Wiltshire Contract Bridge Association
Release 2.19q
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We welcome feedback from all WCBA members regarding competitions, website or any other County matter.

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Upcoming non WCBA Events

With many county and EBU competitions now online click here to see the full EBU calendar of national and county events

Hampshire GP Congress
9th-10th March
Winchester
and for more details
 
 

Newent Bowl

Blue point Swiss Teams

16th Mar 2024

Newent Bridge Club

 

EBU Easter Festival

29th Mar - 1st Apr

London

For full details and to enter, click here

 
News Archive
AGM and Chairman's Cup

The AGM and Chairman's Cup took place on Sunday 10th April. Regretably, both events had to move online again this year, with the AGM on Zoom and the Chairman's Cup on Realbridge. After the handicapping was applied, the winners of the Cup were Trevor and Coby Day - very well played! Fortunately, Trevor and Coby already had the cup, intending to bring it to the AGM. Thanks to all who took part, and to Christine for directing.

Tollemache Selection

The selection has been made for Wiltshire team of eight to represent our county in the Tollemache Cup 2021/2022.

Roger Karn (captain) and Stuart Bridge

Ambrose Homes-Mackie and Joe Clark

Katharine Hodgson and Keith Williamson

James Dunlop and John Treble

Graham Hodges and Phil Green

Jana Zlamalova and Nick Pegg

We wish our team sucess in the competition - the qualifier will be played on Realbridge on 13th and 14th November. For more information about the Tollemache, please click here

9-High Winners

Well done to the winners of the Wiltshire 9-high which took place on BBO on Sunday 14th - Paul Winstone and Roger Harris. Congraulations also to the runners-up, Glenys Foster and Mary Oram, and the 3rd place pair, Chris Bocci and Christine Oakhill. There was a good turnout - with 18 pairs taking part in this event.

Blue Point Swiss Pairs - Joint Winners

An enjoyable and relaxed Swiss Pairs competition was held on Sunday 18th September, the first face-2-face event for the 2022-23 season for Wiltshire Bridge Association. There were joint winners: Liz and Terry Butler, and Garry Towns and Keith Philpott, with third place going to Hugh Gross and Philip Bennett. Many congratulations to the winners, and to all those who took part. Thanks also to Martyn Tranter, event organiser, Christine and Stuart Macfarlane, and Megan Jones. For the full results and details of the hands, please click here.

The Wiltshire Committee hope that many of you will be encouraged to enter our next competition on 30th October at Devizes Bowls Club - the Non-Expert Pairs

 

Championship Pairs Winners

 After a close fought battle, the winners of the Wiltshire Championship Pairs were Roy France and Sam Sloan, and the runners up were Prabir Nandi and David Jacklin. Congratulations to Roy and Sam. The top two pairs will now have the chance to represent Wiltshire in Corwen Trophy, which is due to be played on Realbridge on 28th and 29th May 2022. More information about the Corwen is available here.

For the full results of the Championship Pairs, please click here.

Sad news

It is with deep regret that there are two more Wiltshire players who will not be returning to the bridge table

Brian Johnson died suddenly while on holiday in the lake district. He represented Wiltshire in many county events. He will be sorely missed by all at Salisbury and throughout Wiltshire. Brian was an accomplished walker and climber, who wrote a number of books about his walks in Europe and America. To find out more about Brian, click here.

May Brand, who played for many years at Trowbridge Bridge Club, died recently after a short illness, surrounded by her family.

The thoughts and sympathies of the Wiltshire committee and bridge players across the county go out to the family and friends of Brian and May.

Six-high Swiss Teams 19th June

The Midlands Counties (which includes Wiltshire) ran a Six-high Swiss teams on Saturday 19th June. 15 teams took part, including one team from Corsham/Malmsebury, one team from Warminster and a pair from Salisbury who joined a pair from Warwickshire. The teams finished 10th, 11th and 13th. The full results are available here.

The event was played on Realbridge, and was played in a very friendly but competitive atmospehere - a good introduction to inter-county matches. If you feel you would like to take part in something like this in future, please contact Gayle Webb, gaylewebb@blueyonder.co.uk,

 

Future Wiltshire events

It is hard to believe that many of us have now been playing online for over a year. The good news is that there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel and we are hearing some Wiltshire clubs are starting to plan for re-opening in the coming months.

