Agreement has been reached with the owners of the London MindSports Centre to extend the club premises into the whole of the upper floor. Initially, this will be for a one‑year period, on very favourable rental terms, but if this works out financially, it will become a longer‑term arrangement. This will provide two more playing rooms—a large open‑plan area above the ground floor main hall, to be known as the Warwick Room, and an adjoining small Match Room which will accommodate two or three tables. This will allow much more flexibility both for club events and matches and also for hiring out space for other activities within the building.
The rooms need to be furnished and equipped, but should be ready for use by the beginning of the match season this autumn. We are likely to need more card tables, so if any members have surplus tables at home, we would love to have them. Or if you know of any possible source of tables—perhaps from a closing‑down bridge club—please let us know.
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Item posted 31 July 2022
James Jones cup 2022—winners Szczepan Smoczyński and Gitte Hecht‑Johansen
On Saturday 30 July Peter Richardson from the Institution of Civil Engineers organised their annual bridge club pairs event for the James Jones cup. Although intended as annual, this was the first time since 2019 that the event had been held, because of lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. As in 2019 the venue was the Young Chelsea (but this time in the new premises in Dalling Road).
Congratulation to the winners, YC club members Szczepan Smoczyński & Gitte Hecht‑Johansen. And let’s record a special word about Gitte, who must be the consummate player, able to cope with whichever partner sits himself before her. She successfully defended her title, having won in 2019 opposite Neeraj Tanna. [See more…]
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Item updated 5 August 2022
Bridge at the John Betts School Summer Fair 2022
Minibridge table at the John Betts School Summer Fair 2022 with Chris Duckworth presiding
The John Betts school, a short distance north of the club, held its Summer Fair on Saturday 2 July. Thanks to the good offices of committee member Sara Chiappara, the Young Chelsea had a stand at the fair. And a small detachment of club members took some equipment there to advertise the club’s wares.
The weather smiled upon the venture, which had taken the risk of setting up in the playground under the open sky. The stand attracted a fair number of prospective players, and in the picture, taken by Sara, Chris Duckworth is introducing minibridge to what may well become tomorrow’s clientele.
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Item posted 4 July 2022
YCBC Women’s Swiss Teams—November 2022
This year we are giving plenty of notice of the sixth edition of our successful YCBC Women’s Swiss Teams event, which will take place at the club over the weekend 19 & 20 November. [See more…]
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Item updated 24 July 2022, author Paula Leslie
Young Chelsea Super League Spring 2022 Division Two—Report
Division Two kept to schedule, playing a double round robin of ten matches to finish on Wednesday 25 May. Congratulation to the two top teams who have gained promotion to Division One for next season in the Autumn.
In first place finishing on 153.87 VPs (an average of 15.39 per match) was team McGuire (Ian Casselton, David Ewart, Hugh Mackie, Trevor Mathews, Brian McGuire, David Muller, Gordon Rainsford) getting a prize of £300.
And in second place on 130.17 VPs (an average of 13.02 per match) was team Bulgarian Rose Throwers (Alan Hayward, Phil King, Boris Nedev, Helen Rose, Henry Rose, Martin Stephens, James Thrower) getting £100. [See more…]
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Item posted 26 May 2022
Young Chelsea Super League Spring 2022 Division One—Report
Team De Botton—winners of the YC Super League 2022 Spring season—pictured: Thor Erik Hoftaniska, Janet de Botton, Tom Townsend, Artur Malinowski
Division One concluded on Wednesday 11 May.
In first place, repeating their win in the previous season and improving their performance by being unbeaten, was team De Botton (David Bakhshi, Janet de Botton, Thor Erik Hoftaniska, Artur Malinowski, Tom Townsend). They finished on 149.56 VPs (an average of 16.62 per match). This was the first Super League season played primarily face to face for a couple of years and accordingly we have a picture of four of the team at the post‑season celebrations in the bar on Wednesday evening. First place received a £600 prize.
And in second place on 120.78 VPs (an average of 13.42 per match) was team Tommasini (Mike Bell, Sarah Bell, Ollie Burgess, Ben Green, Tim Leslie, Ben Norton, Stefano Tommasini). Their prize was £200. [See more…].
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Item updated 18 July 2022
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
EBU March Promotions of YC Members
Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during March!
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District Master |
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Premier Regional Master |
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Premier Master |
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Premier Regional Master |
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Premier Regional Master |
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Premier Regional Master |
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Premier Master |
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District Master |
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Club Master |
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Club Master |
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Item posted 10 April 2022
2022 at the Young Chelsea
We are very pleased to announce that, after fairly long‑drawn‑out negotiations, the YCBC has now signed a 30‑year lease on the club premises at the London MindSports Centre in Dalling Road. The signing of the lease and the agreement of a very favourable rent will provide the club with a permanent home for the foreseeable future. [See more…]
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Item posted 8 February 2022
Young Chelsea Knockout 2022
YCKO 2022
Fourteen teams have entered this year’s competition. After seeding the teams by NGS, the draw (updated regularly with match results) has been made. The competition is under way with all Round Three matches completed. The play‑by date for Round Four was 24 July and the play‑by date for Round Five is 11 September. However, with many teams unable to fix matches during the summer, some Round Four matches are running late. The play‑by dates will not be enforced over the summer, but teams should be pro‑active in preparing dates for subsequent rounds, should they get through.
Once the match has been played, please notify the result to the club manager 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. [See more…]
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Page last updated 10 August 2022
The Goldhawks Are Back
CALLING ALL GOLDHAWKS
It’s now a month since we started our Tuesday daytime sessions for the Goldhawks, and so far, numbers are pretty small. For the time being, we have abandoned the duplicate pairs idea and instead we have been running a supervised play session. This is led by one of our top players, Margaret Nygren, and is proving a great success. The atmosphere is completely relaxed with lots of chatter—mostly about bridge. [See more…]
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Item updated 9 November 2021, author Rosie White