Please note that :-

• the Teams-of-8 event which was scheduled for next Sunday (March 22nd),
• the first three rounds of the Invitation Pairs,

have now been postponed.

The SCCBA Management Committee met on 13 March and, in addition to the normal agenda items, it discussed at length the implications of the coronavirus outbreak.  In light of the latest forecasts of the likely extent of the epidemic and, bearing in mind our responsibility to protect the health and well being of our members, the Management Committee believes that it would be sensible to suspend our tournament programme in the near future.  We are only a week away from the Teams of Eight event and we will be consulting urgently the clubs involved to confirm that they wish the event to be held as planned.  Beyond that, we envisage the following for other county events:

• Those participating in the Invitation Pairs and the host clubs will be consulted over continuation or suspension.
• The Sussex League and Championship Teams/Plate will complete as planned provided those concerned continue to be willing to host matches.
• The Spring Congress (4/5 April) will not now be held. If the epidemic passes fairly quickly we would hope to be able to reschedule it.
• The Green Point Swiss Pairs (16 May) will be postponed and, if the EBU are content, rescheduled for later in the year.
• The Candles (June), the Venture Pairs (June) and Green Point Swiss Teams (July) are also likely to be rescheduled for later in 2020 but the situation will be reviewed again at the next meeting of the Management Committee (24 April).
• The prospects for holding the Junior Bridge Camp (July), the Mid-week Swiss Pairs (August), the Worthing Welcome Pairs (September), the Kremer Dersch (September), the Ladies Pairs (October) and the Autumn Congress (October) as planned will also be reviewed at the April meeting and in conjunction with the organisers and others concerned.

We expect detailed advice and guidance regarding their events to be published by the EBU on their web site early next week.

We have assessed the likely financial impacts of the changes to our programme and we believe that they can be absorbed without the need for exceptional measures.  All entry fees paid in advance will be refunded as soon as possible.

Any questions arising from this article should be referred to Dick Wheeler.

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.

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

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The SCCBA Welcome Pairs for those playing for no more than 5 years was held at Horsham BC on Sunday March 8th and was a great success with players from Horsham, Crawley, Worthing and further afield.

The winners (all pictured) were :-

• 1st overall - Mary Byrne & Kathy Hurst (seated)
• 2nd overall - Pauline & John Guppy
• Year 3 group - 1st Nicola Fryatt & Carol Mays, 2nd Leigh & Andy Hawkins
• Year 2 group - 1st Sue & Steve Smith, 2nd Susan Noblett & Alan Birch

Many thanks to Graham Walker who directed.

Jane Handley (Organiser)

142 pairs (an increase of 30!) took part in the annual SCCBA Open Simultaneous Pairs in various Sussex clubs between Monday February 17th and Wednesday February 19th.

Congratulations to the confirmed winners who are Richard Clark and Eddie Lucioni who played in the Crowborough heat.  The runners-up are Mervyn Wotton and Hazel Ogden who played in the Crawley heat and in 3rd place are Peter Griffin and Kostadin Vasilev who played in the Horsham heat.

The overall runners-up are winners of the '60 and over' category and the 3rd-placed pair are winners of the 'one player under 60' category. The winners of the '75 and over' category have yet to be determined.

Many thanks to all the clubs who took part in this event and to Gerry Stanford who organised the commentary hand-outs.  Special thanks to organiser Peter Clinch (especially for the increased turn-out) and to Neil Watts who selected the hands and wrote the commentary.

("There is a tremendous amount of work involved in assembling and merging scores from participating clubs.  I would like to thank Mervyn Wotton, who once again performed this task rapidly and without flaws" - Peter Clinch}

Congratulations to Mike Perle and Cathy Hall who won the Roy Skelton Cup at Worthing Bridge Club on Sunday February 23rd.  Gill Skelton presented the trophy to the winners.

Everyone enjoyed the day and thanks to Alexa Baxter who directed and Eileen Perrigo who organised the event and provided the afternoon tea.

See Worthing BC web-site for full results

Congratulations to Chris Jepson and Neil Watts who won the SCCBA Mixed Pairs Final on Saturday February 15th. 

Many thanks to director Steve Foster, organiser Gerry Stanford and to West Sussex Bridge Club who hosted the event.

After, amazingly, winning this competition in its previous 4 years, Lindsay Geddes and Philip Hunt had to settle for being runners-up this time.

In 3rd place were Andy Wright and Rosemary Friggens.

Congratulations to Andy Ryder and Mike Allen (pictured with director David Galpin) who, on the 'split-tie procedure', won the Sussex Pairs Final at Patcham BC on Sunday January 26th.

The runners-up were Stephen and Katharine Kennedy and .....

..... in 3rd place were Eddie and Kathy Williams.

Many thanks to director David Galpin, scorer Andrea Galpin, organiser Gerry Stanford and to Patcham BC for hosting the final.

This year's Junior Bridge Camp will be held at Bowles Rocks Activity Centre on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July 2020 on the same lines as last year's successful event.  As well as lots of bridge, juniors can participate in one of Bowles' activities - dry skiing, rock climbing, pool kayaking, or archery and bushcraft - all included in the  £75 residential, £40 non-residential price.    Juniors aged 8-21 and their parents and grandparents are all warmly invited to join us - see more information and registration forms.

Among the next SCCBA events are the :-

• SCCBA Blue-Pointed Sussex Candles at Henfield - Sunday June 7th
• EBU/SCCBA Green-Pointed Swiss Teams at Patcham - Sunday July 19th

You can enter most events by using an on-line entry form and paying via Internet or Telephone Banking or you can print off an entry form and post it with your cheque.  Why not go to the Entry Forms section and make your choice now?

For all other events, please see Calendar.

Other County News