After the success of this year’s Break, we are pleased that the event will be held again from 5th to 8th February 2023 at the lovely Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth with Graham Hedley as Director. All rooms at the Miramar have now been taken and we have started a waiting list as there may be some cancellations. If you wish your name to be added, please contact Chris Jago via secretary@westsussexbc.co.uk.

Face-to-face bridge at The Old School, Cuckfield, will take place over Christmas and New Year as follows:

Thursday 22nd December: session at 7.15 pm
Tuesday 27th December: closed
Thursday 29th December: session at 7.15 pm
Tuesday 3rd January and onwards: open for our regular sessions

Don’t forget we are now playing at 1.30 pm on all Thursday afternoons from the beginning of January.

Many congratulations to Mark and Karen Darby for winning the Non-expert prize at the SCCBA East Grinstead Basic Bridge Pairs held on 5th November, and also to Steve and Sue Smith who came second in this County event.

WSBC needs your support to ensure we meet our goal of four tables per session by the end of July in order to keep that session going.

As an incentive, we are offering monthly competitions beginning in June:

• Tuesday evening sessions will have adjusted handicapped results based on NGS rankings in tandem with the regular results, and a monthly prize of a bottle of wine given for the best performances over any three weeks in each section. 

• There will be a monthly prize of a bottle of wine to the Class C member or members with the aggregate best three results on Thursday evenings in the month based on master points after stratification.

On both Tuesday and Thursday evenings, you can play with the same or different partners. To check Tuesday's handicapped results, go to the Results page and click on the Information tab that is shown there.

Members – your bridge club needs YOU!

After our AGM in May, we announced that we would close down sessions that were not regularly having at least 4 tables. Whilst Thursday afternoons have not attracted much support, your Committee is conscious that once abandoned, it will be very difficult to restart such sessions in the future. We have therefore decided that until at least the end of October our face-to-face afternoons sessions will only be held on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month with the hope that those members who only play a couple of times a month will support these days and hopefully boost the number of tables. These sessions will be FREE until further notice.

Tuesday evenings have generally been attracting increased support and these sessions will be maintained as will our most popular sessions on Thursday evenings. We now have over 120 paid up members of whom less than half are attending at least once a month so we hope to see an increasing number over the coming months.

Meet our October competition winners! On Tuesday evening, winners were awarded prizes for best performances in open and handicapped categories based on the best three sessions played during October. Please join us in congratulating Peter Bates, winner in the handicapped category, and Peter Berry, winner in the open.

	Handicapped		Open
	Peter Bates		Peter Berry
	Jo Jewson		Peter Bates
	Brian Kirkdale and Christine Walls		Brian Kirkdale and Christine Walls

Congratulations also to Richard Markwick, winner of our Thursday evening competition. This competition awards prizes for the best performance by a Class C player or players over the best three sessions during the month. 

After the success of this year’s Break, we are pleased that the event will be held again from 5th to 8th February 2023 with Graham Hedley as Director. Already 48 bridge players (+3 non-playing partners) have booked to go on our very popular bridge break at the lovely Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth. As of 27th October there are now only 6 rooms left for us to occupy the whole hotel and prices are a very reasonable £270 for single occupancy in a double room and £430 for dual occupancy. This is for 3 nights DBB, 5 sessions of bridge and 2 seminars. If you would like more details or would like to make a booking with a deposit, which is fully refundable should you cancel for any reason by mid-December, please contact Chris Jago via secretary@westsussexbc.co.uk.

Meet our September competition winners! On Tuesday evening, winners were awarded prizes for best performances in open and handicapped categories based on the best three sessions played during September. Please join us in congratulating Steve and Sue Smith, winners in the handicapped category, and Bill Nicolle, winner in the open.

	Handicapped		Open
	Sue and Steve Smith		Bill Nicolle
	Bill Nicolle		Brian Kirkdale and Christine Walls
	Brian Kirkdale and Christine Walls		Sue and Steve Smith

Congratulations also to Colette Collins and Margaret Wearing, winners of our Thursday evening competition. This competition awards prizes for the best performance by a Class C player or players over the best three sessions during the month. 

Meet our August competition winners! On Tuesday evening, winners were awarded prizes for best performances in open and handicapped categories based on the best three sessions played during August. Please join us in congratulating Peter Berry and David Young who are the undisputed August champions.

	Handicapped Peter Berry and David Young	Open Peter Berry and David Young
	Karen and Mark Darby	Brian Kirkdale and Christine Walls
	Steve & Sue Smith	Ed Barter & Judith Dingle

Congratulations also to Eric and Robert Jenner, the winners of our Thursday evening competition. This competition awards prizes for the best performance by a Class C player or players over the best three sessions during the month.

Meet our July competition winners! On Tuesday evening, winners were awarded prizes for best performances in open and handicapped categories based on the best three sessions played during July. Please join us in congratulating:

Robert Hirst - 1st place, Open
Richard Markwick - 1st place, Handicapped     

Silver in the Open category went to Peter Berry and David Young, with bronze going to Norman Hardy. Robert Hirst and Peter Berry with David Young were also runners-up in the Handicapped category.

Congratulations also to Steve and Sue Smith, the winners of our Thursday evening competition. This competition awards prizes for the best performance by a Class C player or players over the best three sessions during the month.

