Poster

Revived last year, the Young Chelsea Pairs Championship, a one‑day two‑session matchpointed event, takes place again this year on Sunday 2 February starting at 11.30am. The winners will hold the Franklin To Cup (a handsome trophy, generously donated to the club in 2024 by Franklin’s widow Macille) for a year and will have their names recorded for posterity on the club’s honours board.

Please would you register, if you would like to play.

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Item posted 2 January 2025

Division One: match schedule and (on the EBU website) current standings.

Division Two: match schedule and (on the EBU website) current standings.

If you click on a team name at the left of a curent standings page on the EBU website, you toggle on and off a list of players in that team.

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Dates for the following season, Autumn 2023, are now in the calendar. Division One begins on Wednesday 23 August and runs for nine matches at two‑weekly intervals to finish on 13 December. The start date for Division Two depends on the number of teams playing. If the number remains at eight there will be seven matches starting from Wednesday 20 September. If the number increases there will be nine matches starting on the same date as Division One.

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Dates for the following season, Autumn 2024, are now in the calendar. Both Divisions One and Two begin on Wednesday 28 August and run for nine matches at two‑weekly intervals to finish on 18 December. If, unexpectedly, the number of teams in Division Two drops to eight that division will run for seven matches with the interval and finish date remaining the same, but the start date being four weeks later.

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Dates for the following season, Autumn 2025, are now in the calendar. Both Divisions One and Two begin on Wednesday 27 August and run for nine matches at two‑weekly intervals to finish on 17 December.

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The Spring 2025 season of the Young Chelsea Super League is a face‑to‑face event, ideally with matches over scheduled evenings on each of which the teams play the same deals. When teams play the same deals the results are submitted to the EBU and affect the players’ NGS grades (but scores from Division One are not compared with those from Division Two). Given sufficient notice, the club will normally allow teams which have difficulty making a scheduled date to rearrange the match on a different date at the club. Matches which are rearranged for other days will not share the deals. You may not play a rearranged match on any date beyond the last scheduled date, 14 May, of the season. You may play a rearranged match before the first scheduled date, 22 January, of the season. The club will, exceptionally, consider requests to play online, charged to the teams organisers’ YC accounts at the face‑to‑face price. Any match held online, even if on the scheduled date is not guaranteed to share the deals.

Division Two matches continue on Wednesdays to run alongside Division One matches.

The season begins for both Division One and Division Two on Wednesday 22 January. Subsequent matches are at two‑weekly intervals. Division One consists of a full ten teams and will play nine rounds. Division Two at present has twelve teams but will still play only nine rounds, the draw being seeded by NGS so that no team faces a selection of opponents much weaker or stronger than any other team. Scheduled match dates are:

Please check, before the start of the season, to see if your team can make all these dates. If you have a problem with a given date and let the club know now, we may be able rejig the schedule to marry you against another team in the same situation.

The start times for the divisions are staggered by 15 minutes in order to reduce pressure on the director(s) and the bar. Division Two starts at 7.15pm; Division One at 7.30pm.

Matches will consist of 24 deals played in two sets of 12 with a half‑time change of opponents. The IMP result for each match is converted to continuous Victory Points.

The price for matches is £12.50 per player and includes refreshments at half time.

Thank you for your participation and please enjoy the Spring 2025 season.

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If you have not previously played or your team dropped out a while ago, you can contact the club (before the season starts) to enter a team in Division Two. Watch this page for more information as entries are finalised and any changes to the provisional draws are made.

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Based on last season’s results, the teams in Division One are below, but please let the club know if you wish to withdraw.

Division One: match schedule (any team unavailable on a date is shown struck through)

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And the teams in Division Two, based on last season’s results, are below, but again please let the club know either if you wish to withdraw or if you wish to take part as a new team.

Division Two: match schedule (seeded by NGS)match schedule (any team unavailable on a date is shown struck through)

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Team Rosters

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Page last updated 15 May 2025

Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during December!

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Item posted 9 January 2025

The annual Young Chelsea Championship Pairs was contested by 14 pairs over 52 deals as a two‑session event on Sunday 2 February. Every pair played four deals against each of the other pairs. Congratulation to winners, Alan Hayward and Claire Robinson, on a score of 60.82%. They keep the Franklin To trophy for a year and their names go up on the honours board.

Results

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Commiserations to the runners‑up, Paul King and Colin Holehouse, who were always in touch and finished not far behind on 59.05%.

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Thank you also to director David Muller, who overcame the minor challenge of being given two sets of identical deals for the two sessions. (The Young Chelsea prepares other sets in advance, and David used one of these.)

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Item posted 3 February 2025

Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during January!

