Manchester
County Bridge Association |
2018
News and Results
We
are sorry to report the death of Bill White on 28th
December after a long illness. Bill was a regular
player at the Cheadle Hulme and Bramhall clubs as well
as participating in many congresses around the country
in partnership with his wife, Joyce. They often
played in teams events with Babs Matthews and Tim
Matthews of Cumbria with many successes. He
attained the EBU rank of one star Grand Master.
Bill was an affable opponent and always a pleasure to
play against. Our condolences to Joyce.
Year End Congresses Kath
and Alan Nelson won the Mixed Pairs at Blackpool on
Friday 28th December. Alan Mould and John Holland
won the Swiss Pairs at Blackpool with Bernard and Rhona
Goldenfield fourth. Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield
and Kath and Alan Nelson were second in the Swiss Teams
with John Holland, Jackie Pye, Jeff Smith and Alan Mould
third.
Congratulations
to
all. Full results are on the EBU web site.Michael Byrne was second in the Mixed Pairs in London with Sarah Bell. League (28th Dec) In
division one Michael Byrne's St Titus team have won a
couple more matches this month to lead with five good
wins, Justin Hackett's Mutton Madras are still in second
place with Kath Nelson's Agamemnon now in third with five
wins, a draw and a loss. In division two Proteus
(Frank Brown) with four wins and Sedgely (Bernard Kaye)
are the leaders.
Altrincham A (Geoff Hull) have won four and lost one to head division three just ahead of Alan Tranter's Hindsight Convention. David Milne's Astrazeneca Stars have regained top place in division four by not playing any matches in December, while Haidee Tattersall's Conquering Hearts lost a couple to drop to second place. In division five the top two teams have not played any matches in December. Ray Hill's Monton Misfits have won five out of five matches ahead of Adam Wiseberg's lastminute.bid who have completed seven of nine matches. In division six 4 Bridgemates (Margaret Harris) lead with three good wins. In division seven Ashton United (Sheila Wimbleton) have had four good wins, they are ahead of Larkhill-1 (Estelle Megitt) who have also won four times. Teltscher Trophy Trials Trials for the Senior Camrose team took place at Solihull on 15-16th December. Manchester players participating were John Holland in the Hackett team and Alan Mould and Gary Hyett with Sally Brock and Bary Myers. Congratulations to John whose team won in a close finish just ahead of the Penfold team, with John top scoring on cross IMPs. Gary and Alan's team were a distant third. Manchester Bridge Club - 40 Years After
40 years at its venue on Palatine Road Manchester Bridge
Club will be moving in the New Year. At a party at
Palatine Road on Dec 9th plans were outlined for the
club's future. The club will be moving to share
premises with the Fallowfield Lawn Tennis and Bowls Club
at 81 Wellington Road, Fallowfield M14 6BN (about half a
mile from Palatine Road). The first event at the
new venue will be the duplicate on Wednesday January
2nd. Building and fitting out work is currently
taking place to prepare the new venue. See the Manchester
Bridge Club web site for further details and news.
European Mixed Teams Trials Barry
Myers, Sally Brock, Fiona Brown,
Michael Byrne, Frances Hinden, Graham Osborne Ben Franks Pairs Manchester's qualifier for the Corwen Trophy was held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 2nd December. A small but select field of 14 pairs played three boards against each other pair. After the first session Alec Smalley and Barbara Lewis were leading ahead of John Holland and Rodney Lighton. These two pairs met in the final round of the second session, with Alec and Barbara still just ahead until the last board, when Alec, playing in a pushy three notrump, guessed to knock out the opposition aces in the wrong order and went down, converting a potential top into a bottom. Alec and Barbara finished third, with David Sarabowski and Sam Herman second. In fourth place and also qualifying for the Corwen were Karen Reissmann and Irene Davies. Thanks to Ann Thornton for organising the event and to Jeff Smith for directing. Full results are on the Manchester Bridge Club web site.
Llangollen Swiss Teams Catherine
Draper and Andrew Woodcock were on the winning team in
the Welsh event on 24-25th November playing with Gillian
and Joe Fawcett respectively Bernard & Rhona
Goldenfield, John Holland and Jackie Pye were
third. Click
here for the North Wales web site.
Senior World Championship Congratulations to John Holland and Alan Mould who have been chosen to play for the England senior team in the World Championships in China next September. They replace Alan Mayo and Rob Cliffe in the Shelley team who qualified from the European championship earlier this year. Tollemache - Manchester Qualify The inter
counties teams of eight qualifying weekend took place on
17-18th Novenber at Daventry. After a ruling
involving a match between Middlesex and Sussex Manchester
finished second in their group qualifying for the sixth
year in a row. The Manchester team was John
Holland/John Hassett, Michael Byrne/Michael Newman,
Catherine Draper/Andrew Woodcock, Alan Mould/Gary
Hyett. John
Holland and John Hassett headed the cross IMPs for their
group, the
other three pairs were negative on the cross IMPs.
The final is in February.
Pendle Witch Pairs John
Stell and Tracy Capal won at Brierfield on Sunday 11th
November, also doing well were Christopher Hine and
Stephen Ward who were fourth winning the B category
prize. Full results are on the Brierfield
web site.
Autumn Intermediate Pairs 19
pairs played at Altrincham on November 4th. Players
had an enjoyable afternoon, with Angela Ashleigh and Wendy
Burton winning ahead of Sally Bray and George Leigh with
Elaine Preece and Peter Butterworth in third place.
Thanks to Barbara Lewis for organising and to Joan Lewis for directing.
Detailed results are on the Altrincham Club web site. Higson Cup and Plate Adam Wiseberg has taken over the running of the cup and plate from Kath Nelson. Please see the cup page for details of the latest draw. Thanks to Kath for running these events for several years. Lancashire Congress Autumn Congresses Martin
Taylor playing with Justin Hackett finished third in the
Two Star Pairs in the EBU congress at Daventry on 20th
October.
