Entry is now open for two 2022 team events - the Championship Teams and the Sussex League.  Entry for the Championship Teams is free and Green Points will be awarded for all matches won although players must have primary allegiance to Sussex.  Registration for both events should be made using the Registration for the Championship Teams and Sussex League page by January 31st at the latest.  If you have any queries, please contact the organiser, David Galpin.

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of May Langmaid, a vice-president of SCCBA for many years.  May gave great service to club and county bridge in Sussex for over 30 years, leading to her being awarded the Gladys Hakki Trophy in 1997 and, pictured, the EBU Dimmie Fleming Award in 2006.

May’s funeral is being held this week but is understoood to be for family members only.  However, there are plans to hold a memorial service in February in the chapel at St. George’s, Ditchling Common, where May lived for several years.

The West Sussex Bridge Club web-site contains more details.

The long delayed 2019/20 season of the Sussex League has finally been completed, with only a few matches left unplayed.  The winners of the 5 Divisions were teams captained by:-

Division 1 - Ken Ford
Division 2 - Andrew Morris
Division 3 - Thea Sydenham
Division 4 East - Bruce Carrison
Division 4 West - Josie Allen

Congratulations to all members of these winning teams.  Full details of results can be found in the Sussex League section.

David Galpin
Organiser, Sussex League

Affiliated clubs and members of the county management committee have been invited to make nominations (via the attached form) by Friday February 4th 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.

All the heats of the 2021-22 Sussex Pairs have now taken place.  To check whether you have qualified to play in one of the semi-finals, which are to be played on BBO on Saturday January 29th and Sunday January 30th, please check the list of qualifiers.

It is important that all qualifying pairs (but nobody else) should submit their registration, via the Registration for Online Semi-Finals page, and pay their table money (£5 per player) by January 22nd at the latest.  The Registration page also contains details of how to pay table money and important information about the running of the semi-finals and the final.

If you have qualified but cannot now play in a semi-final, please contact organiser Gerry Stanford (01403 255952) as soon as possible, even if you have registered and paid for your entry.

24 teams competed for the Sussex Green-Pointed Swiss Teams, which was won by a combined Sussex / Surrey quartet of Richard Illingworth, Mike Keeping, Andrew Bannock and John Dagnall.  The same county mix featured in the runners-up, who were Alan Setchell, Jane Handley, Graham E. Osborne and Terry Fishlock.  The third-placed team were from considerably further north: Catherine Draper,, Kate Webb, Andrew Woodcock and Paul Murray.

Many thanks to Eddie and Kathy Williams for directing, and to Mervyn Wotton and John Hardy for handling the back-office event administration.

Peter Clinch,
Tournament Organiser.

The SCCBA Mixed Pairs Championship for the Eddie Williams trophies was held on Sunday 5th December after a year's break and without any heats this year.

Congratulations to the winners, Jeremy Willans and Jill Skinner.  Second were Lindsay Geddes and Philip Hunt.

Many thanks to Peter Clinch who directed and, in the background, Mervyn Wotton for work with the entry forms and the web-site.

Gerry Stanford (organiser)

The  East Grinstead Basic Bridge Pairs was held on BBO on Saturday 27th November.  It was very successful with a good mix of novice players and the more experienced.

The prize winners were :-

first place East/West - Christine and Philip Nash (pictured) who were also the highest-placed 'under 7' NGS players in the “novice” section.  As Christine and Philip took the prize for E/W, the novice prize went to the next-highest pair in that section who were Trish Robson and June Carr.  These 4 players are all members of Crawley Bridge Club.

Congratulations go to all the winners. The future of bridge in Sussex is looking very hopeful!

My thanks go to Peter Clinch for his very capable directing, to Mervyn Wotton for collating the entries and mainly to all those who supported the event.  It will run again in November next year either on BBO or F2F.

Helen Kent

The Green-Pointed Swiss Pairs event on Sunday November 21st was won convincingly by John Dagnall and Andrew Bannock of Surrey who finished 9 VPs clear of Martin Stephens and Michael Byrne of Scotland / Manchester.  The highest-placed Sussex pair were James and Alan Hobden and the highest-placed Sussex player was Alan Setchell, playing with Graham E. Osborne of Surrey.

Many thanks to Julian Mitchell who directed and to John Hardy and Mervyn Wotton who managed the entry and prize-giving.

Peter Clinch (Organiser)

Over two days last weekend, our team played all the other county teams in the Tollemache & finished fifth with only four in our section to qualify for the final.  After playing what we thought were the stronger teams in our group on Saturday, we held first position with a healthy lead. Unfortunately, on Sunday we performed less well & the opposition excelled themselves.  We missed out by the smallest of margins.  All players should be congratulated on some solid performances & look forward to next year when we will try again.

Martin Pool
(non-playing captain)

Several Sussex clubs have returned to face-to-face bridge and others are planning to do so.  The  attached list gives the latest known position for each club.  If any club wishes to make changes to their entry in this list, they should contact the SCCBA WebMaster.

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