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Item posted 10 February 2025

The YC Open Teams Challenge is back as a one‑day event! Open to all, the event is fast approaching and will take place on Saturday 29 March starting at 11.30am. For the £30 per player entry fee (£35 for non‑members)  you get two sessions of multiple teams and the chance of substantial prizes. Finish time will be around 7.15pm. Don’t delay in registering your team.

You can find more details on the poster.

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Item posted 12 March 2025

Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during February!

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Item posted 14 March 2025

Well done to team YC Z: Richard Creamer, Konrad Mau, Heather Dhondy, David Burn, Trevor Mathews, Gordon Rainsford, Mike Graham and Ian Payn. They won, on a split tie, the London qualifying heat for the Garden Cities Trophy played at the club on Thursday 20 March. If you’re wondering about the team name, it is probably an artefact of the tournament director’s choice to distinguish them from the other two YC teams‑of‑eight in the field of five. In second place was team YC Binkie and in third was team YC Evici; clubs may enter as many teams as they wish in the qualifier and the YC has more strength in depth than most.

The team members in the regional final on Saturday 10 May only have to belong to their qualifying club, but those from YC Z will form the core of the London team.

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Detailed results on the LMBA website

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Item posted 24 March 2025

The winners of the Open Teams Challenge for the Hecht Cup, played on Saturday 29 March were

Jon Cooke, Gad Chadha, Stephen Lee and Cameron Small.

Nine teams entered. The top two teams after the first session of multiple teams qualified for the final in the second session. In qualifying order, they were

Jon Cooke, Gad Chadha, Stephen Lee and Cameron Small

Hanna Tuus, Alan Hayward, Alex Hannon and John Cox

The leading team had dominated the qualifying session and continued strongly to win the final by 60 IMPs to receive a prize of £300.

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Results from the multiple‑teams events Session One and Session Two are on BridgeWebs

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Thanks to club member Gitte Hecht‑Johansen for her generous sponsorship of the event, which included the traditional free‑flowing Famous Grouse and Danish licquorice (the latter something of an acquired taste).

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Commiserations to the runners‑up, Hanna Tuus, Alan Hayward, Alex Hannon and John Cox, who picked up a £160 prize.

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The winners of the consolation teams in the second session (contested by the seven nonqualifiers from the first session) were

Mike Bull, Richard Creamer, John Bernard and John Pemberton.

They picked up a £120 prize.

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Item posted 31 March 2025

In accordance with long‑standing practice, the club will not run any sessions over the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend 2025 (Friday 18 April–Monday 21 April inclusive). This means there will be no Friday morning and no Friday evening duplicates on 18 April.

For those of you looking to play bridge in London during Easter, try the Easter Festival organised by the EBU .

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Item posted 5 April 2024

Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during March!

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Item posted 16 April 2025

Poster

The annual Young Chelsea Mixed Pairs Championship, our popular one‑day two‑session event, takes place this year on Sunday 18 May, starts at 1.00pm and should finish around 6.00pm. Last year’s winners were Richard Haydon & Mireille Levy; this year it could be you. So, please note the date in your diary and, better still, register now.

As an inducement to less experienced players, club member Ollie Burgess is generously donating a non‑expert prize of an online lesson with him (Ollie will decide who qualifies as a non‑expert).

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Item posted 22 April 2025

Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during April!

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Item posted 19 May 2025

The Spring 2025 Young Chelsea Super League finished on Wednesday 14 May, the last scheduled date of the season.

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The league positions in Division One were close going into the last match, with team Leslie in the lead facing team Hillman lying third, while team Hinden was in between. Congratulation to winning team Leslie (Tim Leslie, Ben Norton, Sebastian Atisen, Matt Brown, Phil King, Stefano Tommasini), who did just enough. Prizes were the same as in the Autumn season. First place received £600.

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In second place, winning every match but falling short by 1½ VPs, was team Hinden (Sally Brock, Paul Barden, David Burn, Richard Fedrick, Frances Hinden, Barry Myers, Graham Osborne, Andrew Southwell, David Willis) picking up a £200 prize.

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Meanwhile, the top two teams in Division Two won promotion to Division One for the next season in the Autumn.

In first place was team Robbo’s Rabble (Andi Boughey, Susanna Gross, Jen Middleton, Claire Robinson, Steve Root, Duncan Thomas, Ewa Wieczorek) getting £300.

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In second place was team Polish Club (Ewa Kater, Heather Bakhshi, Aleksander Blicharz, Grzegorz Blicharz, Maks Blicharz, Maciej Szczerczak) getting £100.

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Commiserations to the two teams at the bottom of Division One which are relegated to Division Two next season.

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Division One Final Standings

(Full details on the EBU website.)