Meanwhile John Holland with Jackie Pye, Sally Brock and Barry Myers won the teams in the Scottish congress at Peebles; John and Jackie were third in the pairs final which was won by Sally and Barry. Results are on the SBU site. Chester Bowl The
annual charity event at Deva Bridge Club on Sunday 14th
October was well attended with many Manchester
participants. The qualifying section was won by
Pauline Lang and Steve Mattinson with Gary Hyett and Peter
Carey-Yard second and Mohamed and Mariam Jabber
third. In the final Keith Boulton and Nigel Pearce
were second with Rodney Lighton and John Currie
third. Full results are on the Deva
web site.
North Wales Swiss Pairs Manchester
players were out in force at Northop on Sunday 7th
October. In second place was John Holland playing
with Jackie Pye, Gary Hyett was third playing with Dan
Crofts, Pauline Lang and Alan Barnes were fourth equal
with Josh Clarke and Paul Murray. Full results are
on the North
Wales site.
Northern Bridge League Manchester just failed to win all three divisions on Saturday October 6th. They won convincingly in the A and B divisions, but lost on a split tie to Yorkshire NW in the C division. At Bolton in the A division Manchester pulled away from Yorkshire 2 with a strong performance. The team was John Holland/Gary Hyett, Michael Newman/Alan Mould, John Roberts/Pete Foster, Rodney Lighton/John Currie. The Manchester 2 team of Kath & Alan Nelson. David Barton/Leslie Klein, Max Sampson/John Stell, Richard Acaster/David Olliver finished sixth. On the cross IMPs John and Gary headed the division with Alan and Michael second. Leslie and David and Pete and John also did well. At Bradford in the B division the Manchester team of Eve Lighthill/Sam Herman, Chris Hine/Stephen Ward, Nicholas Greer/John Parsons, Gillian McMullan/Neil Thomas also won convincingly. Eve and Sam headed the cross IMPs with all the pairs positive. At Leeds in the C division Manchester C1 were fourth on the day which meant that they tied overall with Yorkshire NW. Yorkshire NW however, beat them in the head to head over the four dates, so are winners. The team was Steve Mattinson/Rod Franks, Roger Hopton/David Fussell, Paul Murray/Peter Grauer, Herbert Potts/Sylvia Massey. The Manchester C2 team were sixth and finished seventh overall. The team was Harold Weinstock/Pearl Epstein, Daniel Kelsall/Wei Che Tham, Karen Jones/Barbara Eastabrook, Phillip Hayward/Nigel Caterall. Herbert and Sylvia, Daniel and Wei, Harold and Pearl and Steve and Rod all did well on the cross IMPs. Thanks to all players for supporting the county teams throughout the season. We hope to have a few of the events in the Manchester area next year. Results are on the NBL web site, you may need to do a refresh (F5) to see them. Lesley Johnson We
are sorry to report the death of Lesley Johnson on the
first of October. Click
here for an obituary.
Lesley Johnson Other
obituaries are on the Manchester and Cheadle Hulme
Bridge Club web sites.
Lesley's funeral was on Thursday October 18th at 15.15, the Rowan Chapel, Stockport Crematorium. Great Northern Swiss Pairs John
Holland playing with Clive Owen of the North East retained
the trophy at Leeds on 29-30th September. Kath &
Alan Nelson were fourth equal, Daniel Kelsall & Wei
Che Tham were 13th, winning the C category prize and
coming second in the B category. Congratulations to
all, results are on the EBU web site.
Lancashire Mixed Pairs Congratulations
to Ian Kane and Barbara Eastabrook who won the Lancashire
Mixed Pairs at Poulton on Sunday 23rd September.
Results are on the Lancashire web site. World Bridge Series The World Bridge Series took place in Orlando from 21st September to 6th October. Michael Byrne played with Mike Bell in the Lilienstein team. For results click here. Northern Bridge League- Manchester Lead All Divisions After
the third round of matches on Saturday 22nd September
Manchester now lead all three divisions.
In the A division at Bradford Manchester 1 finished just below average, but nearest rivals Yorkshire 2 were only able to reduce the gap at the top to 5 VPs. Manchester 2 finished fifth and remain at the bottom of the table. The teams were Manchester 1: John Holland/Rodney Lighton, Alec Smalley/Tom Slater, Kath & Alan Nelson, David Barton/Leslie Klein. Manchester 2: Joy & Irving Blakey, John Roberts/Howard Kay, Raymond Semp/Jeff Morris, Nicholas Greer/John Parsons. On the cross IMPs Jeff and Raymond were our best pair, with John and Rodney, Alec and Tom, Joy and Irving also positive. In the B division at Keighley Manchester won with a huge score to jump from fourth to first in the division. The team was David Sarabowski/Andy Green, Gillian McMullan/Neil Thomas, Howard Stubbings/Dhun Daji, Herbert Potts/Sylvia Massey. All four pairs did well on the cross IMPs, Howard and Dhun were the top pair in the division. In the C division, also at Bradford, Manchester 1 came second with Manchester 2 fifth. Manchester 1 improved their lead at the top of the table, Manchester 2 are sixth. The teams were Manchester 1 Victor Ridding/Mary Green, Paul Beckwith/Wei Che Tham, Paul Murray/Peter Grauer, Phillip Taylor/Josh Clarke. Manchester 2: Ann Thornton/Peter Green, Vivienne Newgrosh/Karen Sandler, Joan Lewis/Nathan Marks, Liz & Stephen Halstead. Victor and Mary headed the cross IMPs for the division with Paul and Peter also scoring well. Premier League The first weekend of three of the prestigious EBU Premier League was held on September 15th-16th. The first two teams in the top division will be selected to play for England in the Camrose Trophy. The Manchester team of Jeff Morris, John Hassett, Alec Smalley and Tom Slater (with Catherine Draper and Andrew Woodcock to play in subsequent weekends) are currently doing very well lying in second position. Bolton Congress The annual Bolton Bridge Club event was held on 8-9th September. Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield won the Championship pairs ahead of Daniel Kelsall and Wei Che Tham. Results are on the Bolton Bridge Club web site. Crockfords The
mainly Manchester team of John Holland, Alan Mould,
Michael Byrne and Kieran Dyke finished third in the eight
team final of the English National KO competition which
was held in Solihull on 1st-2nd September. John and
Alan were the third best pair on cross IMPs. Full
results are on the EBU web site.
