New Year Swiss Teams

18 teams participated in this year's New Year Swiss Teams on Sunday 18th January at Patcham Bridge Club.

Congratulations to those teams who finished in the top 3 places, namely winners Lindsay Geddes, Gerry Stanford, Mick Carrington and Kami Nadim, runners-up Mike Allen, Ken Ford, Sally Clark and Gunnar Hallberg and third-placed Sally Bugden, Joy Mayall, Neil Watts and Philip Hunt.

Many thanks to: Director Stephen Kennedy, Caterer Charlotte Setahul, Webmaster Mervyn Wotton and Martin Pool who prepared the hands.  

Joy Mayall - Organiser

2026 SCCBA Charity Simultaneous Pairs

To benefit worthy causes which have been nominated by SCCBA members, why not play in this annual event which, this year, is in aid of :-

 Queen Victoria Charitable Trust, East Grinstead,

St Wilfrid's Hospice, Chichester and

UKHarvest, Chichester

Heats of the this year's event will be held in the week beginning Monday February 16th.  The current list of participating clubs is Avenue, Worthing, Chichester, Crawley, Patcham, West Sussex and Eastbourne - see Calendar for start times.  Please note that individual players may only play in one heat.

If any other SCCBA club would like to hold a heat, they should email organiser Gerry Stanford.

Gladys Hakki Trophy 2025/26

Affiliated clubs and members of the county management committee have been invited to make nominations (via the attached form) by end of February, 2025 for the Gladys Hakki Trophy.  The intent of the trophy is annually to recognise a member of the County who has given unstintingly of their time and service, and contributed exceptionally to the success of contract bridge in the County.  If you know of someone whom you believe meets these criteria, please contact one of your local club officers or a member of the county management committee to convey your views.

SCCBA Welcome Pairs at Horsham BC

on Sunday March 1st

Horsham will be running its annual Welcome Pairs competition again on Sunday March 1st.  We're inviting entries from those who are new to bridge or have an NGS rating of 5 or below.  There are prizes for three fields, i.e. :-
-   One to two years of training,
-   Three years of training,
-   NGS 5 and below.

The competition starts at 1.00 p.m., finishing at approximately 5.00 p.m. with a break for tea midway.  It is intended as a fun afternoon and we encourage as many people as possible to take part.

See full details and how to enter.

Denise Lincoln (Organiser)

SCCBA Autumn Blue-Pointed Swiss Pairs 

Congratulations to Robert Lowe and Will Adler (pictured), who scooped the Autumn Congress Swiss Pairs against strong opposition at Patcham on Sunday November 30th.  They are now the proud holders of the magnificent Noel Mobbs trophy.  1 VP behind were Ken Ford and Mike Allen, while David Benjamin and Matt Read finished third.  The "non-expert" prize was won by Lawrence Goldberg and Clive Hardebeck.

Many thanks to Stephen Kennedy for directing, to Martin Pool for dealing the hands, to Mervyn Wotton for providing technical assistance and to Charlotte Setahul for providing sandwiches and cake to the needy.

Peter Clinch
Organiser

2025 EBU Silver Award Winner - Peter Clinch

Very many congratulations to Peter Clinch for his EBU Silver award, a richly-deserved recognition of multiple roles through which he has made substantial contributions to the further development of bridge at county and national levels.

From a Sussex perspective, Peter’s outstanding contributions, particularly over the last five years, have been vital to the development and delivery of the wide range of opportunities for competitive bridge now available to members at all levels of experience.  Peter has led this work, not only through his principal role as Chair of the County Association alongside other related responsibilities, but also as Chair of the Tournament Committee, Tournament Manager overseeing the delivery of each year’s competitions programme, and Organiser and/or Director of several individual events.

SCCBA Management Committee

SCCBA Eastbourne Venture Pairs

Congratulations to winners Caroline Holder & Julia Price from Horsham Bridge Club who won Eastbourne Bridge Club's inaugural SCCBA Venture Pairs on Sunday November 30th.  Well done too to David & Jane Spencer, who came second and to Crombie McNeill and Annelie Triandafyllou in third place.  All three of these partnerships scored in excess of 60% - no mean achievement.

As is the case in Venture Pairs, entries featured a number of partnerships with a mentor playing with wives / pupils so Caroline & Julia should be particularly proud of themselves as they were both under the NGS level denoting a mentor.

The bridge was played in good spirits and was competitive but friendly.  Everyone enjoyed an excellent lunch - Eastbourne is getting a great reputation for exceptional catering and this is the third County / National event that has utilised its splendid new kitchen facilities since June.

Ros Wolfarth,
Organiser

2025 Invitation Pairs

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2025 Invitation Pairs Competition Peter Clinch and Julian Mitchell and to the Runners-up Chris Jepson and David Clifton.  Prizes were also awarded to the two pairs with the best result for Round 7 and 8 combined - Francis Kelly & Peter Rowell and Yves Lebrec & Owen Leigh.  Thanks to Stephen Kennedy and Oliver Cowan for directing and to Mervyn Wotton for Website help.

Dates for the 2026 Competition are on the SCCBA County Calendar.  Further information can be obtained from the Competition Organiser, Andrea Galpin.

Other County News