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Division Two Final Standings

(Full details on the EBU website.)

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Item posted 21 May 2025

The Young Chelsea Mixed Pairs 2025 took place at the club on Sunday 18 May. Twenty‑seven pairs played two sessions of eighteen deals each.

Well done to the winners, Nicola Smith and Ollie Burgess, with an impressive 64.59%.

Overall ranking and session results are available via the following links:

• Overall ranking
• Session one of two
• Session two of two

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Commiserations to Lorna Vestey and Martin Baker, who finished in second place on 60.47%. They were in the lead after the first session, but didn’t manage to hold on to their spot.

Prizes went down to third place, which was occupied by Shelley Shieff and Leonid Baiakchev on 57.97%.

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Item posted 26 May 2025

Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during May!

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Item posted 9 June 2025

 

The Tuesday evening monthly matchpoint pairs for the 2025 Ladder concluded on 22 June. In front by a whisker on 59.92% was Brian Callaghan (aka Binkie). In second place was Ryan Stephenson on 59.90%—essentially making it a coin‑toss for the first two places. Always in contention, in third came Mark Davies on 58.42%.

Thanks to eveyone who took part, both the players and the helpers, especially Ryan who was the guiding mind behind the event.

That evening, the club was graced by the presence of EBU Chair Adrian Darnell, who presented the winner's prize of £100.

And, confounding the sceptics, Brian did buy drinks all round for those who stayed for the presentation that followed the duplicate.

See the ladder information page for details.

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Item posted 22 June 2025

The Young Chelsea Individual is held in memory of the late Keith Loveys, a popular club member and expert bridge player. At four and a half tables, entries were a bit lower than they were last year. As usual, the event was part of the Summer Party this year on Sunday 9 June.

Congratulations to the winner Kjeld Hansen, visiting from Denmark, finishing on 66.42% (over 8% clear of the field).

Second was Carrie Eden on 58.33%, third was John Cox on 55.56% and fourth was Alex Hannon on 55.00%.

Results

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Thanks to tournament director David Muller for successfuly running an 18‑player individual movement. This is likely the first time the club has ever run this particular movement and information provided to the players on where they should go after each round was sketchy to nonexistent, so David had his hands full.

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When the afternoon's bridge was over, chess and go players joined in for the Summer Party. We started with a buffet, expertly prepared by centre manager Éva and the staff.

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The evening concluded with a well received quiz given, as last year, by Adam Cranston. Well done to the winners by a single point, team Spicy One (Frances Loughridge, David Burn, Alex Hannon, John Cox and Michael Tsang). The unlucky second‑placed team was Bangers & Mashups (Rosie White, Charlie Hammond, Elle Gauld, Richard Creamer and Tom Townsend).

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Item posted 25 June 2025

The Young Chelsea is affiliated to the LMBA which, as last year, ran the London Congress at the club. This year’s event took place over the weekend of 6 & 7 July. On the Saturday, 35 pairs played a seven‑round Swiss Pairs.

Congratulation to the winners on 102 VPs Adam Hickman and Andi Boughey. They had the day’s competition sewn up going into the last match and took home their prize of £200.

Results

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Prizes extended to fourth place. Second with 98 VPs were Fergal Boland and Huaiyu Fan getting £140; third with 90 VPs were Martin Nygren and David Willis getting £100; fourth with 89 VPs were Ollie Burgess and Alice Coptcoat getting £60.

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On the Sunday 16 teams played a six‑round Swiss Teams.

Congratulations to the winning team on 82.95 VPs: Sam Anoyrkatis, Rob Lawy, Harry Anoyrkatis and Tom Furness. They received a £240 prize.

Results

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Prizes extended to third place. Second with 73.64 VPs were last year’s winners Kripa Panchagnula, Jonathan Clark, Gordon Clark and Niall Igoe getting £160; third with 73.02 VPs were Martin Nygren, Margaret Nygren, Miu Wong and David Willis getting £100.

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Item posted 9 July 2025

The final of the Young Chelsea Knockout 2024 took place, very overdue, on Thursday 10 July 2025. As neither team had remembered to book the match in with the club, they arrived mid‑afternoon to find the building closed. After some hasty phone calls, the club scrambled to produce boards, playing accommodation and refreshments and the match started about a half‑hour late.  

The teams contesting were Lawrenzo (Patrick Lawrence, Oliver Lawrence, Charlie Bucknell and Stephen Kennedy) and the undefeated Tommasini (Stefano Tommasini, Sebastian Atisen, Neil Rosen, John Atthey and Peter Taylor). Team Tommasini played four handed in the final with Taylor sitting out.

