After a combined 26 years of selfless work for the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association (SCBA), Paul and Chris Rickard have now decided to retire from the SCBA committee. Chris joined the committee in 2012, with Paul joining two years later in 2014. During their period of service for Bridge in Suffolk, they have taken on numerous responsibilities, with Chris becoming Competitions Secretary which involved all the bookings and arrangements in managing multiple events. Paul took on the management of the Suffolk Bridge website; and also qualified as a County Tournament Director, serving as Chief TD for a year. Paul directed numerous county events, as well as operated the County's Dealing machine making up the boards for all Suffolk events. In 2017 they took on responsibility for the Suffolk Congress in Felixstowe until the lockdown era in 2020. They have provided storage for all Suffolk Bridge assets and always ensured that they were delivered in readiness for an event. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to Paul and Chris.

Nick Farr, Chair of the SCBA, thanked Paul and Chris for their outstanding service to the county and presented them with an inscribed Crystal Spirit Decanter, as well as a Bouquet for Chris. He not only praised their tireless contribution to Bridge in Suffolk but also their utter commitment to everything they have done for SCBA events throughout their tenure.

Richard Evans who almost all members of the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association will know, has decided to step back from the committee after an extended period of service to Bridge in Suffolk. Richard founded one of the county's most successful bridge clubs in 2007 at Stansfield, which remains an ever popular and friendly Bridge Club with a great atmosphere, despite being located literally in the middle of nowhere as the club website states!

Richard joined the SCBA committee in 2009 and edited the Tabletalk blog which many players enjoyed reading over the years, until 2014 when he became Vice Chairman of Suffolk Bridge. In 2021 Richard took on the role of SCBA Chairman and remained in that position until late 2023 when for personal reasons he stood down. During Richard's period as Chairman of the SCBA he oversaw the 'Deben' project which was set up to utilise donated funds from the Deben Bridge Club as well as another couple of Bridge Clubs that closed because of rapidly declining numbers resulting from the lockdown era. The Deben project which was very successful supported beginner teaching programmes across the county in conjunction with Suffolk libraries. More recently Richard has been joint County Captain and continues to play for Suffolk in the Eastern Counties League.

Nick Farr the SCBA Chairman thanked Richard for his invaluable contribution to Bridge in Suffolk over many years. To mark his retirement from the Suffolk Bridge committee the SCBA presented Richard who is a fine wine connoisseur, with a case of his favourite wines.

Congratulations to Josh Santinelli-Clarke and Tim Evans, winners of the AGM Pairs event held following the Suffolk Bridge AGM on May 18.

Results can be seen HERE.

The 2025 Championship Pairs was won by Mike O'Reilly & Guy Lesser, with Ron Ion & Eric Wright in second place and Amanda Roberts & Paul Wilcox third.

The event was hard fought over forty-eight boards and at the end the top three pairs were separated by only 2%. Rob Sassoon directed with his usual calm efficiency which contributed greatly to the enjoyment of the day. The top three pairs will now have the opportunity to represent Suffolk in the Corwen Trophy competition where they will compete against the winning players from all other counties. 

The 2026 Woodbridge Mid Anglia Pairs event is being held on Sunday 28th June starting at 11am.

This will be a Blue Pointed event of 30+ boards scored by IMPs with an entry fee of £20/pair.

As usual, the venue will be the Community Hall, Station Road, Woodbridge IP12 4AU.

There will be a mid-session break of around 45 minutes and the event will conclude by 5pm.

It is recommended you bring your own lunch.

Enter HERE or from the main Menu.

**Please Note: Event Now Full - Late entries are on a RESERVE ONLY basis**

  2025 SOTL Winners  

Each year the Malcolm Pryor Trophy is awarded in May for performance in the Suffolk On Line Teams League over the previous year.

The 2025 winners are Malcolm Pryor, Chris Chambers, Chris Green, Michael Sherer & Peter Sutcliffe, with 35 Placing Points. They finished just one Placing Point ahead of Jo Harpur, Eric Newman, Dennis Valtisiaris & Diane Whitley. In third place with 30 Placing Points were Team Orton, and in fourth place with 27 Placing Points were Team Tattersfield.

In total 18 teams received Placing Points during the year, more details on this can be found by clicking Trophy. For previous years results, click Annual SOTL PPs in the Menu on the left of this page.

The SCBA  9 High Corwen qualifier took place on Realbridge on Sunday the 6th April. Despite a disappointing turn out of just 5 full tables, with an 'all play all' movement the players seemed to enjoy the event where they were playing pairs of a similar standard.

It was an extremely close finish going into the final round where up to 7 pairs could have gone on to gain one of the three top places to represent Suffolk in the National final which takes place on RealBridge on Sunday the 31st of May.

The three pairs who qualified for the final where:

Sam Pickering and Caroline Harris         59.7%

Bim and Sam Wilson                                58.3%

Phil Peters and Amanda Roberts            56.4%

Congratulations to them all!

Click HERE for all the scores.

When Bridge Clubs restart, Stowmarket Bridge Club will be running an individual knock-out competition embedded in its regular Wednesday evening & Friday afternoon sessions.

A random draw will be made of the entrants and each player’s first score each month will count.

The competition will be in two groups based on NGS percentage: 50% & above and below 50%. 

Players from other Clubs are invited to take part.

For further details, click HERE

Sixty Suffolk Players made their way to the community centre in Elmswell on Sunday the 17th of May to attend the SCBA Annual General Meeting with the Chairman Nick Farr heading the proceedings.

After the meeting, Paul & Chris Rickard and Richard Evans were presented with gifts from the committee on behalf of the county for their outstanding contribution to bridge in Suffolk (see testimonials.)   After the meeting there was a 24 board pairs event, where we were served with an excellent ‘High tea’ at half-time.

Directed by Sherri Barton and scored by Richard Barton the top three places went to:

• 1st       John Garbutt and Simon Riley on 63% (pictured)
• 2nd      Richard Gorlin and Viv Mason on 62%
• 3rd       Bob Violett and Marlene Chant on 61%

 Click here for the full results.

And click Minutes for details of the AGM Meeting..

Each year the Malcolm Pryor Trophy is awarded in May for performance in the Suffolk On Line Teams League over the previous year. The 2024 winners are Malcolm Pryor, Chris Chambers, Chris Green, Rick Hanley, Michael Sherer, Peter Sutcliffe, with 33 Placing Points. They finished just one Placing Point ahead of Mark Honess, Caroline Gemmell, Andre Gray, John Pearson and David Willson. In joint third place with 28 Placing Points were Team Harpur and Team Orton. In total 18 teams received Placing Points during the year, more details on this and on previous years results can be found by clicking on Trophy

Rick Hanley has stood down as Suffolk captain and, as announced previously, he has been succeeded by Paul Whetton.

Despite have a small pool of players to call on compared to other counties, and with some top Suffolk players choosing not to represent the county, his tenure has been marked by an overall improvement in results, notably by the B and C teams.

Richard Evans, chairman of Suffolk bridge, said: "Rick has been an excellent captain whose enthusiasm, leadership and ideas have inspired the county squad and underpinned its improved performance. He has also shown great courage at a time when he has not enjoyed good health."

Rick (L) & Paul (R)

Bury St Edmunds

April/May 2024

There are still spaces left on this EBED Club Director Course, to be hosted by Abbeygate Bridge Club in the spring. We already have enough entrants to say that the course will definitely go ahead. 

Location: Cavendish Hall Church Road Thurston Bury St. Edmunds Suffolk IP31 3RU

Dates: Sundays, April 7th/21st, May 5th/19th 2024 10:30 to 4:30

For EBED course information click HERE (scroll up for course details). Book via the EBU website, or email Clive Turner or phone Lisa Miller, Monday to Wednesday 01296 317217. The cost is £72 per day for EBU members

Cavendish Hall is just off the A14 near Bury St Edmunds. It is a comfortable well lit venue with plenty of free parking. Refreshments will be available all day

A weekend of Green Pointed Swiss events, run jointly by Herts & Essex, takes place on 18 & 19 July.

To see all the details, click on SWISS

To enter the Swiss Pairs on Saturday 18 July click on PAIRS To enter the Swiss Teams on Sunday 19 July click on TEAMS

A Norfolk quartet of Paul Darby, Steve Dannell, Gabriel Ip and Franklin To won the online East Anglian Bridge Weekend Teams on Sunday. Click on EABW to see all the scores.

David with the world senior championships gold medal in 2009

David Price honoured in recognition of long term excellence

David Price has been awarded the 2022 English Bridge Union Diamond Award 'in recognition of excellence and success over a sustained period for England's international teams.'

The former Suiffolk captain represented his country in all the top international events over a number of decades and won a gold medal in the D'Orsi Bowl (world senior champiopnships) in 2009. His list of domestic successes was equally impressive, with the Gold Cup the only major event to evade him.

The award was marked by Andrew Robson in his daily column in The Times where he described David as 'a fabulous card player.' (see below)

Congratulations to the 24 pairs who have qualified for the Suffolk Championship Pairs final, after heats hosted by BBO were staged over the weekend and directed by Jacks Morcombe and Peter Bushby.

The top 10 pairs from the Saturday heat have qualified, and the top seven pairs from each of the two Sunday heats have qualified.

The successful pairs are asked to confirm their availability for the final by clicking HERE

The all-play-all final will be held on Sunday 14 March starting at 11 a.m. The entree fee is BBO$8 payable on the day. 46 boards will be played with a break half way through.

The three heats were won by (l-r in photo above):Tony Philpott & Andrew Moore,  Con & Pauline Hanson, and Dennis Valtisiaris & Jo Harpur.

Charles Read, one of the oldest bridge players in the county, has died aged 99.

A stalwart of Stowmarket bridge club he only gave up regular duplicate sessiuons in 2017, but continued playing at his home in Onehouse.