Tollemache Qualifying The selection committee has selected Michael Byrne/Michael Newman, Gary Hyett/John Holland, Alan Mould/Ollie Burgess, Catherine Draper/Andrew Woodcock for the inter county teams of eight qualifying event in November. Northern Midweek Congress Congratulations
to Martin Taylor who won the pairs at Harrogate with
Justin Hackett on 21st-22nd August. Full results are
on the EBU web site.
Summer Festival Mixed Pivot Teams Congratulations
to Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield, Joy and Irving Blakey
who won the EBUs Mixed Pivot Teams at the EBU Summer
Festival (used to be Brighton, then Eastbourne).
This year the event was held at multiple centres, the
Manchester team played at Huddersfield Bridge Club on 15th
August.
Goldstone The
draw for this year's Goldstone Trophy is on the Goldstone
page. The winning team will represent Manchester in
the Pachabo Trophy in June, where Manchester hope to keep
up their excellent run of 2nd,1st, 2nd, 2nd, 1st in the
last five years.
Northern League Manchester teams played the second round of four of the Northern league on Saturday 11th August at Bradford, Leeds and Bradford in the A, B and C divisions respectively. In the C Division Manchester 1 won again to increase their lead, Manchester 2 improved their position compared to the previous round. In the A division Manchester 2 did well to finish second on the day ahead of Manchester 1, Manchester 1 actually increased their lead at the top of the table. Unfortunately in the B division Manchester had a poor day and dropped to fourth overall. Teams were A Division: Manchester 1 John Holland/Alan Mould, John Currie/Rodney Lighton, Irving & Joy Blakey, Alec Smalley/Michael Newman. Manchester 2 Kath & Alan Nelson, Raymond Semp/Henry Bissell, Nicholas Greer/John Parsons, John Roberts/Pete Foster. John and Alan topped the cross-IMPs with Raymond and Henry, John and Pete, Alec and Michael also doing well. B Division: Eve Lighthill/Howard Kay, Andy Green/David Sarabowski, Steve Mattinson/Rod Franks, Jeanne & Ron Bayly. Steve and Rod were our best pair on cross-IMPs. C Division: Manchester 1 Stephen Ward/Michael Wymer, Victor Ridding/Mary Green, Elena & Marcelo Rosenbaum, Phillip Taylor/Josh Clarke. Manchester 2 George Leigh/John Moran, Wei Che Tham/Daniel Kelsall, Gordon Bickley/Ann Farquhar, Sally Bray/Judith Dunkerley. Elena and Marcelo, Gordon and Ann, Phillip and Josh, Stephen and Michael, Victor and Mary were all positive on cross-IMPs. All results are on the NBL web site (may need a refresh F5 to see latest results) Preston Blue Point Pairs Several Manchester pairs participated at Preston on Sunday 5th August. Congratulations to Rod Franks and Ann Thornton who finished second, also doing well were Janet Tolan and Andy Green in fourth place and Daniel Kelsall and Wei Che Tham who were sixth. Results are on the Preston web site. Scarborough Summer Congress Congratulations
to John Holland who won the teams at Scarborough on the
27th July with Jackie Pye, Jeremy Dhondy and Bill Hirst
and to Gary Hyett who was third in the Seniors Pairs on
26th July with Alan Cooke. Gary and Alan were also
third in the Swiss Pairs on 28-29th July.
Green Point Teams There was a full house at Altrincham for the Green Point Teams on Sunday 22nd July, including visitors from the US and Australia. However, the winners were the Southport team of Roger Allison, Peter Richmond, Bill & Liz Wattleworth who won their last two matches against illustrious opposition to finish ahead of Bernard & Rhona Goldenfield, Joy & Irving Blakey, with Karen McCallum, Axel Johannsson, Alan Mould and Michael Newman third. Thanks to Rhona Goldenfield and colleagues for organising, Rob Dixon and Joan Lewis for directing. Detailed results are on the Altrincham and Manchester Bridge Club web sites.
Michelle Brunner Memorial Sixteen teams played a mixed pivot Swiss Teams at Manchester Bridge Club in aid of Christie Hospital and St Ann's Hospice on Saturday 21st July. Over £1860 was raised for the charities. Winners were John Holland, Alan Mould, Jackie Pye and Jeff Smith well ahead of Sally Brock, Michael Newman, Rodney Lighton and Axel Johannsson. A full report and results are on the Manchester Bridge Club web site.
Northern League Manchester started the season well by winning all three divisions in the first round of matches on Saturday 14th July, the first time that I can remember this happening. In Division A at Sheffield the Manchester 1 team of Rodney Lighton/John Holland, Alan Mould/Gary Hyett, David Barton/Leslie Klein, Alec Smalley/Tom Slater are ahead of Yorkshire 2 by 4 VPs. The Manchester 2 team of Irving & Joy Blakey, Raymond Semp/David Olliver, John Stell/Peter Jones, Gillian McMullan/Neil Thomas also competed. All four of the Manchester 1 pairs did well on the cross IMPs. In Division B at Bradford Eddie Thornton-Chan/Tony Hodgson, Victor Ridding/Janet Tolan, Melvyn Pelham/Rod Franks, Howard Stubbings/Dhun Daji are 3 VPs ahead of Merseyside & Cheshire. Eddie and Tony and Howard and Dhun did well on the cross IMPs. In Division C at Keighley Roger Hopton/Lance Bloohn, Jonathan Engler/Adam Wiseberg, Karen Reissmann/Irene Davies, Karen Jones/Barbara Eastabrook top the table 2 VPs ahead of Lancashire. The Manchester 2 team of Mary Green/Ann Thornton, Suzanne Beckett/Adele Hodari, George Leigh/Sally Bray, Roy Higginbottom/Joan Lewis also played. Jonathan and Adam were our best pair on the cross IMPs, with Roger and Lance, Karen and Barbara, George and Sally also doing well. Full results are on the Northern Bridge League web site. Crockfords Congratulations
to John Holland, Alan Mould, Michael Byrne and Kieran Dyke
(London) who have won their fourth round Crockford's match
qualifying them for the multi-team final to be held in
Solihull in September.
