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

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

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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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The Spring 2024 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. 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, 8 May, of the season. You may play a rearranged match before the first scheduled date, 17 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 17 January. Subsequent matches are at two‑weekly intervals. Division One consists of a full ten teams and will play nine rounds. Division Two also has ten teams and will play nine rounds. 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 2024 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.

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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 (any team unavailable on a date is shown struck through, and note that The Greyhounds and Clery have swapped team numbers since the provisional draw)

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Page last updated 7 May 2024

Poster

The newly revived Young Chelsea Pairs Championship, a one‑day two‑session event, takes place this year on Sunday 28 January starting at 11.30am. The winners will hold the new Franklin To Cup (generously donated to the club 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 11 January 2024

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

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Item posted 11 January 2024

The final of the Young Chelsea Knockout 2023 took place on Saturday 13 January 2024. The teams contesting were Muller (David Muller, Trevor Mathews, Gordon Rainsford, Brian McGuire and Jonathan Lillycrop) and the undefeated Brock (Sally Brock, Barry Myers, Graham Osborne, Frances Hinden, Richard Fedrick and Mike Scoltock). Both teams played four‑handed  in the final with Lillycrop sitting out from team Muller and Fedrick & Scoltock sitting out from team Brock.

The match was close after 40 of the 48 deals, at which point Muller led by 4 IMPs. Unfortunately for Muller the sixth stanza didn’t go their way. Congratulations to team Brock who emerged victors by 23 IMPs.

The runners‑up receive a £300 prize while the winners get £800. The winners would normally play off against the London Teams‑of‑four winning team for a spot in London’s forthcoming prestigious Lederer invitational tournament. But since the other team in question already has a place in the Lederer, the Young Chelsea understands that team Brock will be invited in any case.

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Item posted 14 January 2024

After a fallow period, the Young Chelsea Championship Pairs was revived in 2024 and played on Sunday 28 January. The event has a handsome new trophy, the Franklin To Cup, generously donated by Franklin’s widow Macille. In 2012 Barry Myers and Franklin were the previous pair to have won the event and have their names recorded on the honours board.

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The event resolved into a two‑horse race between the winners and the runners‑up. Congratulation to Martin Nygren and David Willis, who prevailed with a score of 60.31%. They keep the trophy for a year and each received one of the increasingly rare YC 50^th anniversary coffee mugs as prizes. More importantly, their names go up on the honours baord.

Thank you, especially, to Franklin’s sons, Ainsley and Christopher, who took the time to come along to present the trophy and prizes, say a little about Franklin and chat with the contestants.

Results

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Commiserations to the runners‑up, Gad Chadha and Prakash Paranjape, who turned up on spec on the day, presumably hoping the element of suprise would favour them. It was not quite enough and they finished second on 59.43%, having to make do just with anniversary mugs as prizes.

Thank you also to director Gitte Hecht‑Johansen, who faced a more challenging task than usual of running a two‑session event without knowing the exact number of pairs (which turned out to be 22) in advance. She succeeded admirably, using 22 deals in the session before the break and 27 afterwards, all the while cracking the figurative whip to keep the movement to time. She managed to tantalise the contestants by first presenting the results as if scored by IMPs, showing Gad and Prakash in the lead. But after quickly correcting to matchpoints the true order became known.

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Item posted 30 January 2024

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

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Item posted 11 February 2024

New Friday Morning Relaxed Duplicates

Starting on Friday 15 March, we will be running a new Friday morning duplicate game aimed at our less‑expert members. It will be an 18‑board pairs duplicate from 10.00am until 12.30pm, hosted by either Gitte Hecht‑Johansen or Shelley Shieff. All abilities will be welcome, but we expect most to be at or below a jack on the NGS scheme. Table money will be £8 a head and we hope it will prove popular with those who can make a daytime  game.

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Item posted 4 March 2024

In accordance with long‑standing practice, the club will not run any sessions over the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend 2024 (Friday 29 March–Monday 1 April inclusive). This means there will be no Friday morning and no Friday evening duplicates on 29 March.

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 6 March 2024

Poster

Spring will soon be sprung, and bring with it the Young Chelsea Mixed Pairs Championship. The popular one‑day two‑session event, takes place this year on Sunday 19 May, starts at 1.00pm and should finish around 6.00pm. Last year’s winners were David Taylor & Victoria Haynes; this year it could be you. So, please note the date in your diary and, better still, register now.

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Item posted 16 March 2024

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

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Item posted 17 March 2024

Well done to team YC Evici: Hugo Jee, Liam Sanderson, David Willis, John Cox, Mohamed Mousa, Alex Hannon, Fabien Dunlop and Joseph Popovich. They won the London qualifying heat for the Garden Cities Trophy played at the club on Thursday 21 March.