The Wiltshire committee are busy planning a calendar of events starting in September 2021 and are hopeful that many of our Sunday events will be played face-to-face at Devizes Bowls Club as in previous years. We will however maintain a few online County competitions. Once the calendar has been finalised, it will be publicised on the WCBA web site. 

The regular Tuesday and Saturday pairs competitions on BBO will continue during the summer until the new programme commences, depending on the demand from players. There has been a drop in numbers in recent weeks and if the numbers drop to a point where it is no longer viable to run a duplicate movement, we may have to drop one or both sessions.

If you are a regular player on a Tuesday or Saturday afternoon, it would be helpful if you could let us know if you intend to continue playing during the summer or if you think you will play less often. There has been a suggestion that we reduce the number of boards - is this something you would like to see happen? Please email: Gayle Webb.

If you have not played on a Tuesday or Saturday and would like to, please get in touch with Gayle.

2020 Championship Pairs Final - Result
2020 Championship Pairs Final - Result

Congratulations to Brian Johnson and Sue Hands 1st with 60.47%

Taf Anthias and Pat Davies 2nd with 58.33% and

Joseph Clark and James Dunlop 3rd with 53.42%

These three pairs will now go forward to represent Wiltshire in the Corwen Trophy at the beginning of June when they will play the winning pairs from the other counties

Results can be accessed below right
Championship Pairs Plate

CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS PLATE COMPETITION

Congratulations to Philip Meats and Alistair Spence 1st with 60.00%

Chris Clements and Jana Zlamalova 2nd with 54.63%

Chaz Cross and Malcolm Church 3rd with 53.25%

Well done to everyone who took part in this inaugual event, running alongside the Championship Pairs

 

Wiltshire Knock-out Champions 2019-20

Congratulations to Team Samter, 

Richard Samter, Andrew Parkes, David Latchem, Phil Howard and Norman Botton 

having beaten Team Webb, 

Gayle & Colin Webb, David & Margaret Thackaberry 

83-67 in a final of large swings 

Team Webb were ably assisted by Michael Porteous & Laurie Meale in an earlier round.

The Samter Team will go on to represent Wiltshire in next year’s Pachabo Competition – we wish them well!

Success for Wiltshire players

There were some great results for Wiltshire players in the West of England Congress played at Weston-super-Mare last weekend, played face-to-face this year. Stuart Bridge and Roger Karn led the charge, coming second in the Swiss Pairs on Saturday and improving their placing by winning the Swiss Teams on Sunday, with their partners Warner Solomon and Trevor Ward.

On the Friday, Gayle and Colin Webb came 5th in the Championship Pairs, while Helen Holden and Jo Seddon came second in the Ladies Pairs. For the full results of the Congress, please click here.

Many congratulations to the above players.

Teams of Four Competition
Teams of Four Competition

Sunday 9th May

After a closely fought competition, there were joint winners in terms of Victory Points of the Teams of Four event held on Sunday 9th - with 87 VPs each were the Bridge team and the Webb team. The Webb team though had 5 wins against the Bridge team's 4 and half wins. Many congratulations to the Webb team - Gayle and Colin Webb, John Perry and Marianne Lewin and also to the Bridge team - Stuart Bridge, Roger Karn, Susie Gall and Trevor Purches. The winners will go forward to represent Wiltshire in the Pachabo which will be held on 12-13 June on Realbridge, more informaiton about the Pachabo may be found here.

For the full results from Sunday, click here.

Valerie Austwick

It is with great sadness we report the death of another Wiltshire player, Valerie Austwick. She had represented Wiltshire in numerous competitions. She had also competed in and won several national bridge competitions. She was a stalwart member of Bath Bridge Club. A full tribute to Valerie may be found here.

Gayle Webb - club rep on EBU Board

Congraulations to Gayle Webb on being voted in as the club representative on the EBU Board. We are very lucky to have someone like Gayle representing the interests of all EBU affiliated clubs and we wish her every success in this new post. For more details, click here

Chariman's Cup 2021
Chariman's Cup 2021

Wiltshire Chairman's Cup 2021

Congratulations to Anita Williams and Linda Locke who won this year's Chairman's Cup on Saturday 10th April at 1pm on BBO. They were also the winners after the handicapping had been applied, such was their overall lead. A very well done to Sheila Pearson and Helen Cleland, a scratch pair, who came second in the handicapped result.

