Time to Enter the Young Chelsea Knockout 2026
The YC Knockout 2025 is drawing to a conclusion, with one semifinal and the final yet to be played. Entries for the 2026 event are open and you may register your team now. Please do so before the end of January, when a draw will be made. The top half of the field is seeded, while the remaining positions are allocated randomly.
This is a double‑elimination tournament in which you play 24‑deal matches throughout the year face‑to‑face at the club. You stay in the event until you have lost two matches (or you are defeated in the final). Each team may have between four and six players, all of whom need to be club members when they play a match. The event will initially be limited to 16 teams (the same number that took part in 2025), but may expand given significant extra demand.
There is no entry fee; players pay the standard table money (or a little more to include half‑time refreshments) for each match.
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Item posted 29 November 2025
Young Chelsea Annual General Meeting 2025—Minutes
The 2025 Annual General Meeting of the club was held on Friday 7 November, attended by 22 members in person and a further 29 by proxy. Minutes of the meeting are now available in the Documents section of the club’s website.
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Item posted 13 November 2025
Susanna Gross RIP
Susanna Gross (May 2025)
Susanna Gross 1967–2005
We are very sad to report that Susanna Gross has passed away on 11 November after a long illness.
Susanna was a member of the Young Chelsea for at least 30 years (as far back as the club’s current records extend). She turned out regularly for the YC Super League, with her last appearance for team Robbo’s Rabble being on 22 October this year.
Susanna was a professional wordsmith having been literary editor of The Mail on Sunday from 1999 to 2018, previously deputy editor of The Week, and bridge columnist for the Spectator from 2000 onwards.
Her achievements (details of which you can find on the EBU website) in the world of bridge beyond the confines of our club were significant and numerous.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to Susanna’s family and friends.
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Item posted 12 November 2025
EBU October 2025 Promotions of YC Members
Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during October!
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Master |
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County Master |
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Area Master |
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Club Master |
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Local Master |
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Item posted 10 November 2025
Young Chelsea in Sicily—October 2025
Young Chelsea in Sicily—October 2025
The natural self‑organising tendencies of the YC Goldhawks group (actually months of ceaseless labour from Malcolm Mearns and Sara Chiappara) saw them and a bunch of hangers‑on out in Sicily for a holiday. It wasn’t strictly a bridge holiday, but the programme included bridge every afternoon. Most of the participants flew to Catania, the closest airport to the venue, Hotel Casale Milocca, in the countryside near Syracuse. A few hardier souls shepherded the bridge equipment there by car over mountain and sea.
The picture shows the group in the playing hall after the TicTac Pairs on 18 October, a significant date for Pam Avril who was there celebrating her 90th birthday (although she wasn't the oldest in the group). The meal afterwards featured a birthday cake sufficient for everyone (in other words, huge).
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Item posted 19 October 2025
Young Chelsea Half Marathon October 2025—Report
Winners of the YC Half Marathon October 2025, Claire Robinson & Daniel McIntosh
The Young Chelsea held a 12‑hour Half Marathon on Saturday 4 October, the previous such event having taken place in July 2024. Eighteen pairs entered, a big increase over the number the previous time, suggesting that Autumn is a better season for the event. As last time, the scoring was by cross‑IMPs, this time over four sessions of either 2‑deal or 3‑deal rounds playing five deals against each of the other 17 pairs (so a total of 85 deals).
The winners scored steadily in each session, with just enough in the fourth to hold off their two closest rivals. Congratulations to Claire Robinson & Daniel McIntosh who finished on 102.19 IMPs and picked up the £500 first prize. Claire, who had been the bridesmaid on two previous attempts, didn’t let the brass ring elude her this time.
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Detailed scores for Session 1, Session 2, Session 3 and Session 4 plus the overall ranking are available via the Young Chelsea BridgeWebs Results page.
[See more…]
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Item posted 6 October 2025
Item updated 17 September 2025
Right through the Pack Pro Am Teams July 2025—Report
Pro Am July 2025 winning team of Éva Balázs‑Elek, Sara Chiappara, Guy Hart and Mark Lehto
The evening of Wednesday 16 July saw the debut of a “Right through the Pack” Pro Am teams tournament at the club. The motivation behind this fun event was to provide a competition in which the Ams (less experienced players) could take part alongside the Pros (mostly not actually professionals, but still very experienced players). The format had every pair of Ams matched with a pair of Pros to form a team to play a multiple teams IMP event. The movement wasn’t a regular teams one, but designed so that Ams played only Ams while Pros played only Pros. In other words, the Ams didn’t have to directly face any of the (perhaps fearsome) Pros at the table.
A free glass of Pimms all round kicked off the evening while the Ams got to socialise with their respective Pro teammates. The event attracted twelve teams and ran for nine two‑board rounds. Congratulations to the winning team of Éva Balázs‑Elek (MindSports centre manager), Sara Chiappara, Guy Hart and Mark Lehto who received modest prizes.
Results
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Thank you to all the players who came along and supported this new event, to Gitte Hecht‑Johansen for directing a previously untried movement, and to Jonathan Lillycrop for technical advice and work on the movement.
