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Manchester
County Bridge Association |
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2013
News and Results
Year End Congresses The year end congresses took place at Blackpool and London. Notable results were: At Blackpool on Saturday Bill and Joyce White won the Mixed Pairs in a field of 40+ pairs. At London John Holland was fourth in the Swiss Pairs playing with Ben Green; Sue Richmond and Neil Thomas were third at Blackpool. Mike Bell and Sarah O'Connor were third in the Mixed Pairs at London. Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield, Irving and Joy Blakey won the Swiss Teams at Blackpool with Bill and Joyce White second (with Tim and Babs Matthews of Cumbria). John Holland was third in the Swiss Teams at London with Ben Green, Kay Preddy and Norman Selway. Full results are on the EBU web site. Holland in America John
Holland had a successful week at the Fall Nationals in
Phoenix Arizona. Playing with Gunnar Hallberg
and a team which included Bob Hamman they lost
narrowly in the quarter finals to Meckstroth/Rodwell
et al. They then won a one day Swiss event and
finished sixth (out of 180+ teams) in the North
American Swiss event.
International Events This
week
Sarah O Connor makes her debut for England Ladies playing in
the China Invitation only event, along with former Manchester
player Sinead Bird. They join regular ladies pairs Nevena
Senior/Heather Dhondy Fiona Brown/Susan Stockdale.
In the
Channel trophy, Mike Bell will make his debut as an NPC,
captaining the U25 team.
Ben Franks Manchester's pairs event which qualifies for the Corwen Trophy in June was held on Sunday 1st December at Manchester Bridge Club. After the first session Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield led ahead of Kath Nelson and John Currie. Bernard and Rhona fell away in the second session to fifth place and Kath and John went on to win by a small margin from young players Nicholas Greer and Ross Allen. In third place were Alec Smalley and Barbara Lewis with Ken Hassell and Raymond Semp the other qualifiers in fourth. It was good to see Raymond back in action after a serious illness. Thanks to Irene Davies for organising the event and to Jeff Smith for directing. 23 pairs participated. Full results are on the Manchester Bridge Club web site's page.
Llangollen Swiss Teams Congratulations
to
Michael Byrne who won this event for the second year
running with Ed Jones, Hugh McGann and Ciaran Coyne on
30th Nov- 1st Dec.
Channel Trophy The
Channel Trophy is a Junior match between England,
France, Belgium and the Netherlands on 20th-22nd
December in Ostend.
Manchester's Alexandra Birchall plays in the Girls event and Michael Byrne is npc of the Youngsters. Tollemache Qualifier Congratulations
to the Manchester team (John Holland, Ollie Burgess,
Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, Mike Bell, Sarah O'Connor,
Jeff Morris, John Hassett, Gary Hyett and Rodney
Lighton) who won their qualifying group of the inter
county teams of eight at Daventry to qualify for the final
in February.
After a poor start in their first two matches, the team played well for the rest of the weekend winning six matches, drawing one and losing only to Lancashire. Thanks to Rhona Goldenfield the non playing captain for her hard work and excellent organisation and skillful selection of pairs. Well done to Jeff and John who not only headed the group cross IMPs but also, with a score of nearly 2 IMPs per board, had the best score throughout the four groups. Sarah/Mike, John/Ollie and Michael/Michael were also well placed in the cross IMPs while Gary and Rodney conspired to ensure that Manchester's margin of victory was not too embarassing! Full results are on the EBU web site. Martin Braid 1959-2013  We
are sorry to report the death of Martin Braid on 22nd
November, having suffered a heart attack two weeks
earlier.
Martin was a former junior international, his most notable result being a Silver medal in the Junior Europeans in 1982. He also won the Junior pairs in 1984. Since then he played infrequently, because of work and family committments, but was a regular on Kath Nelson's league team playing with Michael Clarke. He still played extremely well, his declarer play was outstanding and it was always a pleasure to play against him in our annual league match. Our condolences to his wife Sue and his children. Kath Nelson writes: Such terrible news and our hearts go out to his wife Sue and their two children, Helen and Alastair. He met Sue when he was teaching beginners at Manchester Bridge Club many years ago. Sue was learning Bridge, they fell in love and married. He
formed a partnership with Mike Clarke and joined our
league team about 15 years ago. He
would dash up from Milton Keynes where he worked, at
100mph for our league matches. Always
a big smile, he and Mike were frequently told to shut up
as their hoots of laughter during matches disturbed other
players. We will miss him terribly. Camrose Selection Congratulations to John Holland on being selected to play for England with Ben Green in the first Camrose weekend 10-12th January 2014 at Llandindrod Wells. This will be John's ninth Camrose appearance, equalling the Manchester record held by Gary Hyett and Alan Mould. Intermediate Pairs The
Autumn Intermediate pairs at Altrincham on Sunday November
10th attracted a full house of 15 and a half tables.
1
Graham Winn & Susan
Triggs
63.91Prizes were awarded to the top five pairs in each direction. Thanks to Barbara Lewis, Irene Davies for organising and Joan Lewis for directing. 2 Rak Kapur & Paul West 58.93 3 Sally Bray & George Leigh 58.73 4 Ross Allen & Phillip Taylor 57.13 5 Patti Chetham & Jacqueline Rich 54.43 6 Carol McKinnon & Diana Calvert 53.12 7 John Attree & Peter Allison 49.20 8 Pat Dunningham & Peter Horn 49.19 9 Karen Jones & Judy Yates 49.07 10 Charles Purle & Mitchell Dytham 47.81 11 Jeannette Frazer & Judith Sutton 45.06 12 Barbara Taylor & Adrienne Stone 43.29 13 Scott Middleton & Roy Saleh 42.74 14 Felicity Byrne & Reba Bhaduri 42.00 15 Julia Jewels & Wendy Verber 35.40 East / West 1 Ian & Val Hempstock 63.54 2 David & Marion McNeillie 60.36 3 Ann Thompson & Vanessa James 60.07 4 Pam Hegarty & Mark Gomme 53.96 5 Mike Kissell & Ralph Deane 53.94 6 Maureen Beresford & Irene Robinson 53.71 7 David Welsh & Andrea Mills 53.66 8 David Murray & Andrea O'Rafferty 51.92 9 Liz Downie & Margaret Kelly 50.34 10 Alex Tam & Carmen Yeung 49.64 11 Angela Parkinson & Wendy Burton 47.34 12 Margaret Harris & Judith Eva 46.01 13 Irene Max & Esme David 41.72 14 Hugh & Barbara Searson 40.81 15 Chris Boal & Gill Leather 38.44 16 Joyce Woolley & Jane Caffrey 34.61
Seniors' Congress Lederer In
the
Lederer trophy (international invitation event) held on
26-27th October in London Michael Byrne and Mike Bell won the
prize for best bid hand. They were awarded the prize for
reaching 4H on a 4-3 fit.