Such was his popularity, when a family party for his 99th biurthday was scuppered last April by the pandemic, neighbours arranged social distanced celebrations to mark the occasion.

Rick Hanley reviews Marty Bergen’s new online audio-visual lesson.

Click on REVIEW to read more

Chris Green and his team of county players have produced a festive edition of The Auction - with more than its fair share of slams!

Click on THE AUCTION and you will see the East and West hands for eight boards. Work out how you would bid a hand and then click on Show Answer.

A card play technique highlighted by Andrew Robson during a Masterclass held locally provided the answer to playing a tricky hand at the Ipswich & Kesgrave bridge club. Suffolk captain Rick Hanley explains how. Click on ANALYSIS to read more. 

The third Suffolk bridge lunch attracted 40 players from all over the county. A fabulous two course meal and wine, prepared by Gerry Ford and his daughter Emma, was followed by 27 boards.

Richard Evans & Paddy Lockwood from Stansfield finished top ahead of Jan Wynne & Jim Sawyer, with Jill & Roger Tattersfield. Many thanks to Jill for organising another successful event and to Gerry & Emma for a delicious lunch. To see all the scores and boards played click on RESULT.

The Suffolk Championship Pairs Final was held on Sunday the 19th April and the winners were Nancy Williams and Dave Allen with Simon Riley and Jaroslaw Grochowski close behind in second place and Helen Mason and Dennis Valtisiaris in third place. It was a very enjoyable event and huge thanks are due to Mike O'Reilly who stepped in at the last minute to set up, direct and score it.

Unfortunately a software issue created problems with the scoring which meant that some of the hand files were lost. Despite the best efforts of Mike, Rob Sassoon and the EBU these files were irrecoverable. However the Deputy Chief TD at the EBU was satisfied that the results that we had were sufficient to produce a valid result.  

The small field of just twelve pairs competing, out of the forty-four pairs who qualified, was disappointing and it is hoped that this will improve in future. The top three pairs will be invited to represent Suffolk in the Corwen Trophy event at the end of May. 

Join Jayne Hunnable on her Norfolk Coast half-marathon Mighty Hike on May 12 ... or just support her with a donation to Macmillan Cancer Support!

Click JUST GIVING for details.

Thank you.

Holly Bethell, the daughter of the Ipswich and Kesgrave bridge club chair, Bill Bethell, has tragically died of leukaemia, aged 11.

As a club, I&K is trying to raise some money for a charity, chosen by Bill – the Sick Children’s Trust 

“We are looking for a donation of £16. For this you will get 16 hands for 16 weeks on which you can practice your bidding. Perhaps have a go with your regular partner?” Chris Green said.

“Each week will be themed (e.g. Stayman, Slams etc), you will be sent the hands and the following week you will be sent my suggested auctions with comments.”

If you are interested please email Chris by clicking on HOLLY

The Clare Swiss Pairs played at Lavenham on April 30 was well attended with nineteen tables enjoying the day.

No surprises in the results with the top three places being taken by Jane & Andrew Moore, Pauline & Con Hanson and Helen Mason/David Mathews.

Prizes also went to Andy Higginson/Chris Kennedy as top Clare Club players (outside the top three) and to Rob & Rosa Richardson as best second-half Ascenders.

Click CLARE for all the results.

Congratulations to Will and Angie Pavry who won the 9-High Pairs at Nayland on December 4.

Fortified by a mid-session glass of wine, sixteen pairs played an all-play-all movement, maximising the social aspect of the day. See the results HERE.

A clear win for Simon Riley & Jaroslaw Grochowski and a very enjoyable day for everyone who played.

Click on RESULTS for all the details.

Congratulations to the winners of the Championship Teams Plate final, Mark Honess, Caroline Gemmell, Mike Bone & Brian Ellul, supported in an earlier round by Anne Wilmer.

Robots go on strike!

The robots used by BridgeBaseOnline to help make up pairs or complete a table have started to go 'on strike.'

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, some have taken it upon themselves to down tools and stop playing during online sessions.

Jacks Morcombe, Suffolk's chief tournament director, highlighed three instances in recent days while she was directing an event when robots stopped functioning.

She raised the issue at a regular meeting of the SCBA committee and said there was clearly a glitch in the BBO system. If confronted with the problem during club evenings, Jacks said directors should ask any human player parterning a robot to log off and then log back in again. In the case of a pair of robots playing together, one should be temporarily replaced with a human BBO Username before putting back in a robot.

Malcolm Pryor, chairman of the SCBA, joked: "This is clearly a breach of the EBUs Best Behaviour at Bridge."

Chris Green, the county's bridge development officer, offers an update on what is hapopening in Suffolk - and the plethora of opportunties now available for players to learn or develop their game. To read more click on DEVELOP

Top: Jacks & Peter Bottom: Malcolm & Chris

Suffolk bridge clubs have started going 'virtual' to enable players to partner each other on line in duplicate club nights.

Ipswich & Kesgrave were first out of the block with a tournament on Bridge Base Online where members paid a $3 entry fee - and they were followed by Stansfield, and Colchester in partnership with Stratford St Mary, and Clare on Monday. Other clubs in the process of learning how to run virtual events include Hertiage Coast and Bury St Edmunds.

This has only been possible due a huge amount of work by Peter Bushby, Jacks Morcombe and Chris Chambers. Fortunately, Peter was a qualified BBO director before the Covid-19 crisis struck and together with Jacks, he has been helping train up club members to operate BBO. Meanwhile, Chris has devised a spreadsheet which, crucially, enables BBO results data to be converted into a format which can be uploaded on to clubs' Bridgewebs sites and to the EBU. 

Suffolk is leading the way in enabling club players to get a 'normal' game of bridge - including the Teams of 4 League with four divisions which was set up in double quick time by Malcolm Pryor.

The 'form book' says Tony Philpott and David Price are the top two players in the county - and so it proved in this year's Suffolk Simultaneous Pairs.

The Clare pair joined forces to score an outstanding 75.76% to win the annual renewal from Conor Bignell & Cleopatra Hensby who also had the magic seven at the front of their score - 71.44%. Tom Sharp & Brian Dean from Frinton finished third. 132 pairs from nine clubs took part.

To read Malcolm Pryor's commentary on the boards, please click on SIMS COMMENTARY

Minutes of the Club Representatives meeting which took place in July are now available. Click on CLUB REPS to read

We are sad to report that Claude Stokes, a key figure in Suffolk bridge for 40 years, died recently.

Claude was a founder-member of the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association, its chairman for many years, organiser of the highly successful Clacton Congress, and an A-team county player - to mention just a few of his roles.

In 2011, the EBU magazine English Bridge, carried a series on how long serving players got hooked on bridge and profiled Claude. To read more on how he contributed so much to bridge in the county click on CLAUDE. To read a tribute written by Phillip Edwards, please click on OBITUARY.

A short committal service will take place at Weeley Crematorium, Colchester Rd, Weeley CO16 9JP at 2.45pm on Friday 19 July, followed by a memorial service at Frinton Parish Church at 4pm.

Ever wondered why we play bridge? Well, here’s the (not very surprising) answer...

A survey has been conducted into why people play bridge, with researchers at Stirling University analysing responses from more than 6,000 players.

The study, undertaken in association with English Bridge Education & Development, has resulted in a 24 page report whose conclusions are hardly earth shattering.

“Overall it was found that people play bridge because they enjoy it – either it is fun, or they enjoy the challenges the competitive game presents, and that it provides a sociable and friendly atmosphere,” the report concludes.

To see the full report click on ENJOY

One of the interesting hand froms the Sunday bridge saw West with 23pts...only to hear South open 1♠. What to do?

MALCOLM PRYOR offers his view. Click on SUFFOLK AT THE NATIONALS to read his analysis.

David Morran writes - I am sad to report that Julian died on 8 March. He had not been able to play Bridge for about 5 years due to the effects of Parkinson's disease, but prior to that his involvement and achievements in Suffolk bridge were many. He won all the County's major events many times over - the Championship Teams 9 times; Pairs 3 times; Mens Pairs 4 times, and with his wife Penny the Married Pairs (the Lang Cup) 4 times. He was a regular player for the County in the Eastern Counties League, and County Captain in the late 1980s. For many years he was Chairman and on the Committee of the Colchester Club, and consistently headed the individual performance table.

I played with Julian for over 35 years. His card play was excellent as you would expect from someone that was good at Double Dummy problems, and whose name regularly featured in Bridge Magazine’s competition as a successful solver. To opponents he was always courteous and respectful, and considerate of the inexperienced. To me he was a wonderful partner - very calm and never a cross word, and that’s the good example and legacy he leaves me.

The Suffolk team of Mike Sherer, Chris Chambers, Chris Green & Rick Hanley (pictured above) produced an outstanding performance to finish runners up in the prestigious Pachabo Cup at the weekend.

The national event is contested by winners of championship teams events organised by individual counties (see item in right hand column) and the Suffolk quartet faced quality opposition from 22 other counties.

At the end of two days play, Gloucestershire topped the leaderboard ahead of Suffolk, with the powerful Yorkshire team in third spot. For good measure, the two Chris’s topped the Cross IMPs table for the event.

Click on PACHABO  to see more details.

Back row: Steve Parker, Toby Mace, Bill Bethell, Steve Ashworth, Dave Walker.

Front: Gill Newton, Sylvia Scott-Laws, Sue Smith

Winning Woodbridge enjoy the moment

At times, we could all be forgiven for thinking bridge is a deadly serious business with little scope for smiles, laughter or, heaven forfend, celebration.

Don't you believe it.

When the Club Teams of 8 drew to a close on Saturday and the outcome was flashed up on an overhead screen ..WOODBRIDGE 1^st ...the joy on the faces of the winning players spoke volumes. A team photo was followed by players capturing the moment by taking photos of each other with the winning trophy.

Happiness ruled. What a wonderful contrast to images of some winning teams who look as though they have been condemned to appearing on I'm a Celebrity.  Long may it continue.