The team will represent the Young Chelsea Bridge Club at the regional final on Saturday 11 May.

Full results on the LMBA website

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Item posted 24 March 2024

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

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Item posted 9 April 2024

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

For many years, Mahmoud Sadek has produced statistics relating to the performance of players in YC club duplicates, determining an overall “Player of the Month” every month, and a “Player of the Year” for every calendar year. His method of calculating these performance statistics is something of a black art, known only to him! But they are based on the following metrics:

• The size of the field in which the player plays—i.e. the number of tables. Doing well in a large field will earn a player more points than playing in a small field.
• The strength of the field. His formula for calculating this is similar to, but not identical to the NGS. The stronger the field, the more points are awarded.
• The final position of the player in each duplicate. Those coming in the top five places earn points on a decreasing scale from first to fifth.
• He also keeps records of the number of wins for each player each month.

Points allocated for all these measures are added up to give a winner each month and year. Mahmoud no longer plays regularly in our duplicates himself, but he still maintains these statistics, which are based on all the games played at the club. These include the Goldhawks games, the regular Friday duplicates, Super Wednesdays and the YC Super League. So…

The player of the month for April 2024 is: SARA CHIAPPARA

In April there were 17 games, in six of which Sara played, achieving four wins and one second place, earning a total of 146 points. Runners up for the month were:

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The leading positions in the “Player of the Year” race, based on 66 games in the first four months of the year are:

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Item posted 5 May 2024

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

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Item posted 11 May 2024

Well done to team YC Evici: John Cox, Alex Hannon, Fabien Dunlop, Martin Lerner, Alan Hayward, Miu Wong, Liam Sanderson and Hugo Jee. They qualified from the regional heat for the Garden Cities Trophy played at Richmond Bridge Club on Saturday 11 May.

The team will represent the Young Chelsea Bridge Club at the national final on Saturday 1 June.

Results on the EBU website

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Item posted 15 May 2024

The Spring 2024 Young Chelsea Super League finished on Wednesday 8 May, the last scheduled date of the season.

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Congratulation to winning team Leslie (Tim Leslie, Mike Bell, Sarah Bell, Ben Norton, Stefano Tommasini, Ollie Burgess, Phil King, Maciej Szczerczak), who finished well clear of the pack. Prizes were the same as in the Autumn season. First place received £600.

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In second place, ahead of third by a whisker, was last season’s winner, team Hillman (Richard Hillman, Keith Bennett, Neil Rosen, John Atthey, Heather Dhondy, Rob Cliffe, Nicola Smith, Brian Callaghan) 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 De Botton (Janet De Botton, Thor Erik Hoftaniska, Artur Malinowski, Tom Townsend, John Vos, Grzegorz Blicharz) getting £300.

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In second place was team Jupiter (Boris Nedev, Christophe Grosset, François Picard, Nicolas Leprovost) 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 20 May 2024

The Young Chelsea Mixed Pairs 2024 took place at the club on Sunday 19 May. Seventeen pairs played two sessions of eighteen deals each.

On offer to the first four pairs were generous prizes from the Deauville Bridge Festival (to be held in July) of complimentary entry to the teams event plus accommodation in the Barrière hotel.

Very well done to the winners, Richard Haydon and Mireille Levy (on 60.94%), who established such a commanding lead in the first half that no one was able to catch them!

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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Item posted 23 May 2024

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

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Item posted 11 June 2024

 

The Young Chelsea Individual is held in memory of the late Keith Loveys, a popular club member and expert bridge player. At seven tables, entries were slightly up from last year. The event this year was part of the Summer Party on Sunday 9 June.

Congratulations to the winner Rachel Bingham, who made it look like a walk in the park, finishing on 68.65% (over 7% clear of the field).

Second was Prakash Paranjape on 61.51% and third equal were John Pemberton and Stuart Nelson on 61.11%..

Results

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The main bridge event over, contingents from Hammersmith Chess Club and the London Go Centre joined in for the evening’s festivities. The buffet came next, with staff member Tanya proving popular by cooking pancakes in the bar on a two‑ring electric hob (no mean feat).

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The general knowledge quiz was given this year by Adam Cranston. He kept things moving at a good pace and introduced a tasting round (in which teams made their best guesses at what they were eating and drinking). There was a prize for the penultimate team which consisted of various mostly unwanted items. One choice item was a Rishi Sunak mask (and you can find a picture of Gitte Hecht‑Johansen wearing the mask on our Facebook group pages).