 

Second season Wiltshire Online Team League - winners

Congratulations to the following teams and member for their success in the second season of the Wiltshire Online League competition. Look out for the third season starting soon!

Division 1            Katharine Hodgson, Keith Williamson, Roy Franc, Sam Sloan

Division 2            Prabir Nandi, Frances Ind, Vic Holden, Mike Smith

Division 3            Robin Baker, Ann Baker, Peter Goldson, Alan Perkins, Bryan Willis

Division 4            Mary Giles, Roger Andrews, Patricia Craddock, Tony Craddock

Open Teams - Result
Open Teams - Result

Open Teams Result - held at the Bowls Club, Devizes on Sunday, 20 October 2019

Congratulations to the winners, Katharine Hodgson & Bob Bannister and Roy France & Sam Sloan with 44 IMPs

In 2nd place Roger Karn & Stuart Bridge and Trevor Purches & Susie Gall with 42 IMPs

and in 3rd palce Ronald King & Michael Clarkson and Phil Green & Diana King with 36 IMPs

 

Wiltshire has two new Grand Mistresses!!!

Playing in a Congress in Cornwall last weekend, Gayle won her 600th Green Point and achieved her lifetime ambition of promotion to Grand Master. At about the same time, Jenny Gray, Gayle's long time friend and bridge partner of almost 10 years between 2002 qnd 2012, was also promoted to Grand Master.  This is an extraordinary feat of perseverance and ability on the part of both Gayle and Jenny.  A magnificent achievement - congratulations to them both.

They join a very select group of just four other Grand Masters in Wiltshire.

Winners of Championship Pairs and Plate

Congratulations to the winners of the Championship Pairs, who will go forward to represent Wiltshire:

1st Tina Cottee and Sriram Chari

2nd Brian Johnson and Sue Hands

3rd Stuart Bridge and Roger Karn

Congratulations also to the winners of the Plate competition:

Susie Gall and Trevor Purches

For full results, click here

Garden Cities Qualifier

Warminster Bridge Club emerged victorious in the Graden Cities Qualifier held on Sunday 20th March. They will go forward to represent Wiltshire in the regional final, to be held on 8th May on Realbridge. Many congratulations to the winning team of 8:

Colin and Gayle Webb, Marianne Lewin and John Perry, David Thackaberry and Mary Giles, Ian Bell and Brian Campbell. For full results and hands, please click here.

Final Results Garden Cities Qualifier
Warminster +20 VP
Bath +13 VP
Trowbridge -9 VP
Devizes -22 VP

 

Margaret Thackaberry

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Margaret Thackaberry, who had been ill for some time. She was a keen bridge player and supported her local club and Wiltshire in many competitions. Our thoughts and best wishes are with David and their family at this difficult time.

Katharine Receives Dimmie Fleming Award

Katharine has just returned from London where she received her Dimmie Fleming Award.

In her own words....

I had a very memorable day last Wednesday when Silverio and I travelled to London and I received the Dimmie Fleming award at the EBU AGM.  It was lovely to have an official recognition of my time on the WCBA committee when I helped, along with many others, to organise the hobby that has given me so much enjoyment over the years.  Thank you to everyone in Wiltshire who supported the nomination for my award – it was an honour to receive it.

Winners of Wiltshire League

The final two matches for the Wiltshire League 2021-2022 took place on Sunday 27th March on Realbridge. Results for Sunday are available here, and the final tables are available here.

The winning teams for this season are:

League 1: Bridge Team - Stuart Bridge, Roger Karn, Gavin Bailey, Keith Radmall, Andrew Parkes and Richard Samter

League 2: Buck Team - Martin Buck, Nick Pegg, Bob Bannister, Jana Zlamalova, David Marder and Michael Curtis

League 3: Paul Cooper, Martyn Tranter, Liz and Terry Butler, Marion Cowley, Frances Ind, David Jacklin, Marion Loudoun and Prabir Nandi

Many congratulations to the winners and thanks to Richard Samter for organising the teams this year. If you did not take part this year, but would like to try teams, then why not give it a go? Entries will soon be open for the new season, 2022-2023 - watch out for further information.

Wiltshire Clubs Online

Wiltshire Clubs Online

The country is now in the third period of lockdown and although there is hope with the current vaccination programme, it seems unlikely that face-to-face bridge will resume until early summer 2021.