NICKO And
then there was one. The Cheadle Hulme team of Alec
Smalley, David Barton, Rodney Lighton and Royce Alexander
(also John Currie, Tom Slater) lost their quarter final
match to the holders, Tunbridge Wells, but Manchester,
Michael Byrne, Gary Hyett, John Holland, Alan Mould (also
Michael Newman) beat Allendale. Manchester now play
Tunbridge Wells in the semi-final.
Summer Seniors Congress Well
done to Gary Hyett who won the B final of the pairs at
Eastbourne on 6th-8th July with Alan Cooke. Gary and
Alan played the Swiss Teams with John Jones and Adrian
Fontes and finished third.
Llandudno Swiss Pairs Several
Manchester
players and pairs went to Llandudno for the annual Swiss
Pairs on 7-8th July run by the North Wales Bridge
Association and ably directed by Sarah Amos assisted by her
daughter, Rachel. Congratulations to Rodney Lighton
and Neil Thomas who were first equal with Jason Hackett and
John Sansom, also to Peter Greaves who finished third with
Raj Gupta. Full results are on the North Wales web
site.
Membership Campaign Manchester
and
Merseyside & Cheshire have come together to initiate a
membership campaign across the two counties. We have
appointed Sara Miles as a Project Officer (very much
part-time) to facilitate this work, she will start work in
September. Sara plays at Deva Bridge Club and has been
involved in campaigning to increase their membership.
The EBU is also involved, paying half the costs of all
materials used.
If you
think your club could take advantage of this or if you want
to be involved in the Membership Campaign working group
please contact Irene Davies chair@manchesterbridge.org.ukPresident's Cup - Manchester Win The
annual inter county teams of eight was held over the
weekend of 30th June to 1st July at Spondon,
Derby. This year counties were allowed to
enter more than one team. Only Manchester
availed themselves of this opportunity, eight teams
entered:- Derby, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Merseyside,
North Wales, Hereford and the Manchester
teams. At the end of Saturday Derby were
leading and the Manchester B team were just ahead of
Manchester A. On Sunday the Manchester B team
changed completely and five of the Manchester A team
changed. Manchester B dropped a little
to fourth, but did well, Manchester A overtook Derby
and just pipped Lancashire to win by 3 VPs.
This is Manchester's third successive victory.
Full results are on the Manchester and Altrincham
club web sites.
Heading the cross IMPs were John and Alan on the Saturday and John and Rodney on the Sunday. Kath & Alan and Nicholas & John were also positive for the A team. For the B team, John Roberts and Howard Kay and John Stell and Peter Jones did well on the Saturday, Jeanne and Ron were our best pair on Sunday. Playing for Manchester A were: on Saturday John Holland/Alan Mould, John Parsons/Nicholas Greer, David Barton/Leslie Klein, Andy Green/David Sarabowski; on Sunday John Holland/Rodney Lighton, Leslie Klein/David Barton, Tom Slater/Alec Smalley, Kath & Alan Nelson. For Manchester B: on Saturday John Stell/Peter Jones, Eddie Thornton-Chan/Tony Hodgson, Steve Mattinson/Rod Franks, Howard Kay/John Roberts; on Sunday Jeanne & Ron Bayly, Roger Hopton/David Fussell, Paul Beckwith/Wei Chei Tham, Dhun Daji/Howard Stubbings Summer Intermediate Pairs 21 pairs had an enjoyable afternoon at Altrincham Bridge Club on Sunday 24th June. Winners with a good score of 67.9% were Barbara Eastabrook and Karen Jones from the Altrincham club. Thanks to Joan Lewis for directing and to Barbara Lewis for organising. Full results are on the Altrincham web site.
MiniBridge in Schools Do
you have any contacts in local schools who may be
interested in the minibridge taster sessions, details
below. For testimonials click
here.
Would
you like to end the school year on a high note,
while giving both staff and pupils an opportunity to
acquire a potential lifelong skill?
If so, we are sponsored by the Manchester County Bridge Association to provide free taster sessions in the simplified version of the card game bridge known as minibridge. All you will need is a hall (or classroom) full of enthusiastic staff and pupils arranged in tables of four players sitting as individuals but playing in pairs North-South against East-West. All other materials will be provided on the day by our authorised schools officer and minibridge instructor. Sessions are roughly two hours long but have often been extended without fuss such is the general level of engagement. Year 4 is the recommended minimum age group. If you would like to take advantage of an end of term offer to bring bridge via minibridge to your school, sponsored by Manchester County bridge association, then please contact Jeff or David, details below. Jeff Morris National Youth Bridge
Consultant
Director, Manchester Bridge Club T: 0161 445 3712 David Adelman Schools Officer, Manchester
County Bridge Association
National Minibridge in Schools Instructor T: 07958 802763 National Inter Counties Finals The
finals of the inter counties league were held at
Coventry on Sunday 24th June. Manchester had
qualified for the A division by winning the Northern
Bridge League last summer. The team of John
Holland, Gary Hyett, John Currie, Rodney Lighton,
Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, Tom Slater, Alec Smalley
finished second to Devon. John and Gary were
Manchester's best pair on the cross IMPs. Full
results are here.
Garden Cities The
Manchester Bridge Club team of John Hassett, Jeff
Morris, John Holland, Gary Hyett, Michael Newman, David
Debbage, Catherine Draper, Andrew Woodcock finished
fourth in the national inter club teams of eight
competition at Solihull on Saturday 23rd June.
Catherine and Andrew were the best of the Manchester
pairs on the cross-IMPs. Full results are on the EBU web
site.
Leicester Green Point Pairs Congratulations to Ollie Burgess who won with Dan Crofts on 16th June. Full results are here. WBU Teams of 8 Congratulations
to Haidee and David Tattersall who played for the
winning Llanfairfechan team on Sunday 17th June at
Llandindrod Wells. Results are on the North
Wales web site.
