Zeb Stocken

We are delighted to give advance notice that Zeb Stocken will be returning to Suffolk for a one day teaching event at Hintlesham Hall on June 13.

More details and the opportunity to book your place will be posted nearer the time, but tickets are expected to sell out quickly, so keep an eye on the website.

RAISING THE BAR
RAISING THE BAR

 

Paul Whetton has been appointed Suffolk captain elect and is using his new role to offer a series of articles aimed at players who represent the county, or aspire to do so - but should help us all improve our game.

Paul's aim is to raise the level of performance by Suffolk players and he explains the thinking behind his approach in his first article. Click on BAR to read it.

All Paul's columns are available by clicking on Raising the Bar in the menu above. The latest one is entitled Planning.

RICK STANDING DOWN

Rick Hanley is standing down as Suffolk captain at the end of the current Eastern Counties League season. As announced previously, he will be 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)

SUFFOLK CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS

 The format for this year's competition is as follows:

1. Heats to be held in Clubs during October/November. The heats will be F2F. There will be an online open heat in January 2024 for anyone who has missed their club heat.

2. All players who achieve 50% or more in a heat will be eligible to take part in the Final at Elmswell (IP30 9UH) on Sunday April 21, 2024.

3. Players may attempt qualification once - please ask players before play starts if they wish to attempt qualification.

4. Any out-of-county players who achieve more than 50% in a heat will not be eligible to play in the Final since the top three pairs in the Final will be invited to represent Suffolk in the Corwen Trophy to be held F2F on June 15/16, 2024.

LEARNING BRIDGE

Suffolk bridge is offering an unprecedented number of venues and sessions where players new to bridge can learn the game or improve their skills this autumn. Click on LEARN to see the range of courses and sessions on offer across the county.

If you - or a friend - is interested in attending any of the courses and requires more information click on ENQUIRIES and let us have your details.

MARMITE

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.

MORE MARMITE!

In a sequel to Marc Chawner's popular compilation of no-trump hands and how to play them, click on SUIT PLAY BY DECLARER, and  BBO, to see how BBO robots played these hands (clever!) To complete the trilogy, Marc has produced a comprehensive article on defence. Click on DEFENCE to read.

There is plenty for players of all abilities in the above. Thanks once again to Marc.

LEARNING BRIDGE
LEARNING BRIDGE

If you have friends who would like to learn bridge but are not sure how to go about it or where to go, ask them to email learnbridge@suffolkbridge.co.uk

To find a teacher in your area click on BRIDGE TEACHERS

LOCAL BRIDGE

With more clubs opening their doors, and some also offering teaching and learn & play classes, click on BRIDGE IN SUFFOLK to find out what is available.

While every attempt has been made to ensure the information is accurate, please let us know of any omissions or corrections by clicking EmailSuffolk

FACEBOOK

HERE - AT LAST!

It's been long overdue, but Suffolk Bridge now has its own Facebook  page.

The social networking site offers another way to advertise events and, in particullar, to reach non-bridge players who might be interested in learning the game.

To find the page, go to Facebook and search for Suffolk Bridge.

BRIDGE ARCHIVE

Suffolk Bridge now has a dedicated website for archive mateiral collected over more than 40 years, including winners of the county's main competitions.

Many thanks to Jill Tattersfield for compiling all the material and to Peter Bushby for makiing it publicly available by setting up the website. Click on ARCHIVE to see everything.

WEBMASTERS
 

Paul Rickard and Tony Pearson are the webmasters running Suffolk's dedicated bridge website.

If you would like to publicise a forthcoming event or submit a news item for this website click Paul or Tony

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SCBA 40th anniversary
Phillip Edwards and Malcolm Carey

For many years (since the 1920’s or 1930’s it is believed), the Suffolk Contract Bridge Association had lain dormant, and most of Suffolk was subsumed into Essex.


In 1979, a number of interested parties met in Colchester, with a view to restarting the association. This was driven by the feeling that the Eastern end of Essex had far more affinity with Suffolk than with Essex (indeed all parts of Essex west of Witham had been due to “move” into Suffolk as part of local government boundary change proposals in 1974, only to be quashed when it was realised that the University of Essex would need a change of Charter to enable these changes).

 
Two members of that original group, Malcolm Carey and Phillip Edwards are still (very) active in the County. Other founder members, whom some of you may remember, were Claude Stokes, Mike Moseley, Martin King, Alan (Happy) Day, Phil O’Gorman and Jim Pettit. 
The above helps to explain why Colchester and Frinton Bridge Clubs are affiliated to Suffolk rather than Essex! Beccles and Lowestoft clubs remained with their long affiliation to 
Norfolk, where they are more logically pointed.

At its inauguration, there were around 240 members, of whom 188 played in the Winter Leagues…this was an unprecedented proportion of members which many County Associations which existed at that time were in awe of!


At its inauguration, there were around 240 members, of whom 188 played in the Winter Leagues, with divisions 1, 2 North, 2 South, 3 North, 3 South and 4, all of 8 teams except we couldn’t quite get the 48thteam to fill the last slot in division 4. This was an unprecedented proportion of members which many County Associations which existed at that time were in awe of! With the advent of P2P (Pay to Play) the county now stands at around 1000 “members”, who played over 33,000 club sessions between them over the last year

.
Early Swiss Teams competitions were held at BT Research Labs at Martlesham “courtesy of the Director of Research” with 50 teams taking part and by Framlingham Bridge Club at Wilby thanks to Jack Barnard.  These events were run solely to raise finances for the SCBA in its early days.

 

BT at Martlesham where competitons were held

Of note over the intervening years has been the names of our Treasurers – Leonard Sterling, followed for a short interim spell by Frank Money, you really couldn’t make that up!
A member of the committee in the late 1980s and early 1990s was Anna Gudge (formerly Brabner), who went on to run the BBL, which organised International matches and the Camrose and Lady Milne home countries internationals (several of which were run at The Mill Hotel in Sudbury) for many years until that body was disbanded, and evolved into Ecats bridge.


There was an excellent and thriving quarterly A5 magazine produced, called Table Talk, originally edited and printed (and generously paid for) by Mike Moseley, then by Claude Stokes, and later by Jane Moore then Norman Less and finally Richard Evans. With the onset of the “digital age” Table Talk has been superseded by the SCBA website, from where you are reading this article!. It also featured guest articles from prominent players of the era, especially Bob Rowlands.
Most of the Competitions the Association runs today were started at that time, with trophy names such as “The Jim Pettit Cup”, and the obscure “Ida Frost Bowl” – that having been provided by Mike Moseley, dedicated to an elderly relative of his who introduced him to the game of Bridge.


Teams of Suffolk players had some moderate successes in national competitions especially in the early years, including Crockford’s Cup finalists, Silver Plate Finalists, and progression to the later rounds of the Gold Cup, and the Hubert Phillips (a national competition for mixed teams).
The Felixstowe Congress was started as an unashamed copy of the format of the Clacton Congress, being the very successful County Congress run by Essex, that event having been led and organised by Claude Stokes and Frinton Bridge Club on behalf of the Essex Bridge Association.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this “glimpse of history”, the majority of which is from my own memory, so only gentle screams about any perceived inaccuracies please!


Phillip Edwards