As online and Face to Face continue their tug of war for our affections, it was significant that the event attracted entries from nine teams , resulting in 18 tables. And the names of some of the teams - Framlingham Foreign Legion, Stansfield Stymies and Stratford St Mary Blue - gave an indication of the relaxed atmosphere and chatter which marked the occasion.

The annual event is renowned for the excellent tea provided by the local Sea Scouts group and, once again, they did not disappoint. In the opinion of some players, their best ever.

A huge thank you to Tony Shearman for stepping in at the last minute to direct and to Chris & Paul Rickard, the event managers. To see all the results click on To8

A friendly Face 2 Face county match against Essex on Sunday (27 March) ended with Suffolk winning 11-9.

The county was represented by Roger & Jill Tattersfield, Mike Sherer & Andy Higginson, Jo Harpur & Dennis Valtisiaris, and Richard Evans & Paddy Lockwood, who was making his Suffolk debut.

Steve Parker, chairman of Ipswich Hosptials bridge club, writes: "It is with sadness and regret that we have to announce the closure of Ipswich Hospitals Bridge Club after over 40 years.

"We were one of the first clubs to join the Suffolk Bridge association and have until recently supported many Suffolk events. I would like to thank all the people who have supported us over the years. Our few remaining funds will be given to an Ipswich Hospital charity, as they helped us start up in 1978."

Bridge, like so much in the world, will never be the same again. Playing online, which has been a lifeline for so many for more than a year, will be part of the mix in future. But when 'normality' returns how much will we play online as opposed to Face2Face?

Your answers to a survey compiled by Suffolk Bridge will help determine the shape of bridge in the county for years to come. Please take just a few minutes to answer some questions which you can read by clicking SUFFOLK SURVEY

* A link for the survey has been emailed to all SCBA members. If for some reason you did not receive it, we may not have your correct email details so please click on EMAIL and send them to us.

The winning Clare Green team qualify to represent Suffolk in the Garden Cities Regional Final in May.

Click on RULES for details of the competition and RESULT to see the final outcome. 

Visitors grab the glory in Mid Anglia Pairs

David Willson and Rick Hanley (right) made a valiant effort to defend their Mid Anglia Pairs title on Sunday - but in the end pairs from outside the county dominated the top places.

A maximum field of 40 pairs contested the traditional new year curtain raiser held on BBO rather than as usual at Woodbridge.

Top spot went to Les Calver & Stephen Binks from Bedfordshire, who finished clear of David & Rick in second spot, with Giles Ip & Mark Hill from Norfolk in third, and Mrunalini Dewan & Martin David from Wales in fourth spot.

Given that there is now no prospect of being able to hold a face to face final in the medium term your Committee has made the difficult, but perhaps not unexpected, decision to abort the 2019/20 Suffolk Championship Pairs. A decision on the format and timing for the 2020/21 event will be made later in the year.

Suffolk took part in the inter-county Tollmache qualifier last weekend. Click on TOLLEMACHE to read county captain Rick Hanley's report

Stansfield bridge club has opted for the relative cool of the great outdoors this week rather than the stifling heat inside a village hall. Members ventured on to the playing field outside the hall and came prepared so that when light started to fade torches, iPhones and, in the case of one pair, head lamps were produced to provide the necessary illumination.

Rick Hanley explains why we should all switch from 0314 to 1430 when using Roman Key Card Blackwood. Click on RKCB to read more.

The qualifying rounds for the Tollemache Trophy, the national competition for county teams of eight, took place at the weekend. Suffolk finished seventh in their group and thereby failed to make it to the finals. Click on Table, Results and Cross Imps for more details.

Click on TOLLEMACHE to read captain Rick Hanley’s report.

The next Hospice Bridge Tea at Elmswell is on Friday May 8. Click Hospice for full details.

And there's a Hospice Bridge Drive in Woodbridge on September 29. Click Bridge for more info.

The Corwen Trophy is an EBU event for the top three pairs in each County's Championship Pairs event.

The 9-High Corwen is a similar national competition, but for players with NGS ranking of 9 and below, to be played by the top three pairs in each County's 9-High Corwen Qualifying event.

The Suffolk qualifier for the Corwen 9-High took place on RealBridge on Sunday the 29th of March. 13 Pairs entered playing 24 boards.

The top three positions were:

• 1st Sam Pickering and Caroline Harris with 65%
• 2nd Marcus and Sarah Hopkins with 57%
• 3rd Isobel Read and Dawn Knutton with 56%

They will be invited to represent the County in the national final which takes place on Saturday the 30th of May.

Sam and Caroline also won this event in 2025.

Full results can be seen HERE. 

Thanks to Woodbridge Bridge Club for hosting the 2025 Woodbridge Mid Anglia Pairs held on Sunday June 22 and won by Chris Park & Tim Evans. seen here being presented with the Rose Bowl trophy by Chris Rickard on behalf of Suffolk Bridge.

Click HERE for all results.

Congratulations to the team from Dovercourt, winners of the 2025 Club Teams of Four event - Derek & Rita Brinkley and Martin & Debbie Burwood.

Thanks to Tony Shearman for directing and Tim Evans for organising an excellent event which attracted 18 tables this year.

Results can be seen HERE.

A memorial service for Mary Evans took place at St Edmundsbury cathedral on Monday 8 April at 11am.

Mary helped found Stansfield bridge club and represented the county. 

Debbie and Martin	Patsi and Joan

24 Pairs competed in the "Bah Humbug" - the SCBA traditional event between Christmas and New Year. Overall winners were Debbie and Martin Burwood from Dovercourt Bridge Club. The Handicap winners were Patsi Barnes and Joan Watson from Bury Bridge Club. Overall results can be seen here.

Well done to them all !

Bridge lunch has its own VAR moment

Sheila & Peter, top of the Handicap, and Richard & Mary, overall winners

And the winners are...

Except they weren't.

After the results for the last board of the Suffolk Bridge Lunch were punched into the Bridgemate, Gerry Ford and Jan Havard-Davies topped the score on the computer and were duly fêted as the winners.

However, the technology had not collected all the results and, after checking, the computer had a change of heart and Richard & Mary Evans came first - with Sheila Barnes & Peter Routley topping the Handicap.

Frankly, the results were secondary to a wonderful lunch prepared by Gerry and his daughter, Emily, while Suffolk Bridge provided the 22 pairs with a free glass of wine.

To see all the results click on LUNCH

Suffolk enjoyed a rare* but encouraging experience recently with all three sides winning their Eastern Counties League matches against Essex.

The A team won 12-8, the B team 17-3 and the C team 11-9.

* Does anyone know the last time Suffolk achieved a clean sweep? 

Click on ST to read 'Young women bid their way back to the bridge table'

Chris Chambers was a member of the team - together with former Suffolk player Mike Ash - which recently won the Scottish Cup Final.

Click on SCOTLAND to read more on the I&K website

Colchester Bridge Club has been offering face-to-face bridge for the past five weeks but table numbers have been disappointingly low with an average of 3.5 tables per week. 

The Colchester Committee has decided, therefore, to temporarily cease face-to-face bridge and to return to online bridge on Tuesday evenings.  Online bridge using the BBO platform will commence again on Tuesday 19 October at 7pm

'20%+ of clubs unlikely to re-open' - EBU survey

A significant number - possibly 20% or more - of bridge clubs are not expected to re-open post-pandemic, according to a survey of counties carried out by the English Bridge Union.

While Suffolk is one of only two counties (the other is Kent) who expects players numbers to increase, it is one of nine counties who is expecting more than a fifth of affiliated clubs will not re-open in 2021. Suffolk currently has 21 clubs affiliated to the EBU.

Details of the highly informative survey of counties were presented to the annual meeting of county chairmen by the EBU. To see the key points click on SURVEY.

To counter the expected decline in membership, the EBU has devised a marketing strategy which focuses on a country-wide drive to attract new players and new bridge teachers - based on collaboration between the EBU, counties and clubs. Click on MARKETING to see more.

After dire warnings 12 months ago about the state of EBU finances, a combination of government support and increased income from online bridge - particularly during the first quarter of 2021 - has rasied the hope the game's governing body will be close to break even over 2020/1 and 2021/2.

Congratulations to the Clare Red team of Will & Angie Pavry, Jan Havard-Davies, Gerry Ford, John Hooper, David Goodliffe, John Symons and Joyce Wood who beat the excellent team from Heritage Coast by 43 IMPs in the Final and consequently win free entry to next year's event.

A storming finish by the Jeff Orton team saw them share the spoils in the Swiss Teams on the second day of the Suffolk Online Congress.

The quartet pictured above - Bill Tweddell, Jeff, John Wilmott and Mike Sherer - won their final match 19-1 against the formidable four of Rick Hanley, Andy Higginson, Malcolm & Karen Pryor.

The result means they tied for first place with the strong Essex four of Ray Clarke, John Sutcliffe, Marc Chawner & Paul Spencer.

A quality field of 18 teams took part and yet again the success of the day owed much to Jacks Morcombe, Suffolk's chief tournament director, and Peter Bushby whose technical skills and workload meant the day passed off smoothly. Click on TEAMS to see all the scores.

Stansfield bridge club committee is delighted to announce that PADDY LOCKWOOD and RICHARD EVANS have been awarded Honorary Life Membership of Stansfield Bridge Club in recognition of the huge effort they have put into setting up Bridge Base Online for the use of club members and guests during the Coronavirus pandemic. 

We acknowledge that this has required, and continues to require, a huge commitment from them both and it demonstrates how grateful the club members are.

YO-HO-HO: Look who's back!

Glyn Button’s irreverent wit and self-deprecating humour make his regular columns a joy to read - and he has produced a cracker in the run up to Christmas which will gladden the heart of any run-of-the-mill club player (that’s most of us)...