Derbyshire Match Manchester won the annual match against Derbyshire by 13 IMPs. In a closely fought competition Manchester scored particularly well in the slam zone to clinch the match. Hosted at East Midlands Bridge Centre in Spondon the match was played on Sunday June 17th. Well done to: Barbara Eastabrook/Karen Jones, Gordon Bickley/Ann Farquhar, George Leigh/Sally Bray. Wei Che Tham/Daniel Kelsall, Joan Lewis/Roy Higginbottom, Howard Stubbings/Dhun Daji. Gordon Bickley, Dhun Daji, Joan Lewis, Roy Higginbottom, Sally Bray, Karen Jones, Daniel Kelsall, George Leigh, Barbara Eastabrook, Ann Farquhar, Howard Stubbings, Wei Chei Tham Manchester Win Pachabo Congratulations
to the Manchester team of John Holland, Rodney Lighton,
Michael Byrne and Michael Newman who won the
inter-counties teams of four at Bedford on 9-10th
June. The team started well on the Saturday, neck
and neck with Hampshire throughout the day, ending second
by about 4 VPs. The Sunday morning session saw
Manchester win all five of their matches by good margins
to lead by about 15 VPs. On the Sunday afternoon
Manchester managed to avoid snatching defeat from the jaws
of victory despite losing four of their five matches,
fortunately by not too large margins, to finish just ahead
of Nottingham who had a late surge to push Hampshire into
third place. This result continues Manchester's fine
run in
the last five years;
first,
second, second, first, and second.
Full results are on the EBU web site. John Holland, (Jeremy Dhondy EBU Chairman), Michael Byrne, Rodney Lighton, Michael Newman European Championship The European Championships took place in Ostend from June 6th to 16th. The Open event started on the 6th, the Womens and Seniors Teams on the 10th, with pairs events from 6th to 9th June. Playing for the England Women was Catherine Draper with Gillian Fawcett, Sally Brock and Fiona Brown, Heather Dhondy and Nevena Senior, they finished fifth, qualifying for the Venice Cup. Click here for the event web site. Membership Campaign Manchester and Merseyside & Cheshire counties are working together to organise a membership campaign starting in the Autumn. The counties are looking for a Project Officer to lead this campaign. If you are interested please see this job description and contact Irene Davies. Yorkshire Congress Well
done to Irene Davies, Karen Reissmann, Nicholas Greer and
Henry Bissell who finished second in the B final of the
teams at Harrogate on 3rd June.
Corwen Congratulations
to John Holland and Alan Mould who won the inter-county
pairs event at Daventry over the weekend of 2nd-3rd
June. They lead virtually throughout to finish
just ahead of a Middlesex pair. This is John's
second consecutive win, he won with Michael Byrne last
year. The other Manchester participants who
qualified via the Ben Franks last December were Eddie
Thornton-Chan & Graham Currie, Phillip Taylor &
Ross Allen, Paul Murray & Peter
Grauer. Results are on the EBU web
site.
NICKO Two Manchester teams have now reached the quarter finals of the National Inter Club Knock Out. Cheadle Hulme (Alec Smalley, Tom Slater, John Currie, Rodney Lighton, Royce Alexander) will play a team from Kent. Manchester Bridge Club (Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, John Holland, Alan Mould, Gary Hyett) will play a team from the South-West. Goldstone
The final
of the Goldstone Trophy has been won by Michael Byrne's
team.
Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, John Holland, Alan Mould, Gary Hyett and Rodney Lighton therefore qualify to represent Manchester in the Pachabo on June 9th/10th. In
the
final they beat Jeff Morris/John Hassett, Catherine
Draper/Andrew Woodcock by 41 IMPs, winning every set.
Annual General Meeting The AGM of the MCBA took place on Wednesday 23rd May Altrincham Bridge Club. League and Player of the Year awards were presented.
Joy
Blakey
replaces Peter Green as treasurer and John Roberts
replaces Steve Mattinson as a selector. The
selectors are Alan Mould, Michael Newman, Adam Wiseberg,
John Roberts and Roger Hopton.
The meeting voted to retain the current method of determining Intermediates for the Player of the Year and to explore developing a membership campaign in conjunction with Merseyside and Cheshire. Agenda and papers for the AGM are below. Minutes are now on the minutes page (25th May).
Swiss Pairs Events Ten Manchester pairs competed at Deva in Merseyside's John Armstrong Green Point Swiss on Sunday 20th May. Rodney Lighton and John Currie were in third place with one match to go. They beat Roger Hopton and Lance Bloohn 18-2 while Richard Acaster and Kevin Higgins just beat the leading pair 12-8. This meant that Rodney and John won, Richard and Kevin were third and Lance and Roger finished seventh. Full results are on the Deva web site. Meanwhile at Huddersfield in the Castle Swiss Pairs Gillian McMullan and Neil Thomas were fifth, Irene Davies and Karen Reissmann were seventh. Full results are on the Huddersfield web site. Blackburn Swiss Pairs Blackburn held their annual Open Swiss Pairs on Sunday 13th May at their new premises at Blackburn Northern Sports Club. Several Manchester pairs competed, Rodney Lighton and John Currie won with Dhun Daji and Howard Stubbings third. Results are on the Blackburn web site. Ken Hassell We are
sorry to report the death of Ken Hassell on 5th May after
several years of ill health. A graduate of
Manchester University in the sixties, Ken won a few
national events in the early seventies, including the
Field Cup with Peter Watson, the National Swiss Teams and
the Northern Foursomes. He then played little for
many years while bringing up a family and pursuing a
career in education. On return to playing he formed
an effective partnership with Ian Kane and played for the
DASH team in the higher levels of the Manchester
league. He played regularly at Altrincham and Marple
Bridge Clubs and with Ian won national simultaneous pairs
events a phenomenal six times. He also played
regularly for the Manchester B team in the Northern
Counties league and won the National final twice. He
was a selector for the MCBA for several years, chairing
the committee until he retired last year. A friendly
and keen competitior, he will be sadly missed. Our
condolences to his family.
Another obituary is on the Altrincham Club site. Schapiro Spring Fours The
prestigious double elimination knock out teams took
place from 4th to 8th May near Warwick. Manchester
players were out in force. Michael Byrne was on
the Allerton team. John Holland and Alan Mould
played on the Penfold team. Ollie Burgess, Bernard
& Rhona Goldenfield, Barbara Hackett and Martin
Taylor played together. Henry Bissell and Josh
Clarke were on Josh's team. Kath and Alan Nelson
teamed up with Jeff Smith and Greer Mackenzie.
Results are on the EBU web site.
