Chris Green (plus the combined brains at I & K!) unveil new web feature 

A new monthly column which aims to help a wide range of players bid hands of varying complexity is being produced for this website by Chris Green.

In addition to playing for Suffolk, Chris runs teaching courses in the Ipswich area and he will seek out the top brains of regular players at the Ipswich & Kesgrave club to help him with The Auction.

Eight boards will be featured each month and the wonders of this website’s software means initially the answer to the bidding conundrum (and often one or more hands) will be hidden from view while players reach their own conclusions.  

The bidding system will be based on the EBU teaching course (click CONVENTION CARD): weak No-Trump, four card majors, Stayman, Transfers, 3 weak twos etc. To see this month’s hands just click on THE AUCTION

The Auction is the latest bidding/play feature on Suffolk Bridge and is intended to complement Suffolk at the Nationals by Malcolm Pryor, More or Less by Norman Less and Captain's Log by Rick Hanley.

Three significant changes to the Suffolk events calendar for 2019 have been agreed by the county's bridge association.

For the first time, the Senior Pairs will be staged at multiple venues on the same day, to enable more players to take part.

The competition on Wednesday 10 July will take place in the evening at Clare (its traditional home) and Nowton Park (home of Abbeygate bridge club) and in the afternoon at Ipswich & Kesgrave.

Staging events at a geographical spread of locations was one of the suggestions made at a meeting of club representatives organised by the county last year. Another idea from that meeting has resulted in the Ladies, Mens, Mixed, Married Pairs being amalgamated into a new Suffolk Autumn Pairs on Sunday 15 September.

The SCBA has also responded to the enforced absence of club bridge for up to a fortnight over Christmas and the New Year by agreeing to stage the Bah Humbug Pairs on Sunday 29 December at Elmswell.

The new event will involve a late morning start and around 32 boards. In addition to a prize for the overall winners, there will also be a Handicap (based on NGS grades) prize - not to mention the best mince pies in Suffolk and a glass of something festive. More details in due course.

A chance remark during a recent Winter League match revealed that the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

Two members of the original group who met in 1979 to restart the association - Phillip Edwards (left) and Malcolm Carey - are still active in the county today and Phillip has very kindly penned a potted history of the SCBA.

In it he also explains the geographical anomaly within the SCBA which means clubs from north east Essex are included but clubs from north Suffolk are excluded. To read more click 40thANNIVERSARY

David Willson & Simon Riley	Din Gudka & Cathy Rowland

You remember playing in your Club's heat of the Suffolk Championship Pairs last October?

Pairs scoring over 50% qualified for the Semi-final played in February and the top 24 pairs there qualified for the Final in April.

And the top three in the Final were eligible to represent Suffolk in the Corwen Trophy - which was played on June 1/2 in Daventry. 

Just two pairs went to Daventry, David Willson/Simon Riley and Din Gudka/Cathy Rowland, and both finished in the top half of a very strong field. Congratulations to the four of them. Click CORWEN to see the full results, and SUFFOLK to read Malcolm Pryor's analysis

The annual general meeting of the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association was the best attended for years.

Forty nine people made it to Assington village hall to hear about the activities, achievements and finances of the association over the past 12 months and nearly all stayed on for bridge afterwards - won by Malcolm & Barbara Carey (click on RESULT to see all the scores).

In his chairman's report, Jeff Orton said the SCBA now had 22 affiliated clubs following the recent addition of Dovercourt bridge club. Following a break of several years, the committee held a 'very constructive' meeting with representatives of clubs and this would be repeated in July, when some non-affiliated clubs would also be invited.

He underlined the 'increasingly firm line' taken by the association against bad behaviour. A new conduct committee had examined three incidents and taken action where appropriate. He also touched on the changes to the website which appeared popular - with more than 33,000 hits so far this year - and changes to the make up of the committee.

Jacks Morcombe, the new chief Tournament Director, has joined the committee together with Paddy Lockwood. A third person will be co-opted to fill the recent vacancy of general secretary. To read his report in full, click on CHAIRMAN.

Chris Rickard, the competitions secretary, reported good attendance at most events and in response to numerous requests the starting times of some events had been brought forward to 11am or noon. Click on COMPETITIONS to read her full report and WINNERS to see who was successful in comnpetitions during the year.

Roger Tattersfield, the treasurer, reported on a 'very satisfactory' year with a surplus despite investing in long term initiatives which should benefit bridge in Suffolk. To obtain more details about the finances click on TREASURER and email Roger.

Debby & Maria win Championship Pairs for the fourth time

A nail biting finish to the final of the Suffolk Championship Pairs ended with Debby Sutcliffe and Maria Allnutt winning the event for the fourth time.

After six and a half hours of play and the result of the final board still awaited, Jane & Andrew Moore held the narrowest of leads over Debby and Maria. But when the last score was punched in via the Bridgemate the positions were reversed. Eric Newman & Mike Sherer were third, ahead of Jo Harpur and Conor Bignell.

The winners first landed the Championship Pairs back in 1991-2 and also were successful in 2011-2 and 2014-5. 

Unusally, all 24 pairs who qualified for the final back in February stood their ground and contested the final. To see all the scores, click on FINAL

A decent turnout of 30 pairs took part in the Mid Anglia Pairs at Woodbridge on Sunday but it is doubtful if there has been such a wide margin victory in the recent history of bridge locally as that achieved by Malcolm and Karen Pryor.

By half-time the England Seniors player and his partner enjoyed a virtually unassailable lead and far from resting on their laurels, they kept their foot firmly on the pedal to finally notch up a score of +125. IMPs - more than 50 IMPs ahead of runners-up Din Gudka and Cathy Rowland. Suffolk captain Rick Hanley and Andre Gray were third.

With a reasonable turnout of county players, not to mention England youngsters Liam and Jamie Fegarty who partnered their parents, Catherine Curtis and Paul Fegarty, the annual renewal of the Mid Anglia appeared to be up to strength.

To see the full results click on MID ANGLIA. For a flavour of the day, click on PHOTO GALLERY.

GOOD MANNERS: Is it too much to ask?

Loosely interpreted, the EBUs 'Best Behaviour at Bridge' owes much to Manners Makyth Man, the motto of William of Wykeham - and Winchester College and New College, Oxford - both of which he founded in the 14th Century.

Indeed, the EBUs CODE, which asks players to be pleasant to each other and the director, might be better named Best Manners at Bridge.

The Suffolk bridge committee is taking a particularly strong line on 'bad behaviour/manners' and cracking down on anyone found to be in breach of the code. As with most counties, the culprits in Suffolk can be counted on the fingers of one hand - but that is a handful too many.

To highlight the issue, this website is running a series of cartoon strips devised by Peter Bushby (see below), and an article (click on 2½ No Trumps) by Glyn Button, the chairman of Framlingham bridge club, whose regular blog has delighted so many readers.

To see older items please click on NEWS ARCHIVE