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 1/2, 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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I & K SWISS PAIRS

Ipswich and Kesgrave are setting a standard that other bridge clubs in Suffolk will do well to match. In July, as part of their 60th anniversary celebrations they hosted a well-attended and well-received visit from England international Sally Brock. On Sunday 2nd September, however, they topped this by staging a superb Swiss Pairs event comprising 7x6 board matches that attractedno fewer than 112 players. A convenient start-time of 11.30 allowed the event to conclude by 6.30 pm. Play was interrupted at around 2.00 by a break for a sumptuous lunch organised by Chairman Trevor Stiff (so good that one player who will remain nameless was rumoured to have gone back for a fourth helping). And all this for only £10 a head! As genial hostess, Anne Edwards, pointed out, it was encouraging that all ability levels were represented from NGS twos to members of the Suffolk, Norfolk and Herts county teams. 

Happily, Suffolk players were seen at the top of the leader-board from start to finish. For most of the event, the force was with Iris Green and Glynne Whitehead. In the opening match, they swept aside Peter Sutcliffe and myself by a 15-5 margin. On Board 4, holding:

♠ 952  92  A10943 ♣ K86

and playing a weak NT, Glynne raised her partner's opening 1D to 2D and then wisely passed her partner'sre-bid of 2NT. Even 8 tricks required accurate card playby Iris who was rewarded with 44/58 of the match points. Later rounds included decisive victories over Jenny and David Price and over Richard Evans and Andre Gray. By the start of the final round they had accumulated an impressive 95 out of a possible 120 victory points and led the field by 6 vps.

In the final match, Iris and Glynne faced the promising new partnership of Jo Harpur and Conor Bignell, who had won the Bamberger trophy at Ipswich earlier in the summer and had recently made their debut in the Suffolk county team. At this point, fortune deserted Iris and Glynne. On the first board of the match (Board 37), for example, at favourable vulnerability and sitting East in second seat, Conor dealt and bid 1 club holding:

♠  -  K104  K842 ♣ A106432

South immediately bid 4 spades and after 2 passes Conorbid 5 clubs for only one down doubled (-100) and 43/58 of the match points as most E/W pairs chose to defend 4 spades for -620. Conor and Jo then proceded to play faultless bridge. By the end, they were the clear and deserved winners claiming first prize with 9 vps to spare. All credit, though, to Ipswich and Kesgrave bridge club for hosting such an enjoyable and well-organised event.

Rick Hanley

Full details of the results can be found by clicking on I&K

One of the more interesting hands was board 17 where 6  is the optimum contract.   After a safe ♠ lead taken in hand declarer plays A and K finding the good news that both the Q and J drop but still leaving a probable loser in the S hand.   Declarer now has to play the singleton club and win the probable ♠ continuation in dummy.   A club ruff, a third spade and another club ruff leaves the following end position:

All declarer needs now is a successful diamond finesse finishing in dummy and South is forced to concede the last two trump tricks. Congratulations to the two pairs who made 12 tricks in Hearts.

Our most frustrating hand was board 8 where our opponents held their nerve and played in 1NT by N.

After the reasonable small  lead round to the Q, the ♣A and ♣Q  brought declarer the welcome news that the ♣ suit had been established and eight tricks were soon brought home. 

The unlikely lead of the K or a diamond lead followed by a heart switch would have resulted in declarer making three or four less tricks.   That’s bridge!

Roger & Jill