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 in the SCCBA County Calendar.  Further information can be obtained from the Competition Organiser, Andrea Galpin.

This annual Worthing BC Teams event for the Hills Trophy was held on Sunday 23rd November at the Angmering Community Centre.  18 teams took part in this event, run by director Paul Gibbons.  Initially, the contest was closely fought but the eventual winners drew away from the field after round 4.

Congratulations to the winning team who were Guy Davies, Terry Fishlock, Peter Rowell and Francis Kelly.

The runners-up were Valerie Benson, Roger Bill, John Austin and Ron Seymour.

The event was described by all as an excellent day with good organisation and venue and the hot meal supplied by the caterers.  My thanks go to all those who assisted in organising the event before and on the day.  Also to U3A for the loan of some of their equipment and of course Paul Gibbons.

See full results on the Worthing BC web-site.

Ernie Rivett
(Worthing BC)

It was a lovely relaxed session enjoyed by all players on Sunday November 16th.  Quite a few had reservations about participating and were pleasantly surprised that they actually enjoyed the experience.

It is a very worthwhile venture and hopefully more will be encouraged to enter in the future.

A huge thanks to the Worthing ladies for providing a delicious afternoon tea and to Alexa Baxter for directing.

Eileen Perrigo
Organiser

This competition took place on Saturday November 15^th.  There were 26 entries, including several students from the Autumn 2024 cohort at Crawley, and some non EBU members.

This picture includes the winners Claire Weller and Patricia Kollinsky, runners up-Lynne Paine and Karina Butler and the Non-Expert (combined NGS of 7 or below) winners Thiru Jesudason and Maureen Parker.  Congratulations to all of them.

Well done, Sussex!  Sussex qualified on November 8th-9th (see results) for the main inter-counties event final.

After 15 matches, Sussex were just knocked out of top position into 2nd on the last match, but still comfortably qualified in the top 4 to go through to the final on January 31st - February 1st.

The Sussex team was :-

• Peter Clinch and Julian Mitchell
• Andy Ryder and Mike Allen
• Gunnar Halberg and Sally Clark
• Ollie Powell and Stephen Kennedy
• Neil Watts and Chris Jepson (C)
• Sat: Andy Morris and Chris Phillips
• Sun: Alan and James Hobden

Chris Jepson (Chairperson of Selection Committee)

Congratulations to David Dawson & David Norman and James Lee & Ravi Atwal who were joint winners of the Swiss Pairs on the Saturday and also to ......

......  Athena Chow & Tom Copeland and John Atthey & Alan Hayward who won the the Swiss Teams on the Sunday.

The annual SCCBA Ladies Pairs took place on Sunday October 18th at Patcham Bridge Club.   The ladies enjoyed a relaxed afternoon’s bridge with a delicious tea provided by Charlotte Setahul.

Congratulations to all the winners and runners-up below.

Many thanks to Director, Peter Langston, and Organiser, Joy Mayall.

Congratulations to Chris Jepson and Neil Watts who were the comprehensive victors at the Midweek Swiss Pairs on August 27th.  They who won all but one of their matches.  In second place were Liz Hoskins and Peter Clinch who also won five matches out of six but finished 19 victory points behind the winners.  Peter Rowell and Francis Kelly had a storming finish to take third place.  Andy Osborn and Peter Griffin were in fourth place and also won the jack-high prize.

Many thanks to Stephen Kennedy for excellent directing, to Charlotte Setahul for a delicious lunch, to Martin Pool for dealing the boards and to Peter Bates for going above and beyond in a variety of roles.

We had 22 pairs for what was a lovely day of bridge on Sunday July 20th which was enjoyed by all.  A delicious afternoon tea was provided by the ladies from Worthing. 

Eileen Perrigo (Organiser)

Congratulations to the winners who were Richard Earl and Paul Wilson from Bognor Club, who were presented with the cup, and .....

...... well done to runners-up Matthew Potter and Alice Louis from Worthing.

It is with great sadness that we report that Jim, a long-standing member of the Association, passed away on 28 July, after several years of poor health.  Jim was Honorary Auditor for the Association's accounts from 2002 to 2015 and his then-employers, Baker Tilly Accountants, through Jim's good offices, sponsored our playing cards in the early days of using duplimated boards.  Jim was a very fine and courteous player, a true gentleman of the game.  Our thoughts and condolences go to his widow, Sally, at this time.

The funeral will be on on Monday 1st September at 1.30 pm at St Paul's Catholic Church, Hazelgrove Road, Haywards Heath, RH16 3PQ.

Congratulations to Sharon Bayne and Paul Gibbons who won the 2025 Sussex Mixed Pairs Championship at the Patcham Community Centre on Sunday 13^th July.

Congratulations to SCCBA member Bob Whiting for his marathon circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight by mobility scooter to raise c£5K for Sage House dementia support.  Read his diary of colourful experiences along the way.

Congratulations to Matt Smith, Matt Read, Mike Keeping and David Benjamin who won the Sussex Candles teams event at Henfield on Sunday June 22nd.

Many congratulations to The Avenue BC who have won the Garden Cities Trophy, the EBU's national championship for Teams of 8 for all bridge clubs, in the national final on Saturday June 7th.  The Avenue had previously won both the Sussex heat and the home counties regional final.  Please see the Avenue web-site for a full report and the EBU web-site for a picture of the winning team and the detailed results.