6
A10
J104
AKQ7
AQ873
J10
J1074
Q9852
Their
sequence was
1C
(Natural or any 17-19 balanced, notice the upgrade to take
into account the 5 card suit)
1S
(diamonds) 1NT (17-19
bal)
2D (GF
checkback) 2H (4 Card suit)
3D
(Natural 5+) 3H
(Good suit, denying the ability to bid 3NT (both black suits
stopped) or 3S (club worry)
4H
4H was the
best game available and although it went down due to a club
ruff and the diamond finesse offside, they gained 3 imps when
a dubious 2NT contract went 2 down at the other table.
Michael
and Mike finished 3rd in the competition, John Holland was 4th
with a team including Paul and Justin Hackett.
SBU Congress More
success for Joyce and Bill White, who won the consolation
pairs at Peebles on 20th October.
EBU Autumn Congress John
Holland with Ben Green, Duncan Happer and Jim Mason won the
Eastbourne Bowl, the main teams event, at the Autumn
Congress on 20th October.
Lake Garda In the EBU holiday congress in October Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield won the Swiss Pairs and then made it a double by winning the Swiss Teams with Irving and Joy Blakey. Joyce and Bill White were second in the Swiss Teams with Tim and Babs Matthews of Cumbria. Joyce White won the Ladies pairs with Babs Matthews. Congratulations to all. Full results are on the EBU web site. Northern Bridge League - Manchester win Divisions A and C Congratulations
to the Manchester A and C teams who have won their divisions
following the final matches on Saturday 12th October.
In the A division match at Bradford the team of Rodney Lighton/John Currie, Leslie Klein/David Barton, Alec Smalley/Peter Jones, Kath and Alan Nelson were first equal on the day and increased their already substantial lead to win the division by a large margin. Alec and Peter were our best pair on the day. In the C Divison at Leeds, Manchester were fourth on the day, but that was enough to hold onto their lead. The team was Gillian McMullan/John Fitzgerald, Marcelo & Elena Rosenbaum, Paul Worswick/Geoff Hull, Kevin & Celia Comrie. The new pairing of Paul and Geoff were top of the Butlers. The B team of Eve Lighthill/Ken Hassell, Ian Kane/David Olliver, Howard Stubbings/Dhun Daji, Peter & Jean Hand were also at Bradford. They finished seventh on the day and sixth overall. Eve and Ken were our best pair on the day. The A and C teams will therefore play in the National League finals next summer. Simultaneous Pairs Sid
Travers and Alan Nelson scored a magnificent 73% at
Altrincham Bridge Club in the EBU simultaneous pairs on
Thursday 10th October which put them first nationally in a
field of over 800 pairs - well done.
Great Northern Swiss Pairs Congratulations
to Kath and Alan Nelson who were joint winners of this
event at Leeds on 4-5th October in a large field of 94
pairs. Full results are on the EBU web site.
Goldstone Trophy The
draw for round one of the County Teams of Four knock out
is posted on the Goldstone page. The winners of this
competition will represent Manchester in the Pachabo
Trophy next June.
Premier League in Manchester The
first weekend (of three) of the EBU Open Trials took place
at Manchester Bridge Club on 5th-6th Oct.
John Holland's team (Ben Green, Phil King, Cameron Small) are currently doing well in second place by a very narrow margin in Division one, with John and Ben leading the cross-imping. In Division two John Hassett, Jeff Morris, Paul Hackett and John Sansom are third. Northern League 3rd Match
Players Progress
results Kevin
Comrie
resultsThe
third round of matches (of four) in the Northern League
took place on Saturday 14th September.
At Bradford the A team extended their lead at the top of the league, despite finishing second equal. Their nearest rivals Yorkshire 1 finished in last place. The Manchester team was John Holland/Michael Newman, Rodney Lighton/John Currie, Alec Smalley/Tom Slater and Alan & Kath Nelson, Michael and John were our leading pair in the cross IMPs. In the B Division at Keighley the team was Bill White/Joyce White, Joyce Jones/Robert Jones, Sean Mekie/Nicholas Greer, David Pennington/Rod Franks. They finished third on the day but remain in sixth position in the league. Rod and David were our best pair in the cross IMPs. The C Team played at Bradford and finished second on the day, but substantially increased their lead over Lancashire at the top of the table. The team was Ann Thornton/Irene Davies, Alistair McKillop/Terry McCaughey, Gillian McMullan/John Fitzgerald, Paul Beckwith/Paul Worswick with Ann/Irene getting the mention for best of our pairs. The Northern Bridge league web site has now been updated, you may need to refresh the pages (F5) to see the results. Tollemache Selection The
selection committee met on Thursday 12th September to
select the county team for the inter county teams of eight
in November.
The following pairs were chosen John Holland/Ollie Burgess Michael Byrne/Michael Newman Gary Hyett/Rodney Lighton Jeff Morris/John Hassett Mike Bell/Sarah O'Connor NPC Rhona Goldenfield Ollie Burgess is a talented young player who used to play for Lancashire. He has been working in Manchester for several years while commuting from Lancashire. He has now moved to Manchester and has decided to make Manchester his county of allegiance. Dimmie Fleming Award  Congratulations to Kevin Comrie on being accepted by the EBU to receive the prestigious Dimmie Fleming award which publicly recognises those who have worked hard for bridge administration at County level. Kevin retired as Chairman of the MCBA at the AGM in May after many years service to the MCBA as Chairman, tournament secretary and chief organiser of everything. The success of the annual Manchester Congress has been mainly due to his unstinting efforts. The award will be presented at a local ceremony in Manchester. Lancashire Mixed Pairs Manchester players took the top spots in the LCBA Mixed Pairs at Bolton Bridge Club on Sunday 22nd September. Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield won comfortably with Roger Hopton and Gillian McMullan in second place. C Team Seminar Michael
Byrne held a seminar for the C team pool at Manchester
Bridge Club on Sunday 8th September. 28
participants enjoyed the topics presented and they found
the instruction useful and wanted further seminars in
the future.
Bolton Congress Neil
Thomas and Rodney Lighton won the Pairs on Saturday
7th September. Mariam and Mohammed Jabar were
second in the Consolation Pairs.
