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TENERIFE

     

Next Improvers bridge session

(competition with tuition)

Sunday 15th December

at

10h45 am

next tournaments

Monday 16th December starting 13h30

Tuesday 17th starting 14h00

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The club will be open every day over the festive period

For our Scandinavian, French and Spanish friends who traditionally have their Christmas dinner on the 24th, a 5 course meal will be offered at 14h30 that day.

For the Brits in Cristianos who celebrate on the 25th and enjoy their singalong Carols on the beach from 11am, there will be a 5 course dinner on Christmas Day starting at 15h00. 

On Thursday 26th December (Boxing Day) there will be a brunch / late breakfast buffet lunch available from 12h00 and then a bridge tournament starting at 14h00.

On New Years Eve there will be a bridge tournament from 14h30 to 18h00 and then an evening party and buffet starting at 21h00.

Numbers strictly limited and must be booked in advance. Menus and prices available on request.

 

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NEW contact details for reservations:

trevorkhruu@gmail.com

(0034) 634 050 721

99 years young

My partner in Paris at the

RACING CLUB DE  FRANCE

24 September 2024

15 tables / 26 boards 

A creditable 41%

BRAVO  IRIS

 

 

Madrid 24 August 2024
Madrid 24 August 2024

Two champions at the Vergara

When I finished not far behind the immortal Paul Hackett,

in one of the biggest INDIVIDUAL competitions in the world

it was like winning the prestigious 

Mutton Cup

14 hours of concentration 

playing 88 boards

with

44 DIFFERENT PARTNERS

ranks it my greatest achievement as a player.

albeit that it took 68 years of practice to get there!

 

 

 

LANZAROTE

2024 - El gran reto

Encontrar y entrenar un equipo de bridge sub 16 para representar a España en el próximo Campeonato de Europa Juvenil.

Apenas unos meses después de que Luis Lantarón y la presidenta de la AEB, Elena Orbegozo, pusieran en marcha el proyecto IMPULSA, ya cuentan con dos fantásticos récords nacionales:

El 2 de septiembre Luis era entrenador del equipo suizo que ganó por primera vez el Bermuda Bowl.

El 9 de diciembre, Elena y Luis estaban jugando un torneo en Lanzarote donde Vincent, de 10 años, batió el récord del jugador más joven en un gran torneo en España.

 

GREAT NEWS for SPAIN

It is only a few months since the Spanish Impulsa project was launched by Luis Lantaron and Elena Orbegozo, but they already have two wonderful records to celebrate:

On 2 September 2023 Luis was coach of the Swiss team that won the Bermuda Bowl for the first time. 

On 9 December 2023, Elena and Luis were both playing in a 3 day tournament in Lanzarote where 10 year old Vincent shattered the record for the youngest player to ever complete a major tournament in Spain.

The news does not get any better than that. 

 

LANZAROTE

Viva España

Los Cristianos, Arona, Tenerife

ESCUELA DEL SÁBADO

clases / lecciones

GRATIS

para niños españoles de 7 a 10 años

Todos los sábados

desde principios de julio de 2024.

Las lecciones también estarán disponibles durante la semana después de la escuela.

Consulte la página de información para conocer los horarios.

 

.

Good news travels Fast

Look who has sent her congratulations:

The world's highest ranked bridge play

From: Kathrine Bertheau 
Date: Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 5:55 PM
Subject: Re: Vincent and Markus
To: Trevor Wilson 

Hi Trevor,

Nice to hear about your project.

Regards Kathrine

WBF Women's Ranking 

WBF Masterpoints to November 2023 

 Rank    Name    NBO  MPs  PPs  
 1    Kathrine  Bertheau  Sweden  2538  27  
 2    Emma  Övelius  Sweden  2151  15  
 3    Jessika  Larsson  Sweden  2043  20  
 4    Sanna  Clementsson  Sweden  1848  10.5  
 5    Wen Fei  Wang  China  1726  48.5  
 6    Janice  Seamon  USA  1718  49  
 7    Nevena  Senior  England  1624  31.5  
 8    Kerri  Sanborn  USA  1609  57  
 9    Ida  Gronkvist  Sweden  1600  11.5  
 10    Yan  Liu  China  1597  14.5  
More than a bridge club
The new ARONA BRIDGE CLUB is...

A SOCIAL Club

where members can chat with friends over

morning coffee, afternoon tea or evening meal

and also play

chess, scrabble, rummicub, cribbage, canasta  

Opening hours from 1st October 2024:

Monday  08h30 to 18h00

Tuesday  11h00 to 21h00 

Wednesday  08h30 to 19h00 

Thursday   16h00 to 21h00

Friday  08h30 to 18h00

Saturday   08h30 to 18h00 

Sunday   10h00 to 21h00

These opening hours may be extended for functions such as evening birthday parties and dinners booked in advance. Sample menus available on request.