In the meantime, many of you are already playing online at your local club or at Wiltshire events, or taking part in the online Teams League. Clubs are offering support and help to any of their members who wish to play online, and many Wiltshire clubs are happy to include members from other clubs in their online sessions. For details, click here for the list of Wiltshire clubs and click on the web link for the club to see what they are offering.

 

Death of Alan Reid

It is with great regret that we annouce the death of another Wiltshire bridge player, Alan Reid. Alan was very active in the county, at Bath Bridge Club and more recently at Trowbridge, and he represented Wiltshire in the Western league, playing with Stephen Stafford. He was formerly a member of the EBU National Tournament Directors panel and until ill health prevented him, he regularly directed at Trowbridge Bridge club, when clubs were still playing face-to-face. We send our thoughts and best wishes to his family and friends. The funeral will be held in the first week of December.

Win for Wiltshire Pair

Congratulations to Kathy Hodgson and Roy France

Kathy and Roy came top at the West of England Blue Point Swiss Pairs event on 27th September

Phil receives Dimmie Fleming award
Phil receives Dimmie Fleming award

Many congratulations to Phil Bennett who has received his well-earned Dimmie Fleming award. This award from the EBU is given to those people who have made a significant contribution to county bridge, and Phil certainly fulfils that criteria through his role as county treasurer for many years. Due to the current Covid-19 situation, the committee were unable to make the presentation at the AGM as planned, but Phil was able to receive his award from a committee representative (at a suitable distance!), and his wife, Di, received a bouquet.

National success for Wiltshire pair

Many congraulations to local Wiltshire bridge pair, Graham and Hazel Moxey, who scored an amazing 76.74% in a EBU Relaxed pairs competion on BBO on Sunday 2nd August. They earned a mention in the Daily Telegraph for their efforts. Well done to you both. It shows that anyone can play online and do well. If you are not playing online and wish to start, please contact any committee member, who will be pleased to help you get started. To see the full results please click here.

Wiltshire Bridge Online

Wiltshire Online Bridge

Whilst the doors of our various Wiltshire clubs remain closed, our members have been learning new skills and online bridge is growing at a rapid rate.  Many of the clubs are now running “Virtual club” duplicate sessions, and teams matches and leagues have been evolving.

Wiltshire is running two weekly online competitions which are open to all Wiltshire players and members of Wiltshire clubs. 

On Tuesday and Saturday afternoons we have an 18 board match-pointed pairs, Tuesdays starting at 2pm, and the Saturday session starting at 1pm. 

Both these events are suitable for players of all standards.  The cost is $3.00 BBO per session and they last approximately 2 hours. 

This is a great way of getting a competitive game of bridge and for meeting up with old friends from your own club or neighbouring clubs throughout Wiltshire.

Results of these events are shown in our results tab in the main menu.

If you would like more information or would like to enter to play on either day, please contact Gayle Webb gaylewebb@blueyonder.co.uk .  It is essential that you contact Gayle prior to entering on the day as these events are “closed” events so as to ensure only Wiltshire players are involved.

If you have not played online and would like some help with how to get started, please contact anyone of the three below, all of whom will be happy to help you

Gayle Webb         gaylewebb@blueyonder.co.uk

Stuart Bridge      stuartbridgeuk@yahoo.co.uk

Richard Samter  richardsamter@gmail.com

First season of Wiltshire online League - winners

Congratulations to the following teams who won their respective divisions in the first seaon of the Wiltshire online teams league:

Division 1   Katherine Hodgson, Keith Williamson, Roy France, Sam Sloan

Division 2   Paul Cooper, Martyn Tranter, Liz and Terry Butler

Division 3   Angela Gunning, Jane Portnall, Anne Hitchin, Rose Rogers

Division 4   Gerry McAinsh, Libby Fairhead, Anna and Andrew Marriott

Division 5   Andy and Mo Hill, Deborah and John Luck

For the full tables, please click here

 

Unique Result in Annual Wiltshire 'Ashes' Match between Devizes BC v. TrowBRIDGE CTBC
 
The 6th edition of the friendly 'Ashes' was played at the Nursteed Centre in Devizes on Tuesday, 26 April.
Six teams on each side competed for the coveted 'Wiltshire' urn containing the ashes of a pack of playing cards.
Like all previous meetings between these two clubs it was another very closely fought match which ended up with three wins and three losses.
When each teams results were converted to VP's the scores were 60VP's each and when reverting back to IMPS they were 281 IMPS each.
The match was declared a draw.
Since inception the wins are 3 - 2 to Devizes with one draw.
 