Click on TWO AND A HALF NO TRUMPS , the antidote to traditional bridge chronicles, to read more.

Suffolk came out on top against Norfolk in the annual local derby on Sunday, during an afternoon not without drama.

The A team halved 10-10, the B team enjoyed a thumping 18-2 victory, while the C team prevailed by 14-6.

The C team's success was unusual. With play due to start at 2pm, one of the C team pairs found themselves in Elmswell (where home matches are played) blissfully unaware that the match was taking place at Wymondham, just south of Norwich.

With no other players around and a party being set up in the room where they expected to play bridge, they realised their mistake and set off for Norfolk...except, for reasons best known to themselves, they started driving east towards Ipswich.

All of which meant they arrived more than an hour late and the rules stated that the entire C team should be penalised 3 IMPs for each of the eight boards in the first set, which the pair had missed. By the end of the second set the C team was even further in arrears and the position appeared hopeless.

However, following a half time break for tea - rated the best on the county circuit - the miracle of all miracles took place and the C team played way beyond themselves to run out convincing winners, much to the relief of the late pair...who shall remain anonymous (they hope!)

To see all the results, X-Imps etc click on NORFOLK

Four teams progressed from last December's Championship Teams event, competing in a knockout format for the right to represent Suffolk in the national Pachabo Cup. Rick Hanley,with Peter Sutcliffe and Malcolm & Karen Pryor, qualified for the national event which was won by a very strong team from Manchester. Click the title of this item for the local knockout results and HERE for the Pachabo Cup results.

Andy Higginson & Chris Kennedy from Colchester bridge club were the comfortable winners of the Suffolk birdge lunch at Elmswell on Wednesday.

The event attracted 24 pairs, the largest turn out since the county starting organising bridge lunches, and included a number of players who do not usually play in Suffolk events.

An enjoyable two course lunch with wine served as an appetiser to the bridge that followed. To see all the scores click on LUNCH

Mike Sherer & Rick Hanley and Jeff Orton & Andre Gray with Chris Rickard

Woodbridge won the Suffolk Club Teams of 8 for the second year running at Colchester on Saturday - and thereby qualified to represent the county in the 2024 EBU Garden Cities Final.

Following their success 12 months ago, a bureaucratic issue prevented the club from taking their place in the national event but hopefully there will be no such problems this time round.

The Club Teams of 8 is always one of the most enjoyable events of the year, in part due to an excellent tea provided by the XVII^th Colchester Sea Scouts group.

Chris & Paul Rickard, the event managers, galvanised eight teams to take part while Rob Richardson stepped in at late notice as the director. Stansfield (pictured right) were runners-up ahead of Ipswich & Kesgrave in third. Click on EIGHT to see all the results.

Scotland is proving a happy hunting ground for Suffolk players - past and present.

Hot on the heels of being a member of the team which won the Scottish Cup, Chris Chambers recently added the Marion Hill Trophy (the Scottish Plate) to his collection. He partnered fellow Ipswich & Kesgrave member Chris Green while Mike Ash, a distinguished Suffolk player of yesteryear, was also in the four completed by Bob Ferrari.

A gruelling online match of 48 boards which took seven and a half hours to complete due to technical problems ended with a 118 to 84 success.

Caro Hunt & John Heath, winners of the Handicap prize, and Penny Easting & Mary Rix, winners of the AGM Pairs

The Deben Project has exceeded all expectations and is being copied by other counties to encourage people to take up bridge, Suffolk bridge's AGM heard on Sunday.

An estimated 200 people have taken advantage of the joint project involving Suffolk Libraries and the county bridge association to learn bridge for free and some of those students are already playing at clubs.

"Rolling out the Deben project in numerous libraries would not have succeeded without an amazing amount of time given freely by a number of key people," Richard Evans, the association chairman said. To read his report click on CHAIRMAN Following the meeting, there were 10 tables for the AGM pairs, won by Mary Rix & Penny Easting. To see the scores click on RESULT Click on 2023 to see winners of county run events over the past 12 months

Mike & Rick follow up in style

Different tournament, same result. Mike Sherer & Rick Hanley left their rivals toiling in their wake in the Bury Swiss Pairs on Sunday, less than a month after they won the Bah Humbug Pairs.

Richard Evans & Paddy Lockjwood were runners up ahead of David Mathews & Helen Mason and Chris Kennedy & Andy Higginson.

The event on RealBridge attracted 22 pairs Click on BURY St EDMUNDS to see the full result

Jeff Orton & David Morran, the top Suffolk pair and, below, the Swiss Teams winners, Franklin To, Paul Darby, Steven Dannell and Gabriel Ip.

The East Anglian Bridge Weekend attracted players from far and wide with the Swiss Pairs having 44 entrants and following a late tie up with Kent the Swiss Teams had 30 sides.

The Swiss Pairs was won by Nick Sandqvist & Nathalie Shashou from London. The top Suffolk pair were Jeff Orton & David Morran who tied for fourth spot.

Suffolk players did not trouble the judge in the Swiss Teams on Sunday but neighbouring Norfolk had much to cheer as Gabriel Ip & Franklin To and Paul Darby & Steve Dannell finished first.

The event was hosted by RealBridge. Jeff Orton, the event manager, performed miracles to ensure there was a decent turn out for the weekend - and thanks to Jacks Morcombe for directiing on Saturday.

Jacks Morcombe & Peter Bushby

Local players featured prominently on the opening day of the Suffolk Online Congress - but in many ways the biggest winner was the event itself.

With the annual trip to Felixstowe for the county's flagshiop event scuppered by the pandemic, the switch to an online replacement went without a hitch, thanks to the technical skills and countless hours of preparation by Jacks Morcombe, Suffolk's chief tournament director, and Peter Bushby.  They deserve a huge thank you from everyone.

As usual, the opening day of the congress was devoted to Pairs, which attracted 26 tables in two sections for the qualifying stage. Eric Newman & Diane Whitley topped NS.

The A Final ended in a runaway success for Ilan Sirkis & Barry Read from Berks & Bucks. Runners-up Andrew Moore and Tony Philpott were the best placed Suffolk pair.

The B final also ended in a comprehensive victory for Jo Harpur & Dennis Valtisiaris while John Bloomfield won the Open final for the third time, this time in partnership with Celia Jeal

L-R: Celia Jeal & John Bloomfield, Eric Newman & Diane Whitley, Tony Philpott & Andrew Moore, and Jo Harpur

England's Senior team - including Suffolk player Malcolm Pryor - lost out to Denmark in the final of the d'Orsi trophy by 194-167.

With one stanza to go, England had narrowed the gap to just 9 IMPs, but the Scandinavian side enjoyed the better of the final set of boards.

However, a silver medal represents an excellent performance. The Ladies won their play off with Netherlands to gain bronze in the Venice Cup, while the Mixed team lost out to Romania. In the Bermuda Bowl, Poland beat the Netherlands

To see all the results click on CHINA.

Suffolk travelled to Barleylands to take on Essex at the weekend and, unusually, two of the three matches ended in 10-10 draws.

The A team held a solid lead with the final eight board session to go but the hosts staged a comeback to prevail 12-8. Both the B and C teams tied their games.

To see all the results, click on Suffolk v Essex

Suffolk’s three teams were involved in close finishes in their matches against Northants on Sunday.

The A team lost narrowly 9-11; likewise the B team 7-13, while the C team (pictured below) had something to smile about by winning 12-8.

Fifty-one pairs, representing 20 English Counties, competed in the EBU 9-High Corwen Trophy event held on RealBridge on May 31.

Three pairs from Suffolk qualified to take part and highest ranked were Salome Smit & Kate Chapman who finished in 20th place. Congratulations to them and to our other representatives, Bim & Sam Wilson and Sam Pickering & Caroline Harris.

Full results can be seen HERE.

Congratulations to Ipswich member Malcolm Pryor and his partner Ed Scerri who took the silver medal in the Senior Pairs at the 16th World Bridge Games in Argentina.

Malcolm is on the far left of the podium (in the shadows). He and Ed battled through the six-day event, qualifying, semi-final and final, three sessions a day.

For family health reasons Richard Evans has stood down from his role as SCBA Chairman and from his other responsibilities on the County Committee.

Jeff Orton has taken over as Acting Chairman until the AGM in May.

The Suffolk Championship Teams knock out event on BBO has been won by Rick Hanley's team - consisting of Mike Sherer, Chris Chambers, Chris Green, Malcolm Pryor and Peter Sutcliffe, and Rick.

In the the final against the Hanson team, they won the first set of 24 boards by 53-27 IMPs, and the second set by 65-40 IMPs.

The old adage about cream always rises to the top seems applicable to the 2023 winners of the Malcolm Pryor Trophy for the Online Teams of 4 League.

The competition, the brainchild of Malcolm, was won by...a team captained by Malcolm! The consistency the team have shown is illustrated by the fact they are the only ones to have played in each of the 13 seasons in division one.

Given the effort Malcolm put into getting the league started during the dark days of lockdown, and increasing the number of teams taking part, victory is a just reward.

The core of the team has been Malcolm, Peter Sutcliffe, Rick Hanley and Mike Sherer. Karen Pryor played in the first five seasons,Chris Chambers and Chris Green in the last three.

The annual trophy is based on Placing Points awarded for each season's rankings in the top three divisions. Click on 2023 PLACINGS to see the full table.

The 2021 Suffolk Championship Teams has been won by David and Jenny Price, Chris Chambers and Chris Green. They played a 48 board final on BBO over two days against Team Moore (Andrew Moore, Tony Philpott, Jane Moore, Cleopatra Hensby). It was an incredibly close match!

They were just 1 imp up after eight boards, then they lost 4 imps on each of the next two stanzas, leaving them 7 imps down at the half way stage. They won 18 imps in the fourth stanza putting them 11 ahead, but then lost 10 imps in the 5^th, giving them a lead of just 1 imp going into the last 8 boards. With three boards to go they were losing the match, but pulled back to win by 3 imps overall (80-77). See how you would have got on with some of the very interesting decisions from the match by clicking FINAL. To see the results for all teams in the competition click on CHAMPTEAMS2021

Andre & David

Pleasant birthday surprise for Andre!

