Latest News and Upcoming Events

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Deal of the Week

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Spring Fours

The EBU double elimination event took place over the bank holiday weekend.  John Holland and Alan Mould playing in the Senior team were the last Manchester players still in the main event on Monday morning.  They lost against Gillis.  Results are on the EBU web site.

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League Update (May 2nd)

In division one of the league the final match is between Mutton Madras (Justin Hackett et al) against Alec Smalley's Grasshoppers.  Mutton Madras need to win by 20 imps or more after St Titus (Michael Byrne) beat Tracy Sherman's  Deal or No Deal by a largish margin.  Rejuvenated (Stuart Hunter et al) lead division 2 but have only played one match, Hindsight Convention (Andy Burnett et al) are second with three wins.  In division three lastminute.bid (Judith Dunkerley, Sally Leigh, Liz and Stephen Halstead) have won the division with five good wins, congratulations to them.  In division four AZ trumpers (Ian Ashworth et al) have won, congratulations.  In the Newcomers A league A Bridge Too Far (Rachel Hardcastle et al.) have with six wins, but Jovial Jacks (Jane Gascoyne et al) lead on average VPs with four matches to play.  In the B division the final match between Bridge of Sighs and The Tortoises will determine the division winners.

Results can be seen via the links on the league page.

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Goldstone Final

The Goldstone final was played on Thursday 1st May at Bramhall and Cheadle Bridge Centre.  St Titus (Michael Byrne, John Holland, Alan Mould, Gary Hyett) with Tom Dessain and Rodney Lighton in earlier rounds beat Inverted Minors (Rhona Goldenfield, David Barton, Joy & Irving Blakey).

The match was keenly fought before St Titus pulled away in the third quarter thanks to a wild set of boards.

This was a well bid slam by both teams.

K95

AQ87

7

A8643

[]

AQJ102

void

K103

KJ1097

Mould/Holland had an uncontested auction to 6C which made easily with trumps 2-1.

Goldenfield/Barton faced a weak 2D opener from the dealer (East) but bid (2D) 2S (P) 4D [splinter] (P) 6S

getting to the slam in three bids and winning an imp for their team.

The winners will go on to represent Manchester in the Pachabo in June.

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Higson Finals

The finals of the Higson Cup and Plate took place at Altrincham on Sunday 27th April.  Seven teams contested the Higson Cup and six the Higson Plate.  Handicapping based on NGS grades was applied to the raw scores. 

In the Cup Grasshoppers (Barbara Lewis, Ann Thornton, Alec Smalley and Tom Slater) won just ahead of New Connections (Roger Hopton, David Fussell, Neil Thomas and Gillian McMullan) with St Titus, who were top before the handicap was applied, in third place.

In the Plate Mutton Madras (Justin & Paul Hackett, Barbara Hackett and Martin Taylor) were 1 VP ahead of Petersfield (Eddie Thornton-Chan, Tony Hodgson, Fly Leung and Ray Ashleigh).

Thanks to Paul Beckwith for organising the event, Stuart Davies for directing and Joan Lewis and Altrincham Bridge Club members for their help.

Handicapped results below.

Higson Cup

Team Name	Grasshoppers	New Connections	St.Titus	LastMinute.Bid	Hindsight Convention	Ashton Aces	Inverted Minors	Totals
Grasshoppers		16	16	13	13	6	12	76
New Connections	4		6	7	20	14	19	70
St.Titus	4	14		12	12	2	17	61
LastMinute.Bid	7	13	8		5	18	9	60
Hindsight Convention	7	0	8	15		10	14	54
Ashton Aces	14	6	18	2	10		4	54
Inverted Minors	8	1	3	11	6	16		45

Higson Plate

Team Name	Mutton Madras	Petersfield	Ashton Imps	The Enigmas	Help!	Overtrick Lunatics	Totals
Mutton Madras		19	7	9	9	18	62
Petersfield	1		19	18	12	11	61
Ashton Imps	13	1		15	9	12	50
The Enigmas	11	2	5		13	16	47
Help!	11	8	11	7		5	42
Overtrick Lunatics	2	9	8	4	15		38

Raw results are on the Manchester Events web site.  The PotY spreadsheet has been updated with little significant change to the placings.

Ann Thornton, (Paul Beckwith) Barbara Lewis, Alec Smalley, Tom Slater

Justin Hackett, Martin Taylor, (Paul Beckwith), Barbara Hackett, Paul Hackett

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Easter Festival

Congratulations to Michael Byrne who won the Pairs in London with Kieran Dyke in a field of 62 pairs.  Results are on the EBU web site.

Michael and Kieran

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Save the Date

The Manchester Congress will be held on Jan 3rd-4th 2026 at the Airport Hotel SK9 4LR. Please mark in your diary, further details to follow.

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John Armstrong Green Point Swiss Pairs

Saturday 17th May at Deva Bridge Club.  Click here for details.

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Last updated 6th May 2025.  Pages updated recently - News, County Honours, PotY, Goldstone