 

Félicitations à Régine, Jean Marc, Patrick et Michel du Club Stéphanois pour avoir organisé un si bel événement.

Une chance pour moi de retrouver mes amis français de l'époque où j'enseignais le bridge dans les écoles françaises. 15 ans après le début de ce projet, il existe un nombre incroyable de 560 clubs de bridge enregistrés dans les écoles en France.

Le superbe dîner dansant m'a donné l'occasion de discuter avec Luc, le directeur du tournoi,  comment atteindre en Espagne le succès que nous avons tous deux connu : Luc était entraineur de l'équipe française des moins de 13 ans en même temps que moi. j'étais le coach de l'équipe thaïlandaise des moins de 13 ans!

 

Latest News from FRANCE

La VIE est BELLE

Date: 23/9/23

Venue: Ste Esteve, South West France

Event: Tournoi du Roussillon

71 Tables - 284 players

Latest News from FRANCE
Club Stéphanois

A few days after the tournament ended, I visited the local club's premises where I was able to personally thank them for their organisation. I was told that, for the 2024 edition of the Tournoi de Roussillon end September, the number of tables will be limited to 80 = 320 players. You therefore need to book your place well in advance if you want to join the party. 

What a great day that was!

Club Stéphanois
Winning Chang Rai under 16 team
Winning Chang Rai under 16 team

At the end of the Thai National under 16 championships, the winners invited some of my (slightly shorter) youngsters competing in the same event to join them for the photo call.

Chang Rai was where the 12 cave boys and their teacher were dramatically rescued in 2018. Some of those boys trapped underground for a week in a flooded cave were bridge players!   

Welcome to ACES Bridge & Chess Academy
FUENGIROLA and TENERIFE
FUENGIROLA and TENERIFE

On other pages you can read about exciting developments in the Academy`s related projects in Tenerife and Fuengirola. Both venues are simultaneously promoting bridge for the elderly and handicapped - as well as the very young. Like those champions aged 6 to 11 pictured outside the first ACES Academy on Koh Samui in Thailand.

Several of the kiddies in that photo had already broken records.  Let`s see if this ACES Academy in Spain can bring similar success and happiness to Spanish youngsters and their families.

MY  LEGACY

Time to reveal a few secrets

Having cheated death so many times, my luck will surely soon run out. No point in taking my stories and pictures to the grave. Hopefully my achievements in the face of adversity will help and inspire many youngsters as well as elder handicapped bridge players long after I am gone.

I have chosen this moment to reveal my secrets in the hope it will give a boost to the IMPULSA bridge project of the Spanish Bridge Federation. It´s primary objective is to promote bridge in schools and universities in a country where there is currently still noone under 16 playing the game. In contrast, across the border in France, there are thousands of children who play the game.

I was one of the pioneers of that French project. In fact I started teaching bridge at schools in Ste Maxime and Gassin 15 years ago when bridge was only part of the curriculum for children aged eleven and twelve in a few French schools. Local TV news coverage of the youngsters having their bridge classes led to a snowball effect: Children as young as nine were encouraged to take up the game for its educational and character forming benefits. To cope with demand, elderly members of the local community were often called upon to help in the classrooms. (There was no shortage of volunteers because 1.5 million French people already knew how to play bridge). The net result is that the FFB now have 560 registered bridge clubs in schools. A remarkable number.

My experience of teaching the game to youngsters in France and then in Thailand makes me confident the IMPULSA initiative in Spain can achieve its objectives. To show my Spanish friends why I am convinced that is possible in a very short space of time, let us start the revelations with some of my proudest moments as the teacher and coach of the Thai National Schools team:

October 8, 2016.

Kafield, a Thai girl aged just 8 years and 3 months, became the youngest player ever to compete in an international bridge tournament. She was partnering me at the Polo club in Bangkok under the watchful eye of the President of the Asia Pacific zone of the World Federation, Esther Sophonpanich.

October 7th 2016

Four adorable girls with an average age of 9 years all broke by a mile the previous record for the youngest players to compete in a bridge tournament at the Royal Sports Club in Bangkok.

 

Pictured  with Esther Sophonpanich are

two sets of Thai sisters and an English girl.

(plus a proud mum, an equally proud dad and their extremely proud coach)

Celebrating the girls´ heroics at the Polo club and Royal Sports Club.

But their adventure did not end there....

 

29th November 2016

The youngest teams to be invited to a world championship tournament.