Andre Gray celebrated his birthday by partnering David Willson to a comprehenisve victory in the Autumn Pairs on Sunday.

The duo recorded a 70% score in their section and when the results of the A and B groups were combined they were still comfortably ahead of Andrtew Moore & Tony Philpott in second spot.

Third placed Caroline Gemmell & Mark Honess were the top mixed pair. Fourth placed Jo Harpur & Helen Mason were the top ladies pair. The married pairs was won by John Gan & May Li.

Significantly, 44 pairs took part in the event hosted by BBO - compared to 34 pairs in 'normal' times 12 months earlier.

To see all the scores, scroll down the right hand column to RESULTS.

Inter-National honours for Sekhar

Sekhar Pillai, who plays at Stowmarket, Abbeygate and Stansfield clubs, achieved a great triumph recently when he was a member of the African team which won the EBU Inter-National.

Fourteen nations were represented in the event which was screened on BridgeBaseOnline.

What made his success all the more noteworthy was that he and his partner, Julia Davies, had never played together before and only agreed their system shortly before they started playing on Saturday.

At the end of that day's qualifying round, Malaysia topped the table with +86 IMPs, followed by Europe B (Norway, Turkey and Italy) on 46, Scotland on 20, and Africa (Kenya and South Africa) on 14.

The semi-finals and final were played on Sunday. Africa and Scotland beat Malaysia and Europe B respectively in the semi-finals. Africa overcame Scotland 79-56 in a slam-strewn final.

Sekhar's regular playing partner, Andy Billinge, spotted the event at the end of July on the EBU website where there was a call for EBU members who were born or hold a passport from a different country. A few countries were short of players and Andy encouraged him to participate. Sekhar, who was born in Kenya, thought  'nothing ventured nothing gained' and put his name forward.
"I did not hear anything for two weeks, then out of the blue I was approached and informed by Roger Pratt, the Team Africa captain, that I was playing. At the time my then partner had a medical problem and so I had a last minute replacement. We exchanged and agreed on systems at 11am on Saturday - the day of the initial qualification rounds. The rest, as they say, is history."

Suffolk players enjoy clean sweep

For the first time in many years, home players won all the main prizes on the opening day of the Felixstowe Congress.

Leading the way at Suffolk's flagship event were Paul Maclachlan & Dave Allen (above) who won the Championship Pairs Final.

The pair, who are regulars at Stansfield and Clare, led for much of the way but saw their advantage whittled away only to just nudge back in front on the final board.

The opening Pairs qualifier, won for the second year running by David Willson & Simon Riley, resulted in the top 16 pairs playing in the Final: the next 16 contested the Consolation Final - won by county captain Rick Hanley & Graham Beeton - and the remaining 22 pairs played in the Open Pairs, won by Eric Newman & Diane Whitley. The non-expert prize went to Russell Tenzer & Gary Diamond, the overall winners 12 months ago.

To see all the results, scroll down the right hand column and click on the relevant event.

Graham Beeton & Rick Hanley	Eric Newman & Diane Whitley	Russell Tenzer & Gary Diamond

The Swiss Teams on Sunday attracted 25 teams and the winners were Richard Sissons & Jenny Kendall from Kent, making their first appearance at Felixstowe, who teamed up with Brian & Valerie Barrett from Norfolk. The best placed Suffolk players were Roger & Jill Tattersfield who finished third with team mates Chris Megahey & Alaric Cundy.

Meanwhile, in the Relaxed Pairs Tony Trathen & Mary Moir stormed away from their rivals with a 69.84% winning score.

Richard Sissons & Jenny Kendall and Valerie & Brian Barrett	Tony Trathen & Mary Moir

Chris Chambers was a member of a team which did particularly well at the EBU Summer Meeting in Eastbourne.

Malcolm reports on a slam hand in the final match which helped to determine the finishing positions. To read more, click on Suffolk@TheNationals

New format well supported

The Suffolk Autumn Pairs, incorporating the Mens, Married, Ladies & Mixed Pairs of old, was staged for the first time at Lavenham on Sunday and attracted 17 tables.

The overall (and Mixed Pairs) winners were Dave Walker & Sue Smith (top photo). The other winners were Norbert Voelker & Mike Sherer (Mens), Jo Harpur & Helen Mason (Ladies) David & Jenny Price (Married) while a new Handicap prize went to Tim Evans & Marion Berry (bottom photo, with Suffolk competitions organiser, Chris Rickard)

Flagship Summer Meeting at Eastbourne in trouble as player numbers tumble

The number of players taking part in English bridge’s flagship event of the year is plummeting. Attendances have fallen by as much as 70% since 2013 for some events.

Richard Evans reports from the Summer Meeting at Eastbourne and Mike O’Reilly offers some thoughts on the way forward. Click on EBU to read more.

Suffolk's Malcolm Pryor will play in the World Bridge Team Championships (D'Orsi Bowl) in China next year after the England seniors finished eighth in the European team chamionships.

The full team representing England will be John Holland & Alan Mould, David Muller & Malcolm Pryor, Peter Shelley & Trevor Ward. NPC: David Jones. The event takes place at Wuhan, Hubei Province from 14-28 September.

Congratulations to Graham Johnston and Kevin Clark on winning this year's "Bah Humbug" event directed by Rob Johnston.

They are seen here with the Event Manager, Chris Rickard, who presented them with their prizes.

12 Tables competed in a very seasonable event enjoying wine and mince pies ... and bridge.

Click HERE to see all the results.

The well supported Club Teams of 4 was won by a  Stowmarket side on Sunday 5 March. Jan Wynne & Jim Sawyer and Alaric & Dorothy Cundy (photographed by Peter Bushby) made up the victorious quartet.

The Bury Babes (Jo Harpur & Dennis Valtisiaris and Chris Park & Tim Evans) were second ahead of Ipswich A (Bill Bethell & Stephen Parker and Conrad & Alison Simons) in third and Woodbridge W (Sue Smith & Dave Walker and Sue Bentley & Gill Newton) in fourth. The event attracted 16 teams which would suggest F2F bridge is alive and well despite the attractions of online.

Phillip & Anne Edwards are the first winners of the Bushby-Morecombe Trophy, named after the two Suffolk members who did so much to get online bridge going during the pandemic,

Their best 10 scores average of 62.86% was sufficient to narrowly beat the pairings of David Mathews & Helen Mason and Andy Higginson & Chris Kennedy who also averaged more than 62% during the competition staged online.

Click on CLARET to see the final table.for the period to end of March 2021.

Essex (top): Marc Chawner,  Ray Clarke, Paul Spencer, Bernie Hunt  Suffolk: Chris Chambers, Rick Hanley, Malcolm & Karen Pryor

Suffolk and Essex combine to win President's Cup

An eight strong team consisting of four players from both Suffolk and Essex has pulled off a remarkable victory by winning the President's Cup.

The prestigous annual event is normally contested by counties in the north but was opened up this year due to lockdown. It comprised a series of 8-board online matches - one every Tuesday - against 11 other counties.

After losing their first two matches, the 'Suffex' team won their next nine including against a Manchester side brimming with international talent.

Click on PRESIDENT to read Rick Hanley's full report.

Top: Giles & Gabriel Ip, Steve Dannell & Paul Darby Left: Pauline Harden, Mary Moir, Mark Leggett & Tyler Mair Right: Liam Fegarty, Catherine Curtis, Jamie Fegarty and Paul Fegarty

The outcome of the EABW Teams has changed following correction of a scoring error. As a result, the Norfolk quartet of Giles & Gabriel Ip and Steve Dannell & Paul Darby, leapfrogged Rod Oakford & Simon Barb and Clive Stops & John Liebeschuetz.

The family quartet of Paul Fegarty & Catherine Curtis and their two sons, Liam and Jamie, led for much of the day only to be overtaken in the final round by the first two teams.

The Relaxed Pairs was won by Tyler Mair, Mary Moir, Pauline Harden and Mark Leggett.

Don't you just wish sometimes that you could play a hand again?

Well, you can...thanks to the wonders of Bridgewebs.

The 'Play It Again' feature is not that well known, but easy to use.

On your club website (or this one) just go to Results, click on any pairing and you will see below the hand 'Play It Again' (arrowed)

(if any club webmaster would like the graphics for this article to upload on to their website just e mail@suffolkbridge.co.uk)

A team from Ipswich & Kesgrave performed with great credit at the weekend in the regional finals of the Garden Cities Trophy, the EBU's inter county teams of eight competition.

The eight players - Peter Gemmell, Chris Chambers, Maria Allnutt, Debby Sutcliffe, Peter Sutcliffe, Chris Green, Malcolm Pryor and Karen Pryor - finished a very close up third behind teams from Warwick and Cambridge bridge clubs.

Unfortunately only two teams from each of the four regional finals make it through to the final of the competition. To see the results, click on GARDEN

If your Bridgemates aren't working it is probably a result of a Windows update.

Click HERE to see the EBU recommended action.

Congratulations to the Clare team, winners of the Suffolk Club Teams of Eight event held at Highwoods, Colchester on November 8.

They are (L to R) Andrew Moore, Gerry Ford, Nancy Williams, John Symons, Paul Starling, Jan Havard-Davies, David Morran & Dave Allen who qualify to represent the County in the EBU's Garden Cities Trophy Regional Final to be played in Richmond on May 9, 2026., 

Many thanks to Peter Grice, assisted by Rob Johnston, for directing the event. 

Click SCORES to see all the results.

As usual, a magnificent Tea was provided by the local Sea Scouts for whom this is a major fund-raising event. 