On Sunday morning the Allerton team and the Penfold team were unbeaten, the Nelson team was once defeated. By Sunday evening the Allerton team and the Penfold team were once defeated, the Nelson team was eliminated. Allerton lost in the quarter finals and Penfold conceded because of illness. League 1st May In
division one Mouldy Mutton Tours (Adrian Kenworthy) won
their final match against Paul Hackett's Curry Eaters to
win the league by a comfortable margin. Curry Eaters
are relegated. Isolated Menaces (Rhona Goldenfield)
beat St Titus (Michael Byrne) 20-10 in their final match
to finish 1 VP ahead of St Titus. In division two Cheshire
Cheeses (Paul Roberts) and Tempo (Steve Mattinson) are
promoted, along with Rejuvenated (John Fitzgerald).
Roger
Hopton's New Connections have won division three with
Graham Burns' Take the Money and Run also promoted .
In division four Altrincham Z (Roy Higginbottom) are
champions with City Aces (Ivor Rosenberg) also
promoted. Trafford Tigers (Jean Santo) have won
division five with Double Diamonds (Nigel Catterall) also
promoted. Jems (Peter Elton) have won division six
with The Biddables (Maggie McPhillips) also
promoted. Finally in division seven 4
Bridgemates (Margaret Harris) are champions with Bridge
Under Troubled Waters (David Rigby) also promoted.
Congratulations to all teams that have won their division or been promoted. Thanks to Kath Nelson for her hard work all season running the league and cup. Player of the Year With
only the final of the Goldstone Trophy to be played,
the expert category has been won by Alan Mould ahead
of
Michael Newman,
with John
Holland third.
The intermediate category was very close with Sally Bray and Judith Dunkerley joint winners just one point ahead of Barbara Eastabrook and Karen Jones. Congratulations to all, prizes to the winners will be presented at the AGM. Higson Cup and Plate Finals The multi team finals of the Higson Cup and Plate were held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 29th April. At half time Tracy Capal's team were last, a storming second half saw them leap up the rankings to second place, but Inverted Minors (David Barton, Jeff Smith, Joy and Irving Blakey) won for the second year in a row with a consistent performance. In the Plate final it was another repeat win, this time for The Four Dummies (Karen Jones, Barbara Eastabrook, Judy Yates and Susan McGeechan) just ahead of Monton Misfits. Thanks to Kath Nelson for organising and to Henry Bissell and Joan Lewis for directing.
Higson Cup
Higson Plate
Spring Simultaneous Pairs Belated
congratulations
to Keith Boulton and Barry Blyth who won nationally at
Prestbury on Tuesday 10th April and to Rod Franks and
Steve Mattinson who were second overall playing at
Altrincham on Wednesday 11th April.
Garden Cities Regional Finals Congratulations to the Manchester Bridge Club team of David Debbage, Michael Newman, Andrew Woodcock, Catherine Draper, Edward Levy, Robert Myers, John Hassett and Jeff Morris who won the Northern heat at Bradford and qualify for the National finals in June. Catherine and Andrew headed the cross IMPs. Full results are on the EBU web site. Intermediate Swiss Pairs The
Intermediate Swiss pairs at Manchester Bridge Club on 8th
April attracted a field of 21 pairs. Winners
by a good margin were Scott Middleton and Roy Saleh with
Graham Winn and Susan Triggs tying with Adrienne Stone and
Mark Gomme for second place.
Thanks to Joan Lewis for directing and to Susan Triggs and Ann Thornton for organising.
More detailed reults are on the Manchester and Altrincham Bridge club web sites. Llangollen At
the North Wales Swiss congress on 7-8th April leading
Manchester pair on the Saturday were Joy and Irving
Blakey in third place. In the Swiss Teams Kath and
Alan Nelson with Raymond Semp and John Hassett were
second, Bernard & Rhona Goldenfield, Joy and Irving
Blakey were third. Results
are
here.
Northern Easter Festival At Leeds on 30-31st March Alan Mould and John Holland won the Swiss Pairs with Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield third. In the mixed pairs on Thursday John Holland and Jackie Pye were second. Full results are on the EBU web site. Mary Costagliola We
are sorry to report the death of Mary Costagliola on
March 26th after several years of ill health. Mary
was a keen and skilled player at clubs in South
Manchester, especially Cheadle Hulme where she features
innumerable times on the club honours boards. She
also competed successfully at county level, where she
won the Higson Cup and Plate, the mixed and ladies pairs
and the Gazette cup. At national level her sole
win was in the NICKO plate in 2006. A fuller
obituary is on the Cheadle
Hulme
Bridge Club web site.
Portland Pairs The EBU's mixed pairs event was held at multiple centres on Sunday 25th March. Many local pairs played at Brierfield where the most successful nationally were Eve Lighthill and Raymond Semp who, having lead overall after the first session, finished 18th. John Holland and Jackie Pye were just behind them. Full results are on the EBU web site. Northern Pairs Karen Reissmann and Irene Davies were second at Bradford on 18th March, Gary Hyett was third with Margaret Howe, Catherine Draper fourth with Andrew Petrie and John Holland and Tony Coley were sixth. Congratulations to all, Gary & Margaret, Catherine & Andrew, John & Tony qualified for the national final. Cumbria Congress Congratulations
to Karen Jones and Barbara Eastabrook who won the Ladies
pairs, Steve Mattinson and Pauline Lang who retained
their Mixed Pairs trophy at Cumbria and to Andrew
Woodcock and Catherine Draper who won the congress
pairs. Several Manchester players competed over
the weekend 9-11th March. Results are on the Cumbria web
site.
Senior European Trial Play Off The Senior's trial play off took place in Solihull on 10-11th March. John Holland and John Hassett played with Gunnar Hallberg, Brian Senior, Paul Hackett and David Mossop against the Shelley team. The Shelley team won by 24 IMPs. Green Point Swiss Pairs The Green Point Swiss Pairs at Altrincham on Saturday 3rd March was dominated by Lancashire and Merseyside pairs. Winners were Bill Carr and Sue Woodcock. Bill only agreed to play as an emergency substitute in the morning. Second were Liz Commins and David Stevenson from Merseyside with Sue Fjortoft and Nick Woodcock third. Michael Byrne and Michael Newman, who came fourth, managed a remarkable 89% in one of their matches. Thanks to Rhona Goldenfield for organising and to directors Rob Dixon and Joan Lewis for running the event efficiently. In the Player of the Year competition Alan Mould is still top in the expert category; Sally Bray and Judith Dunkerley have taken the lead in the intermediate category. Detailed results are on the Altrincham Bridge Club web site.
