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Bridge Association

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This is the main MCBA web site for news and general information

To enter competitions or see detailed results go to the MCBA entries site

Latest News and Upcoming Events

Events in Manchester For online entry to Manchester Events Click here	Others
Ben Franks Pairs Sunday 7th Dec Bramhall Santa Claus Pairs Sunday 14th Dec Manchester Bridge Club Manchester Congress Jan 3rd-4th 2026 at Airport Inn SK9 4LR Cantor Cup Sunday 22nd Feb 14.00 at Bramhall for beginners and improving novices Green Point Swiss Pairs Sat 28th Feb Altrincham Click to register	Gordon Bickley's Second Hand Books 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 EBU Bridge Warehouse
	14-16th November Lancashire Festival of Bridge 23rd-25th Jan Scottish Winter Fours Edinburgh
	EBU Calendar EBU upcoming competitions

Deal of the Week

Nov 2025	5th Great Northern
Oct 2025	1st	8th	15th Surround	22nd Bid	29th Trick 2
July 2025	2nd Pachabo 3NT	9th Poznan
June 2025	4th Endplay	11th League Slam	18th Careful	25th Pachabo Defence
Apr 2025				30th Higson Plate
Mar 2025	5th Tolle Final	12th GP Pairs	19th GP Pairs	26th National League
Feb 2025	5th Chester Pairs	12th Tolle Final	19th Tolle Final	26th Goldstone
Jan 2025	1st Goldstone	8th Tolle Qual			29th Monster
Dec 2024	4th Tolle Slam 2	11th Tolle Slam 3	18th Tolle Slam 4	25th Resurrection
Nov 2024	6th Your bid	13th Your bid	20th Tolle Defence	27th Tolle Slam
Oct 2024	2nd Defence
Sep 2024	4th Northern Mid Week			25th Falsecards
Aug 2024	7th Llandudno Slam 1	14th Llandudno Slam 2	21st Llandudno Slam 3	28th Your bid
July 2024	3rd Summer League	10th Stripe-Tailed Ape	17th Suit Combination	24th Suit Combination
June 2024	5th Surprise			26th Corwen Defence
May 2024			15th Higson	22nd Spring Fours	29th Garden Cities
Apr 2024	3rd Rare Ending	10th Goldstone
Mar 2024	6th Tollemache	13th Defence Problem	20th Faulkner1	27th Faulkner 2
Feb 2024	7th Congress Defence 2	14th Chester Pairs	21st Irish Teams	28th Tollemache
Jan 2024	3rd League 3N		17th Congress Defence	24th Congress Pairs	31st Elimination
Dec 2023	6th Tolle Slam	13th Tolle qual	20th Tolle qual
Nov 2023	1st Switch	8th Don't give up	15th Symmetry	22nd League Defence	29th Children in Need
Oct 2023		11th Overtrick	18th Great Northern	25th Great Northern 2
Aug 2023				23rd Endplays	30th Eastbourne
July 2023		12th Double Grand Coup		26th Double Squeeze
June 2023	7th Spring Fours Grand	14th Defence
May 2023	3rd Higson Final	10th Higson Final 2	17th Spring Fours	24th Spring Fours 2	31st Montenegro
Apr 2023		12th Overtrick	19th Higson 1	26th Higson 2
Mar 2023			15th Defensive Technique	22nd Triple
Feb 2023	1st Backwash			22nd Your bid
Jan 2023	4th Defence problem	11th Congress Pairs 1	18th Congress Pairs 2	25th Congress Pairs 3
Dec 2022	7th Six Clubs	14th SixNT	21st Ben Franks Defence 1	28th Ben Franks Defence 2
Nov 2022	2nd False Card	9th Unblocking	16th Squeeze	23rd Burn's law	30th Six Diamonds
Oct 2022	5th Suit Play	12th Restricted Choice	19th Swingy Board	26th Devil's Coup
Sep 2022			21st Six NT
Aug 2022	3rd Smother Play	10th GP Teams	17th Lightner	24th FourThreeFit	31st EastbourneDefence
July 2022				27th Smooth duck
June 2022	8th Find the Queen
May 2022	4th Thwarted	11th Blocked Suits	18th Spring Fours Defence