The
Swiss Teams on Sunday was won by Alan and Kath Nelson
who teamed up with Lancashire pair Jeff Smith and Jackie
Pye. Second on a split tie were John Holland,
Andrew Petrie, Andrew Woodcock and Dave Debbage, with
Gillian McMullan, Neil Thomas, David Audley and Roger
Sharp third.Full results are on the Bolton Bridge Club website.
Derbyshire Match The
annual match against Derbyshire took place at Manchester
Bridge Club on Sunday 1st September. Manchester
fielded 12 players, whereas Derbyshire could only rustle
up eight. Despite their numerical disadvantage
Derbyshire ran out winners by 85 IMPs. The
Manchester team was Viv Newgrosh/Karen Sandler, Sylvia
Massey/Herbert Potts, Derek Bailey/Chris Baker, Roger
Hopton/David Fussell, Graham Winn/Susan Triggs, Joan
Lewis/Roy Higginbottom.
Northern League Match 2 The
second round of the Northern League took place on
Saturday 31st August with the A and B divisions playing
at Manchester Bridge Club and the C divison at
Blackburn.
The A team of Michael Newman, Alec Smalley, John Holland, Rodney Lighton, Gary Hyett, Michael Byrne, Kath & Alan Nelson won by a small margin ahead of Yorkshire 1 to increase their already substantial lead in the division. The B team of David Pennington, Rod Franks, Pauline Lang, Steve Mattinson, Peter Jones, David Audley, John Roberts and Fred Bell finished fifth and the team is now poorly placed overall. The C team of Karen Reissmann, Irene Davies, Howard Stubbings, Ed Glinert, Richard Sinton, Kevin Higgins, Eleana & Marcelo Rosenbaum won by a good margin to move from second to first place overall. Congratulations to Richard and Kevin who headed the cross IMP scores in the C divison. Full results for all divisions are now available on the Northern league web site. EBU Midweek Congress Congratulations to John Holland playing with Pat Davies of Wiltshire and Joy and Irving Blakey who were first and third respectively in the pairs at Telford on 27-28th August. And, in the Swiss Teams John and Pat teamed up with Warner Solomon and Taf Anthias respectively to win by a good margin. Results are on the EBU web site. EBU Brighton Congress The
EBU's main congress has been taking place this
week. A few Manchester successes to report.
Sean Mekie won the Speedball Swiss teams on 10th Aug, Michael Byrne was second. Michael Byrne and Mike Bell won the Open Teams on 11th August. Michael Byrne and Sarah O'Connor were second in the Open Pairs on 13th August. Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield were third in the Senior Pairs on 13th August. Sean Mekie won the Open Pairs on 16th August. In the Swiss Teams John Holland's and Gary Hyett's teams have finished in the top eight qualifying for the A final, while Alan and Kath Nelson's team, Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield's team and Michael Byrne and Mike Bell's team have qualified for the B final. John Holland's team finished third in the A final, Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield and Bill Hirst were second in the B final. Michael Byrne, Mike Bell, Sarah O'Connor with Shivam Shah, Basil Letts and Simon Cope won the midweek knock out teams, beating two teams of internationals by good margins. Full results are on the EBU web site. County Honours - League Winners By popular demand (well Kath Nelson and Irene Davies asked me) the county honours page now contains a list of all the league winning teams for the lower divisions since 1999. All the team names are listed as well as the team members where known. Unfortunately the league tables for 2000-2001 went missing in some computer disaster. If you know any of the missing data please e-mail me and I will update the tables. Selections The selection committee met on Thursday 8th August and made the following selections for the final two Northern League matches this season. The Tollemache team will be selected at a meeting on September 12th.
Northern League This year's Northern League season started on Saturday 3rd August. At Manchester Bridge Club the A and C teams did well. In the A division Alan Jones/David Barton, Alec Smalley/Peter Jones, Bernard & Rhona Goldenfield and John Currie/Royce Alexander scored 67 VPs, well ahead of second placed team Lancashire on 43. In the C division Ken Hughes/Geoff Hull, George Balon/Len Gorodkin, Stephen Ward/Chris Hine, Jim & Jenny Morris got off to a solid start finishing second. In the B division the team of Bill & Joyce White, Robert & Joyce Jones, David Olliver/Ken Hassell, Eddie Thornton-Chan/Ben Beever finished 6th. Congratulations to the leading pairs in the cross imping David Barton/Alan Jones, Robert & Joyce Jones, Geoff Hull/KenHughes. Full results are now posted on the Northern Bridge League web site. Green Point Swiss Teams This
event was held at Altrincham on Sunday 21st July.
Congratulations to the winners Bernard and Rhona
Goldenfield together with Bill Hirst and Patrick Collins
visiting from Kent. Especial mention to the third
placed non-expert team of Christopher Hine, Stephen Ward,
Michael Whymer and James Shephard.
1 15 Patrick
Collins, Bill Hirst,
Bernard Goldenfield, Rhona
Goldenfield
106Thanks to Rhona and Bernard for organisation and David Stevenson and Joan Lewis for directing. 2 4 Sean Mekie, Edward Levy, David Debbage, Tom Slater 97 3 8 N Christopher Hine, Stephen Ward, Michael Wymer, James Sheppard 88 4 9 David Flacks, Liz Commins, Julian Merrill, Joan Marray 84 5 17 Kath Nelson, John Currie, Jeff Smith, Alan Nelson 82 6= 18 Howard Stubbings, Dhun Daji, David Pennington, Steve Mattinson 77 6= 19 Eve Lighthill, Sidney Travers, Ian Kane, Kenneth Hassell 77 8 12 Sue Woodcock, Nick Woodcock, Andrew Petrie, Bill Alston 76 9 20 N John Ashworth, Cath Hornby, Duncan Ault, Diane Ault 74 10 11 N Dave Matthews, Ann Thornton, Kevin Higgins, Richard Sinton 72 11 13 Michael Tomlinson, Ewart Evans, Paul Williams, Hilda Williams 71 12 14 Peter Greaves, Brenda Greaves, David Murray, Andrea O'Rafferty 68 13 16 Bill Wattleworth, Liz Wattleworth, Peter Richmond, Roger Allison 67 14= 3 John Holland, Gillian Whyte, Pauline Lang, Patricia Burrows 66 14= 21 Gill Copeland, Steve Blackburn, James Thrower, Antony Edwards 66 16= 22 Neil Thomas, Peter Foster, Jean Keen, Dave Keen 64 16= 7 N Gillian McMullan, John Fitzgerald, Roger Hopton, David Fussell 64 18 6 Bob Loveridge, Helen Montgomery, David Costich, Nicholas Sutcliffe 59 19 1 Barry Wennell, Beth Wennell, Peter Hand, Jean Hand 56 20= 5 Glenda Lloyd, Peter Boardman, Trevor Ward, Christine Skellon 44 20= 10 Kevin Comrie, Celia Comrie, Peter Jones, Raymond Semp 44 22 2 Karen Reissmann, Irene Davies, John Parsons, Nicholas Greer 38
Michelle Brunner Memorial Event The
Mixed Pivot Teams at Manchester Bridge Club raised over
£1500 in memory of Michelle Brunner for Christie Hospital
and St Ann's Hospice.
