On 29th March 2026 a very successful County Championship Pairs event for the Bearn Trophies. The winners were Paul Hackett & Mike Goldsmith (62.3%), with the minor placings taken by Martin Aherne & Steve Smith (61.1%) and Tracy Aherne & Mark Booth (58.1%). All will be invited to represent the county, at the Corwen Trophy late May.

Thanks to Martin and NuLBC for hosting, James V for directing, and Tracy for a wonderful buffet.

The equivalent Teams event is to be held at NuLBC on 26th April, and entries will now be taken for that. The cost per team will be £72, and the winners will represent the county at the Pachabo, online on RealBridge over the weekend of 13th and 14th July. This will again be played in two sessions with a substantial buffet lunch. Starting at 11 am and finishing around 6. The latter being dependent on table numbers, movements and boards to be played. I should stress that these events, whilst been county events, are played in the friendliest and congenial of atmospheres, and have been thoroughly enjoyed by all, regardless of bridge experience or rating. I would encourage as many as possible to enter.

To enter please can the captain email me, with his teammates and the 4 ebu numbers of the team. All members of the team should be county members. Payments should be made to the county competition account ; Staffordshire and Shropshire County Bridge Association 30-98-00 00878880, with the reference being the team captain's name.

I will now also take entries for the County Mixed Pairs, to be held again in NuLBC on Sunday 10th May. Again this will take the same format, double session with substantial buffet lunch, estimated cost for this will be £30 per pair.

In addition to these events, there are for the less experienced among us a 9 High (NGS rating) competition  held on Easter Monday, there were two sessions available and players can play in either or both - details can be found here https://www.bridgewebs.com/cgi-bin/bwor/bw.cgi?club=kent&pid=display_page89 .

The county leagues continue, and near their conclusion. Cutler leads Division 1, with an average score of 13.7, followed by Vickers and Nelson joint second both on 11.8. Sheila Gifford's team has won Div 2, congratulations, closely followed by Carol Kane in 2nd place. It should be noted that this was a close run thing, with the winners averaging less than 12 (20 VPS are available per match) and the 4th placed team 8.5 VPs per match.

We look forward to seeing you at the bridge table

Best, Tony