Charlie, aged 12 DAYS, attends his first bridge lesson

It is never too early to start learning bridge - just ask Charlie.

Born on 21 February, he enjoyed his first taste of the game on Sunday 5 March when he joined his proud parents, Zoe Clarke and Julian Bickerton, at a regular Sunday bridge lesson in Haverhill library.

The baby boy, beautifully behaved throughout the 90 minute session, even produced his own dummy!

Zoe & Julian, who live in Great Sampford, are among the 200 plus students who signed up to learn bridge for free under the Deben project, which is being run by Suffolk bridge in numerous libraries around the county.

The lessons started in the autumn and have proved very popular. Felixstowe library will join the list of venues in September while beginners are also being taught at a golf club in Essex. New courses for beginners are also being planned. If you know of anyone keen to learn please ask them to email learnbridge@suffolkbridge.co.uk

Online bridge has fundamentally changed the game's landscape at club, county and national level, Malcolm Pryor, said in his valedictory speech as chairman of the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association on Sunday.

Many players now looked to play a mix of online and face to face bridge and that posed challenges and opportunities for Suffolk and its clubs, he told the association's AGM. (Click on MALCOLM to read his summary or PRYOR to read the full report)

His warning came as the Swiss Pairs at the East Anglian bridge weekend was restructured due to lack of support - only a fortnight after the Clare Swiss Pairs was scrapped for the same reason. The AGM Pairs, which followed the annual meeting, attracted only 13 pairs online. The winners were Con & Pauline Hanson.

Richard Evans, the new SCBA chairman, said: 'The pre-Covid bridge 'model' of everyone going to their local club and sufficient numbers being prepared to travel around Suffolk to play in county organised events is broken, possibly irrevocably. We are acutely aware of the changing landscape which is happening all over the country."

Four new members were elected to the SCBA committee: (l-r) Kate Chapman, Tim Evans, David Unwin (who takes over from Roger Tattersfield as Treasurer), and Paul MacLachlan.

Some 'Reserves'!

Four regulars at Stansfield bridge club who dubbed themselves the 'Stansfield Reserves' proved to be anything but when winning the Suffolk Club Teams of Four on Sunday.

Jayne Hunnable & Susan Nisbett and Caelia Chandler & Paddy Lockwood saw off the best in the county to finish first ahead of sides from Bury St Edmunds and Colchester.

The event on RealBridge attracted 12 teams.

Click on TEAMS to see all the scores

Outgoing chairman hails Suffolk bridge's response to crisis

At the county's recent Annual General Meeting - conducted via Zoom - Jeff Orton paid tribute to the remarkable way Suffolk bridge had responded to the Covid 19 crisis.

In a valedictory speech after serving as chairman of the SCBA for eight years, he highlighted the role played by Jacks Morcombe, Peter Bushby and other 'talents' which resulted in regular online bridge and the establishment of virtual clubs.

"We have all been faced with a very difficult situation, unprecedented in most of our memories, but as an Assocaition we can be proud of the way we've responded," he told the AGM attended by more than 60 members.

Such was the success, the EBU asked Suffolk to lead a web seminar for other counties to demonstrate how it managed the roll out of bridge on the internet. "To be showcased by the EBU as an example of best practice is a great accolade to Suffolk."

To read all Jeff's speech, click on REPORT. To see the prize winners for 2019-20 click on WINNERS.

Simon Barb & Rod Oakford (top), John Bloomfield & Celia Jeal (left) Christine Mapus-Smith & Sekhar Pillai (right)

Simon Barb & Rod Oakford from Cambridgeshire strolled to an emphatic victory in the Swiss Pairs on the opening day of the East Anglian Bridge Weekend.

Although they lost two of their seven matches - narrowly - they scored thumping wins in the other five to finish 13 VPs clear of joint runners-up, Jake Dunn & Martin Jones and John Bloomfield & Celia Jeal, who were the top placed Suffolk pair.

The non-expert prize went to Christine Mapus-Smith & Sekhar Pillai. 44 pairs took part in the event staged aty Elmswell. Click on EABW to see all the scores.

The Swiss Teams on Sunday start at 11am; the Relaxed Teams at 3pm.

	David & Jenny Price (left) and Joan Watson & Patsi Barnes (right)

Multiple venues double Senior Pairs turnout

The decision to run the Senior Pairs at three venues spread across the county paid off handsomely on Wednesday.

After a gradual decline in entries for the event in recent years, the turnoout more than doubled from 10½ tables 12 months ago to 22½ for the latest renewal.

The message would appear to be very clear: players will support events within a reasonable travelling distance, but not if they involve a trek across Suffolk.

Clare has hosted the event for many years but that involved a drive of more than an hour each way for players in the Ipswich and Colchester area. This year the event was staged during the afternoon at Ipswich & Kesgrave (9½ tables), and in the evening at Abbeygate (8 tables) in Bury St Edmunds, and Clare (5 tables).

The success of multiple venues could be applied to other Suffolk competitions and is likely to be discussed at a forthcoming meeting between the county bridge committee and club representatives.

The Senior Pairs was won by David & Jenny Price who just pipped Din Gudka & Cathy Rowland. Joan Watson & Patsi Barnes who were third won the Veterans' Trophy. Click on RESULTS to see all the scores.

A year which saw encouraging numbers returning to Face to Face events in Suffolk ended with 12½ tables at the Bah Humbug Pairs at Elmswell on Friday.

While Eric Newman and Diane Whitley ran out convincing winners, prizes also went to three pairs who did best in the Handicap.

Pictured (l-r):Eric Newman, Diane Whitley, Bim Wilson, Christine Bickerstaff, Sam Wilson, Christine Cooke, Lucette Smith and Stephen Bickerstaff

The new season - it's the 16th! - of the Suffolk Online Teams League is underway, with 27 teams playing in six divisions.

Results will be available by clicking on WINTER. Final results from Season 15 (and previous seasons) can be viewed by clicking on PREVIOUS RESULTS

Are you lurking in the shadows when playing Suffolk bridge events online - without revealing your true identity?

If so, do the decent thing and complete your profile on BBO and disclose your real name - otherwise you may be unable to play in events run by the county.

The vast majority of players either introduce themselves at the start of each round and/or have completed a BBO profile detailing who they are and what system they play.

The Suffolk bridge committee agreed on Thursday that players should not be allowed to play incognito and if they repeatedly ignore requests to dislcose their true identity they will be banned from competitions organised by the county.

If you have not completed a profile on BBO, log in, click on Account, then Profile and add your first name and surname. While you are there click on Convention Cards and detail your system.

David & Rick follow up Bah Humbug success with Mid Anglia victory

Rick Hanley will need a new trophy cabinet if his run of success in county events carries on at the current rate.

The county captain added the Mid Anglia Pairs to his tally at Woodbridge on Sunday where he partnered David Willson. The same pair won the inaugural Bah Humbug Pairs over the festive holiday. Rick was a member of the team which won the Club Teams of Four and he also picked up the the trophy which goes to the winners of the Felixstowe Congress Consolation Pairs.

In yesterday's event, the winning pair finished comfortably clear of Simon Riley & David Walker, Conor Bignell & Jo Harpur and Richard Evans & Nick Farr. To see all the scores, click on MID ANGLIA

HORSES for courses...

The Relaxed Teams of 4 and the Club Teams of 4 ended with some familiar faces returning to the winners enclosure at Lavenham on Sunday.

In the relaxed race, the smiling faces of Mary Moir, Tony Trathen, Lynda Tibbs and Mark Leggett, repeated their success of four months ago when they won the equivalent event at the East Anglian Bridge Weekend.

And in the main event of the day, the winners of 12 months ago followed up: the only difference being that John Wilmott took the place of Mike Sherer, and joined Jeff Orton, Rick Hanley and Andre Gray. To see all the results, click on CLUB TEAMS or RELAXED TEAMS

Suffolk held its annual Congress on October 12 with an all-play-all Teams format, enjoyed by 11 teams from across the County.

Two teams finished clear of the field and were separated by just 1 VP at the end.

Congratulations to the winners, Alaric Cundy, Roger Tattersfield, Jill Tattersfield & John Sutcliffe and to their close rivals Martin & Debbie Burwood, Marlene Chant & Bob Violett.  

Click SCORES to see all the results.

Congratulations to Simon & Jaroslaw

Click RESULTS to see all the scores.

Rod & Sue Oakford, who play for Cambs & Hunts and live in Lowestoft, won the Woodbridge Mid Anglia Pairs on Sunday.

They finished ahead of Andre Gray & David Willson, with Paul & Wendy Lefort in third.  22 pairs took part.

To see all the results click on MIDANGLIA

Despite the odd shower of rain, the inaugural golf-bridge day at Aldeburgh lived up to expectations, with 18 holes of golf followed by lunch and 18 boards of bridge. A repeat has been booked for next year at the same venue for Monday 16 October 2023.

200+ sign up for lessons in libraries

The Deben Project, involving teaching bridge in libraries across Suffolk, has surpassed all expectations with more than 190 people having signed up - and applications stlll coming in.

Courses to suit all abilities have been taking place throughout the county with new dates planned for the autumn. Its a great opportunity to form friendships and learn new skills in a welcoming environment, see LINK for details. 

Richard Evans, the Suffolk chairman, said: "The response has exceeded the most optimistic expectations. Despite the woes confronting bridge at the moment, there is no shortage of people wishing to learn the game."

If you know of anyone wishing to take up bridge please ask them to email learnbridge@suffolkbridge.co.uk

Eric & Diane win Suffolk Pairs final

Eric Newman & Diane Whitley (left) won the final of the Suffolk Pairs Championship on Sunday from Bill Tweddell & John Wilmott (centre) and Tony Philpott & Andrew Moore.

When the dust had setteled after a 42 board all-play-all event, the top five pairs had pulled clear of their nearest rivals. The first three pairs will now represent the county in the final of the national Corwen trophy.

