YCKO 2026
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.
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. The Final has now been played with team Atisen defeating teamt team Muller by 41 IMPs. The tournament ran just over a month beyond schedule, the final being played on Saturday 18 January 2025. Trevor Mathews who policed the match schedule will put ideas about keeping the event on track into practice in the next season.
The club made a draw on Sunday 20 January to decide the Quarter‑final matches (from possibilities that prevent teams which have already met from facing each other again):
- Tommasini (undefeated) v Muller
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winner: Tommasini (undefeated) |
- Lawrenzo v Robbo’s Rabble
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winner: Lawrenzo |
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The one semifinal match is:
The final match is:
The undefeated team, Tommasini, having won their quarter‑final match, has a bye to the final.
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 2026, 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 |
Crocs |
Stephen Kennedy, Shahzaad Natt, Ambrose Holmes‑Mackie, Stefano Tommasini, Neil Rosen, John Atthey |
| 2 |
Mrs Pen |
Ollie Burgess, Tommy Garvey, Nevena Senior, Nicola Smith, Sally Brock, Barry Myers |
| 3 |
Artificial Ignorance |
Joe Fawcett, Gillian Fawcett, David Burn, Ian Payn, Heather Dhondy, Brian Callaghan |
| 4 |
Robbo's Rabble |
Claire Robinson, David Willis, Cameron Small, Paul Barden, Dan McIntosh, Ewa Wieczorek |
| 5 |
Muller |
David Muller, Trevor Mathews, Brian McGuire, Gordon Rainsford |
| 6 |
Dagnall |
John Dagnall, Andrew Bannock, Conor Murphy, Imogen Davies |
| 7 |
Jupiter |
Boris Nedev, Christophe Grosset, François Picard, Nicolas Leprovost |
| 8 |
Boland |
Fergal Boland, John Dean, John Pemberton, Steve Popham |
| 9 |
Duckworth |
Chris Duckworth, Mike Graham, Graham Sadie, Ben Payne |
| 10 |
Letho |
Guy Hart, Fiona Hutchison, Peter Taylor, Mark Lehto |
| 11 |
Rebooted |
Mark Josephs, Ian Henley, Graham Long, Simon Catherall |
| 12 |
Lawrenzo |
Patrick Lawrence, Juliet Milliken, John Wilson, Jeremy Wray |
| 13 |
Sushi |
Kath Stynes, Debbie Sandford, Nick Sandqvist, Nathalie Shashou |
| 14 |
Tequila Slammers |
Simon Edelsten, Richard Bayley, Mark Nelson, Peter Aughterson, Michel Glen, Issy Edelsten |
| 15 |
Piper |
Nathan Piper, Ryan Stephenson, Hanna Tuus, Alan Hayward |
| 16 |
Mad Men |
Jonathan Davis, Stephen Fordham, tbd, tbd |
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Arranging matches
The play‑by dates below for completion of each round are below. Every effort should be made to adhere to play‑by dates. (Any match unplayed by these dates risks having its winner adjudicated.)
| Round |
Play‑by date |
Length of match |
| One |
13 April |
24 deals |
| Two |
18 May |
24 deals |
| Three |
22 June |
24 deals |
| Four |
17 August |
24 deals |
| Quarter‑final |
28 September |
24 deals |
| Semifinal |
2 November |
32 deals |
| Final |
14 December |
48 or 56 deals |
As soon as you know who you will be playing, each captain should offer at least four dates falling before the play‑by date to the opposing captain. Teams that have not agreed a date that falls before the play‑by date may apply for an extension, but should be aware that the result may, if necessary, be awarded to one of the teams or be decided on the toss of a coin.
With just 16 teams competing, after Round Four there will be one undefeated team and five once‑defeated teams. These six teams will play a quarter‑final, matches being decided by a random draw while minimizing (nearly always completely avoiding) the number of re‑matches. Then:
a) If the undefeated team wins there will be one undefeated team and two once‑defeated teams. The undefeated team will get a bye to the final and the other two teams will play a semifinal match, the winner of which will play the undefeated team in the final. The undefeated team may claim eight extra deals if behind after 48 deals.
b) If the undefeated team loses there will be four once‑defeated teams and there will be a straightforward semifinal and final, with no one claiming extra deals.
Brief Notes on Matches
Matches are scored by IMPs. For 24‑deal matches there will be two stanzas of 12 deals with a change of opponents at half‑time. For longer matches, 32‑deal or more, each stanza will be of eight deals and will follow EBU rules for Crockfords matches regarding choice of opponents.
In the event of a tie, additional deals will be played equal to one‑eighth of the original scheduled number of deals in the match (rounded up to the nearest whole number if necessary, e.g. four deals in a match of 25–32 deals). This process is to be repeated as often as may be necessary until the tie is broken.
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Page last updated 23 February 2026
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