Those present at our party on 12th December donated £250 to our nominated charity, Cherwell Collective.  Other members have made donations online. Their Managing Director has sent the attached letter of thanks and asked me to share it with all you generous people.

If anyone would still like to make a donation here is the link to the relevant page of their website.

https://www.cherwellcollective.com/about-us/

The organisation has the dual objective of helping to reduce our carbon footprint and support disadvantaged individuals in the local area.

We were sad to hear that Mike Fletcher died on 23rd August.  He was a regular player at Maison Francaise before lockdown, and also played regularly online until very recently - with Irene Holland.  A real gentleman, always courteous at the bridge table, who will be sadly missed.

He was a good friend to many golfers at Frilford, where he also played and organised bridge.  He was Chairman of the OBA many years ago.  Our condolences go to his wife, family and friends.

The funeral will be at 12 noon on Thursday 15th September at South Oxfordshire Crematorium, with a reception to follow at Frilford Heath Golf Club at 1.30 pm.

Erica 31.8.22

You will, I hope, be pleased to hear that Summertown BC is planning a partial return to face-to-face bridge on a trial basis.

Here is our plan:

Monday 11th July at 6.45 for 7.30.  A welcome back party with drinks & nibbles at 6.45 at Maison Francaise, followed by a normal evening's duplicate bridge at 7.30.  All welcome including non-members and free of charge!  There will be a host, so don't worry if you have no partner.

Monday 25th July, Monday 8th and Monday 22nd August (second and fourth Mondays in July and August when we have been playing RealBridge) at 7.30 pm - face-to-face duplicate bridge, and we hope to provide the usual refreshments: coffee/tea and biscuits.  For these evenings, you must register online and pay in advance.  Please register and come along even if you have no partner as there will be a host.  (If registering and paying online is a problem for you, please let Erica know).  Here is the link to the registration/payment page:

https://bookwhen.com/summertown#focus=ev-s96c-20220627190000

You must register before 4pm on the day you plan to play.  If we have fewer than three tables we will cancel, so please check your emails before setting off for the club.

The timing of the face-to-face bridge sessions will be 7.30 as before.  This is because Maison Francaise cannot allow us access before 7 pm during term time.

On the intervening Mondays we will continue to play online (on BBO).  To check what is happening on which day, look at the website.

We ask you to use common sense with regard to Covid.  Please do not attend if you have any signs of a cold or Covid.  Please bring your own supply of hand gel and wear a mask if you would prefer to.  We will space the tables out and provide good ventilation.

Please come along and support us and bring your friends!

Depending on the success of these four evenings and of course on any adverse change in the state of the pandemic and relevant Government advice, we will decide on the way forward for September onwards.

Erica and all the SBC Committee

17.6.22

A Team

The A team played our first Wessex League match of the season against Bicester A on 26th October, which we ended up losing by 5 points to 15.
Translated down from a net loss of 69 IMPs.

As we were a good 100 down at halftime the end result, with a bit of a recovery in the second half, gives us some encouragement.

Many thanks to

Krys and Sandra
Robert and Alison
Dave and Linda
And Peter Finbow.

Many thanks to Sandra for scoring.

-----------------------------------------------------

The A-Team had its third match on 6th December against Abingdon A on RealBridge.

We ended up losing 163 to 87 which is a 15.4 to 4.6 loss in VPS.
Although we lost the first half 148 - 20, we won the second half 67 - 15.
Thus it was a lot better result than the previous 20 nil thrashing by the Menagerie A Team.

Many thanks to :

Sandra and Krys

Alison and Robert

Linda and Dave

Ruth and myself

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Howard and Ruth weren't in the team for the match against Wallingford A on 10th January, I (Sandra) agreed to step in as "match director", which is why this report is coming from me not Howard.

Our opponents were a very pleasant lot, but by the end of the first half it was looking as though we were in for another drubbing. Thankfully we recovered considerably in the second half and, although we didn't get back all the losses, we ended up with a respectable score of 7.59 out of a possible 20 match points - in fact, our best result so far this season. (There was also one board which may result in an appeal for the score to be adjusted in our favour due to a technical problem experienced by one of the players, but it still wouldn't be quite enough to give us a win.)

Many of the hands were quite exciting, as the RealBridge random dealer came up with a lot of very wild hands, such as this one:

where 6D or (surprisingly) 4S could have been made, but everyone played in hearts, where best defence keeps you to 9 tricks; or even more so, this one:

where you can make 10 tricks playing in diamonds, but unfortunately only 7 if hearts are trumps. It's quite difficult, though, to keep out of 4H when you're playing teams!

Thanks to all the team, who on this occasion were:

Myself and Krys

Steph and Steven

Linda and Dave

Alison and Robert

with Howard standing by as reserve.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The A-Team played the Menagerie on 8th February and we were fairly well defeated by 16.7 VPS against 3.3.

The opposition were a very strong team and and it's not surprising that we were beaten which probably means we will end up bottom of the league.

Many thanks to

Sandra and Krys
Robert and Peter (Finbow)
Steph and Steven
Dave and Linda

Thanks also to Sandra for captaining , in my absence away skiing,  although I returned in time to be the reserve for the evening.

