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Manchester
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2026 News and ResultsManchester GP Swiss PairsThe annual Green Point Swiss Pairs was held at Altrincham on 28th February. 34 pairs participated. Thanks to Daniel Kelsall for organising and to Jonathan Lillycrop for directing and to Joan Lewis and members of Atrincham Bridge Club for their help. Congratulations to Nick Woodcock and Sue Fjortof from Preston who won by a fair margin remaining undefeated over their seven matches. Second equal were Barbara Eastabrook and Karen Jones and David Sargent and Michael Byrne. The non-expert first place prize went to Graham Burns and Anthony Lipson with Ann Thornton and Barbara Lewis second. Detailed results can be found here. In the Player of the Year competition John Hassett still leads in the expert category, but Rhona Goldenfield and Michael Byrne are closer now in second place. In the non-expert category Ann Thornton now leads.
Ranked Master PairsCongratulations to Peter Foster who won the Premier Life Masters with John Liebeschuetz of Cambridge, played online 21-22nd February. Cantor CupThis annual event for beginners and improving novices was held at Bramhall on Sunday 22nd February. Twenty-four pairs competed and had a fun afternoon. Thanks to Rachel Hardcastle, Nita Shankar, Ann Thornton and others for organising and to Nicholas Greer for directing. Winners were Jean Grylls and Susan Syder, with Joanna Powell and Caroline Cairns second and Usha Muragan and Anne Jerrold third. Detailed results are on the Bramhall and Cheadle web site.
European Winter Transnational Championships - Michael WinsIn this event held in Prague from 10-19th February Michael Byrne's team (Knottenbelt) did wonderfully in the Open Teams. Having qualified in the top 32 in the Swiss phase, they won two knockout matches to reach the quarter finals match on Sunday where they won narrowly. They played their semi-final match on Monday against a top Polish team and won by a good margin. The final was against the De Botton team. After a tense match the Knottenbelt team emerged victorious by 6 imps. Results are here 
Stefano Tommasini, Oscar Nijssen , Ben Norton, Maggie Knottenbelt, Michael Byrne,Tim van der Paverd Teltscher TrialsTrials for the Teltscher Trophy (seniors home internationals) took place from 6-8th February in York. Congratulations to John Holland and Alan Mould who won in a field of 12 pairs. They had a slow start but by Sunday morning were leading, then steadily pulled away to win by a good margin. The top three pairs will form the England team, the next three the EBU team. Results are on the EBU web site. Reykjavik Bridge FestivalManchester teams did well in this event over the weekend of 29th Jan to 1st Feb. Raymod Semp, John Holland, John Hassett and Adrian Thomas finished third and Martin Taylor, Justin Hackett, Barbara Hackett and Ljosbra Baldursdottir were seventh in a field of 91 teams. From the last session you hold in fourth seat Qxx, KQ10x, x, Qxxxx the bidding proceeds round the table 3D 6S 7D ? Many tables now reached seven spades, losing the heart ace for -200 when doubled. Partner held AKJ10xxxxxx!, Jx, void, A. The Holland team gained 7 imps when they defended six diamonds which was 2 off in one room and beat seven spades in the other room. Thanks to Martin Taylor for reporting. Chester CongressThs annual event at Deva Bridge Club took place on 24-25th January. The pairs was run as a Swiss Event on Saturday. Boris Ewart, making a rare appearance, finished second with Tracy Sherman, third were Tom Slater and Daniel Kelsall. In the Swiss Teams on Sunday John Holland, Jackie Pye, Alan Mould and John Hassett won by a large margin ahead of Rhona Goldenfield, Kath Nelson, David Barton and Jeff Smith. Paul Morrell, Stephen Ward, Tom Slater, Daniel Kelsall shared third place with Christopher Hine, Ann Thornton, Karen Jones and Barbara Eastabrook. Results are here.  Teams winners John Holland, Jackie Pye, Alan Mould, John Hassett Mixed TrialsThe second stage of the Mixed Trials took place in London from 23-25th January. Catherine Draper and Andrew Woodcock played with Ollie Burgess and Heather Dhondy as one of the four teams. Results can be found on the EBU web site. CamroseThe first weekend of this year's home internationals was on Jan 9-11th in Northern Ireland. John Holland and Alan Mould played for England with Frances Hinden, Graham Osborne, Neil Rosen and John Atthey. Michael Byrne was non-playing captain. England finished second to Ireland, the second weekend is in March. John and Alan were the best of the English pairs, finishing second overall in the cross imp rankings. Manchester CongressThe annual congress was held at the Airport Hotel on 3rd-4th January. 41 pairs contested the pairs event on the Saturday, 17 teams played on Sunday and 13 non-expert pairs pairs played for the Kevin Comrie Trophy on the Sunday. Congratulations to all winners, especially Adrian Thomas and John Hassett who won both the pairs and, with John Holland and Jackie Pye, the teams. Adrian and John won the first session of the pairs and then scored 57% in the second session to hold off a late surge by Daniel Winter and Gideon Harvey who finished second and won the Men's prize. Kath Nelson and Jeff Smith won the Mixed prize and Karen Reissman and Irene Davies the Women's prize. The teams was run as a complete all play all over two sessions. Adrian, John, Jackie and John won well ahead of Michael Byrne, Jovi Smederevac, Alan Mould and Gary Hyett. The single session Kevin Comrie event was won by Chris and Tammy Lam with a good score of 63% just ahead of Catherine Shelmerdine and Nigel Catterall, with Angela Petrouis and Yash Bansal third. Full results are now on the Manchester events site. The Player of the Year spreadsheet has been updated with the congress results. John Hassett has a clear lead in the expert category; there is a three way tie in the non-expert category between Ann Thornton, Karen Reissmann and Irene Davies. Thanks to Oliver Cowan for organising and to Jim Edwards and Brian Perry for directing. Michael Byrne's congress quiz can be found here. Quiz answers here. Congratulations to Karen Reissmann and Gillian McMullan who won the quiz with a fine score of 52/64. They win a fabulous selection of prizes. In second place was 13 year old Bertie Mittra who wins slightly fewer fabulous prizes.
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