St Ives BC Christmas Party🎄

St Ives BC Members
Christmas 🥳🍹Party

10th December 2026
Tregenna Castle 

2 Courses: £21 (normally £31)
3 Courses: £27 (normally £37)

(Includes Tea/Coffee with Bridge afterwards)

Download the menu here

Please contact Sally D-V
with your menu selection.

CORNWALL CONTRACT BRIDGE ASSOCIATION

CONGRATULATIONS 

Owen Prior & Heather Peers 

for coming 3rd 🥉 in the

CCBC AUTUMN PAIRS

Sunday 20th September 2026

Masters of Bridge
Masters of Bridge

70+% Club Percentages

1st Phil D. & Geoff P.  79%  
Nov 30th  2023

2nd Diana S. & Heather U. 76.74%
Oct 12th  2024

3rd Hugh F. & Carol F. 74.21%
August 21st 2025

4th David B. & Graham K. 73.02%  
September 3rd  2026

5th Graham K. & Diane J. 72.84%  
April 12th  2025

6th Bob S. & Carol T. 72.50%
May 28th  2026

7th David C. & Sue D.  71.1%  
May 25th 2023

8th= Colin L. & Phil D.  70.83%  
March 20th  2025

8th= Geoff P. & Phil D.  70.83%  
March 6th  2025

10th Frances B. & Jim B.  70.14%  
March 16th 2023

EBU Bridge Masters

Promotions in 2025-26

National Master
October 2025: Maureen Brinton

Regional Master
February 2025: Judith Williams

★★★★ Premiere Master
February 2025: Heather Peers

★★★ Premiere Master
August 2026: Phil Dickson

★ Master
February 2026: Geoff Plowman

Advanced Master
February 2026: Jackie Royds

Master
March 2025: Graham Kidson
November 2025: Peter Smith

County Master
April 2026: Colin Lee

District Masters
February 2025: Lesley Pool
October 2025: Sarah Bell
January 2026: Sally Denham-Vaughan
February 2026: Jilly Whitaker
July 2026: David Batchelor

Area Master
September 2025: Heather Rogers
November 2025: Eugene Pitts

Club Master
November 2025: Paul Cheetham
November 2025: Helen Jones
December 2025: Jim Denham-Vaughan
April 2026: Julie Brice

 

NGS Partnership Leaders

Phil Dickson & Geoff Plowman
  J   55.44%

Owen Prior & Heather Peers  
 10  54.73%

Owen Prior & Pat Meade
 10  54.24%

NGS Individual Leaders

Phil Dickson  Q  57.90%

Heather Peers  J  56.87%

Colin Lee  J  55.78%

To see your own scores please login to MyEBU on the EBU website 

 

Ray Bliss Cup
(After 9th Round)

1st Phil Dickson & Geoff Plowman 61.49%

2nd David Batchelor & Graham Kidson 61.15%

3rd Frances Barker & Maureen Brinton 54.01%

🏆

Contact us

You can contact

Jim Barker 

jimfrances@talktalk.net

Tel:  01736 794134

Website managed by Jim Denham-Vaughan

Recent Updates
Home Page
8th Oct 2026 15:00 BST
Ray Bliss Cup Results
6th Oct 2026 09:00 BST
St Ives BC Christmas Party🎄
12th Sep 2026 14:04 BST
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Pages viewed in 2026
Release 2.19r
Welcome to St. Ives Bridge Club

Welcome to 

♠♥​​​​♦♣  ​​​​​​

St Ives Bridge Club!

St Ives Bridge Club
St Ives Bridge Club

Come and Join Us!

 We play live duplicate bridge at St Johns Church Hall TR26 2JJ every Thursday starting at 6:30pm

If you wish to play please contact Jim Barker 

at jimfrances@talktalk.net or phone (01736 794134)

Cost

Members: £3 per session

Non Members: £4 per session

Membership: £5 per annum

 

If you need to find a partner for our Thursday Session

please contact Jim Barker

at jimfrances@talktalk.net or phone (01736 794134)

Do you want to learn to play Bridge?

Please head to our sister club site at Carbis Bay Bridge Club
who meet on a Monday afternoon. Beginners welcome!
Contact Graham Kidson or Jim Barker for further details.

 

 

New Bridge News Autumn 2026

For previous editions go to the
New Bridge News Archive 

www.bridgeforpleasure.co.uk

New Mini-Series: Should I Play or Should I Go?