Following our AGM held on 3rd May at which there were many ideas put forward for trying to encourage a greater attendance at our playing sessions, your Committee met on 11^th May to consider all of them. In summary, this is what we propose to do:

• We hope to broaden the appeal of Tuesday evening sessions by producing handicapped results (if possible, based on NGS rankings) in tandem with the regular results, and award annual prizes for the best performances in each section. 
• We do not think table money or a membership fee is putting off players but visitors will now only be charged £3, the same as members who do not use vouchers (which will continue to be sold only to members).
• Renewal of membership will stay at £12.50 until the end of June.
• We will try to promote the club more by advertising in local publications, village notice boards and libraries.
• We will offer a mentoring service for new players on the first Thursday evening of the month with a booking arrangement for those who wish to participate being provided on the website.
• We have investigated the possibility of providing different chairs for those who find the existing ones too uncomfortable but unfortunately there is nowhere to store them.
• Starting in June there will be a monthly prize of a bottle of wine to the Class C member or members with the aggregate best 3 results on Thursday evenings in the month based on master points after stratification. You can play with the same or different partners.
• We are looking at a catering roster for Thursday evenings.
• Whilst we are open to amalgamating with another club, options for doing so are limited.
• On Tuesday 7th June we will have a special event with a short break for refreshments to mark the Queen’s Jubilee and we hope as many members as possible will come along - there will be free entry and enhanced master point awards. More special Tuesdays to follow if attendance picks up!

Other competitions are being considered but they only work if there is sufficient support so members are encouraged to come along to as many sessions as possible each month. We have set a target of an absolute minimum of 4 tables at each session and if this is not being achieved by the end of July we will have to consider cancelling the session on those days.

Meet our first monthly winners in our new competitions! Our Tuesday evening winners were awarded prizes for best performances in open and handicapped categories based on the best three sessions played during June. Please join us in congratulating:

David Young - 1st place, Open
Karen and Mark Darby - 1st place, Handicapped

Runners-up in the Open category were Chris Jago and Peter Berry, with Chris and David Young also placing in the Handicapped category.

Congratulations also to Eric and Robert Jenner, the winners of our Thursday evening competition. This competition awards prizes for the best performance by a Class C player or players over the best three sessions during the month.

Annual membership for 2022-23 renews on 1st April (new members click here to apply). We look forward to welcoming members back to West Sussex Bridge Club for another year. You may now renew online -- click here or on the Membership option in the main menu. The renewal fee is held at £15 for 2022-23, discounted to £12.50 if paid before the end of June. We hope to see you soon at the bridge table!

Please note that, if you do not renew by the end of June, you will no longer be able to play online at our joint sessions with Avenue and Lewes Bridge Clubs, nor be able to use vouchers at our sessions.

Following the success of our first "special Tuesday" in June, we are eager to repeat the camaraderie, friendly competition and cakes enjoyed by the 26 players who came to play. On Tuesday, 5th July, let's see if we can beat the 6.5 tables we achieved in June. Free entry and chance to win a prize!

As we enter the last week of June, our first monthly competitions are shaping up to provide us with exciting finishes! For regular Tuesday players, there is just one Tuesday game left to try to take first place in either the regular or handicapped sections - don't forget you need to attend a minimum of three sessions. Multiple players could be in contention! And Class C members, after today (23rd) you have only one Thursday left to battle for first in the Thursday evening competition. Check your progress here (note that the leaderboard includes A and B players, but only C players are eligible). Let's give our June competitions a fiery finish!

We have been advised that there is a concert in the church at midday this Thursday so there will be no local parking. As a result, there will be no bridge in the afternoon but the evening session will be held as usual.

Please join us for our first “Special Tuesday”! On Tuesday, 7^th June, we will hold our usual duplicate session but with a social twist to celebrate the Jubilee.

Free entry and refreshments, plus prizes for both the winners and handicap winners. Everyone welcome!

Our fund raising bridge sessions on 31st March proved very successful and together with separate donations kindly given by members who were unable to attend we raised £412. The Committee has decided to match the money collected £ for £ so £824 will be given to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. Many thanks to everyone who made a contribution for this very worthy cause.

Please note in your diary that our AGM will be held at 7pm on Tuesday 3rd May at The Old School Cuckfield, followed by bridge finishing at 10.15pm. We hope to see you there. Please click on a document to view or print it:

1) Official Notice of 45th Annual General Meeting
2) Agenda
3) Chairman's Report
4) Treasurer's Report
5) Balance Sheet
6) Income and Expenditure Statement

If you would like to join the committee, we would love to hear from you so please contact Club Secretary Chris Jago by email to secretary@westsussexbc.co.uk.

Congratulations!   Playing on the Sussex team with Peter Clinch and Julian Mitchell, WSBC members Chris Jepson, Ian Lancaster, Andrew Southwell and Neil Watts have won Bridge Great Britain's 2021-22 Silver Plate (consolation event for the Gold Cup), finishing top in a field of 52 teams.

The Club would like to enter a team of eight for the Sussex heat for the Garden Cities Trophy. The heat will be held online on RealBridge on Sunday 24th April starting at 11am. 30/40 boards will be played depending on the number of clubs who enter. The winners will represent the County at the Regional Final held on RealBridge on Sunday 8th May so no travelling is involved on either day. If you would like to be considered for this team, please contact Club Secretary Chris Jago as soon as possible by email to secretary@westsussexbc.co.uk advising if you are available on one or both dates. The Club will pay the entry cost.