Winners were Jackie Pye, John Holland, Bill Hirst & Jeff Smith. Full results and photos are on the Manchester Bridge Club web site. Hereford Swiss Teams Congratulations
to Bill and Joyce White who won the Gloucester and
Herefordshire Swiss Teams on Sunday 21st July with Babs
Matthews and John Farmer of Cumbria.
 Bill
and Joyce White, Babs Matthews and John Farmer
EBU Scarborough Summer Congress Another good result for Joyce and Bill White, playing with John Farmer and Babs Matthews of Cumbria who finished fifth in the Teams A Final. In the Swiss Pairs John Holland playing with Clive Owen of the North East finished third equal. Full results are on the EBU web site. Gerard Faulkner Trophy The
seniors
knock out championship for the Gerard Faulkner Trophy has
been won by the Manchester team of John Holland, John
Hassett, Jeff Morris and Clive Owen from the North East.
They beat the London team of Jeff Alper by 13 IMPs, the
match was close throughout. This is their third win
in this competition, they also won in 2008 and 2011.
 Clive Owen, Jeff Morris, John Hassett, John Holland National Inter Counties League Finals Manchester
A and B teams qualified for the Inter County League finals
at Solihull on Sunday 7th July by winning their respective
divisions in the Northern League.
Both teams finished second in the finals, the A team were second to Sussex - it would have been different if the 70% slam that both Manchester pairs bid (and the Sussex pairs didn't) had made. The B Team had an indifferent first half and were fourth of five at the break, they improved dramatically in the second half. The A team was Rhona & Bernard Goldenfield, Rodney Lighton/Michael Newman, Mike Bell/Sarah O'Connor, Alec Smalley/Tom Slater. The B team was Eve Lighthill/Sid Travers, Fred Bell/John Roberts, David Pennington/Rod Franks, Ian Kane/Ken Hassell. Alec/Tom and Fred/John were our best pairs respectively on Butler scores. Full results are here Eastbourne Seniors Congress John
Holland and Erika Slatcher finished fifth in the A final,
after leading the first session and dropping to tenth at
the end of the second session.
Full results are on the EBU web site. European Youth Team Championships This
event takes place in Wroclaw, Poland from 11th-20th
July. Michael Byrne is npc of the U20 team of
Freddie Illingworth, Christopher Huber, Kyle Lam, Tommy
Brass, Michael Alishaw and Toby Nonnenmacher. They
played a practice match on Saturday 6th July at Manchester
Bridge Club against Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield, Rodney
Lighton, Michael Newman, Alec Smalley and Barbara
Lewis. The junior team won fairly convincingly,
hopefully their good form will continue in Poland.
Sarah O'Connor plays in the U25 team.
Click here for the Championship web site President's Cup Congratulations
to the Manchester team who won the inter counties teams of
eight at Bradford Bridge Club over the weekend of 29-30th
June.
Manchester and Yorkshire were in close contention throughout the weekend well ahead of the other six counties. At tea on Saturday Manchester had a useful lead, but a poor Saturday evening for Manchester left Yorkshire 2 VPs ahead. However, a steady Manchester performance on Sunday, including winning the all important match against Yorkshire, meant that Manchester finished 5 VPs clear. The team was Gary Hyett/Alan Mould, Rodney Lighton/Michael Newman (capt), Irving & Joy Blakey, Rhona & Bernard Goldenfield (Sat) and Alec Smalley/Tom Slater (Sun). Gary and Alan were the top pair on the Butler scores, followed by Tom and Alec. All the Manchester pairs were well positive on the Butler scores. Michael Newman thanked Bradford Bridge club for the excellent lunch on Sunday and David and Liz Stevenson for their efficient directing. This was Manchester's first win since 2010, their score of nearly 17 VPs per match was the best for many years. The other counties were Merseyside & Cheshire, Lancashire, Westmorland, Cumbria, Hereford and North Wales.  Alan Mould, Gary Hyett, Irving Blakey, Michael Newman Joy Blakey, Rodney Lighton, Alec Smalley, Tom Slater Pachabo The Manchester team of Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, John Holland, Gary Hyett, Alan Mould and Rodney Lighton finished sixth in the inter counties teams event at Daventry on 22nd-23rd June. They had qualified for this event by winning the Goldstone Trophy. Gary and Alan played on Saturday, Rodney on Sunday and the others all weekend. Full results are on the EBU web site. Summer Intermediate Pairs The Summer Intermediate Pairs event was held at Altrincham on Sunday 16th June. 18 pairs competed. Thanks to Joan Lewis for directing, Barbara Lewis and Irene Davies for administration and help on the day.
European Open The
European Open Championships take place in Ostend from
15th-29th June.
Paul Hackett and John Holland are playing in the Open Pairs and/or the Senior Pairs in the second week. Selections The selection committee met on Thursday 13th June and made the following selections for county matches. They will meet again in August to select for the final two Northern Bridge League matches.
For the Tollemache qualifying later in the year Rhona Goldenfield was selected as npc. Happy 80th Birthday Raymond  Raymond Semp is 80 on Wednesday 26th June. He has been playing bridge in the Manchester area since 1950 with many notable results. We wish him many more years of good health and lots more success at the bridge table. Gold Cup Jeff
Morris' team of John Hassett, Mike Bell and Sarah
O'Connor have reached round 5 of the Gold Cup knocking
out the number 12 seeds by a large margin. Although the
match was close for the first set, the next few were
whitewashes and they eventually romped home by 107 imps,
conceeded with one set to play. Their opponents were
Heather Dhondy/Brian Callaghan, Jeremy Dhondy/Ian Pagan
all experienced internationals. In the next round
they face the number 4 seeds Irens from London.
