Suffolk Contract Bridge Association
CAPTAIN'S LOG

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Click on Captain's Log to see analysis by the County Captain, Paul Whetton, of some interesting hands played by Suffolk teams in the National online Teams League and Eastern Counties League.

Latest report is of Match 3 of the current NTL Season.

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RAISING THE BAR
RAISING THE BAR

 

Paul Whetton has been appointed Suffolk captain and is using his new role to offer a series of articles aimed at players who represent the county, or aspire to do so - but should help us all improve our game.

Paul's aim is to raise the level of performance by Suffolk players and he explains the thinking behind his approach in his first article. Click on BAR to read it.

All Paul's columns are available by clicking on Raising the Bar in the menu above. The latest one is entitled Slam Bidding.

EVEN MORE MARMITE!
EVEN MORE MARMITE!

In a sequel to Marc Chawner's popular compilation of no-trump hands and how to play them, click on SUIT PLAY BY DECLARER, and  BBO, to see how BBO robots played these hands (clever!) To complete the trilogy, Marc has produced a comprehensive article on defence. Click on DEFENCE to read.

Now, in yet another part, Marc has looked at the maths of bridge in his article Know Your Percentages. Click on PERCENTAGES to read.

There is plenty for players of all abilities in the above. Thanks once again to Marc.

LEARNING BRIDGE
LEARNING BRIDGE

If you have friends who would like to learn bridge but are not sure how to go about it or where to go, ask them to email learnbridge@suffolkbridge.co.uk

To find a teacher in your area click on BRIDGE TEACHERS

FACEBOOK

HERE - AT LAST!

It's been long overdue, but Suffolk Bridge now has its own Facebook  page.

The social networking site offers another way to advertise events and, in particular, to reach non-bridge players who might be interested in learning the game.

To find the page, go to Facebook and search for Suffolk Bridge.

BRIDGE ARCHIVE

Suffolk Bridge now has a dedicated website for archive material collected over more than 40 years, including winners of the county's main competitions.

Many thanks to Jill Tattersfield for compiling all the material and to Peter Bushby for makiing it publicly available by setting up the website. Click on ARCHIVE to see everything.

WEBMASTERS

Paul Rickard and Pam Pope are the webmasters running Suffolk's dedicated bridge website.

If you would like to publicise a forthcoming event or submit a news item for this website, please click Paul or Pam.

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For Bridge Players in Suffolk and North Essex
WOULD YOU LIKE A 9-HIGH GAME ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON?

There's an online game for NGS 9-High players (and that's most of us!) on BBO, every Saturday starting at 2.30pm.

18 boards of relaxed bridge, run by Kent on behalf of the EBU.

Click HERE to register and, on the day, just login to BBO and click on Competitive, then All Tournaments, then scroll down to the Kent 9-High event.

You'll find a friendly group of regular players - come and join in! You'll enjoy it.

To play in this event, you'll need to become an Associate Member of Kent CBA at a cost of £5/year - click KENT to see the simple application form.

NEW BEGINNERS BRIDGE COURSE

START LEARNING BRIDGE FOR FREE

A chance to learn and enjoy the World's best card game.

Suffolk Bridge is offering a Beginners Bridge Course at Felixstowe Library - free of charge.

Starting on 15th January at 10 am -12.

To reserve your place email learningbridge@suffolkbridge.co.uk

BURY SWISS PAIRS

 

Bury St Edmunds Bridge Club is holding their annual blue pointed Swiss Pairs event on RealBridge on Sunday 9th February.

Starting at 11am, and playing 42 boards, the cost will be £12.00 per pair or £6.00 each.

To enter click on BURY SWISS PAIRS

SPOTLIGHT

BAH HUMBUG PAIRS

Congratulations to Jo  and Dennis for winning this year's Bah Humbug pairs event.

Click HERE for all the results.

 

RICK HANLEY MEMORIAL BRIDGE MATCH
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On 1st December, teams from Essex and Suffolk met in Colchester for a friendly match as a tribute to Suffolk's former County Captain, Rick Hanley. ..........

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SILVER MEDAL WIN FOR MALCOLM PRYOR
SILVER MEDAL WIN FOR MALCOLM PRYOR

Congratulations to Ipswich member Malcolm Pryor and his partner Ed Scerri who took the silver medal in the Senior Pairs at the 16th World Bridge Games in Argentina.