Cantor Cup Nineteen
pairs played in the Cantor Cup on 25th February
and had an enjoyable afternoon, hosted by Dave
Debbage at MBC Palatine Road. Generous
prizes were given and the event was sponsored by
the Cantor family with Martin Cantor and his
family coming along to meet the players. Thanks to
Joan Lewis for her expert directing and Barbara
Lewis for organisation. Henry Bissell stood
in for a missing player, so was ineligible for the
prize money.
Ranked Masters Pairs Very
few Manchester players entered the various ranked
masters pairs over the weekend of 24-25th
February. Congratulations to Pete Foster who
came second in the Premier Life Masters playing
with John Liebeschuetz of Cambridge. Results
are on the EBU web site.
Gold Coast Congress After
the Commonwealth Games event had finished many England
players went on to play in the teams event at the Gold
Coast congress. Gary Hyett playing with Steve
Eginton, Bill Hirst, Phil Gue, David Weston and Julian
Foster qualified from twelve rounds of Swiss to reach
the knock out stages where they lost in the semi-final
to the Hinden team. The
results
are here.
Lederer Trophy
This
annual invitation event in London took place on February
24th- 25th. Many of the world's top players were
playing. Manchester interest was provided by John
Holland and Alan Mould who played for the Chairman's team
with Sally Brock, Barry Myers and Mike & Sarah
Bell. They did extrememly well to finish third
behind the Israel national team and Zia's team.
Click here for
the Lederer web siteGoldstone All
the quarter-final matches have been completed now.
In the semi-finals John Robert's team (Pete Foster, Alec
Smalley, Tom Slater, Royce Alexander, John Currie) play
Michael Byrne (Michael Newman, Alan Mould, John Holland,
Gary Hyett, Rodney Lighton). Jeff Morris (John
Hassett, Catherine Draper, Andrew Woodcock) play Raymond
Semp (Henry Bissell, Kevin & Celia Comrie).
The competition winners will represent Manchester in the
Pachabo in June.
EBU Spring Congress At Harrogate on 18th February Alan Mould, John Holland, Jeff Smith and Jackie Pye won the Swiss Teams; Bernard & Rhona Goldenfield, Kath & Alan Nelson were third. Commonwealth Nations Bridge Gary
Hyett played for England A with Bill Hirst, Steve
Eginton, Brian Callaghan and Chris Duckworth in
Australia starting on Wednesday 14th February.
Matches are being shown on BBO and the event web site is
here. In the invitational pairs before the
teams event Gary came 13th playing with Barbara Travis
of Australia. In the teams event England finished
eighth in the qualifying Swiss and then lost a close
match to a Scottish team in the quarter finals.
Tollemache Final The inter county teams of eight final took place in Coventry on 10-11th February. Manchester were represented by John Holland, Ollie Burgess, Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, Jeff Morris, John Hassett, Catherine Draper and Andrew Woodcock. Ollie Burgess replaced Gary Hyett, otherwise the team was the same as that which qualified in November. Rhona Goldenfield was non-playing captain. The other counties in the final were Cambs & Hunts, Oxford, Lancashire, Kent, Dorset, Hants & IOW and Berks & Bucks. Manchester finished second, 1 VP behind Kent. Kent and Manchester were level going into the penultimate match when they played each other. Kent won 15-5 to establish a good lead, but in a tense finish Kent then lost 9-11 to Cambs. while Manchester won 18-2 against Dorset. Unfortunately not quite enough. All the pairs were positive on the cross IMPs with Catherine and Andrew just edging out Michael and Michael for the highest scoring Manchester pair. Senior's Trials for European The
first stage of the trials for the England Senior's
European team took place on Feb 3rd-4th at Solihull.
Four teams participated with the top two playing off in
March. Manchester interest was provided by Alan
Mould (with Barry Myers, Pat Collins and Norman Selway)
and John Holland and John Hassett (with Gunnar Hallberg,
Paul Hackett, David Mossop and Brian Senior). John
Holland and John Hassett's team won, but Alan's team
finished third. Results are on the EBU web site.
Gazette Trophy The inter
club teams of eight took place at Altrincham on Sunday 4th
February. An interesting set of deals with a large
number of slams were played by ten teams representing five
clubs. Manchester Bridge Club's top team won ahead
of Cheadle with the third Manchester team winning the
Intermediate trophy. Thanks to Ann Thornton and
Barbara Lewis for organising and to Joan Lewis for
directing. Full results are on the Altricham Bridge
Club web site.
Chester Congress
In the Chester Congress pairs at Deva on 27th January
congratulations to Nigel Pearce and Keith Boulton who
finished third in the final and to Paul Murray and Peter
Grauer who won the consolation final. Rodney
Lighton and John Currie won the qualifying
section.
In the Swiss teams Kath and Alan Nelson, Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield were third with Barbara Eastabrook, Ian Kane, John Fitzgerald and Karen Jones fourth. Full results are on the Deva Club site. National Point a Board Teams John Holland playing with Ben Green and Alan Mould with Barry Myers finished third in the final at the Young Chelsea Bridge Club on January 20-21. They won the qualifying section. Full results are on the EBU web site. Preston Blue Point Teams Preston
bridge club has moved premises, not very far, to
downstairs at the St Walburge's Centre. The new
premises are comfortable and spacious allowing room for
at least 18 tables, whereas upstairs there was only room
for 11 tables. As a result they were able to
accommodate 14 teams for a multi-team event on Sunday
14th January. Congratulations to Bernard and
Rhona Goldenfield who won with Jeff Smith and Jackie Pye
with a huge score. Results are on the Preston Club
web site.