Yorkshire Congress In
the
Yorkshire Congress held over the weekend of 1st-2nd June
in Harrogate Manchester players did well. The mixed pairs
was won on a split tie by Michael Byrne playing with
current ladies world champion Fiona Brown who survived an
early scare when they were nearly penalised for failing to
use the stop card. Jason Hackett and Robert Myers of
Yorkshire were second in the Men's pairs and Pauline Lang
was second in the Ladies pairs with Babs Matthews of
Cumbria. The main pairs was won (again on a split tie) by
Fiona Brown and Ollie Burgess, with Jason Hackett and
Robert Myers 3rd, Tracy Capal 4th and Michael Byrne 5th.
In
the main teams Michael Byrne's team of Fiona Brown,
Ollie Burgess and Hugh McGann finished winners, just
ahead of three teams close together. John Holland was
second in the B final. Tom Slater and Sean Mekie
were second in the C final, with Neil Thomas of
Merseyside and Sue Richmond of Lancashire. Full
results are on the Yorkshire web site.
Corwen Trophy Rodney
Lighton and Gary Hyett were the best placed Manchester
pair finishing seventh (out of 97) in the Inter County
Pairs championship at Daventry on 1st-2nd June.
Mike Bell /Sarah O'Connor and David Pennington/Rod
Franks were 36th and 52nd respectively. The other
Manchester pair, Karen Reissmann and Irene Davies, had
an enjoyable weekend.
Full results are on the EBU web site. EBU Midweek Congress In
the midweek congress in Thame immediately after the
Spring Bank Holiday John Holland finished third in the
pairs playing with former British Ladies International
Pat Davies. They were leading with a magnificent
71% after the first of three sessions, but two
reasonable sessions of 55% and 60% were not quite
enough.
Spring Bank Holiday Congress Congratulations
to Michael Byrne with Simon Cope who won the A final in
the EBU event at Bournemouth on 25-26th May;
also to John Holland and Ben Green who were third.
In the Swiss Teams there was further success for John
Holland who won with Ben Green, Simon Cope and Gunnar
Hallberg.
Full results are on the EBU web site. Merseyside Swiss Pairs The
Merseyside Green Point Swiss Pairs on Sunday 19th May
was won by John Roberts playing with Peter Foster of
Merseyside. Full results are on the Merseyside web
site.
AGM The AGM was held at Cheadle Hulme on Thursday 23rd May. Thanks to the Cheadle Hulme Club for hosting the event and to Barbara Lewis and helpers for refreshments and organisation. After the business part of the meeting a presentation was made to retiring chairman Kevin Comrie for his 24 years involvement in Manchester Bridge organisation. He was thanked for his role as tournament secretary in setting up and making the Manchester Congress so successful and for his diplomatic chairing of the association for the last five years. We wish him well in his retirement. Bob Cooke takes over as Chairman, with Irene Davies as vice-chair. Joan Hinchliffe adds the role of membership secretary to her post of treasurer. All officers were thanked for their hard work during the year. Presentations were also made to league division winners.
Gerard Faulkner Salver The (mainly) Manchester team of Jeff Morris, John Hassett, John Holland and Clive Owen have reached the finals of the senior knock out. They play Alper of Middlesex; good luck to them. Play Bridge for Your County The
inter
county Northern League takes place on four Saturdays over
the summer months.
There
is
also a friendly match against Derbyshire in the Autumn.
The
Manchester
selectors are keen to involve as many players as possible.
There
are
three teams:- A for top standard players, B for county
standard and C for regular club players.
If
you
are interested in representing Manchester at any level, and
haven’t been selected previously, please let Barbara
Lewis, the chair of selectors, know of your interest
by e-mail.
The
Manchester Bridge Club Team of Mike Bell, Sarah
O'Connor, Gary Hyett, Michael Newman, Robert Myers,
David Debbage, John Parsons, Nicholas Greer finished
fourth in the Regional Final at Bradford on Saturday
18th May. The event was won by a strong Sheffield Bridge
club team. Full results are on the EBU web site.
Senior Camrose The
Senior Camrose took place from 17-19th May in
Cardiff. John Holland and Paul Hackett were on the
England team playing with Gunnar Hallberg and David
Mossop respectively, the third pair was Colin Simpson
and David Price. The England team finished third
behind Scotland and Northern Ireland. John Holland
and Gunnar Hallberg led the cross-imp table.
The event web site is here. Kevin Retires Kevin Comrie, the Manchester Chairman retires at this year's AGM after many years of service to bridge in Manchester. "On hearing of Kevin's retirement from the organisational side of Manchester Bridge, it would be remiss of us not to mention what a fantastic job he has done for the game we all love. Kevin truly is a people person! Certainly a great organiser and delegator, he has been an inspirational Chairman for the Manchester area. It would be easy to be deceived by his jovial (if not mischievous) appearance - behind the facade is a sensitive, caring man, highly intelligent and unbelievably capable. The Manchester Congress is Kevin's baby, its undoubtable success is down to his vision for such a prestigious event to be held in our area; one which is supported and enjoyed by people from all over the UK and Europe. Kevin, we owe you a huge debt of gratitude for your tireless efforts for Manchester Bridge, as a committee member, as Vice Chairman and as Chairman for so many years. We salute you, are proud to call you friend and wish you and Celia a long, happy and healthy retirement." Thanks to Joy Blakey for the above tribute Spring Fours Congratulations to Kath and Alan Nelson on winning the Punch Bowl at the Spring Fours on Monday 6th May with team mates Jeff Smith (Lancs) and David Robinson (Yorks). The Punch Bowl is the secondary competition for teams eliminated from the main competition.  Alan Nelson, Jeff Smith, Kath Nelson and David Robinson Selections The selection committee has met to select teams for the national finals of the inter county leagues (Manchester won the A and B divisions of the Northern league last year) and for the Presidents Cup, the Northern inter counties team of 8 weekend.
League and PotY St
Titus (Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, Gary Hyett, Rodney
Lighton, Alan Mould, Mike Bell and Sarah O'Connor) won the
league with a win against Tempo. Needing 32 IMPs,
they were only 13 IMPs up at half time, but a good second
half saw them put on another 33 IMPs to finish 3 VPs ahead
of By 1 IMP (Tracy Capal, David Stevenson, Alan
Stephenson, Stuart Matthews, Ted Reveley), with Isolated
Menaces (John Hassett, John Holland, Bernard and Rhona
Goldenfield) another 3 VPs behind in third place.