Team Lawrenzo was trailing but not without hope after 32 of the 48 deals. However, team Tommasini promptly opened up too large a lead in the next set of eight deals and team Lawrenzo conceded. Congratulations to team Tommasini who emerged victors by 91 IMPs.

The winners and runners‑up received prizes of £800 and £300 respectively..

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Item posted 12 July 2025

Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during June!

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Item posted 14 July 2025

Poster

The Young Chelsea Half Marathon, our 12‑hour “pairs” (threesomes allowed) event, returns this year on Saturday 4 October, starts at 10.30am and should finish around 10.30pm. Scoring will be by cross‑IMPs. Last year’s winners were Eryk Gozdowski & Kostas Kousis; this year it could be you. So, please note the date in your diary and, better still, register now.

The club has moved timing of the event from mid Summer last year to Autumn this year in the hope of encouraging a bigger turnout (the event will definitely go ahead as the minimum of 14 pairs has entered).

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Item updated 17 September 2025

There is still time and space to squeeze a couple more teams into Division Two of the Autumn 2025 YC Super League. If you can find at least four people who are interested, let the club know within the next week. You don’t need to be YC members in this event; everyone pays the same per session.

See the YC Super League page for more information.

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Item posted 12 August 2025

Since the EBU ceased holding its own Women’s Teams event a while back, the only game in town is the one, founded and organised by club member Paula Leslie, held annually at the Young Chelsea. This year the event is to take place over the weekend 29 & 30 November. The winners of last year’s event, Sally Brock, Natalie Hoff, Anne Rosen, Nevena Senior and Kitty Teltscher, will be back to defend their title. Why not join them? But if you can only spare one day for bridge over the weekend, there is a Sunday-only option for less than half the price of the whole event. Now is the time to enter, which you can do via our online form (or contact the club or Paula).

You can find more details on the poster.

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Item updated 17 September 2025

Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during August!

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Item posted 17 September 2025

The National Inter‑Club Knock‑Out 2025–2026 season is coming soon. Entries to the EBU close at midday on Monday 6 October.

Last season, the club entered teams captained by the following: Graham Sadie, Claire Robinson, John Pemberton, Richard Hillman, Boris Nedev, Sebastian Atisen, Tim Leslie/Mike Bell, Niall Igoe, Guy Hart, James Thrower and Trevor Matthews. Hopefully all will want to enter again, and other members are also welcome to enter teams—the more the merrier.

To all NICKO team captains: Please enter your team by emailing the club with the names of your team members as soon as possible. We will then check your eligibility and forward the entries to the EBU. All team members must be bona fide club members as detailed in the eligibility requirements—see:

www.ebu.co.uk/competitions/national-inter-club-knock-out-nicko

Please also note that teams are asked to indicate willingness (or otherwise) to play matches online in the early rounds of the competition. Later rounds will default to face‑to‑face, but early matches may be played online to reduce travel costs etc.

The NICKO entry fee is £96 per team (less for teams containing juniors, who are charged at half price) which will be deducted from the team captain’s YC club account.

Looking forward to receiving your entries and to a successful season in the competition.

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Item posted 18 September 2025

Congratulations to the YC members listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during September!

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Item posted 10 October 2025

The next Annual General Meeting of the Young Chelsea Bridge Club will be held at the club on Friday 7 November 2025 at 6.30pm, prior to the regular duplicate. Here are the Agenda for the meeting and a form which may be used to nominate a club member as a director of the company. Note that our Articles of Association limit us to six directors, but additional MC members are welcome and contribute fully to the decision-making of the committee.

You can also read the Chairman’s Report to the AGM.

All Full, Honorary, Life, Country, Student and Junior Members over 16 years of age are eligible to attend and vote, and those unable to attend in person may appoint a proxy to attend and vote on their behalf.

All members able to attend are urged to attend if they can. Remember—the Young Chelsea is a members’ club, entirely owned and managed by the membership. Each of you has a vested interest in the future of the club, and this is your opportunity to have your say.

Members may put forward resolutions to be added to the Agenda by sending them to the club by 24 October 2025 at the latest. Resolutions must be signed and supported by at least five members.

It is important that the AGM is quorate, so if you are unable to attend in person, please ensure that you send your proxy. All that is required is to send an email to the club in the format shown below—note that you can, if you wish, change the name of the person to act as your proxy to that of any other member who will be attending in person.

       PROXY 

       I, ..................................., 

       hereby appoint Chris Duckworth 

       (YC Management Committee Chair) 

       to act as my proxy at the Annual General 

       Meeting of the Association to be held 

       on Friday 7 November 2025, giving her 

       full authority to vote on my behalf. 

       Signed:                    Date: 

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Item updated 20 October 2025