Apr 2022	6th Big Hand	13th Defensive Guess	20th Defend 3N	27th Four Four Fit
Mar 2022	2nd Goldstone Defence	9th Green Point Pairs 6-6
Feb 2022	2nd Congress 4H	9th Two Spades	16th Teltscher Lead	23rd Michael's brilliancy
Jan 2022	5th Tolly Play 4H	12th League 6H	19th Bramhall 6N	26th One imp
Dec 2021	1st Tolly Grand	8th Tolly 4H	15th Tolly 3D	22nd Tolly Defence	29th Tolly Defence 2
Nov 2021	3rd Lucky Top		17th Spades	24th Tolly Qual 1
Oct 2021	6th Two Grands	13th Misplays	20th Discarding
Sep 2021			15th MBC	22nd EBU 3NT	29th NBL Defence
Aug 2021		11th President's Cup	18th Suit Combination	25th Trump Coup
Jul 2021	7th Criss-Cross	14th BerksBucks	21st NICLF
Jun 2021			16th Lancs League	23rd Lancs League 2	30th John Armstrong Pairs
May 2021	5th Lancs League	12th Play 3NT	19th EBU Pairs	26th Bramhall Slam
Apr 2021	7th Cumbria and Norfolk	14th Bramhall & Cheadle	21st B&C Defence	28th League imps
Mar 2021	3rd Nicko	10th Overtrick	17th Tollemache	24th Espen's Endplay	31st GP Pairs
Feb 2021	3rd Congress Teams Qual	10th Poor contract	17th Chester Pairs	24th Norfolk Slam
Jan 2021	6th A double problem	13th Suit play	20th Congress Pairs	27th Congress Grand
Dec 2020	2nd TollyQual	9th League	16th Sussex Grand	23rd Teltscher Trials	30th Cheap save
Nov 2020	4th Beat 2S	11th Last Chance	18th Crockford's Plate	25th Difficult Play Hand
Oct 2020	7th Timing	14th Plan	21st Gambit	28th Defend 1NT
Sep 2020	2nd Double Double	9th Suicide Squeeze	16th Five Hearts	23rd Squeeze without Count	30th Play Problem
Aug 2020	5th Play Problem	12th A Poor Slam	19th Make Game	26th Avoidance
July 2020	1st Play Problem	8th Tens	15th Trumps	22nd Squeeze?	29th Lead Problem
June 2020	3rd Good Hand	10th Trump Coup	17th Suicide squeeze
May 2020	6th Online Overtricks	13th League Luck	20th Online IMPs	27th Online Slam
Apr 2020	1st Tollemache	8th Tollemache	15th Lockdown League	22nd Lockdown League 2	29th Online Duplicate
Mar 2020	4th Cheadle Pairs	11th Cheadle Pairs	18th Chester Pairs	25th Goldstone
Feb 2020	5th Peter Ader Memorial	12th Santa Claus Pairs	19th Santa Claus 2	26th Congress Pairs
Jan 2020	1st Another Grand	8th Middlesex Pairs	15th Middlesex Teams	22nd Middlesex Teams 2	29th Middlesex Teams 3
Dec 2019	4th Llangollen	11th YC Defence	18th Middlesex Pairs	25th Christmas Present
Nov 2019	6th Lancs Swiss Pairs	13th Premier League Defence	20th Cheadle	27th Cheadle DD
Oct 2019			16th NBL Grand	23rd Higson Game	30th No Entry
Sept 2019	4th Four-Three fit 2	11th MBC 3NT	18th Cheadle Defence
Aug 2019	7th GP Teams	14th Defence problem	21st NBL 1	28th Four-Three fit 1
July 2019	3rd Corwen 1	10th Corwen 2	17th Corwen 3	24th President's Cup 1	31st President's Cup 2
June 2019	5th Hubert Phillips 1	12th Hubert Phillips 2	19th Hubert Phillips 3	26th 20 years ago
May 2019	1st Higson Final	8th Higson Final 2		22nd NICKO lead	29th Ruia Slam
Apr 2019			17th Preston Pairs
Mar 2019	6th Cheadle Pairs	13th Trump Squeeze	20th Green Point Pairs	27th Green Point Pairs Defence
Feb 2019	6th Deva Slam 2	13th Deva Slam 3	20th Deva Slam 4	27th Double End Play
Jan 2019	2nd League Lead	9th A bad break	16th Congress Teams 1	23rd Congress Teams 2	30th Deva Slam 1
Dec 2018	5th Tolly Qual 1	12th Tolly Qual 2	19th Lancs Teams 2	18th Middlesex Pairs
Nov 2018	7th Lancs Pairs	14th Lancs Pairs Defence	21st Lancs Teams	28th Scottish Curiosity