Congratulations to Four Js (Jim and Jenny Morris, Bill and Joyce White), Grasshoppers (Alec Smalley, Tom Slater, John Athey, Mike Goldsmith and Stuart Shalom) and Red Bull (Elena and Marcelo Rosenbaum, Howard Stubbings and Ed Glinert) who are promoted to Division 1. Congratulations to all other promoted teams and commiserations to those relegated. Hope to see you all back playing next year. Many thanks to Kath Nelson for her sterling efforts running the league and cup this year and keeping the league page updated with many items of interest. The league result means that the player of the year competition is shared between Rodney Lighton, Mike Bell and John Holland, with Nicholas Greer winning the intermediate prize. All league results are now in (3rd May) with the completion of the final matches in Division 5B. Training Day Michael
Byrne held a training day for the B Pool of Manchester
players on Saturday 27th April at Manchester Bridge
Club. The participants found it enjoyable and
informative focusing mainly on modern conventions. A
session of interesting deals followed.
Thanks to Ann Thornton for photos Higson Cup and Plate Finals The Higson finals were held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 28th April. Congratulations to Isolated Menaces (John Holland, John Hassett, Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield) who won for the second consecutive year by a small margin from Bare Bones (David Debbage, Ed Levy, John Parsons and Nicholas Greer). The Plate was won by a large margin by Upper Cut (James Shephard, Michael Wymer, Chris Hine and Stephen Ward). Thanks to Jeff Smith, Jeff Morris and Joan Lewis for directing and to Irene Davies for photos; also to Kath Nelson for organisation throughout the year and help on the day.
Higson Cup Final 1 2 Isolated Menaces 98 Bernard Goldenfield,Rhona Goldenfield,John Holland,John Hassett 2 4 Bare Bones 94 Ed Levy,Dave Debbage,John Parsons,Nicolas Greer 3 5 St Titus 92 Mike Bell,Sarah O'Connor,Alan Mould,Rodney Lighton Gary Hyett,Michael Byrne,Michael Newman 4 1 Inverted Minors 80 Dave Barton,Leslie Klein,Peter Jones,Jeff Smith 5 7 Impsr Us 64 Tracy Capal,Ted Reveley,Stuart Matthews,Alan Stephenson 6 8 Leader with Attitude 63 H Potts,S Massey,R Bayley,J Bayley 7 6 Manchester S 36 Barbara Lewis,Sam Herman,Kevin Comrie,Malcolm Morrison 8 3 Proteus 33 Dave Audley,Frank Brown,John Roberts,Fred Bell Robert Jones Higson Plate Final 1 6 Upper Cut 124 Stephen Ward,Chris Hine,James Sheppard,Michael Wymer 2 2 The Tricksters 95 David Matthews,Ann Thornton,Kevin Higgins,Richard Sinton 3= 3 City Aces 93 Philip Reed,Barry Fine,I Rosenberg,H Weinstock 3= 9 Midland Railway 93 Ted Cadman,Iain Mackie,David Johnston,Simon Townsend 5 7 Astraz Diamonds 76 Anne Jeater,Barbara Moore,Jim Straffon,Lindsey Cuff 6 1 Hydrangeas 74 Gordon Johnson,David Ackroyd,John Browning,Hari Gohil 7 8 Ashton Aces 61 June Chadwick,John Parry,Gordon Bickley,Ann Farquhar 8 4 Enigmas 57 David McNeillie,Marion McNeillie,Sylvia Dixon,Heather Saunders 9 5 E Cheshire Acolites 47 Peter Harrison,Tony Shortall,Joan Wood,Dorothy Wroe Denny Davies 1929-2013 Denny Davies was born in Denbigh, After University he had to complete his
National Service and chose to teach at the Army
Apprentice School in Harrogate - rather than the
alternative of serving on the front line in Korea!
Whilst on leave he met a young lady called
Audrey and 3 years later they married and in time had
two children Alison and Peter. As a Geography graduate he taught for many
years at
When Denny retired and moved to Haddenham,
near Aylesbury, John suggested
he might like to ‘help out’ at
the EBU. This initiated ten years of working for the EBU
in various roles including licensing and magazine
advertising He and Audrey became close friends with
Sandra and Brian Claridge and Denny described his time
at the EBU as amongst the happiest years of his life. Goldstone Trophy Congratulations
to Michael Byrne's team (Michael Newman, John Holland,
Rodney Lighton) who beat Jeff Morris, John Hassett,
Irving and Joy Blakey in the final of the Goldstone
Trophy on Friday 19th April. They had a small lead
of 12 IMPs halfway through the match, but a big win in
the third set left Jeff's team 46 adrift a margin which
they were unable to make any inroads into despite
bidding and making a 20% slam.
Michael's team go on to represent Manchester in the Pachabo in June.  Rodney Lighton, Michael Newman, Michael Byrne and John Holland National Pairs Congratulations
to David Debbage and John Hassett who finished 7th in a
field of 50 pairs in the National Pairs final on 13-14th
April.
Gold Cup Two
Manchester
teams have made it through to the last 32 of the Gold Cup.
Mike
Bell
/ Sarah O'Connor, John Hassett / Jeff Morris beat David
Stevenson, Liz Commins and the Keens by 55 imps over 48
boards having taken a commanding lead early on that steadily
grew.
Michael
Byrne/Gary
Hyett with Dan Crofts of Birmingham and Andrew Thompson of
London beat Number 9 seeds Paul Hackett, Tony Waterlow, Ian
Panto, Peter Lester and Hugh McGann, with Edward Levy
brought in to substitute for Tony Waterlow who was unable to
play. They too led throughout and gained 43 imps in
set 4 to effectively end the match.
Both
matches
were played at Manchester Bridge Club on the afternoon of
Thursday 11th April, both finished at the same time despite
Hassett's team starting 2 hours earlier.
Easter Festivals There were successes for Manchester players at both the Northern Easter tournament in York and in London. In
York John Holland, Clive Owen (North East), Bernard
Goldenfield, Rhona Goldenfield won the Swiss teams, with
Bill and Joyce White 4th with Babs and Tim Matthews of
Cumbria.
In
London the highest places were 5th= in both the Swiss
pairs and Swiss Teams by Michael Byrne.Full results are on the EBU web site. Northern Pairs The
Northern Pairs, a regional final of the National Pairs,
was held at Bradford on Sunday 17th March.
