Read about our players' achievements.

Apply for competitions by clicking on Entry Forms.

Find out how to get your friends, children and grandchildren involved in learning and playing via the Promoting Bridge page or by contacting one of the teachers of bridge in Sussex.

Access information about your local club or link to national and global websites.

Update your contact details at the EBU and also tell the SCCBA.

Our WebMaster welcomes positive suggestions for our webpages.

Many congratulations to the Sussex team who came second in the Tollemache final this weekend - an excellent result and the best that Sussex have ever done!!

The team that played was :-

• Stephen Kennedy and Andrew McIntosh
• Oliver Powell and Gunnar Hallberg
• Peter Clinch and Julian Mitchell
• Andy Ryder and Mike Allen 
• Chris Jepson and Neil Watts
• Matt Read and David Dickson

And many thanks go to our Non-Playing Captain, Andrew Southwell, who put in a lot of work in checking scores and organising the team.

See detailed results on the EBU web-site.

The SCCBA annual general meeting will take place at 11am on 25 April 2021 via Zoom.  In preparation for that meeting, the following documents are available :-

• The proposed agenda which contains details of the deadlines for Management Committee (MC) nominations and Members’ resolutions.
• A copy of the nomination/application form to be used by those who wish to be put forward to serve on the MC.
• A description of the role of the MC.
• Brief summaries of the various roles undertaken by members of the MC.

As required by the constitution, the independently examined annual accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020 have been approved by the MC at its meeting on 29 January 2021.  Copies of the approved accounts (for the years ended 31 December 2019 and 2020) will be provided to those attending the AGM where adoption will be sought under agenda item 4.1.

Any member wishing to attend the AGM via Zoom should apply by contacting the Hon. Sec. by email by 10 April 2021.  Further papers and instructions on connecting to the Zoom meeting will be sent to attendees by email before the meeting.  Only those who have declared their intention to attend will be admitted to the meeting.

Dick Wheeler
SCCBA Hon. Sec.
07786 187297

The SCCBA Stepping Stone Pairs on Sunday March 7th, starting at 11:00, is an opportunity to enjoy a session playing against others with similar experience.  The event is limited to those playing for 5 years or less with an NGS of 5 or less. 

As well as the overall winners, we will be recognising the best pair playing for under 2 years and the best pair playing for under 3 years. 

If you have students or club members who would be interested, do let them know.

To Register for this event, please submit the form on the Registration for Online Events page.

Jane Handley (Organiser) 07780 805904

All the heats of the 2020-21 Sussex Pairs have now taken place.  To check whether you've qualified for the final, which is to be played on BBO on Saturday 13th March starting at 11am, please check the list of finalists.

It is important that all qualifying pairs (but nobody else) should submit their registration (see the Registration for Online Finals page) and pay their table money (£10 per pair) before March 5th so that we have time to add reserves and maintain the 19-table movement.  The Registration page also contains details of how to pay table money and important information about the running of the final.

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

The second, more serious, wave of Covid infections has put back the point at which we can reasonably expect social distancing rules to be relaxed sufficiently to allow a return to face-to-face bridge. Following the success of the first few online county events in 2020, we are now seeking to implement as full a programme of online events in 2021 as possible. In addition, we are keen to develop our thinking about the longer term when our tournament programme will inevitably be a mix of face-to-face and online events.

In normal times our existing group of face-to-face competition organisers is heavily overloaded and to make our initial online programme, and our eventual mixed programme, as comprehensive as possible we need additional help. We are also keen to draw on clubs’ views by setting up a working group to consider the future tournament landscape and the mix of county competitions that will best meet members’ needs.

If you are one of those members who is now comfortable organising and/or directing online club sessions, please give serious consideration to whether you could allocate the relatively modest amount of additional time required to organise and/or direct an online county event and to contribute to the development of our thinking for the future. Additional training will be provided free of charge if required and advice/guidance will be available at all times.

If you are willing to explore this further, please contact me by email at peter.i.clinch@gmail.com as soon as possible.

Many thanks.

Peter Clinch,
SCCBA Tournament Manager

This year, the County will be holding an online-only knock-out Championship Teams between March and May.  Entry is free for teams of up to 6 players (all must have primary allegiance to Sussex) and can be made from the Registration for Online Events page.  Green points will be awarded for all matches won.  The draw will take place at the beginning of March and captains should arrange to play matches on BBO by the end-date for each round.  There will be no Plate competition this year - we hope to revert to the traditional structure for the 2021-22 season.  If you have any technical queries (for example, about how to set up matches on BBO), please do contact Peter Clinch (0751 5333539).  For all other questions, please contact the organiser, David Galpin.

Kent CBA will be holding a Green-Pointed Swiss Pairs on RealBridge on Sunday March 7th, starting at 11 a.m.  See Kent web-site for details.

The annual SCCBA Green-pointed Swiss Pairs was held online this year and it attracted 130 pairs from across the country.  Congratulations to Nathalie Shashou & Nick Sandqvist who won by 7 clear VPs from two pairs in joint second place - David Beck & Keith Joules and Alan Setchell & Graham E. Osborne.

The smooth running of the event was down largely to our Tournament Directors, Eddie Williams and Stephen Kennedy.  Thanks to them and to Mervyn Wotton who helped streamline the entry process.

See you again next year, online or in the flesh!

Peter Clinch,
(Organiser and SCCBA Tournament Manager)

The Sussex County nomination for the annual EBU Dimmie Fleming award this year was Dick Wheeler for his contribution to bridge in Sussex as secretary of the SCCBA over the last 9 years. The nomination emphasised among other things, the prodigious amount of work and effort that Dick has put into the role over this period.

The nomination was accepted by the EBU and the trophy was despatched in time for it to be presented (virtually) to Dick at the Management Committee meeting on 27^th November 2020 (unfortunately no photos).

The Committee wish to extend their congratulations to Dick for this well-deserved award.

Although we are not playing face-to-face at the moment, an increasing number of Sussex clubs are running online session on Bridge Base Online or RealBridge.  If you haven't tried yet, maybe you should consider it.  Most clubs are running sessions for members only (some with guests) - see the attached list.  See each club's website for details of how to join.

If any club wishes to make changes to this list, they should contact the SCCBA WebMaster.  The latest change is that Hailsham BC now have RealBridge sessions on Mondays at 19:00.

Peter Clinch
(SCCBA Tournament Manager)

Other County News