I am pleased to be asked to edit the fourth Bulletin of this year. I first became involved in County Bridge approximately ten years ago, albeit at grass roots level, playing in the occasional heat of the Bearn. It is my own personal belief that this year has seen the most progressive County Committee in this time. There will, nevertheless, always be criticisms - the Committee is fully aware that the venue for, certain County events at Stafford have not been entirely satisfactory. The Committee knows that there was a snag with the movement in one of the finals of the County competitions. The Committee regrets that there has been a small delay in notifying, results of final events to constituent clubs. There has also been the odd criticism concerning the qualification for the Bearn semi­-finals, and the method of ascertaining the results for the Newcastle Pairs/Teams Event.

To me, whilst valid criticisms, they are rather insignificant when compared to all the good work your Committee has done this year. The other side of the coin has seen a positive endeavour from your Committee to promote bridge at all levels within the County. The introduction of a Club Masters and Local Masters Final, it is hoped, will be an exciting innovation. County membership has increased considerably - an encouraging sign for your Committee. Entries for the finals of the County competitions, which were not so long ago were becoming obsolete, have improved considerably. The new format for the Bearn and County Knock-out teams-of-four has also added new interest to these competitions. The League Teams-of-Four goes from strength to strength. County trials have been started for the second team. The Staffordshire first team has made: its best start for years in the Dawes Trophy for 1976. And for the first time in its history Staffordshire has won the Tolly, the Inter-Counties Teams-of-Eight Competition. The efforts of this year have been collective, but there is little doubt the enthusiasm of our new Secretary, Mr. John Hudson, has done a great deal towards this new enthusiasm for bridge at County level. I am sure that the rank and. file would be amazed if they knew how much work he has put in.

We now come to the new year, 1976/77, and the Annual General Meeting on 21st May. A copy of the Agenda is enclosed, from which you will see that are certain items on which your new committee would welcome the views of the general membership. It is hoped therefore that as many members as possible will attend. It is also hoped that the Agenda will form the basis of a lively discussion at the A.G.M., and for this reason I choose not to make any editorial comment. The annual reports of the Chairman, Captain, Secretary and Treasurer will also be made at the A.G.M., and for this reason they have chosen not to make their usual report in the Bulletin.

On reflection, I shall make one comment. Please study the A.G.M. literature carefully, and air your views at the meeting. This bulletin, with the demanding business of the A.G.M., is deliberately short. It merely summaries the results of the County competitions, and gives a more detailed report on the final of the Tollemache.

Review of the County Events in 1975/76

There has been a better entry in every event this year when compared with last year. This hopefully points to the County staging events players really want. The committee are only too well aware of the shortcomings that have occurred; and are determined to see that organisation and tournament direction are improved. The latter is the biggest problem - finding competent tournament directors who have the time to give to this rather tedious job is no easy task.

Congratulations to the winners of:

Tollemache Final

As I travelled down to Droitwich with Dave Downs, Bob Beech and Arthur Bloxham for the final, we discussed our prospects. We all agreed that we were in for an excellent weekends bridge, when we would be competing against the other four finalists who had qualified from the original entry of 30 teams. The North-West, with Blank and Lipworth, Buck and Semp etc, the current holders of the Tolly, presented formidable opposition. Middlesex, with the Sharples brothers, Rockfeld and Swimer etc, looked to be very strong contenders. London, with Nicola Gardener in their midst. seemed to be a good bet. Well, we decided we would enjoy our bridge, and if all went well, said one of our company, who shall remain nameless, we could edge Somerset into bottom place.

We arrived at Droitwich to join our team-mates, Alan Monckton and Ian Bieganski, Phil Topley and Peter Tottenham. There was a brief team talk, in which our captain, Alan Monckton, warned us off bidding dodgy slams. Although Alan left this to our judgement, at IMP scoring the odds suggest that small slams and grand slams should be bid when the probability of success is 50% and 60% respectively.