Howard

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few years in this role I've decided after a relegation and a near relegation and, unfortunately double booking people for one match, it's time for a change at the helm of the A-Team.
We lost all our six matches ranging from a 20 - 0 thrashing by the eventual winners Menagerie A, who probably are therefore the best team in the league, to a best result of an 8.5 to 11.5 defeat against Oxford A.
Unless someone drops out like they did last year it looks like we will therefore be relegated to the second division.  Here hopefully we will have a good chance of holding our own.

I would like to thank all the team who played various numbers of matches namely, Valerie and James, Robert and Alison, Sandra and Krys, Linda and Dave, Steph and Steven, Ruth, and Peter Finbow who bravely played with Robert and me when our partners were unavailable.

I wish my successor the best of luck for the coming season.

Many thanks to all
Howard

B Team

The Summertown B team had its first Wessex League match of the season on 16th November, against Banbury. It was quite close all evening. After 6 boards we were up 28-19 IMPs. By half way this had become 49-36. After 18 boards we were at 63-52; and with one board to play it was 78-65.... And then we lost 14 on the final hand, ending up 78-79 down, equivalent to 9.82 – 10.18 VPs. Hardly a disaster, but disappointing when we had been doing OK for so long.

As usual there were some fine successes (Holly & Zahir ended up with a Cross-Imp score of +46/72 - Well Done!) and there were mistakes too. I personally lost the team 16 IMPs by blunders on two of the hands.

But what about that final board? At love all West deals holding

West
S: Q
H: Q83
D: AK532
C: Q874

East:
S: AKJ109
H: A2
D: 97
C: AK95

How would you bid these hands, with the opposition silent? Two pairs reached 3NT, one got to 6C, and the fourth landed in 6NT - the only slam hand of the evening.

How would you plan the play as East, on a small diamond lead? There are 12 easy tricks if the clubs produce 4 tricks. Other possibilities include leading the 2 of hearts toward the queen, hoping the king in onside, or ducking a diamond and hoping the remainder split evenly. There are also squeeze options.

Taking the clubs in isolation, how should you play West:Q874 opposite East:AK95. There is no problem if the defenders' clubs split 3-2, but can you handle a 4-1 break? or a 5-0 break? It isn't possible to deal with a 4-1 split where one defender starts with J10xx, (unless it is north and you *know* that is what he has). But suppose there is a 4-1 split with the J or 10 being singleton. This time, if you start with the Q and then the A, you will discover the bad split, and if north is left with Jx, say, you will be able to lead towards your remaining K9 for a finesse. That's no good though if it is south who starts with Jxxx or 10xxx. So the correct line is to begin with the Ace, and see which defender (if either) plays a singleton J or 10. If it is north who produces the 10, for example, you can follow up with the K, to confirm the bad split, and still have Q8 in the east hand for a finesse of south's J. Alternatively, if south produces the J or 10 on the first round, you can play the King next and take a finesse through south if necessary. This will work whenever the J or 10 is singleton, whichever hand it is in.

With correct timing one can couple this play with the attempt for a second heart trick, giving the slam something like an 88% chance of success. But can you do better? - answers please!

Thanks to the team:-

Holly & Zahir
Ann & Erica
Tunde & Kati
Paul & myself

and also to our reserves, Bridget & John.

-----------------------------------------------------

The Summertown B team had its second match of the season on 7th December, against Wallingford D, on RealBridge. We started well enough, and were 6 IMPs up after the first six boards. But the next 6 went badly, with us losing 28 IMPs, due in part to one hand where both Wallingford pairs made vulnerable games while both our pairs went down. We lost a further 3 IMPs over the next 6 boards, and were pretty much resigned to the prospect of losing. And then we took the last set 38-0 to leave us winners by 91 to 78! (=12.16 to 7.84 in VPs)

Thanks to the team:

Ann & Erica,
Tunde & Kati,
Holly & Zahir,
Paul & myself,

and to our reserves, Bridget, Sean & Zane.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Summertown B team had its third match of the season on 5th January, against Wallingford B. I'm sorry to report that we lost, by 46IMPs to 125
(= 4.46 VPs to 15.54). This leaves us in 4th place out of 6 in Division 3, but places 3,4,5 and 6 are very close.

We had one slam hand, where North (dealer) holds S:AKQ54, H:6, D:A85, C: AJ109 opposite S:7, H: AQ82, D: K962, C: KQ85
6S was made twice, and 6N once - slightly lucky in both cases with the Heart King onside and a 4-3 split in spades. But sadly one of our pairs stayed in a safe 3N. In fact 6C looks a distinctly better contract than 6S or 6N - and 7C makes as the cards lie. How would you bid these hands?

Thanks to those who played

Ann & Erica
John & Betty
Holly & Sean
Paul & myself

and also to Bridget & Kati, who stood by as reserves.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summertown B had its fourth match of the season on 26th February, against Oxford E, and I'm happy to report that we won, by 98 IMPs to 55 (15.89 VPs to 4.11). That leaves us 3rd (out of 6) in the division, with one match to play. Overall we made 30 games, as opposed to 24 by Oxford, attributable to a mixture of finding the right contracts, the right declarer plays, and the right defence.