Open Trials The pairs trials for the England team to play in the European Championship this year took place in London from 12th to 15th January. Michael Byrne played with Kieran Dyke of London against nine other pairs. The top two will join the pre-selected pair of Tony Forrester and Andrew Robson. After lying in the top three almost all of the event Michael and Kieran finished third, with the top three well clear of the rest. This was no doubt very disappointing for them, but they played extremely well and could well earn European selection in the future. Results are on the EBU web site. Manchester Congress Manchester's
annual
congress was held at the Victoria and Albert hotel in
Spinningfield on 6th-7th January. Ably directed by
Neil Morley and Rob Dixon with Graham Winn and Susan
Triggs running the non-expert sessions, everything ran
smoothly. Thanks to Irene Davies and her team who
helped set up on Friday morning and everyone who cleared
up on Sunday evening. 66 pairs and 33 teams
competed on Saturday and Sunday respectively and there
were 15 and 14 pairs in the non-expert events.
Players travelled from Norway, Germany and many areas of
the UK. Congratulations to Alan Mould and Barry
Myers who won the pairs, this was a first win in the
congress pairs for both of them, though Alan had won the
event in a previous incarnation 31 years ago.
Men's, Ladies and Mixed Pairs trophies went to Paul
Hackett/Ed Levy, Fiona Brown/Helen Erichsen, Joy &
Irving Blakey respectively.
Alan Mould did the double by winning the teams with Jeff Smith, John Holland and Paul Hackett. Results of all the events are below and more detailed results are available on the Manchester Bridge Club web site, with the non-expert results also on the Larkhill club web site. The player of the year results have now been updated, Alan Mould has taken a clear lead ahead of John Holland in the expert category. Adam Wiseberg and Jonathan Engler lead the intermediate category just ahead of Sally Bray and Judith Dunkerley. For Michael Byrne's quiz answers click here
1st John Attree & David Welsh 62.96 2nd Gillian Armstrong & Yvonne Dickinson 62.21 3rd Annie Curtis & Jackie Lowrie 57.06 4th Richard Mallard & Lynne Mallard 53.57 5th Mark Sapeira & Malcolm Allum 52.84 6th Bernard Shea & Pat Shea 51.79 7th Rak Kapur & Paul West 51.50 8th George Falzon & John Banbury 49.83 9th Suzanne Beckett & Roy Beckett 47.40 10th Peter Collinson & Kate Durham 46.96 11th Geoff Densham & Hazel Powell 44.25 12th Susan Braid & Jan Lancaster 43.81 13th Mike Faust & Richard Aubery 41.87 14th Sue Berry & David Eason 41.53 15th Sheila Wimbleton & Christine Richardson 40.48 Kevin Comrie Cup (Sunday)
Championship Pairs
Championship Teams Final
Teams B Final
Teams Consolation
NICKO Congratulations
to the Cheadle Hulme team of Royce Alexander, John
Currie, Tom Slater and Alec Smalley who knocked
out the seeded Manchester Bridge club team in
their second round match on 4th January.
Bridge Magazine Bridge
Magazine, which for many years was a traditional
paper subscription magazine, and latterly an
online subscription magazine, has now become a
free online magazine. The first edition is
out in Jan 2018 click
here to read it. Since the magazine
will rely largely on advertising to fund itself
please register as a reader of the magazine, so
that advertisers know how wide a readership they
are reaching.
Camrose Michael Byrne played for England in the first weekend of the home internationals from 5th-7th January in Belfast. He was selected as a result of finishing second in the Premier League in the Autumn with Kieran Dyke, Jeffrey Allerton, Chris Jagger, Frances Hinden and Graham Osborne. The England team lead after the first weekend with Michael and Kieran playing very well, winning every match that they played in and finishing second of all the pairs in the cross-IMP ranking. Goldstone 2017-18
St Titus: Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, Rodney Lighton, John Holland, Alan Mould, Gary Hyett (E) The Enigmas: Heather Saunders, Sylvia Dixon, Wendy Tait, Jan Ravenscroft, Graham Fletcher, Kathy Priestley, David McNeillie, Marion McNeillie (I) Conquering Hearts: Haidee Tattersall, Nicki Decent, Wendy Burton, Angela Parkinson, Anne Whitehead (I) Last minute bid: Adam Weisberg, Jonathan Engler, Sally Bray, Judith Dunkerley (I) The Four Dummies: Karen Jones, Lillian Syme, Barbara Eastabrook, Judy Yates, Susan McGeechan (I) Tricksters: Kevin Higgins, Richard Sinton, Ann Thornton, Paul Murray (E) Red Bull: Elena Rosenbaum, Marcelo Rosenbaum, Howard Stubbings, Dhun Daji (E) Altrincham A: Geoff Hull, Ann Jordan, Mike Asher, Graham Campbell, Andrew Jackson (E) Splinter Group: John Moran, Andy Green, Yvonne Barnes, George Leigh, Janet Tolan (I) Manchester S: Peter Jones, Raymond Semp, Kevin Comrie, Celia Comrie (E) Morris:
Jeff
Morris, John Hassett, Catherine
Draper, Andrew Woodcock, Robert Myers,
Ollie Burgess (E)
Adlan:
Edward & Helene Adam, Eric & Janet Langer (I)Manchester A: Ray Ashleigh, Ann Super, Denis & Val Robson (E) Smash the System: Irene Davies, Karen Reissmann, Nicholas Greer, John Parsons (E) Rejuvenated: Peter & Rita Jordan, John Fitzgerald, Stuart Hunter, Jane Perrins, Barry Keen, Roz Bavin (E) Petersfield: Eddie Thornton-Chan, Graham Currie, Nigel Matthews, Tony Hodgson, David Tattersall (E) New Connections: Roger Hopton, David Fussell, Gillian McMullan, Peter Green, Neil Thomas (E) Fozzy Bears: John Roberts, Pete Foster, John Currie, Royce Alexander, Alec Smalley, Tom Slater Skaters: Karen Sandler, Lance Bloohn, Vivianne Newgrosh, Jonathan Berg, Howard Rosemarine 4 Bridgemates: Margaret Harris, Pat Turner, Scott Middleton, Roy Saleh 5 Go Bridging: Richard Roberts, Karen Jagger, Howard Dickson, Anne Longson, Nick Longson Hydrangeas: Phillip Taylor, David Ackroyd, Ross Allen, Chris Baker, John Browning, Gordon Johnson |