Three teams with an average age of ten years

 

Sonny, a 12 year old American, with his team
Sonny, a 12 year old American, with his team

Sonny, Kafield, Pin and her sister Pae at the national under 16 team championships in Chumphon.

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Now some of the highlights of my playing career:

Number One: 2006 - 2009

Having the honour of partnering Madeleine on several occasions in her weekly Wednesday tournaments at the Les Myrtes club in St Raphael on the French Riviera. The first time I met her she was a sprightly 99 years. The last time I had the pleasure of partnering her, she was 102 years young and still playing as well as ever. She went on to play competitive bridge unaided for another two years. An extraordinary French lady.

Number TWO. 17th January 2023

52% partnering 97 year old Iris in a tournament earlier this year where we came up against the 2019 French National champion,  Mikael Courrias.

Number THREE. March 2006.

My first and only Psychic bid in a long playing career: The successful opening bid of 7NT at the very first table of a prestigious tournament in Ste Maxime on the Riviera. Even former French World Champion Philippe Soulet* was impressed. By the logic behind the bid as well as my speed of thought in calculating in less than a minute that the chances of the contract succeeding were heaped in my favour.  

* As this is my only claim to fame as a player, forgive me for mentioning that Phillippe suggested it might be worthy of inclusion in the Guinness book of records. As the only opening bid of 7NT vulnerable to succeed when it was Impossible to make thirteen tricks using any conventional bidding system. FFB computer records show that no other pair in the tournament made more than 12 tricks playing contracts of five or six spades.

You can read about all these uplifting experiences in more detail elsewhere on this website.

Trevor 01h20 on 15/9/23

A message from the Academy`s founder

All the articles on this site are relevant to bridge players. Whatever their standard. I like to think they will improve the enjoyment of bridge for everyone - and encourage the young and old as well as the poorly and handicapped to want to play the game. That is not an impossible dream. 

Two bridge champions who will agree with me 100% are Philippe Soulet and Franck Multon. The former was twice World Champion. The latter won the Bermuda Bowl in 1997 - and was runner up as recently as 2015.

I sat at the same table as Philippe and Franck on many occasions between 2006 and 2010. But it was not to play bridge with them. It wasn`t for a bridge lesson either.

Our chats at the table would always involve a discussion on how we could bring young people into the game. And at the other end of the age scale, ways of improving the enjoyment of bridge for the infirm. Both felt as passionately as me on those matters.

Both champions are excellent teachers as well. Whilst I have to admit that my best level of bridge was never anywhere near theirs, I am possibly able to trump their achievements in one respect:

In the past two years, the average age of my bridge students is around nine.

During the same period, the average age of my partners in club tournaments has been close to seventy nine. 

Trevor 28th February 2019

NICKNAMES

For your amusement, a humorous look at members`pet names

Starting with the nicknames of the admired youmgsters the first ACES bridge Academy

Rueful Rabbit

Colin the Corgi

Oscar the Owl

Peregrine the Penguin

Molly the Mule

Timothy the Toucan

A few words now about the less desirable adult members 

Hideous Hog

is by far the club's best player. But also an insufferable shark who seeks to humiliate** opponents for their mistakes

Charlie the Chimp

would rather post mortem the last hand than play the next. Once famously produced a remarkable (and impossible) quadruple squeeze against himself by retaining a small card to conceal his own revoke.

Walter the Walrus

whose expertise in - and devotion to - the point count are matched only by the utter mess he makes of bidding and playing

 

** Here is a sample of the humiliating quotes attributed to Hideous Hog:

"I know noone whom I would rather see in charge of the dummy"

"I do not doubt your luck, and I know noone who needs it more than you"

"Of course I always hold much better cards than you do. Being declarer is part of my system"

"I am such a fine player, noone can deny my right to be rude"

"How dare you bid no trumps and become declarer".

"My point count system? Extra for long suit, extra for short suit and 3 points for my superb play"

 

Playing bridge is always

GREAT FUN at ACES

TWO TIER BRIDGE

From 17th Noovember there wil be two competitions running simultaneously at the same venue.

One for relative beginners and the other for experienced players.

EXPLANATION:

1. This will give everyone a chance of winning against players of their level

2. It will encourage players to improve their standard

3. Allows all learners to compete in a group where they will not feel intimidated

4. Avoids experienced players suffering the inconvenience of slow play 

5. It enables me to more quickly integrate in competitions the children & adult beginners.

(See article on player ratings elsewhere on this site for more explanatory information)

Trevor 8/11/24

The record breakers
The record breakers

Esther Sophonpanich is still President of the biggest zone of the World Federation. Here she has her arms on the shoulders of our cute heroine, Kafield. On her left next to me is Kafield´s 10 year old sister Kafair. She was my partner in the team event at the Royal Sports Club that night in 2016. Like me, Kafair is an asthmatic. Yet she showed no nerves and displayed no fear playing against the top University teams in Bangkok. What a lovely game we had together. An evening Kafair and I will never forget.