Has someone been spectacularly rude to you at the bridge table? Have you ever delivered a comeback you were particularly proud of? Has an opponent been so annoying that, when you finally lashed out, they only had themselves to blame? Or perhaps you were the one who crossed the line.

Should I Play or Should I Go? are looking for funny, outrageous, uncomfortable, petty, satisfying and deeply human stories about bad behaviour at the bridge table (yours or theirs)for a bonus podcast. Names can be changed to protect the guilty. 

Email sorrypartnerpodcast@gmail.com with your anecdotes of what happened.

4: Larry Cohen on Partners, Postmortems and Playing Nice

In episode 4, We talk with Larry Cohen about why people can become so critical at the table, what to do when a partner starts telling you what you’ve done wrong, and why you shouldn’t necessarily assume that the person criticising you knows what they’re talking about. Larry also makes a wonderfully simple point: if you make your partner feel bad, they are almost certainly going to play worse. Whatever you thought you were achieving by berating them, you are probably achieving the opposite.

 

 

 

3: Kim Frazer on Confidence, Competition & the Voice in Your Head

In episode 3, Australian bridge champion, Olympian and sports psychology author Kim Frazer joins Catherine to talk about confidence, self-talk and performing under pressure. They discuss playing against stronger opponents, learning to focus on what went right as well as what went wrong, setting realistic goals, dealing with disappointment, and what to do when somebody else’s judgment gets stuck in your head.

 

 

SORRY, PARTNER is a hit podcast about bridge (the card game) and the worldwide community of bridge players. For more information go to the Sorry Partner Webpage.

 

    

August "Updates from Aylesbury"

The latest August edition of EBU News "Updates from Aylesbury" is available.

This month includes news of an upcoming EBU Bridge podcast called "Table Talk"

plus details of EBU competitions being run this year.

Previous updates can be found in the EBU Communications Archive.

 

🛳Bridge Cruising

Bridge at Sea is a free resource for bridge players who cruise — it includes a Cruise Finder covering all major UK lines, free offline bridge apps, and duplicate movement cards.

Everything is free to join.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓

Bridge at Sea are putting together group cruises, in October, November & December.
"Best Player" Diploma Awarded to the top pair in each session.

If you are interested in joining go to 
https://bridgescorer.com/featured-cruises/

Free Bridge downloads & apps
https://bridgescorer.com/downloads/

⚓ ⚓ ⚓

For more information on Bridge at Sea download the
"Bridge at Sea" poster

or visit the website at 
https://bridgescorer.com

🛳

EBU and Bridge.com

The EBU have informed us of a new website called Bridge.com, which aims to provide an international platform for the Bridge community.

It's early days, but one initial project is to have a map of bridge clubs, including St Ives. It is hoped to increase our visibility, reach new audiences, and better connect with players at all levels.

To view the website visit

Honour Bound?

Honour Bound?

The contract is 3NT by North

Play so far (East leads, South is Dummy):
East South West North Comment
2♠  3♠  J♠  7♠  Trick 1 to W
A♥  10♥  6♥  2♥  Trick 2 to E
Q♠  ??     Does S play K♠?

 

E/W have cleverly discerned that K♠ is N/S only honour (stopper) in Spades.
Should South play it on the Q♠ knowing it might be taken by the A♠ in West?

Yes! South should play the K♠

Explanation: If the A♠  is in West, N/S will lose the trick (they do anyway), BUT their remaining Spades will be master cards.

If South ducks, East wins the trick with the Q♠  and E/W retain the A♠. Thus they will make at least 3 tricks in Spades, and N/S will probably go down.

..... see less

Director's Call: Responder Doubles their Partner's Bid...

This happened at St Ives and proved quite complicated at the time

West illegally doubled the 1♠  bid made by East

The illegal double (intended as a negative double) provided information to East about West's hand 

 

*West's illegal (negative) double of their partner East's bid
North East South West
1♦  1♠  Pass X*
??      

As Director, what should you do...

.

EBU LAW 36 - INADMISSIBLE DOUBLES AND REDOUBLES. ..........

..... see more
Carbis Bay Bridge Club

Carbis Bay Bridge Club

Carbis Bay Bridge Club meets weekly on a Monday afternoon from from 2pm – 5pm
We also hold one duplicate session a month (usually on the 4th Friday) at

The Memorial Hall, Trencrom Lane, Carbis Bay TR26 2TA.

We are a mixed ability group from complete beginners to seasoned hands with the more experienced players always ready to help those with less experience. We welcome complete beginners who want to learn the game but also improvers keen to advance their game. The club is very fortunate to have Jim Barker as our Bridge Tutor. Jim is a Professional member of the EBTA (English Bridge Teachers Association) and is also a Cornwall County Bridge Director and Secretary of St Ives Bridge Club.