Oct 2018	3rd Northern Bridge League	10th Northern Bridge League	17th Northop	24th Chester Defence	31st Cheadle Mixed
Sep 2018	5th GP defence			26th Teams or Pairs
Aug 2018	1st National League	8th Yorkshire Congress	15th Llandudno	22nd NBL Grand	29th Michelle Memorial
July 2018	4th Yorks Grand	11th Super Moysian	18th Pachabo	25th Defence at Cheadle
June 2018	6th John Armstrong Pairs	13th Blocked suit	20th Cheadle Grand	27th Goldstone Final
May 2018	2nd League Grand	9th 3N or 5 of a minor	16th Cheadle 3NT	23rd Ruia Cup	30th Play 5D
Apr 2018	4th Green Point Pairs 2S	11th Green Point Pairs 3N	18th More GP Pairs	25th Llangollen
Mar 2018	7th Slam play problem	14th Scissors Coup	21st Improvisation	28th Tollemache 3NT
Feb 2018	7th Devil's coup	14th End Play	21st Congress 3NT	28th 3NT Play problem
Jan 2018		10th NICKO pre-empt	17th Congress slam 1	24th Congress slam 2	31st Congress Slam 3
Dec 2017	6th A curiosity	13th Ben Franks Grand	20th Ben Franks Lead	27th A suit play
Nov 2017	1st Sacrifice	8th Deva Charity Event	15th Cheadle Mixed	22nd Lancs Pairs	29th Lancs Teams
Oct 2017	4th League Play	11th League bid	18th Both minors	25th NBL Inference
Sep 2017	6th NBL Lead	13th Bolton Defence	20th League Defence	27th Mixed results
Aug 2017	2nd Michelle Memorial	9th Trump Coup		23rd Northern Bridge League	30th More NBL
July 2017	5th Extra trick			26th Llandudno
June 2017	7th Make this slam	14th Online Bridge	21st Your lead	28th Corwen Defence
May 2017	3rd MBC Slam	10th Higson Cup 3NT	17th Higson Cup Grand	24th Slam fork	31st Bridge in Salford
Apr 2017	5th Surrogacy	12th Pairs vs Teams	19th Pseudo End Play	26th Your lead
Mar 2017	1st Goldstone Slam	8th Non-technical line	15th Freak hand	22nd Find the Lady	29th Six-six
Feb 2017	1st Lead direction	8th Compete part scores	15th The three level	22nd Defence problem
Jan 2017	4th 6C Bid and play	11th Congress Slam	18th League Game	25th Gold Cup Grand
Dec 2016	7th Slam in fourth suit	14th Beer card	21st Xmas puzzle	28th New Year puzzle
Nov 2016	2nd Direct Route	9th More suit plays	16th Don't give up	23rd Bid and play	30th Psyche
Oct 2016		12th Duplication	19th Defensive unblock	26th Endplay
Sep 2016	7th Pairs Defence	14th Psychology	21st Poor bridge	28th Unblocking
Aug 2016	3rd Trump End Play	10th Slam Lead	17th 800	24th 1100	31st 3NT with 4-4 fit
July 2016	6th Welsh Bridge	13th Llandudno	20th 6NT play	27th En passant
June 2016	1st Slam Try	8th University Bridge	15th Tuesday Bridge	22nd Pachabo overtrick	29th Slam play
May 2016	4th Long sequence	11th RKCB with void	18th More RKCB	25th IMP Pairs
Apr 2016	6th Sixteen point game	13th Easter bridge	20th Four-Three fit	27th Six-Six hand
Mar 2016	2nd Inferences and end play	9th Make the overtrick	16th A lead problem	23rd Two suit plays	30th The wrong slam
Feb 2016	3rd Simple technique	10th Six, five, come alive	17th Which small card?	24th The dark blue card
Jan 2016	6th Which game?	13th The last guess	20th Nine card suit	27th An intricate sequence
Dec 2015	2nd Precarious trumps	9th Classy sequence	16th Distribution inference	23rd Cheadle cross ruff
Nov 2015	4th Endplay choice	11th Spooky bridge	18th Third round control	25th Surprise gain
Oct 2015	7th A direct route	14th Breaking Blackwood rules	21st Crockfords slams	28th Textbook deal
Sep 2015	2nd 8410 hands	9th A suit combination	16th A critical defence	23rd Premier League in Manchester	30th Which squeeze
Aug 2015				26th Choice of slams