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As the quiz finished in a tie for first between Gerry Gavigan’s Go squad and The Dummies, everything boiled down to a sudden‑death tiebreaking question. The team to more closely estimate the length of the Suez canal would win. Perhaps The Dummies (Rosie White, Joe Fawcett, Brian Callaghan and Richard Creamer) had the edge in that some of the members might have faint memories of the days of empire. (Gerry’s squad was too young.) In the event, The Dummies guessed better (for Joe this was a repeat of last year’s win) and shared out their prize of chocolates with the multitude.

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Item posted 13 June 2023

LIGHTHEARTED WEDNESDAY EVENING SESSIONS

The Wednesday evening sessions that the YCBC runs between Super League seasons are back! Now for the same £10 fee as as our regular evening games you get complimentary nibbles before the session. The food is available from 7.00pm and the bridge starts at 7.30pm. Your results in these sessions do not affect your EBU NGS. These sessions are suitable for any player who enjoys a sociable game of matchpoint bridge.

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ADVANCE NOTICE

The next session is on Wednesday 21 August.

For catering purposes, please register online via the website.

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Item posted 25 June 2024, updated 14 August 2024

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 7 & 8 July. On the Saturday, 38 pairs played a seven‑round Swiss Pairs event.

Congratulation to the winners on 109 VPs Matt Brown and Steve Raine. As well as being a fine player Steve also makes videos on the game which you can find on his You Tube channel Bridge with Steve (@bridgewithsteve).

Results

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On the Sunday 20 teams played a six‑round Swiss Teams event.

Congratulations to the winning team on 84.15 VPs: Gordon Clark, Niall Igoe, Jonathan Clark and Kripa Panchagnula.

Results

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Item posted 9 July 2024

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

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Item posted 10 July 2024

The Young Chelsea held a 12‑hour Half Marathon on Saturday 27 July, the previous such event having taken place in July 2023. As last time, the scoring was by cross‑IMPs , this time over three sessions of 30 deals each (so a total of 90 deals). Six pairs entered, barely enough, but those who took part enjoyed themselves, with all playing all in five 6‑deal rounds per session.

The winners jumped out to a lead of about 40 IMPs in the first session and subsequently staved off all challenges. Congratulations to Eryk Gozdowski & Kostas Kousis who finished on 54.50 IMPs and picked up the £500 first prize.

Detailed scores are available via the Young Chelsea BridgeWebs Results page.

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With the low numbers, only one more prize, to keep the trailing pairs interested, was on offer. The prize would go to the pair to improve most places between Sessions Two and Three (any ties split in favour of the pair scoring the more or most IMPs in the last session). As it turned out, no pairs changed places, so everyone tied in ascending zero positions. The pair getting the £100 prize were second‑placed David Muller & Brian Callaghan.

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Thanks to EBU panel director Rob Sassoon, who ran the event throughout. Everything went smoothly with a couple of scheduled breaks between sessions of half an hour and an hour respectively. The event started at 10.30am with all registered pairs present and finished on time at 10.30pm.

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Item posted 28 July 2024

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 on the EBU website page, you toggle on and off a list of players in that team.

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Dates for the following season, Spring 2025, are now in the calendar. Division One begins on Wednesday 22 January and runs for nine matches at two‑weekly intervals to finish on 14 May. The start date for Division Two depends on the number of teams playing. But unless the number drops to eight 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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The Autumn 2024 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. 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, 18 December, of the season. You may play a rearranged match before the first scheduled date, 28 August, 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 28 August. Subsequent matches are at two‑weekly intervals. Division One consists of a full ten teams and will play nine rounds. Division Two has eleven teams, each of which will still play eight of the nine rounds, the draw being seeded by NGS. 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 Autumn 2024 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.

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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. There are eleven teams this season. The Greyhounds have thrown in the towel, but there are two new entrants: Game of Throw‑ins (captained by Ollie Burgess) and The Ravens (captained by Rosie White). Each team plays eight opponents, sitting out once over the season. For the first scheduled round, three teams sit out and for the remaining eight rounds, one team sits out. The event is seeded into a top, middle and bottom group by NGS and drawn randomly within each group, where possible. The schedule ensures that no team will face more than three of the top four seeds.

Division Two: match schedule

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Page last updated 16 December 2024

The National Inter‑Club Knock‑Out 2024–2025 season is coming soon. Entries to the EBU close at midday on Monday 7 October.

Last season, the club entered teams captained by the following: Graham Sadie, Claire Robinson, John Pemberton, Richard Hillman, Boris Nedev, Nick Sandqvist, Tim Leslie/Mike Bell, Steve Root, and James Thrower. Hopefully all will want to enter again, and other members are also welcome to enter teams—the more the merrier. (The Young Chelsea BC has just one team, captained by Mike Bell, remaining in the 2023–24 season’s event and about to take part in the semifinals.)