Here though is one hand where Oxford did well:
North holds
S: A 10 8 7
H: A 9 2
D: Q 10 7 6 4 3
C: -

and South has
S: K J 6 5
H: Q 5
D: K
C: A K Q J 8 3

They reached 6NT by North, which requires a 4-3 split in Clubs, some luck in Spades, and the avoidance of a Heart loser. As it happened East (on lead) held the Heart King and the singleton Spade Queen, as well as 4 Clubs; so the slam made. Was this lucky, or a good gamble?

Thanks to the team:
Holly & Zahir,
Tunde & Kati,
Ann & Erica,
Paul & myself (Roger),

and also to our reserves, Bridget & John.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our B team had its last match of the season on 1st March, against Oxford F. It was quite an exciting evening, with 4 slam hands - and in each case only one of the four pairs made it - twice by us, and twice by them. However we made three more games than they did, and although we were only 1 IMP ahead at the half-way stage we pulled away in the second half and ended up winning comfortably be 99 IMPs to 48 (16.64 VP's to 3.36).  That leaves us 2nd out of 6 in the division. It was our last match, but there are two others to be played between other teams, so the final position is far from certain. We are at least safe from relegation.

Here is one hand where I blundered. I hope you would have done better!

North has
S: A J
H: A
D: A K 8 6 5
C: K Q 8 5 4

You are South, with
S: Q 10 8 3 2
H: J 10 6 4
D: J 10 2
C: A

You end up playing 4S, after East has opened with a weak 2H. How do you plan the play when West leads 8H? I'll leave it to you to think about - the correct line is simple enough! And can you see where I went wrong?

Daytime League

You may not be aware that, in addition to our two teams in the main Wessex League competition, this year we entered a team in the Daytime League. This is a rather gentler teams-of-four competition, playing afternoon matches of 20 boards on RealBridge, with ordinary partner alerting.

There are three divisions in the Daytime League and our team (captained by me/Sandra) has been playing in Division 2. I'm delighted to report that we have won four matches out of five and have ended the season in first place, thereby earning promotion to Division 1. Very well done and thank you to all the players, who besides myself were: Sara Alden, Steph Bliss, Betty Dick, Erica Sheppard and Bridget Watson.

As you'll notice, there's only one regular partnership amongst that group, so we've been having fun mixing and matching, and I think I can safely say that we've all very much enjoyed the experience. If anyone else is interested in playing for Summertown in future in this competition  - either as a partnership, or an individual - please do let me know. I'd love to be able to enter two teams next time round!

Sandra

From 1st March the Club is running online bridge sessions on Bridge Base Online on first and third (and fifth) Monday evenings at 7 pm.  For further information and to find the form to register if you are playing with us for the first time on BBO, please click on 'BBO Online' on the left.

From 21st March onwards we will be playing 20 boards per session, rather than the 18 previously played.

If you need a partner please either:

1.  log on to BBO in good time, but after 5 pm, and go to the partnership desk.  Instructions are here.

or 2. send an email to sumbc@googlegroups.com saying you would like a partner on a specific date.

However, please note that on second and fourth Mondays in July and August the sessions will be face-to-face.  You must register and pay for these sessions in advance - see above.

Look what Sandra & Krys were doing on 2nd April!  They finally entered into a civil partnership after first meeting at Summertown BC in 2000 and becoming partners in both senses the following year.

Many congratulations to them from all of us! 

Your committee met in early April to discuss our thoughts on face-to-face and online bridge.  In the light of current numbers of coronavirus infections, we don't propose any immediate changes.  We have put together a questionnaire for you to complete in order to work out a way forward.  The link has been circulated to members, with the request to complete it as soon as possible and certainly no later than 1st May.  The replies will then be collated and we will discuss them at a committee meeting and report back to you.

Erica 7.4.22

Members will be sad to hear that Anna died on 11th March aged 93.  She will be missed by us all - always a smiling presence at the table.  Our condolences go to her family and friends, including Eileen, her regular bridge partner. 
Erica 14.3.22

Members will be sad to hear of the death on 14th February aged 90 of Bob Francis, long-time member of Summertown.  He hasn't been a member or played at the club in recent years but many will still remember him.  Our condolences go to his widow Jane and his family.
Erica 11.3.22

I am very sad to report the death on 8th February of Jean Alexander, a regular player at Summertown for some years and always a jolly presence at the table.

Our thoughts go to her family and friends.

Here are details of a memorial event for Jean on 26th March.

You will remember that before Christmas we asked our members to consider donating to a local charity: Charterville Care's Horticultural Therapy Nurseries.  You were tremendously generous. The Manager has just informed us that you donated a total of £411 and asks us to thank you profusely.  He will let us know when they have decided to which project the money will be channelled.

Thank you everybody for this support!  This charity makes a tremendous difference to many people's lives.

Erica 15.1.2022