Tollemache

An unsuccessful weekend (8-9th Nov) for the Manchester team in the inter counties team of eight qualifying on RealBridge saw them finish seventh in their group with the top four qualifying. The team was Michael Byrne/Gary Hyett, David Barton/Alec Smalley, Rhona Goldenfield/Kath Nelson (who all played throughout), Gideon Harvey/Daniel Kelsall, Catherine Draper/Andrew Woodcock, Rodney Lighton/Neil Thomas/Alan Mould. Results are on the EBU web site.

Ben Franks

The next MCBA event is the Ben Franks pairs, a two session event to be held at Bramhall Village Club on Sunday 7th December. The event qualifies four pairs for the Corwen Trophy, the EBU inter county pairs event in the summer. Click here for more information and to register.

EBU Open Trials

Congratulations to Michael Byrne who convincingly won the trials for the 2026 European Championship playing with Kieran Dyke. The event took place from Thu 31th Oct to Sun 2nd Nov. Ten pairs participated. After a slow start Michael and Kieran moved steadily up the field and had a good lead by the finish with Glyn Liggins and Andrew Dyson second. See the EBU web site for detailed results.

Higson Cup and Plate

Paul Beckwith has organised the Higson Cup and Plate competitions for this year. There are six leagues of three or four teams. The winners of each league will qualify for the Higson Cup and the second placed team (and third placed in the four team league) will qualify for the Higson Plate. A link to the conditions of contest and a brief guideline can be found on the cup page,

The draw can be found here

Manchester Congress 2026

Our flagship event will be on 3rd-4th January at the Airport Hotel SK9 4LR. As usual Championship Pairs on the Saturday (including Mens, Womens and Mixed titles and Intermediate prizes). Sunday is Swiss Teams and also the Kevin Comrie cup for players NGS 9 and below.

Click here for more details.

Cantor Cup

For beginners and improving novices a single session pairs event at Bramhall Village Club on Sunday 22nd Feb 2026.

Click here for more information.

Last updated 9th Nov 2025. Pages updated recently - News, Cup

Thanks to Michael Byrne for many reports.
Thanks to John Holland for checking articles and analyses for Deal of the Week
Counter http://www.digits.net - visitors since Jan 2000. Copyright Rodney Lighton 1999-2025.