Well done and thanks to the members of both teams for such an exciting and pleasant evening.
Open Pairs Result
Congratulations to Richard Gwyer and Kath Darby in taking top honours in the Open Pairs Competition held at the Calne Masonic Hall on Sunday 22 September with a score of 61.15%.  
Also to Joseph Clark and James Dunlop in 2nd place with 59.52% and to Anna Marriott and Peter Gooch in 3rd place with 59.13%.

Results can be viewed on right on this page
Butler Pairs – Result

Congratulations to Brian Johnson and Sue Hands winners of the Butler Pairs held at Devizes Bowls Club on Sunday 28 October with a Butler Score of +47.  

In 2nd place James Dunlop and Joseph Clark with +43

and in 3rd place Hugh Gross and Bob McMurray with +40

Results can be viewed on the right of this page
Outstanding Success for Wiltshire Players at the Devon Congress, Torquay 2017
Outstanding Success for Wiltshire Players at the Devon Congress, Torquay 2017

 

Well done to Pat Davies and her partner Warner Solomon in winning the Swiss Pairs on Saturday AND then winning the Swiss Teams along with Warner Solomon, Roger Sweet and Stefan Lindfors on Sunday with 108 VPs.  A truly magnificent achievement.

Not to be outdone by Pat, the team of Richard Moore, John Treble, Roger Karn and Roger Bendall came second in the Teams with 97 VPs.

....and in equal third place was Dave Latchem and his team with 94 VPs

Dave and Margaret Thackaberry along with Gayle and Colin Webb were a creditable 13th with 81VPs

In the Pairs Edward Leatham and Nick Forrest were 4th with 133 VPs

Finally, well done to Hazel and Graham Moxey who won a special prize as 'session' winners in the Pairs

WELL DONE WILTSHIRE 

 

Allcomers Swiss Pairs

ALLCOMERS SWISS PAIRS 

Congratulations to Dave Latchem and Phil Green 1st with 93 VPs

Ambrose Holmes-Mackie and Joseph Clark 2nd with 85 VPs

Marion Cowley and David Jacklin 3rd with 82 VPs

 

Pat Davies receives Diamond Award in recognition of her contribution to International Bridge

    

On Sunday 5th November whilst attending the EBU Seniors Competition in Reading, Jeremy Dhondy, Chairman of the EBU, presented Pat Davies with a Diamond Award in recognition of her contribution to International Bridge.  It was appropriate that many Wiltshire players were attending this event and we would like to also thank Pat for her support of Wiltshire Bridge over the last few years and in particular for mentoring some of the junior players.

Pat showed she still has the winning touch, by taking the Seniors Teams trophy along with fellow Wiltshire players Richard Samter and Taf Anthias (and Warner Solomon from Devon).
 
The next highest placed Wilshire players were Colin and Gayle Webb (playing with a pair from Bedfordshire), who finished 7th out of a field of 46 strong teams.
 

    

Mixed Ability Teams of Four - Result

Well done to the Webb Team of Lucy Cross, Chaz Cross, Anne Rogan and Pete Webb with 88 VP's, winners of the Mixed Ability Teams of Four played at the Bowls Club, Devizes on Sunday, 18 November.

Also to the Winstone Team of Alan Perkins, Heather Spalding, Paul Winstone and Roger Harris with 67 VP's in 2nd place

and the Moxey Team of Hazel and Graham Moxey, Mary Overton and John Evans 3rd with 65 VP's.

Full results can be viewed in the right menu
Katharine Hodgson Honoured with Dimmie Fleming Award by the EBU

We are extremely pleased to advise that Katharine Hodgson is to receive the Dimmie Fleming award from the EBU.

Dimmie Fleming awards are given to publically recognise those who have worked hard and selflessly at promoting bridge locally and at County level over a significant period of time.

The award will be presented to Katharine on 28 November in London.

The last Wiltshire member to receive a Dimmie Fleming award was Betty Bartley in 1999.

Congratulations Katharine