For the first time in many years - perhaps ever - the pairs final failed to attract a full field. A sign of the times?

To see all the scores click on FINAL

An online version of the Bah Humbug Pairs - complete with a stream of Christmas cracker 'jokes' - helped raise the spirits of bridge players around the county on Sunday.

The event attracted 42 pairs and the size of the field meant the number of prizes was doubled for what is intended to be one of Suffolk's more light hearted occasions.

The overall winners of the North-South section were Cathy Rowland & Din Gudka (top left) while May Li & John Gan (bottom left) topped the EW section.

Just as important, there were Handicap prizes for each section, based on a partnership's EBU NGS ratings.

Barbara & Geoff Marcoolyn (bottom right) were the top NS Handicap pair while Hugh & Jen Godfrey (top right) headed the EW group.

Click on SCORES to see the results (and then click on Handicap tab to see Hcp scores).

	Above:Mary Evans, Rick Hanley, Eric Newman, Diane Whitley, Richard Evans and David Willson; and (left) Jacks Morcombe, Suffolk's chief tournament director

BAH HUMBUG is a festive cracker!

The gamble by Suffolk Bridge to organise a county wide event over the festive holiday paid off handsomely on Sunday with 80 players enjoying the Bah Humbug pairs.

The idea was to fill the void created by Christmas and the New Year decimating bridge club sessions and given the response it will be repeated next year on Sunday 27 December.

Not only did Bah Humbug attract a maximum field, but there were a sizeable number of players who are not regulars at county events. The winners were county captain Rick Hanley and David Willson, ahead of Eric Newman and Diane Whitley. while third placed Mary & Richard Evans won the Handicap prize.

The half-time snack of a sausage roll and mince pie, advertised as 'Suffolk's best,' lived up to their billing with several people asking for details of the baker. He is Mark Proctor, an artisan baker, who runs The Friendly Loaf on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds - www.the friendlyloaf.co.uk 07884 163542

To see all the scores, click on BAH

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

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.

The Summer League has attracted plenty of attention this year with seven teams in division 1 and six teams in division 2 playing a total of 34 matches.

Ipswich and Kesgrave Diamonds were Division 1 winners with 302 VPs, followed by Colchester in second with 293.

Colchester II won Division 2 and will be promoted for next year's competition.

Mike O'Reilly, who organises the league, commented: "A total of almost 15 000 master points were awarded this year and special thanks are due to the team captains who spent many hours trying to organise the timetables of eight of their club players in  the 34 matches.

"They also had to arrange venues and sort out transport and without their excellent efforts the event would never suceed - thank you all!"

A brilliant idea from English Bridge Educatiuon & Development (EBED) - and a must for any aspiring player who wants to improve their game.

EBED has launched relaxed supported play sessions - 12 boards taken from their hand banks together with commentary.

Play is 10 mins per board and players can ask questions. There is a Zoom meeting afterwards for students to ask questions on the hands or BBO.

Restricted to NGS 6 and below - all students welcome. Wednesdays and Fridays 2pm. $3 per session. If you want to know more click on LEARN

Suffolk shared the secrets of its online bridge success with 100 representatives from other English counties on Saturday.

During a 90 minute WEBINAR organised by the English Bridge Union, Jacks Morcombe, Peter Bushby, Malcolm Pryor and Richard Evans explained how Suffolk has managed to offer a range of different playing opportunities for its members during the current crisis.

The presentations highlighted the central message deployed by Suffolk - online bridge is the only game in town - setting up online events on BBO including a teams league, and training people to run 'virtual' clubs.

The webinar, hosted by Jacks, drew appreciative comments from the audience and confirmed  some counties currently have no online bridge available.

Click on BBC RADIO SUFFOLK to hear Lesley Dolphin's interview with Richard Evans about virtual bridge clubs.

Glyn Button goes in search of a hero, in his own inimitable way...

Click on 2½ No Trumps, the anecdote to traditional bridge chronicles, to read more.

The Suffolk Contract Bridge Association's constitution has been revised and updated. The changes will be considered at the 2020 AGM on May 17.

To read the reasoning behind the changes and the main areas which hve been revised click on CHANGES. To read the document in full click on CONSTITUTION. Please send any feedback you may have to Malcolm Pryor, chairman of the sub-committee which oversaw the changes, by clicking on FEEDBACK

In the 32-board semi-final of the Suffolk Championship teams played on Feb 10, Hanley (Rick Hanley, Jeff Orton, Karen and Malcolm Pryor) defeated Evans (Richard Evans, Andre Gray, Celia Jeal, John Bloomfield) by 81-69 imps.

The other semi-final was played on the following day and was won by Riley (Simon Riley, David Willson, Diane Whitley, Eric Newman) who defeated O’Reilly (Mike O’Reilly, Peter Warren, Patsi Barnes, Joan Watson) by 98-49 imps.

The 40-board final therefore represents a clash between Hanley (whose team has won the event for the past four seasons) and Riley (the winners in 2018 and joint winners in 2019 of the Felixstowe teams event) who will be appearing in the final for the first time. The final is scheduled to be played in April.

Paul Whetton and Ralph Parish headed the 24 pairs who qualified for the Suffolk Championship Pairs final being held at Nayland - the date of which will be re-arranged due to the Coronavirus.

No trump contracts are like Marmite. You either love or hate them.

Players who fall into the latter (not to mention former) category might just wish to have a look at a fascinating article packed with loads of different hands produced by Marc Chawner, one of Essex’s very best players, on their county website. It kicks off with some relatively straight forward examples before featuring some crackers which will test the best.

Click on NO TRUMPS to read.

All bridge players who are members of an affiliated club have their own EBU page - which may come as a surprise to some.

'My EBU' is a place where, if you are so minded, you can check your masterpoints and NGS records, book events, modify your account details and carry out other bits of bridgey administration.

"It is important that members can access the My EBU area," says the EBU, "and we are aware that some cannot, either because we do not have the right email address, or it is blank. We would like to encourage you to contact your members to make sure they can access My EBU"

So that's what we are doing. To access your EBU page click on MY EBU.

Top: 'Team Riley' pose for photos after finishing top on Sunday, while 'Team Rowland' celebrate winning the Plate

'Team Riley' in pole positon after Championship qualifying rounds

Fourteen teams took part in the Teams of Four Championship at Nayland on Sunday - with four going through to the knock out stages.

Stage 1, comprising 26 boards, ended with the top seven teams - headed by Roger & Jill Tattersfield, Mike Sherer & David Moran - playing against each other while the bottom seven teams contested the Plate.

After another 24 boards, the leading four teams qualified for the knock out stages:

• Simon Riley, David Willson, Diane Whitley and Eric Newman (top photo)
• Rick Hanley, Peter Sutcliffe, Jeff Orton and Chris Green
• Mike O'Reilly, Peter Warren, Patsi Barnes and Joan Watson
• Richard Evans, Andre Gray, John Bloomfield and Celia Jeal

The Plate was won by Din Gudka, Phillip & Anne Edwards, and Cathy Rowland (bottom photo). Click on Stage 1, Stage 2 and Plate to see the results.

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

Suffolk Sims turned into a procession by Hospitals pair

Peter Brown and Bob Kemp are the wide-margin winners of this year's renewal of the Suffolk Simultaneous Pairs.

Playing at Ipswich Hospitals bridge club, they recorded a county wide score of 72.30%, well clear of Richard Evans and David Unwin from Stansfield (65.37%, with another gap back to Jane and Pat Hudson (62.89%) from Deben in third.

The highlight of the winner's success was 7NT bid and made on Board 20, a feat matched by only one other of the 138 pairs who took part.

Nine clubs participated: Abbeygate, Clacton, Clare, Deben, Framlingham, Hadleigh, Ipswich Hosptials, Stansfield and Woodbridge. Peter Bushby co-ordinated the scoring in addition to writing a commentary on the boards played. Click on SIMS to see all the results and COMMENTARY for analysis of the boards.

Deben's generous parting gift

Sadly, Deben bridge club is no more due to a dwindling attendance exacerbated by the pandemic. However, their name will very much live on thanks to a generous parting gift to Suffolk bridge.

The club has handed over the money it held in the bank plus the proceeds from the sale of equipment - a total of £2,964 - to the SCBA with the intention it should be used constructively to encourage more people to play the game.

Bim Wilson, Michael Bizzey, the club treasurer, and Sam Wilson (pictured above) presented the cheque recently to Richard Evans, the association vice chairman,

"Obviously it is sad when a club has to close but the generosity of Deben means something very positive can emerge," Richard said. "The Suffolk committee will be discussing the 'Deben Project' next month to see the best way to generate more bridge players in the county and thereby support smaller clubs who are struggling."

A 28-board Suffolk FunBridge Pairs Challenge is taking place every week.

The competition will be open from 10am to 10pm every Wednesday to any FunBridge player in Suffolk. As usual on FunBridge a (very good!) robot will be your partner.

The event will be password protected. Click on PAIRS and a password will be sent to you.

To find the challenge, click on the Get Started/Practise tab, then click Exclusive Tournaments. Type Suffolk FunBridge Pairs into the View all Tournaments space.

Daily five board competiton for FunBridge players in Suffolk

The event is aimed at the growing FunBridge community in the county - and those who would like to give it a try.

Amanda Roberts who plays at Stansfield, Abbeygate, Stowmarket and Bury St Edmunds, came up with the idea.

The name of the competition is Suffolk Bridge Clubs, which can be found in Exclusive Tournaments via the orange Get started/Practise tab.

If you are interested but have not played on the site before go to https://www.funbridge.com

The best entry from clubs for years in the annual Suffolk Club Teams of 8 ended with Ipswich & Kesgrave winning for the fifth year running on Sunday.

Colchester were runners-up ahead of Ipswich Hospitals while Stansfield finished fourth.