Congratulations to the following Manchester pairs who qualified:- Justin Hackett and Martin Taylor (2nd A Final), Mike Bell and Sarah O'Connor (16th B Final), Irene Davies and Karen Reissmann (29th B Final). Good luck to them in the National Final next month. Full results are on the EBU web site. Seminar Jason Hackett conducted a seminar at Manchester Bridge Club for the Manchester A pool of players on Saturday 16th March. He gave an interesting and thought provoking presentation mainly on defensive signalling techniques, followed by a practice session with later discussion.
Swiss Pairs There was a full house of 50 pairs at Altrincham for the annual Green Point Swiss Pairs on Saturday 9th March. As
usual the event ran smoothly thanks to directors David
Stevenson and Joan Lewis. Many thanks to Rhona and
Bernard Goldenfield for administration and to Bob Cooke
for presenting the prizes. Also to anyone else who
helped who I haven't mentioned.
Tom
Slater and Rodney Lighton timed the event well, moving up
steadily to reach table one in the last match, losing only
one match narrowly on the way to Nicholas Greer and Sean
Mekie. At table one they played John Holland and
Gillian Whyte who had been near the top for most of the
event. Tom and Rodney scraped a 12-8 win, helped by
bidding a poorish slam which required a trump suit of King
to six opposite four small to play for only one
loser. None of the other pairs who were in
contention could manage a big enough score to jump into
first place.
1 50 Rodney Lighton & Tom Slater 103 3.50 2= 45 Joy Blakey & Irving Blakey 98 3.13 2= 30 Bob Cooke & David Pennington 98 3.00 4 31 John Holland & Gillian Whyte 97 2.75 5= 27 Sarah O'Connor & Mike Bell 95 2.25 5= 4 Alan Mould & Michael Newman 95 2.00 7 34 I Sean Mekie & Nicholas Greer 94 2.00 8 11 Peter Jones & Alan Nelson 89 1.50 9 40 Jeff Smith & Tony Coley 88 1.38 10 23 Kath Nelson & John Currie 86 1.00 11= 19 Peter Foster & Boris Ewart 85 1.13 11= 6 I Christopher Hine & Stephen Ward 85 1.00 11= 42 David Hammonds & Paul Worswick 85 1.00 14= 43 Bernard Goldenfield & Rhona Goldenfield 84 1.00 14= 10 Ewart Evans & Michael Tomlinson 84 0.75 16 48 Margaret Howe & David Burrows 81 0.88 17= 8 I Michael Wymer & Edward Jones 76 1.01 17= 38 Jenny Morris & Jim Morris 76 1.01 19= 46 Peter Boardman & Glenda Lloyd 74 1.25 19= 44 Patrick Murphy & Liz Commins 74 1.00 21= 9 Howard Stubbings & Dhun Daji 73 1.00 21= 25 John Morrell & Marianne Farr 73 1.00 21= 35 I Kevin Higgins & Richard Sinton 73 0.75 24 39 Duncan Ault & Brian Perry 72 1.00 25 22 I Peter Carey-Yard & Roger Hopton 71 0.75 26 14 Simon Edwards & Tracy Capal 70 0.88 27= 33 Mike Swanson & Colin Humphrey 69 1.00 27= 3 Peter Hand & Jean Hand 69 1.00 29 12 Eve Lighthill & Barbara Lewis 65 0.75 30= 37 . Karen Reissmann & Irene Davies 64 0.89 30= 49 Gordon Rice & Stefan Bielecki 64 0.63 32 2 Ann Thornton & Lance Bloohn 63 1.00 33= 15 Roger Waddington & Bernard Kaye 62 0.88 33= 16 Chris Baker & Jim O'Neill 62 0.75 35= 29 Geoff Cowie & Robbie Roberts 60 0.75 35= 26 Rod Franks & Pauline Lang 60 0.75 37 7 Gordon Bickley & Ann Farquhar 58 0.63 38= 47 Kenneth Hassell & Ian Kane 57 0.75 38= 20 Julia Dearing & John Dearing 57 0.50 38= 13 Bob Loveridge & Helen Montgomery 57 0.38 41= 1 I Tean Porteus & Haidee Schofield 56 1.00 41= 32 I Mohammed Jabbar & Mariam Jabbar 56 0.50 43= 24 I Pat Dunningham & Peter Horn 55 0.63 43= 5 Richard Acaster & Christine Benson 55 0.50 45 21 I George Leigh & Sally Bray 54 0.75 46 18 Peter Greaves & Brenda Greaves 51 0.50 47 41 Max Richman & Sandra Richman 39 0.38 48 17 I Mark Gomme & Pamela Hegarty 37 0.50 49 36 I David Murray & Andrea O'Rafferty 34 0.25 50 28 I Alex Tam & Carmen Yeung 19
Premier Grand Masters Another success for John Holland playing with Ben Green who won by a large margin at Daventry on 2nd-3rd March. Full results of all the Ranked Masters events are on the EBU web site. EBU Spring Congress Congratulations to Martin Taylor and Justin Hackett who finished second in a field of 132 in the Swiss Pairs at the EBU Spring Congress in Harrogate on 23rd February. In the Open Pairs on the Friday John Holland was second playing with Ed Jones. In the Swiss Teams John Holland and Michael Byrne playing with Ben Green and Ed Jones respectively won in a field of 67 teams. Full results are on the EBU web site. Cantor Cup The Cantor Cup was held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 17th February attracting 14 and a half tables, of beginners and players fairly new to bridge. The afternoon was successful and included tea and fresh home made scones in the break. The final scores were very close with just over 1% separating the first six pairs - all of whom received prizes. All the Cantor family attended to present the prizes. Thanks to Barbara Lewis for organisation, Joan Lewis for directing and to the Cantor family for their continuing support for this event in memory of Oliver and Trudy Cantor. 1st Joyce Woolley & Maureen Beresford 62.62 2nd Peter Allison & John Attree 62.51 3rd Tracey Shaw & Tricia Sturrrock 62.42 4th Patrick Betney & June Wise 61.92 5th Linda Hitchen & Deb Fairweather 61.75 6th Adelino Santos & Kelvin Lau 61.35 7th Chris Batt & Christine Middlehurst 57.39 8th Jessica Smith & Pam Dorian 55.50 9th Paul Batstone & John Bridgman 53.18 10th Chris Boal & Gill Leather 52.51 11th Kate Fisher & Rak Kapur 52.34 12th Annie Curtis & Jackie Lowrie 51.62 13th David Swayle & John Johnston 51.39 14th Donald Walton & Andrea Mills 51.02 15th Wendy Verber & Andrew Ayles 50.88 16th Lindsay Taylor & Kate Durham 50.72 17th Margaret O'Connor & Olivia Oldham 50.25 18th Diane Jowsey & Leslie Jowsey 47.79 19th Sandra Magher & Bob Simpson 47.16 20th David Owen & Joan Missira 46.10 21st Carmen Yeung & Alex Tam 45.99 22nd Ally Oliver & Judith Lambert 45.34 23rd Anne Richardson & Pat Corker 41.18 24th Jacob Huggins & Josh Roberts 40.15 25th Avril Hutton & Linda Fletcher 38.46 26th Louis Swayle & Candice Reeves 38.29 27th Sue Berry & Chris Simonet 37.89 28th Colin Westwood & Julia Jewels 37.13 29th Pat Shea & Bernard Shea 36.15
Junior Camrose and Peggy Bayer in Manchester England dominated the Junior
Internationals at the Park Inn Hotel
in Manchester on Saturday and Sunday 16-17th February,
winning both the Junior Camrose (U25) and Peggy Bayer
(U20) easily with matches to spare. In the U25
Sarah O'Connor of Manchester played with Dan
McIntosh, Tom Paske with Graeme Robertson, and
Shivam Shah with Basil Letts, npc David Gold. In
the Peggy Bayer the team was Freddie Illingworth, Kyle
Lam, Toby Nonnenmacher, Michael Alishaw, Rhys Munden
and Ben Norton, npc Michael Byrne.