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 £90 per team which will be deducted from the team captain’s YC club account. (Less for teams containing juniors, who are charged at half price.)

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

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Item posted 29 August 2024

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 12 & 13 October. The winners of last year’s event, Kath Stynes, Sally Anoyrkatis, Venetia Anoyrkatis and Debbie Sandford, 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 new Sunday-only option.

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 posted 8 September 2024

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

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Item posted 10 September 2024

The next Annual General Meeting of the Young Chelsea Bridge Club will be held at the club on Friday 18 October 2024 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.

>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 do so. 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 4 October 2024 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 18 October 2024, giving her 

                             full authority to vote on my behalf. 

                             Signed:                    Date: 

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Item updated 2 October 2024

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

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Item posted 10 October 2024

 

At the recent Young Chelsea AGM, Rosie White stepped down from her roles as company director and committee member, positions which she has held for the last several years. The club marked the occasion by giving her honourary membership and presenting her with a specially comissioned award.

The inscription reads; 

“With thanks for all your dedication and hard work for the Young Chelsea Bridge Club”.

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that without Rosie’s selfless involvement, very much after the model of Cincinnatus, the club wouldn’t be the thriving bridge venue that it is today. Indeed, the club might not even have still existed.

In her quiet future as a simple competitor, unburdened by organisational responsibilities, we wish Rosie every success and happiness.

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Item posted 2 November 2024

Congratulations to the YC member listed below who attained a promotion in EBU rank during October!

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Item posted 12 November 2024

Poster

Our annual Christmas Party will be on Saturday 21 December. There will be a bridge duplicate starting at 4.00pm, followed by a festive buffet supper at 7.30. Then there will be a fun general knowledge quiz starting at around 8.30, with more socialising and more bridge on offer later for the die‑hard bridge addicts! All are welcome—the cost is £25 for club members which includes a free drink voucher as well as all the activities and the supper. Please pre‑register to say you will be coming.

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Item posted 22 November 2024

Club member Ian Payn was the recipient of the 2024 EBU Gold Award. Here he is pictured at the Young Chelsea just prior to the duplicate on 29 November 2024 being presented with the his award by EBU Chief Executive Gordon Rainsford (also a club member).

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The following encomium comes from the EBU website:

Ian Payn has been involved in bridge administration for two decades: at local level when he was the Chair of the Young Chelsea Bridge Club who oversaw the transition of the club from a proprietary club to a members club; at county level when he was Chair of the LCCBA for many years; at national level as an EBU board member, as Chair of the then Tournaments Committee, as Vice‑Chair and then Chair of the EBU board, steering the organisation through the difficult period of Covid and responding to the online cheating issues that ensued; and finally at international level as the EBU’s representative on Bridge Great Britain and then as a member of the Executive of the European Bridge League, for which he is now the Secretary. The Board is delighted to recognise this outstanding and long‑term contribution to bridge by awarding Ian its highest honour, the Gold Award.

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Item posted 30 November 2024

You may have heard of the passing of Bob Rowlands at the end of September. A brief obituary detailing his achievements in bridge appears on the EBU website.

From 3.00pm to 5.00pm on Thursday 12 December the YC is hosting a memorial at the club to celebrate the life of the late great player. All who are interested are welcome to attend.

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Item posted 4 December 2024

The club will be hosting the Junior Channel Trophy on behalf of the EBU over the weekend 13—15 December, when the club will be full of junior players of all ages from England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. We will be providing food for all the players as well as hosting the bridge, so there will be no room for anyone else after they arrive.

The Friday morning relaxed duplicate will take place at the club as usual, but will be held upstairs in the T Mark Hall Room to allow the main hall to be set up as a refectory for the junior players.

The Friday evening duplicate is cancelled on that day but will be held at the club in the Main Hall as usual on the day before—on Thursday 12 December. We do hope that you will be able to make that date—there will be a free glass of festive mulled wine for everyone who comes then, as a thank you for the inconvenience.

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Item posted 7 December 2024

The last club event of this year will be the Christmas party on Saturday 21 December, and the Centre as a whole will close for the Christmas holiday period at the end of Monday 23 December. It will re‑open on Thursday 2 January 2025.

There will be no club games in between Christmas and New Year, but if you can't survive that long without your fix of bridge, you can always play in the EBU Year End Congress, being held not far away in South Kensington 27–30 December.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our members and visitors!

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Item posted 9 December 2024

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

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Item posted 10 December 2024