Malcolm is on the far left of the podium (in the shadows). He and Ed battled through the six-day event, qualifying, semi-final and final, three sessions a day.

CLUB TEAMS of 8
CLUB TEAMS of 8

 

The winning Woodbridge team of John Skinner, Iain Burgess, Conrad Simons, Alison Simons, Stephen Ashworth, Bill Bethell, Simon Riley & Viv Mason.

64 Players enjoyed the annual Club Teams of Eight event at Highwoods on November 16, with the excellent tea provided as usual by the local Sea Scouts.

Results are available HERE

Congratulations to WOODBRIDGE for retaining the Abbeygate Shield and qualifying to represent Suffolk in the national Garden Cities Trophy event!

CAFE BRIDGE SUCCESS
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Café Bridge raised over £1,300 for the Hospice charity and attracted players from far afield, as well as many Suffolk players. ..........

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  • Second place Susan and Richard
  • Third place Susan and Crispin
  • Winners Sue and Roger
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AUTUMN FESTIVAL
AUTUMN FESTIVAL

36 boards of Face-to-Face Bridge at Elmswell

Congratulations to the Winners of the Trophies for Men’s Pairs, Ladies’ Pairs, Mixed Pairs, Veterans (70+) & best on Handicap.

Click HERE for the results

  • Handicap Pairs Winners
  • Ladies Pairs Winners
  • Mens Pairs Winners
  • Mixed Pairs and Overall Winners
  • Veterans Pairs Winners

Mixed Pairs and Overall Event Winners - Rod & Sue Oakford

Men's Pairs Winners - Tim Evans & Chris Park

Ladies' Pairs Winners - Christine Cooke & Marlene Chant

Veterans' Pairs Winners - Alaric & Dorothy Cundy

Handicap Winners - Derek Phillips & Paul Starling

SUMMER SWISS PAIRS
SUMMER SWISS PAIRS
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Suffolk Bridge hosted a new Blue Pointed Swiss Pairs event of 36 boards at the Blackbourne Centre, Elmswell on Sunday July 28, 2024. ..........

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ZEB STOCKEN AT HINTLESHAM HALL
ZEB STOCKEN AT HINTLESHAM HALL
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Seventy-two players enjoyed an entertaining day with bridge teacher Zeb Stocken at Hintlesham Hall, including an excellent buffet lunch, with topics including slam bidding and planning your play. ..........

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SUFFOLK BRIDGE AGM
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The Suffolk Bridge AGM was held at Elmswell on Sunday May 12. ..........

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CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS FINAL
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Rick Hanley's team (Rick Hanley, Michael Sherer, Chris Chambers, Chris Green, Malcolm Pryor, Peter Sutcliffe) have won the 2024 Suffolk Championship Teams of Four with a 35 IMP victory in the 40 board final over Jenny Price's team (Jenny Price, Norbert Voelker, Tony Philpott, Nigel Bardsley). ..........

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IN THE PAST...

To see older items please click on

NEWS ARCHIVE

SALLY BROCK
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Play Bridge with Sally Brock - Open for booking

Blackbourne Centre Elmswell, Friday 7th March 9:30am - 3:30pm

England International Sally Brock will be visiting Bury St Edmunds in March, as the guest of Abbeygate and Bury St Edmunds Bridge Clubs. Members of all Suffolk bridge clubs are warmly invited to join us play in a club duplicate session with Sally, after which Sally will run an interactive Masterclass on aspects of bidding, play and defence of some of the hands. ..........

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ATTENTION ALL NGS 2-9 MEMBERS!
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Would you like to represent Suffolk in a national online Pairs competition playing against opponents of a similar standard?. ..........

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NORFOLK CONGRESS MARCH 1st/2nd

The Norfolk Congress is being held at the Wensum Valley Hotel on March 1st & 2nd.

Click NORFOLK for full details and ENTRY to see the entry form.

SUFFOLK CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS

The entry form for the Suffolk Championship Teams of 4 is now available on our website.

The winners of this prestigious county event will go on to represent Suffolk in the EBU's Pachabo Cup – a competition for all the UK counties Champion teams of 4 which will take place in Milton Keynes on the 14th and 15th of June 2025.

Entries for the Suffolk Championship Teams of 4, which is to be played online, need to be made by the 29th of November 2024.

