Hello Cambs and Hunts Members

This email is the first in a new initiative to keep members informed about upcoming events and other bridge matters. We hope to write from time to time to let county members know what is happening, what competitions are being organised, what happened in ones recently run and what else is happening in bridge in the county such a some of the popular weekend away events and teaching at various levels.

The county organisation, the not very catchily entitled Cambs and Hunts Contract Bridge Association, has a committee made up of county officers and club delegates. We have some energetic new committee members and this has allowed a revitalised calendar of competitions to be organised and enthusiasms for promoting and teaching bridge to come to the fore.  All EBU affiliated clubs in the county are encouraged to have a delegate attend the meetings, which are only a few each year, so that clubs can be represented in promoting bridge, teaching bridge and in making sure the county organises competitions the members want. I encourage any club that has not been represented at committee meetings to send a delegate and to contact me or the County Secretary, Sarah Dixon, so that we know who to keep informed of any upcoming meetings.

Following the lead of the EBU we recognise that most members have NGS rankings of Jack or lower (mine like may others has varied across a range of values). Jack high and nine high competitions are a great way to get involved with competitions outside clubs without playing against elite players, I encourage anyone who qualifies to play in them. We are your county though so please tell us if you want more of any kind of competition.

I hope to see friends old and new at the bridge table.

Regards,

Roger Courtney

Chair, Cambs and Hunts Contract Bridge Association

The county now has a new website and is in the process of moving all the relevant information from our old site to the new one, you will find out everything that’s happening in the county on the new site: https://www.bridgewebs.com/cambshunts/ You will find details of upcoming competitions, details of past event and details of the current management committee, if you have any suggestions please feel free to contact us. You can also find us on Facebook, Cambs & Hunts CBA, where we will post details of upcoming events.

The website and Facebook will be kept up to date so you know when registration for the following events are open. We will be arranging online and Face-to-Face events throughout the year.

Coming up.

County Knockout (Teams of Four).

The major, green-pointed teams-of-four championship, with matches played privately. The matches are to be arranged between the two captains and can be played online or Face-to-Face.

The winners will represent the county in the Pachabo.

There is also a Plate event for first round losers.

Entry form and more details on this link. Cambs & Hunts Contract Bridge Association, cambshunts (bridgewebs.com)

Charity Duplicate

At the end of January/beginning of February we will be holding our first charity event, this will be held on RealBridge in order to allow more pairs to participate. This year the event will be in aid of The Arthur Rank Hospice, Home - Arthur Rank Hospice Charity (arhc.org.uk) please support the event and this worthwhile charity.

County Pairs

The County’s main pairs event. 

We are introducing new rules for qualifying in 2024

Players playing in a Cambs and Hunts affiliated club duplicate session between 1^st January 2024 and the 31^st January 2024 in a session with more than 5 tables and scoring over 50% will be invited to play in the County Final, previously formal heats were held in clubs. The final will be held on RealBridge on the 17^th March 2024.

The top three pairs in the final, wishing to compete, and scoring at least 50%, will be invited to represent the County in the Corwen Trophy in June, if Cambs & Hunts is their County of Primary Allegiance.

Garden Cities (Teams of Eight).

The Garden Cities Trophy is a national competition organised by the EBU. It is the inter-county championship for Club teams of 8. The Cambs and Hunts heat is open to all clubs in the county who are affiliated to Cambs and Hunts Contract Bridge Association, make sure your club enters a team.

Individual

The county will be holding the final of the Individual Event on 2^nd March 2024 providing we get enough interest from affiliated clubs.

9 High Pairs

We have just run our first Face-to-Face event since lockdown, it was held at The Fulbourn Centre and the event was very well supported and in fact over subscribed, we have booked larger premises for the event next year. The event was open to anyone who was a 9 or below on the English Bridge Unions national grading system plus non EBU members. The event was won by Lynn Bouchier and Dennis Collins, full results can be found here: https://www.bridgewebs.com/cgi-bin/bwoq/bw.cgi?pid=display_rank&event=20231028_1&club=cambshunts .

If you would like more events like this let us know.

Cambs and Hunts Teams League.

The annual County Teams of four League is up and running, results of matches can be found on the results page of the website, Cambs & Hunts Contract Bridge Association, cambshunts (bridgewebs.com)  We have 16 teams split in two divisions, league standings can be found here: Cambs & Hunts Contract Bridge Association, cambshunts (bridgewebs.com) 

Tollemache Cup

The county has entered their team into this year’s event, details of which can be found on the website: Cambs & Hunts Contract Bridge Association, cambshunts (bridgewebs.com) at the time of writing we understand that the team has qualified for the final of the event which will be held over the weekend of the 17th - 18th February 2024