After winning their Southeast heats, 2 Sussex teams competed in the finals on Sunday June 8th.

The team in Division A finished a creditable 4th, having won 4 out of their 5 matches - see results.

The team in Division C won overall with a team of Graham and Rose Walker, Chris Thorn and Robert Twin, Gina Dickson and Martin Greeley, Peter Rowell and Francis Kelly - see results.

Well done to all of them.

Chris Jepson
(Selection Committee Chair)

It is with great sadness that I report the death of my dear friend Dave Franklin.  Dave was a gentleman & a gentle soul who played bridge in Sussex for 50 odd years.  He won most if not all the principal events over the years with several different partners.  We will all miss him.

Our love & best wishes go to Nadia & the family.

Martin Pool

The Gladys Hakki Trophy is awarded annually to a Sussex member who has given outstanding service to county and/or club over a number of years.  Congratulations to Irene Gannon who has been awarded the trophy for 2024/2025.  Irene has been a tower of strength in Lewes Bridge Club for many years by attracting new players at local societies fairs, teaching them the basics, providing further training/mentoring to improve their performance and encouraging and partnering them to gain confidence in duplicate sessions.

Recognising the importance of attracting younger players, Irene has also been active in teaching Minibridge in local primary and secondary schools.  She now plans to introduce the secondary students to face-to-face matches against other schools.

She has also contributed much to club management including directing sessions, training scorers and dealers, providing advice on technical issue arising from the use of scoring software and developing/managing the club website.  All of this often requires enthusiasm and commitment well beyond the call of duty but she approaches every task with good humour and modesty.  The multiplicity of contributions to the smooth running of the club are greatly appreciated by all concerned.

The Sussex Spring Congress was condensed to a single Swiss Pairs this year but we all had a good time at Patcham BC on Saturday April 5th. 

A particularly fine time was had by the winners (Will Adler and Mike Keeping) and ....

..... second-placed Millie Fawssett and Andy Briggs.

In third place were Liz Hoskins and Peter Clinch.

The Jack-high trophy was won (following some investigations) by Bruce Carrison and Sally Clark, though Rose and Graham Walker ran them close.  In the bidding competition, Matt Read posted the best score. 

Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to Stephen Kennedy for directing, Charlotte Setahul for catering, Martin Pool for dealing the boards, and John Hardy and Mervyn Wotton for managing the entries.

Peter Clinch (Organiser)

Five SCCBA clubs played in this year's Inter-Club Teams of Eight at Patcham Community Centre on 29th March in their attempts to qualify for the Garden Cities Regional Final on 10th May.

Congratulations to the winners who were the Avenue Bridge Club - Stephen Kennedy & Oliver Powell, Andy Ryder & Mike Allen, Gunnar Hallberg & Sally Clark, Matthew Read & David Dickson.  The runners-up were Horsham.

Thank-you to our event Director, Frances Wallace.

Gerry Stanford (Organiser)

Again, a big thank-you to the Sussex clubs Chichester, The Avenue, Worthing, Eastbourne, Horsham, Patcham and West Sussex for running heats for this competition.  22 pairs qualified for the final on Sunday 16^th March, playing at the Patcham Community Centre.  Leading pairs from this final qualify to play in the EBU’s Corwen Trophy which is to be held online on Realbridge on Sat/Sun 31st May/1st June.

Congratulations to the winners David Park and Gerry Stanford.  The runners-up were Marit and Peter Langston and in third place were Andy Ryder and Mike Allen.

Finally, a thank-you to the  County Chief Tournament Stephen Kennedy, your County President, Martin Pool for preparing the hands and to Mervyn Wotton for technical assistance.

Please join us again next year.

Gerry Stanford (Organiser)

The Welcome Pairs at Horsham on Sunday March 2nd was enjoyed by and gave confidence to all, whether they won a prize or not!

Congratulations to the winners of the 3 categories (i.e Beginners, 2-3 years training/experience and 4-5 years training/experience) who are pictured below with director Graham Walker and organiser Sarah Little.

Denise Lincoln (Organiser)

148 pairs (up from 113 pairs last year) took part in this year's Charity Simultaneous Pairs which took place between Monday February 17th and Saturday February 22nd in support of :-

• Eastbourne & District Samaritans and
• Sage House Dementia Support at Tangmere

The amount collected by clubs, topped up with a donation from the county, means that £1,000 will be donated to each of these charities.

Congratulations to overall winners Margaret Parkinson and Chris Robbins who played in the Seaford heat.  The runners-up were Jill Finzi and James Nott who played in the Patcham heat and in 3rd place were Adrian Alexander and Judith Dingle who played in the West Sussex heat.

Congratulations also to David and Andrea Galpin who played in the Patcham heat and who are the winners of the Eric Seldon Salver for being the top pair, both of whom are at least 70 years old.

Many thanks to the clubs (Avenue, Chichester, Crawley, Eastbourne, Patcham, Seaford, West Sussex and Worthing), who held heats.  Special thanks to Neil Watts who selected the hands and wrote the commentary and to organiser Peter Clinch.