Trevor 18/9/23

97 years young
97 years young

I partnered Madame Iris Dolek three times earlier this year at the Gala Hotel in Las Americas. A remarkable lady capable of coolly bidding and playing a slam in a tournament where we came up against Mikael Courrias, the 2019 champion of France. 

This doyenne of the Racing Club in Paris still enjoys her bridge, for sure. She has invited me to her 98th birthday pàrty on 10th September 2023. 

An inspirational lady who pointed out that I still have 26 years of bridge to look forward to before I reach that milestone myself.

Yet I have already been playing the game for 66 years

Thank you Iris for making me feel immortal.

The Beauty of Bridge 

STOP PRESS

Fantástico

10 year old Vincent stars in Sevilla 

in his 2nd major competition

45th of 120 pairs 

XLVIII COPA GIRALDA 2024

2024-02-24

Resultado final 60 mesas, 120 parejas.

Número de manos: 52. 

Rank

1.    68,5% Vladik Zinger - Chauvelot 

45.   52,2% Vincent Ventura - Peter Ventura 

 

WHO is THIS?
WHO is THIS?

 

Friends around the world will be relieved to know

Trevor is still alive.

Here I am with Pilar, my delightful Spanish partner,

collecting our well earned prize from Manolo in   

Icod el Alto where he was born

Father and son
Father and son

Keith proudly displaying his prize

after pàrtnering dad

at the

La Laguna New Year tournament

27 December 2023 

Under 16`s bridge

SPONSORSHOP OPPORTUNITIES

For more than a century, bridge was an elite sport played only by the aristocracy. Children were not allowed in clubs. That image is changing rapidly. Thailand is the perfect example. Introduced by the King of Thailand over 100 years ago after he had learned the game studying at Cambridge University, it remained a sport played by the rich and famous until well into the 21st century. When I first went to Thailand in 2013, children aged 13 and above had started to be encouraged to learn to play. Now, in 2023, children as young as seven years are learning to play as part of the curriculum at schools all over the country. Irrespective of their families status or financial means.

I was at the heart of that project coaching youngsters from Chang Mai and Chang Rai in the far north to Chumphon, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Koh Samui in the South. Like everyone at Thai Federation HQ, we were determined that every child should be able to learn the game FREE of CHARGE.

Having helped revolutionize the image of the game in Asia, I have taken on the challenge of preparing a SPANISH under 16 TEAM for the 2025 European Youth Championships. A relatively straightforward task compared with the logistical and language problems faced in Thailand. However, to achieve that objective and produce a competitive team within an 18 month time scale requires sponsorship if we are to offer the opportunity to every child.

The Canary Islands has the largest concentration of Spanish bridge players. With plenty of help available from competent local players, the training school is being based in Tenerife where I have been resident the past five years. 

Next month, a TEN year old boy is coming from mainland Spain to play for the first time in a major bridge tournament organised by the AEB. I like to think that, in future, all families willing to take their talented young children to major events should receive financial assistance with the cost of accmmodation and travel. 

Whilst the costs of helping to bring youngsters to the islands may be significant, the rewards for attaining our objective of competing at the high profile euros in 2025 are sky high. Not just for the boost it will give to the Spanish Bridge Association's Impulsa programme, but for sponsors as well. For more details, potential sponsors should contact me by mail: trevorwilson210750@gmail.com

Trevor 08h00 20/11/23

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Junior BRIDGE RYDER CUP

EUROPE v  CHINA

Inaugural tournament for youngsters aged 9 to 16

This will be held in either October or December 2024 as part of a joint venture with

ARONA CHESS CLUB

https://aronachessclub.com/

who will be inviting the best players from around the chess world - including teams from India and Chna who participated in the clubs inaugural international chess tournament. 

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Stunning sights in Tenerife
Stunning sights in Tenerife

The specatacular (gigantic) cliffs after which Los Gigantes was named. Overlooking a beautiful beach

ALL PART OF THE SERVICE

We are not just a social club here at ACES. We can also...

-Find good, reasonably priced accommodation

-Arrange pick-ups from the airport

-Help solve your mobility problems

-Advise what to do – and not do – on the island

-Offer recommendations re places of interest

-Give guidance on Brexit related problems

That`s what friends are for