A maximum field was guaranteed when 13 clubs fielded a team in the event staged at Colchester. One of the attractions of the competition is the excellent tea provided by the local sea scouts and, once again, they did not disappoint. To see all the scores click on CLUBTEAMSOF8

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.

Pictured above are the winners at the annual Suffolk golf-bridge day together with Nick Farr, the county chairman. Except the picture at Newton Green golf club does really tell the story…

In practice there was one winning pair - Dave Allen & Nancy Williams - who topped the leaderboard with 40 stableford points after 18 holes of golf in the morning, and then scored 71% in the 18 boards of bridge which followed a fish & chip lunch.

A cunning scoring system which converts the golf score to a percentage enables the event to produce an overall embracing both disciplines - step forward Dave & Nancy.

First Suffolk player to be honoured by the English Bridge Union

Malcolm Carey, a founding father of the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association, has been honoured by the English Bridge Union for his outstanding contribution to the game in the county and beyond.

The Dimmie Fleming Award is reserved for a select band of players and administrators, and is a public recognition of all they have done for bridge over a number of decades. The award was announced at the EBU's online annual general meeting.

Malcolm suggested the creation of a Suffolk association in 1978 and following its formation a few months later he has been a key member for more than 40 years, most notably as the county's chief tournament director, a position he held for 32 years.

As well as directing in Suffolk, his talents were regularly in demand in other counties, Jersey and Guernsey, and abroad - including Kenya, Tobago, Spain, Malta, Israel and Egypt.

Malcolm Pryor, the chairman of the SCBA, said: "Malcolm is the first person on the SCBA committee to have received this award and it is thoroughly deserved. Malcolm has been a driving force behind the development of Suffolk bridge from the county's foundation in 1979 through to the present day and the county owes him a huge debt of gratitude for his many years of dedicated service."

Click on MALCOLM to read a tribute by Phillip Edwards, and a report in the Ipswich Evening Star.

In addition to BBO and FunBridge, Bridge Club Live is an online favourite with many players. To find out more click on https://www.bridgeclublive.com

Local club director training courses available

Every sport and game needs someone to run the event, whether it be an umpire, referee - or director.

A well run bridge session adds to everyone's enjoyment. One that is poorly run...well, let's not go there!

In a bid to guarantee the former and eliminate the latter, the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association is offering affiliated and non-affiliated clubs some local courses on directing.

The courses are one day only and designed for small groups. They can be tailored to specific requirements, such as:

• club director training - the basics
• refresher course for existing directors
• scorer training: EBU Score/Score Bridge/Bridgemates/Arc scorer
• the Laws of Duplicate bridge - a presentation for players

The club director training is very much aimed at allowing participants to support their local club. It is not a replacement for a full (four day) EBU directors course. The cost is £20 per person for affiliated clubs, £40 for non-affiliated clubs.

For more details, email Jacks Morcombe, Suffolk's chief tournament director, by clicking on JACKS or Peter Bushby by clicking on PETER

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

Are Handicaps, earlier starts and multiple locations for competitions the way forward?

A meeting of representatives from clubs throughout Suffolk produced a series of proposals aimed at boosting county events in the years ahead.

The gathering orgainised by the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association at Elmswell was the first of its kind for seven years and attracted more than 30 people.

The topics covered during the four hour session included county competitions, bridge websites and the internet, county directing, teaching and attracting new members, junior bridge and membership records.

Currently, only 10% of Suffolk's bridge players enter county events and a variety of factors which inhibit attendance were put forward - including the perception that there was 'no chance of winning so it’s not worth entering.'

Several suggestions to boost attendance included having Handicap events, similar in concept to those in sports such as golf and horse racing, where weaker partnerships receive a percentage start based on their respective NGS grades. All pairs would have an equal chance of success.

Jeff Orton, chairman of the SCBA, said afterwards: “I was particularly impressed with some of the constructive comments from the club representatives, especially those concerning improvements to the county's programme of events, teaching, and attracting new members.  

“The county committee will review these comments and investigate how they can be incorporated - this has already started.  After the meeting several club representatives said they thought it had been useful; so much so that a repeat is planned for next year.”

Click on MEETING for full coverage of the event, including a junior bridge initiative being pioneered by Carol Smith.

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.

Moore the merrier as local pair triumph again

Andrew & Jane Moore (left) added to their remarkable record in the Suffolk Senior Pairs when they won the title once again at Clare.

The local pair lifted the Stokes Trophy in 2013 and 2016 and, in addition, have won the event playing with other partners on at least six occasions over the past decade.

Cathy Rowland & Din Gudka, who won 12 months ago, were runners-up ahead of Christine Cooke & Roger Bacon in third spot. Roger & Jill Tattersfield (right), who finishned fourth overall, won the Veterans prize for the top pair aged 70+.

The event attracted 10½ tables  - a respectable turn-out given the alternative attraction of England's world cup match against Croatia. To see all the scores and boards played, please click on RESULTS

HANDS OF INTEREST: the hearts slam - and holding your nerve in 1NT

Roger & Jill Tattersfield focus on two intersting hands from the Senior Pairs. Please click on ANALYSIS to read their thoughts.

The overall winners at this year's Autumn Festival were Alaric & Dorothy Cundy.

Trophy winners in the various categories were:

Men's Pairs - Bill Bethell & Stephen Parker

Ladies' Pairs - Helen Mason & Pam Pope

Mixed Pairs - Paul & Wendy Lefort

Handicap Pairs - John Heath & Caro Hunt

Seniors' Pairs - Jeff Orton & Paul Whetton

Well done to everyone!

Championship Pairs: DEAD HEAT	Swiss Teams: DEAD HEAT	Top 'Non-Expert' Team: DEAD HEAT

In the 38 year history of the Felixstowe Congress, the results have never been as nailbitingly close as those witnessed in the latest renewal. Both the main events - the Championship Pairs on Saturday and the Swiss Teams on Sunday - ended in dead heats, as did the contest for the leading 'Non-Expert' team.

Because trophies are awarded for all three events, Rob Sassoon, the chief tournament director, and Jeff Orton, the SCBA chairman, spent overtime poring over the rule book to work out who were the outright winners. The outcome was determined by how the contestants who tied for first place performed against each other during their respective competitons.

* To see all the scores, scroll down the right hand column to Results and click on the relevant competition. For a flavour of the weekend, click on PHOTO GALLERY

Sarah & Nick Farr (top right) are the new winners of the Ringer Cup after finishing top of the Suffolk Mixed Pairs at Lavenahm.

The pair from Clare - where Sarah is Chair - finished ahead of Nancy Williams & Paul Maclachlan from Stansfield in second spot. Din Gudka & Cathy Rowland and May Li & John Gan tied for third place with May & John (bottom right) winning the Lang Cup for the highest placed married couple (excluding the winner).

The event attracted 12½ tables, thereby continuing the healthy upward trend in entries to county competitions.

To see all the scores and boards played click on MIXED or go to the right hand results column and click on the relevant date.

Every card, every board, every score counts. And never more so than on Sunday at the Felixstowe Congress.

With a live screen showing the running results in the Swiss Teams, numerous players watched in suspense as the final scores were posted - and resulted in two dead heats.

The two teams sharing first place were last year's winners - Eric Newman & Diane Whitley, David Willson & Simon Riley - and (pictured top left) Norman Less & Helen Mason, Mike O'Reilly & Peter Bushby.

And a little further down the results two other teams were in a dead heat for the 'Non-Expert' prize - awarded to the leading team whose members are all below the rank of National Master.

Rob Sassoon and Jeff Orton consulted the rule books and determined that the Helen Mason team were overall winners while the 'Non-Expert' prize went to the Stansfield quartet of Paddy Lockwood & Gerry Ford, Kathy Rose & Penny Easting (centre photo).

The Really Easy Pairs, which is contested by less experienced players who have won less than 1,000 Master Points, did not require a judge to determine the outcome. Alison & Conrad Simons (pictured right) put clear daylight between themselves and runners-up Sheila Boxshall & Mark Leggett.

Gary Diamond & Russell Tenzer won the Suffolk Championship Pairs at the first time of asking - with a helping hand from Mrs Tenzer.

The north London pair only decided to head to Felixstowe after Russell got a 'free pass' to attend. “I have never been allowed to go away for a bridge weekend before but she is away learning bridge with her club this weekend so I was able to come here. Gary and I did some research and found that the only congress was on at Felixstowe."

The duo, who normally play their bridge at Pinner and the MCC bridge clubs, won by the narrowest margin. They tied for first place on 62.12% with Paul Darby asnd Gabriel Ip from Norfolk, but won on a countback.

Earlier in the day, David Willson & Simon Riley from Stowmarket finished top of the 62 pairs who took part in the Pairs Qualifier.  The Consolation Pairs was won by Ipswich pair Cathy Rowland & Din Gudka while the Open Pairs was won by Sandra Nicholson and Krys Kazmierczak.

Scroll down the right hand column to Results and click on the relevant event.

The left photo shows Gary (left) and Russell (right) with SCBA chairman Jeff Orton. David Willson (l) and Simon Riley are in the centre photo. The Open Pairs was won by Sandra Nicholson & Krys Kazmierczak (right photo)

The SCBA Club Teams of Four event was held at the Blackbourne Community Centre, Elmswell, on Sunday the 24th of March with a record entry of 23 teams. The event was closely contested with only six points between the first three places.

In first position was the Woodbridge team of Dave Walker & John Skinner playing with Humphrey Carey & Clive Rowe with a score of +81 IMPS.

In second place (pictured below) was the Stowmarket team of Brian Pinson & Paul Wilcox playing with Bim & Sam Wilson scoring +76 IMPS and in third place were the Stratford St Mary team of Debbie & Martin Burwood playing with Derek & Rita Brinkley.

Congratulations to them all.

The Director/Scorer was Rob Richardson, boards were provided by Paul Rickard and the Event Manager was Tim Evans.

Click RESULTS to see all the scores.