry Ramsay second and the non-expert prize going to Linda and David Glasscock.  A most enjoyable afternoon with entries from a wide area, the tea lived up to its billing, "superb" and the prize giving on time, even a few minutes ahead of schedule!  Many thanks are due to Judy and the Shrewsbury club for hosting and organising the event and to James for directing.

Lawrence Haynes playing with Trevor Thrower won the West of England Congress Swiss Pairs played on 29th September 2018. 

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12½ tables took part this year in this popular event at Wolverhampton. The results were:

*Won prize for highest scoring losing %

Many thanks are due to Jeff, for organising, Alma for scoring and Linda and her team for the wonderful lunch

Five clubs took part, Chasetown, Newcastle, Oswestry, Stafford and Wolverhampton with a total of 35 tables. The results are now confirmed as:

A very close result at the top!

The SSCBA Summer Sim Pairs were played at 5 clubs, a total of 38½ tables, on Wednesday 15th August 2018.  The final results are now complete.   The winners were Pam Booth-Jones (SSCBA Chairman) & Tony Leech playing at Wrekin, Barbara Tams & Joyce Maddock playing at Newcastle came second with Mike Cornes & Lawrence Haynes playing at Wrekin third.  Congratulations all.

Northern Mid-Week Congress

Justin Hacket playing with Martin Taylor won the pairs on 22nd August 2018

HCL tournament New Delhi

Jason and Justin won the 2nd prize in the pairs event played 14th August 2018.

Gloucestershire Green Point Event

Congratulations to Dom Wilson and Jeff Jones who came second in the Swiss Pairs at the Glouscestershire Green point event on Sat 21st July in a very close contest with the winners scoring 100 vp  to their 99 vp. 

Midland Counties Challenge Bowl

SSCBA was represented by two teams in this event played at Cheltenham Bridge Club, Gloucesterhire headquarters, on 8th July 2018. Roger Keane's team came third and Dave Clarke's ninth.

Llandudno Swiss Pairs

Jason Hackett playing with and John Sansom won the Llangollen Swiss pairs on 8th July 2018

Hubert Philips Bowl

Some Staffs and Shrops players have done well during 2017/18 season in this competition with Justin Hackett, as a member of Brian Senior's team, eventually being the losing finalists to Paula Leslie's team in the seventh round.  Along the way, in the third round, Brian Senior's team played against Dan Crofts team that also included SSCBA member Celia Day.

A good number of players took part in this competition on the revised date of 14th June following the bad weather earlier in the year.  With 2 board rounds every pair played every other pair, most enjoyable. The winners of the Championship Mixed Pairs were Kath Adams & John Hartley (Stafford) with Pamela Booth-Jones & Tony Leech (Wrekin) second and John Day & Pat Stacey (Newcastle) third.  Winners of the Championship Flitch Pairs were Roger and Elaine Taylor (Wolverhampton).   Many thanks to James Vickers for directing and Jeff Jones for organising the event.

Adrian Kenworthy and Jason Hackett have won the pairs in Cordoba, Spain on 17th/18th March 2018.  In addition to the money prize they also won a ham each!

Nearer home, Barbara Hackett won the Easter Festival Swiss Teams and came fourth in the Swiss Pairs.  Barbara has been selected to play for Germany in the European championships and she came to the Easter tournament to practise with her German partner Anne Gladiotor.  Barbara regularly plays in the SSCBA Dawes team.

Dave Debbage, playing with John Sansom, won the Godiva Swiss Pairs on 14th April at the Coventry Congress.  Several SSCBA players took part in this event.

Who would believe that snow would cause a problem in mid-March.  Unfortunately a number had to pull out due to the road conditions but the competition nevertheless went ahead with a field mainly drawn from those who play in Dawes matches.  Winners were James Vickers & Martin Church, second Paul Cutler & Geoff Davies with Marianne Alexander & Judy Mitchell third.

SSCBA players, Jason Hackett and Richard Bowdery, finished 2nd in the Oslo New Year's Cup teams event, 7th January 2018, with team mates Høines & Hjelvik. Ed Levy and Paul Hackett were second in the Manchester Congress (7th January) and Paul was in the winning team in the teams event 8th January.  Well done all.

On July 18th 2017 Adams Grammar School had a bridge activity day. 60 students took part 40 had not played bridge before the rest had some knowledge. Teacher Collette Lonnigan spoke to them initially about the basics of bridge, then the rest of the day was getting them to play mini-bridge.
Jeff Jones, Jayne Ball, Val Lupton and Linda Curtis helped out for the rest of the day along with another teacher Neil. The students were divided into 3 classrooms the experience was noisy, exhausting but very worthwhile. Young people pick new things up quickly.
When the September Term starts they hope to run Bridge Club on Monday and Friday lunchtime and after school on Wednesday. Jeff Jones and Jayne Ball want to help with this and Linda would like to hear from anyone in the Newport Area that is willing to give up an hour a week to help.
IF YOU CAN HELP PLEASE CONTACT LINDA CURTIS 01902 765027 lcalice@btinternet.com. The future of bridge is young people and we need to get involved to enable this.

Andrew gave two of his inspiring master classes, on Thursday November 23rd at The Stone House Hotel, with sold out afternoon and evening sessions. 

How does Andrew manage to instruct so many of such a wide ability range so well and apparently all so effortlessly?

• Afternoon session  Suit establishment in trump contract, take out double, showing your share.  
• Evening  session    After INT opener, bidding big hands, cheat seat.

Kath Adams hosted the cordon bleu interval meal, where did the story of fish and chips come from?  Very, very many thanks to Kath and her team of helpers.