And so into battle - three sessions of seven boards each against each County. Dave and I started off against Somerset, and a rather impetuous double by me on the first board of the afternoon cost us dearly. Sitting with:

I opened 1D non-vul against non-vul. The man on my left overcalled 1NT (15-16), and the bidding returned to me. Double, said I, which was passed out. Dummy went down with rather a nice looking six count. As the play proceeded, I was end-played and squeezed, with the result that declarer made two overtricks for a score of 480. It was generally agreed at the inquest that to double in this situation you need about 19 points, or have compensating values with a long suit you expect partner to lead. We also missed a good 5D contract, after partner devalued his hand (or so he said) after a semi-psychic double by the opposition. These two boards largely accounted for our 16 imp deficit against Somerset after the first seven boards. Perhaps we wouldn't edge them into bottom place!

Next came London, followed by the North-West and Middlesex. The team had some good boards, mingled in with some rather expensive slam bids, which cost us points.

After the afternoon session, our imps position against each County was as follows:

As in the qualifying heat, it was not a particularly inspiring start, but a good session on Saturday night moved us into a strong position. Against Somerset neither of our East-West pairs bid to 6C on the following:

The match against Middlesex presents me with the opportunity to let you compare your declarer play with that of Bob Sharples. As East, vul against non-vul, you are playing in 3NT after the following auction:

South leads the Queen of spades, and dummy goes down with

At the end of Saturday night our position was:

We were certainly in with a shout when the final session started on Sunday morning, but it was going to be a very close thing. A very tight game of bridge followed and our final scores were:

Which gave us a total of 27 VP's.

The various teams went into a huddle, only to find that Middlesex and North-West had also obtained 27 VP's. It was then the Tournament Director's turn to go into a huddle, and he emerged after about five minutes to declare Staffordshire the winners of the three way tie.

Well, having beaten Warwickshire on a split-tie in the qualifying heat, we already had the stamina to compete in these close finishes! Ironically, a week later, one half of the team competed in Warwickshire's Frank Cup, being the equivalent of our Coronation Cup. Myself and partner, Bob Beech and Arthur Bloxham won - on a split tie (!) against Warwickshire's representatives.

G. C. Davies

STAFFORDSHIRE CONTRACT BRIDGE ASSOCIATION

Annual General Meeting 1976

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting will be held at the Stychfields Hall, Stafford on Friday, May 21st at 7.30 p.m.

The Agenda and Programme are as follows:-

1. Apologies
2. Minutes of the last A.G.M. read and approved
3. Matters arising
4. Secretary's report
5. Treasurer's report
6. Captain's report
7. Chairman's report
8. Presentation of prizes
9. Election of Officers
      Recommended by 1975/76 Committee
      Chairman F. Dumbleton (Newcastle)
      Vice-Chairman J. Riley (Chasetown)
      Secretary J. Hudson (Basford)
      Treasurer D. Marshall (Stafford)
      Captain H.P. Dash (Stafford)
      Bulletin Editor G.C. Davies (Stafford)
      Master Points Secretary Mrs. B. Johnson (Wolverhampton)    E.B.U. Representative To be nominated.
      Other nominations should he made in writing to the Secretary at least seven days before the meeting.
10. To consider the following recommendations of the County Committee :-
    (a) That the County subscription should be increased from £1.50p to £2.00 for single members and from £,2.50 to £3.50 for married couples.
    (b) That the Club Affiliation Fee shall remain at £4.00.
    Note
    At the present time 50p of the membership fee is submitted to the English Bridge Union, so that Members may become a member of that body. The E.B.U. are increasing this levy by 50p to £1
11. To consider the following recommendation the County Committee :-
    That the end of the financial year of the County Association be changed from 31st March to 15th May, for future years.
    Note: At the present time, the annual balance sheet does not give a full picture of the year's finances, with the money from certain events played after 31st of March being carried forward to the following year's accounts.
12. To consider the formats for the County competitions as proposed by the Committee and described below in Appendix 'A'
13. To consider the County calendar for 1976/77, as proposed by the Committee and described below in Appendix 'B'.
14. To consider the following proposition of the Secretary:-
    That the Committee be empowered to reimburse members invited to play for the County part, or all, of their out-of-pocket expenses. The amounts to be reimbursed are to be left to the discretion of the County Committee
15. Any other business

Please note that any points of substance to be raised under this heading should be notified in writing to the Secretary at least seven days before the meeting.
If time allows, a short teams-of-four competition will follow, in which teams and partnerships are determined by draw.

Appendix 'A'

Editor: G.C. Davies, 270 Sandon Road, Stafford. Tel: Home. Stafford 3869, Work. Stafford 3121