The club hopes to repeat this style of event occasionally in future, ironing out some of the glitches that come with trying anything new.
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Item posted 19 July 2025
Young Chelsea Knockout 2025
YCKO 2025
You may now register your team for next season’s competition, the YCKO 2026.
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Sixteen teams have entered this season’s competition.YCKO 2024 competition.) The club will contact those teams which entered last year and have not yet done so this year.
After seeding the teams by NGS (team numbers 9 through 16 being chosen randomly), the draw (updated regularly with match results) has been made. The competition is now under way and teams should contact their opponents to arrange a match date. Once the teams have a date agreed they should book the match in, preferably online via the match booking page, or by emailing the club at bookings@ycbc.co.uk. One Semifinal has been played, the other is scheduled for 19 December. (This season Trevor Mathews is policing the match schedule.) The play‑by date for the Final is 14 December, which is not going to be met, but hopefully the match can be arranged for a date in January 2026.
Once your match has been played, please notify the result to the club at manager@ycbc.co.uk, stating the names of the players in both teams as well as the outcome. Team captains will be notified of their opponents for their next match as soon as the team to be played is known.
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The Young Chelsea Knockout (YCKO) is the club’s annual teams event that runs on “double elimination” lines—every team has to lose two matches before it is knocked out. Teams may consist of up to six players, all of whom must be paid‑up club members before taking part in a match. (Anyone who needs to may subscribe via the payments page.)
For 2025, the event will be played as a face‑to‑face competition with matches held at the club. Matches will be charged at the standard price. A team may choose whether it wants half‑time refreshments. For matches of up to 32 deals, this is currently either £12.50 per player (with refreshments) or £10.00 per player (without). Should the club exceptionally allow you to play a match online, the charge per match (debited from the captain’s/organizer’s YC account) will be the same as if played face to face. No other entry fee will be charged. Prize money will be £800 for the winning team, £300 for the runners‑up.
The winning team will hold the YCKO Trophy for the following year and will be eligible for a play‑off match against the team winning the LMBA London Championship Teams‑of‑four to decide which team will represent London in the 2024 Lederer invitation tournament.
Please enter by the end of February on the registration page of the website. or by emailing the club manager at manager@ycbc.co.uk. (Entries are now closed.)
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Team Rosters
The organizer/captain’s name appears first in each team’s player list.
| 1 |
Atisen |
Sebastian Atisen, Stefano Tommasini, Neil Rosen, John Atthey, Ambrose Holmes‑Mackie |
| 2 |
Brock |
Sally Brock, Barry Myers, Frances Hinden, Graham Osborne, Richard Fedrick |
| 3 |
SMB and the Bagladies |
James Thrower, Jon Thoresen, Croz Croswell, Matthew Brown, Ingar Hansen, Duncan Thomas |
| 4 |
Robbo's Rabble |
Claire Robinson, Paul Barden, David Willis, Cameron Small, Ewa Wieczorek |
| 5 |
Exiters Finest |
Joe Fawcett, Gillian Fawcett, David Burn, Ian Payn, Heather Dhondy, Brian Callaghan |
| 6 |
Mrs Pen |
Ollie Burgess, Susanna Gross, Margaret Nygren, Martin Nygren, Nicola Smith |
| 7 |
Muller |
David Muller, Trevor Mathews, Brian McGuire, Gordon Rainsford |
| 8 |
Jupiter |
Boris Nedev, Christophe Grosset, François Picard, Nicolas Leprovost, Rumen Trendafilov |
| 9 |
Sanderson |
Liam Sanderson, Hugo Jee, John Cox, Alex Hannon |
| 10 |
The Ravens |
Rosie White, Brendan Doolan, Sara Chiappara, Paul Gibson, Adam Cranston, Alistair Hill |
| 11 |
Duckworth |
Chris Duckworth, Mike Graham, Graham Sadie, Ben Payne |
| 12 |
Lawrenzo |
Patrick Lawrence, Juliet Miiliken, John Wilson, Jeremy Wray |
| 13 |
Letho |
Guy Hart, Mark Lehto, Ryan Stephenson, Paul Huggins, Rob Cliffe |
| 14 |
Boland |
Fergal Boland, John Dean, John Pemberton, Steve Popham, Richard Creamer |
| 15 |
Marshall |
Miu Wong, Angus Marshall, Robert Marshall, Wilfred Marshall |
| 16 |
Sushi |
Kath Stynes, Debbie Sandford, Nick Sandqvist, Nathalie Shashou |
[See more…]
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Page last updated 26 November 2025
Help Ukraine Emergency Appeal—Report
Young Chelsea Appeal 2022—Ukrainian Staff
We are delighted to announce that we have raised the grand total of £5,521.21 for the Help Ukraine Emergency Appeal. The club organised a special fundraising duplicate on 6 March and our Ukrainian staff rallied round baking cakes and donating Ukrainian goods for sale. The event attracted a great mix of club members and others, all of whom gave very generously and the funds rolled in. We are very grateful to all, and every penny will go to the Ukrainian people. [See more…]
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Item posted 9 March, updated 19 March 2022
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