Some excellent bridge was played and
spectators were entertained with a vu-graph presentation
by Paul Hackett, John Holland and Bernard Goldenfield.Thanks to Kevin and Celia Comrie for
organisation, John Parsons, Ben Beever, Tom Slater, Adelino
Santos, Mike Coop and Kirstyn Fuller for BBO
operation plus anyone else who helped who I haven't
mentioned.
Full results are on the EBU web site.
Goldstone Trophy A close semi-final between Barbara Lewis' team (Sam Herman, Peter Jones, Alec Smalley, Tom Slater) and Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, Gary Hyett, John Holland, Rodney Lighton saw Michael's team pull away in the last eight to win comfortably after trailing for much of the match. The Byrne team played six different partnerships during the match! They will play either Jeff Morris or David Matthews in the final to determine who represents Manchester in the Pachabo in June. Gazette Cup The inter club teams of eight
tournament was held at Altrincham Bridge Club on
Sunday 3rd Feb. There was a good turnout of
seven teams, three from Manchester Bridge Club, two
from Cheadle Hulme and one each from Bramhall and
Altrincham. Manchester A were first half
leaders by a narrow margin of 3 VPs over Cheadle
Hulme A, but pulled away in the second half to win
by 11 VPs mainly due to Mike Bell and Sarah
O'Connor's excellent card. The last minute
partnership of Rhona Goldenfield and Rodney Lighton
did quite well, but would have been better if there
had been no slam bonuses!
A nice buffet meal was provided at half time and tournament directors Joan Lewis and Gordon Bickley did an excellent job. Thanks to Irene Davies and Barbara Lewis for organising the event.  Mike Bell, Alan Nelson, John Hassett, Rodney Lighton, Sarah O'Connor, Kath Nelson, Jeff Morris, Rhona Goldenfield Rank Team Names [RANKS] VPs ===================================================================================== 1 1 Manchester A 92 Kath Nelson,Alan Nelson,Sarah O'Connor,Mike Bell Jeff Morris,John Hassett,Rodney Lighton,Rhona Goldenfield 2 4 Ch Hulme A 81 Jeff Smith,Alec Smalley,Robert Jones,Joyce Jones Bill White,Joyce White,Royce Alexander,John Currie 3 6 Bramhall 80 Kevin Higgins,Richard Sinton,Inder Sethe,Surinder Sethe Peter Greaves,Brenda Greaves,Reg Bowdler,Morag White 4= 3 Manchester C 47 John Moran,Andy Green,Graham Winn,Susan Triggs Tean Porteus,Haidee Tattersall,Carmen Yeung,Alex Tam 4= 7 Altrincham 47 Geoff Hull,Anne Jordan,Ian Kane,Ken Hughes David Olliver,Richard Acaster,Geoffrey Fink,Kenneth Hassell 6 5 Ch Hulme B 40 Pat Booth,Barbara Lewis,Herbert Potts,Sylvia Massey Victor Ridding,Mary Green,Lance Bloohn,Karen Sandler 7 2 Manchester B 33 Karen Reissmann,Irene Davies,Frank Brown,David Audley David Matthews,Ann Thornton,Gillian McMullan,Roger Hopton Women's Trials In the Women's trials held on 26-27th January in London Manchester were represented by Sarah O'Connor and Sinead Bird who finished 7th out of 19 pairs on +35 IMPs. That wasn't quite enough to get them selected for the Lady Milne, but a good performance and encouraging result. National Swiss Teams The
National
Swiss teams on 19-20th Jan was won by Michael Byrne, playing
with Duncan Happer, and team-mates Neil Rosen (London) and
Martin Jones (Coventry).
They
led
from the Saturday onwards, but were overtaken by Premier
league winners Hinden (whom they had beaten 15-5) in the
anti-penultimate match. Recapturing their lead with a 20-0
victory they survived a final scare in the last match to win
by 2 victory points.
Last
years
winner John Holland was unable to defend his title as his
team-mates had pulled out, afraid of the snow.
Manchester Congress Manchester's main event of the year took place at a new venue - the Victoria and Albert Hotel - on 5th to 6th January. As usual entrants came from all over the country as well as Ireland and Scotland. This year we welcomed four Norwegians who enjoyed their bridge (and the relatively cheap beer in England). It was nice to see a good turn out of junior players. The pairs was won by Tracy Capal and Liz Muir, who just pipped Barry Myers and Sally Brock. Barry and Sally won the mixed pairs for the third year running. Norwegians Tom Johnson and Frank Svindahl were third. In the teams Tracy and Liz who were the defending champions with team mates Stuart Matthews and Ted Revely just failed to make it a double, coming second to John Holland, Ben Green, Michael Byrne and Duncan Happer. Many thanks to Kevin Comrie and his team of helpers who worked tirelessly to make this event so successful. Thanks also to the directors, David Stevenson, Joan Lewis, Gordon Bickley and Paul West. There was also a good attendance for the events for players new to duplicate on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Click
here for the full pairs results
Teams Final Results Consolation Teams C Teams Click here for the quiz answers
2012-13 League Tables Click here List of Players Merville Goldstone Trophy 2012-2013
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