 

To join us please contact Graham Kidson  (01736 762512) or Jim Barker  (01736 794134)
or just turn up at the hall

Penwith Pairs

 

♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 

Penwith Pairs Saturday Bridge

Carbis Bay and Penzance Improvers are jointly running Saturday afternoon duplicate sessions once a month on the second Saturday of each month.  These are open to all levels of duplicate players and include afternoon tea.

They are held at Leedstown Village Hall,

Leedstown, Hayle TR27 6DQ,

situated near the middle of Leedstown on the B3302.

Parking is available beside the hall.

The Hall is open from 1.30 pm  for a 2pm start. Table money is £5 per person including afternoon tea (cash only).  You need to register as a pair.   If you would like to play. then please email Jane Ritchie or phone her on 01736 711818. 

Penwith Pairs
Results
Ray Bliss Cup
Director: Jim Barker
Scorer: Jim Denham-Vaughan
Host: Jim Barker
Carbis Bay Duplicate
Director: Graham Kidson
Scorer: JIm Denham-Vaughan
Host: Graham Kidson
St Ives Duplicate Pairs
Director: Jim Barker
Scorer: Jim Denham-Vaughan
Host: Jim Barker
Calendar
Thu 8th October 2026
St Ives Duplicate Pairs
St John's Church Hall 6.30pm
Director: Jim Barker
Host: Jim Barker
Sat 10th October 2026
Penwith Pairs
Leedstown Village Hall 2pm
Scorer: Graham Kidson
Host: Jane Ritchie
Thu 15th October 2026
St Ives Duplicate Pairs
St John's Church Hall 6.30pm
Director: Jim Barker
Host: Jim Barker
Thu 22nd October 2026
St Ives Duplicate Pairs
St John's Church Hall 6.30pm
Director: Jim Barker
Host: Jim Barker
Fri 23rd October 2026
Carbis Bay Duplicate
Memorial Hall 1.30pm
Director: Graham Kidson
Host: Graham Kidson
Thu 29th October 2026
St Ives Duplicate Pairs
St John's Church Hall 6.30pm
Director: Jim Barker
Host: Jim Barker
This Weeks Duplicate Pairs
 

St Ives Duplicate Bridge

Thursday 

8th October 6.30pm

Contact Jim Barker if you want to play
(preferably with a partner)
jimfrances@talktalk.net

Bob S & Owen

Betty & Jose

Brenda & Lesley P

David B & Jane

Frances & Sally

Geoff & Phil D

Graham & Patsy

Jim Barker & Steve

Julie H & Phil H

 Marita & Jenny

 

Liz Shrivell would like a partner 

liz.shrivell123@btinternet.com

01209 717871

 

If you would like to play please email: jimfrances@talktalk.net 

If you decide at the last minute (after 4pm Thursday) please ring 01736 794134

Carbis Bay Duplicate Pairs
 

Carbis Bay Duplicate Pairs

Next on Friday 23rd October 2026 1.15pm

 

Contact Graham Kidson if you want to play (preferably with a partner)

Penwith Pairs at Leedstown
 

Penwith Pairs Duplicate

Next on Saturday 10th October 2026 at 1.45pm

 

Contact Jane Ritchie if you want to play (preferably with a partner).

 

Announce or Alert?

Bridge Etiquette: Announce or Alert?

When should you "alert" and when
"announce" a conventional bid?

The answer may surprise you!

 

Announce:

Stayman & Transfers: When you open 1NT and your partner responds 2 ♣  you ANNOUNCE “Stayman”

Also if your partner responds 2♦  or 2♥  you ANNOUNCE “Transfer to ♥  or ♠ ”; or just the suit shown

 e.g. 1NT, Pass, 2♥  - opener announces “Spades”

 

Pre-emptive Weak Bids: If your partner opens a WEAK 2 or 3 bid you ANNOUNCE “Weak”

 

Alert:

Strong 2 Bids: If your partner opens a strong & conventional 2♣  or 2♦  bid you ALERT with the  ALERT  card

 

All other conventional bids: If your partner makes a conventional bid in the first round you must  ALERT 

 

After the first round you must  ALERT  any conventional bids by your partner up to 3NT

You DO NOT ALERT any conventional bids above 3NT after the first round.

 

At your turn to bid you may ask the conventional bidder’s partner for the meaning of the bid

If they can’t tell you... Call the Tournament Director!