Full details of the event can be found under:

Championship Teams Regulations

and the Entry Form can be found HERE

Please contact the event manager Tim Evans for more details.

tim@suffolkclocks.co.uk

ONLINE TEAMS LEAGUE UNDERWAY

The latest Suffolk Online Teams League, Season 19, is underway, with 25 teams playing in 5 divisions.

Results will be available by clicking on WINTER. Final results from Season 18 can be viewed by clicking on PREVIOUS RESULTS.

Congratulations to the Pryor, Honess, O’Reilly, Wright, and Ford teams for winning their respective divisions.

FREE ONLINE LESSONS FOR BEGINNERS

Complete Beginners: click HERE to access nine free online lessons with Jack Stocken, one of the UK's most popular Bridge teachers. No need to register or download anything, just enjoy the lessons. The free lessons come with a detailed worksheet and a link to enable beginners to play mini bridge online (on BBO). After a while, online students will then be able to start improver lessons or visit their local Bridge Club to practice.

It would be lovely to bring in more beginners to this wonderful game and so Jack Stocken is delighted to gift a course of nine recorded online Acol beginner lessons to any potential beginners. Students do not have to register nor pay for these lessons, just go to the LearnBridgeOnline.com website and click on the lesson!

A list of local Bridge teachers can be found HERE.

TEAMS LEAGUE ANNUAL TROPHY

Each year the Malcolm Pryor Trophy is awarded in May for performance in the Suffolk On Line Teams League over the previous year. The 2024 winners are Malcolm Pryor, Chris Chambers, Chris Green, Rick Hanley, Michael Sherer, Peter Sutcliffe, with 33 Placing Points. They finished just one Placing Point ahead of Mark Honess, Caroline Gemmell, Andre Gray, John Pearson and David Willson. In joint third place with 28 Placing Points were Team Harpur and Team Orton. In total 18 teams received Placing Points during the year, more details on this and on previous years results can be found by clicking on Trophy

ESSEX/SUFFOLK FRIENDLY MATCH

A Face-to-Face friendly match between Suffolk and Essex was arranged to be played in Colchester on December 1 as a tribute to Suffolk's former County Captain, Rick Hanley.

It is anticipated that this will be an annual event, alternating between SCBA and ECBA venues.

Players have been selected for this year's event but a notice will be posted in due course asking those who wish to play next year (in the Essex venue) to inform our present Captain, Paul Whetton. 

Click SCORES to see the results of the inaugural event.

Results
ECL v Northants home
Bah Humbug
Rick Hanley Memorial Event
Club Teams of Eight
Calendar
Sun 9th Feb 2025
Bury Swiss Pairs
Online RealBridge 11.00 am
Sun 23rd Feb 2025
Play and Learn
Kesgrave 11.00 am
Sun 2nd Mar 2025
ECL v Essex away
Online RealBridge 1.00 pm
Sun 23rd Mar 2025
Club Teams of Four
Elmswell 11.00 am
Sun 6th Apr 2025
9-High Corwen
Online RealBridge 1.00 pm
Sun 27th Apr 2025
Championship Pairs Final
Elmswell 11.00 am
Sun 18th May 2025
AGM Pairs
Elmswell
Following 2.00 pm AGM
Sun 22nd Jun 2025
Mid Anglia Pairs
Woodbridge 11.00 am
Sun 29th Jun 2025
ECL v Beds Home
Online RealBridge 1.00 pm
Sun 13th Jul 2025
ECL v Herts Away
Online RealBridge 2.00 pm
Sun 20th Jul 2025
Summer Swiss Pairs
Elmswell 11.00 am
Sun 7th Sep 2025
Autumn Festival
Elmswell 11.00 am
Sun 28th Sep 2025
ECL v Norfolk Home
Online RealBridge 2.00 pm
Sun 5th Oct 2025
Suffolk Congress Swiss Teams
Elmswell
Sat 8th Nov 2025
Club Teams of Eight
Colchester 2.00 pm
Sun 30th Nov 2025
ECL v Northants Away
Online RealBridge 1.00 pm
Sun 14th Dec 2025
ECL v Essex Home
Online RealBridge 1.00 pm
Sun 28th Dec 2025
Bah Humbug
Elmswell 11.00 am
Sun 1st Mar 2026
ECL v Cambs/Hunts Away
Online RealBridge 2.00 pm