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Manchester
County Bridge Association |
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2006 News and Results
Congratulations to Manchester Chairman Jeff Smith who won the Swiss Pairs playing with Jackie Pye of Lancashire.  Jackie Pye and Jeff Smith receive the trophy from Michelle Brunner Santa Claus Pairs Manchester
Bridge
Club's annual festive event was won by Rhona and Bernard
Goldenfield on Sunday 17th December.
Ben Franks Took
place
at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 10th December. A
triumph for the management team at Manchester Bridge Club,
last year's winners were second. Twenty one pairs
participated with the top four pairs qualifying for the
Corwen Trophy to be held at Kettering over the weekend of
2nd-3rd June 2007.
1st David Debbage and Jeff Morris 58.42% 2nd Peter Jones and Peter Foster 58.14% 3rd Mark Bass and Frank Brown 56.09% 4th Peter and Jean Hand 55.89% 5th Jim and Jenny Morris 55.78% 6th Sam Herman & Barbara Lewis 54.58% 7th Dave Pennington & Rod Franks 53.71% 8th Eddie Humphrey & Gordon Hadfield 52.23% 9th Karen Reissmann & Irene Davies 52.15% 10th Geoffrey Fink & Sid Travers 51.37% Gold Cup Final - Manchester lose close match The
Manchester team of Michael Byrne, John Holland, Michelle
Brunner, Bill Hirst, John Hassett and Alex Morris won their
semi-final in a close match, but lost an incredibly close
final to a Scottish team by 2 IMPs. The final sets were
very exciting to watch with about 1200 spectators viewing on
Bridge Base Online. They were only 1 IMP behind going
into the last set. Obviously any of several boards could
have swung it to the Manchester team. Congratulations on
getting so far and commiserations on not quite winning.
Tollemache Qualifying Manchester
won
their group and qualified in comfort for the final of the
Tollemache, in the qualifying weekend held at Kettering
Leisure Centre on November 25th/26th.
The team of Michael Byrne/Andrew Woodcock, John Hassett/Bill Hirst, David Debbage/Michael Newman, John Holland/Michelle Brunner, David Barton/Alan Jones, with Jeff Smith as NPC, won all their matches and were leaders from start to finish. Their group contained some strong counties such as Warwickshire, Gloucestershire and the North East, and local rivals including Lancashire. The final is also being held in Kettering in February. The
following
Manchester players have been selected for England teams.
Tom Slater and Andrew Murphy (Channel Trophy), Mark
Reeve and David Collier (Junior Camrose). John Holland
with John Armstrong of Derbyshire (Camrose Trophy).
Congratulations
to all. Details
of events and venues are on the EBU web site. I will try
to remember to post reminders if the matches are to be
broadcast on BridgeBase Online.
Michael Byrne has been selected as non-playing captain for the Channel Trophy and Peggy Bayer Trophy (U20 Camrose), Michelle Brunner and Rhona Goldenfield are reserves for the Lady Milne. Cheadle win NICKO Plate Many
congratulations to Cheadle Hulme B: (Derek Gray, Mary
Costagliola, Peter Hodgson, Norman Southern) who beat Monday
Club 'A': (John Williamson, Malcolm Grimston, Mark Cast,
Angela McCready, Alan Powys) by 8 IMPs in the final of the
NICKO plate on Saturday 28th October at Coventry. This
is, I believe, the first national win for three of the team.
Norman Southern won a national title very many years ago
(see the history page). Royce Alexander played in
earlier rounds.
 The
victorious team at Cheadle Hulme Bridge Club
Norman Southern, Mary Costagliola, Peter Hodgson and Derek Gray Junior European Trials Manchester's
Tom
Slater (23) and Andrew Murphy (24) scored a tremendous victory
at the weekend when they won the Junior European Squad trials
by a phenomenal 79 imps.
The trials were held over the weekend at Lougborough and comprised 9 board matches against all the other 10 pairs. Tom and Andrew won almost all of their matches and their final total of 116 imps was one of the highest ever recorded. This victory qualifies them for the Junior European squad, where they will join 3 of the other pairs from the weekend who will fight it out for a place in the Junior Europeans in July (rumoured to be held in Russia). Other Manchester players playing were Alex Morris who finished 5th with new partner Fiona Brown, formerly of Australia and now of Harrogate, and Mark Reeve/David Collier who finished further down the field. Tom and Andrew were an integral part of Manchester's Junior Northern League winning team this year and have previously won the Junior Camrose Trophy (the home nations tournament) in 2005. Gold Cup Congratulations
to Michael Byrne, Alex Morris, Bill Hirst, John Hassett,
Michelle Brunner and John Holland who have reached the
semi-finals of the Gold Cup, the first time for Michael/Alex
and the first time in ten years for the other four.
On Friday night (27th) they won a 64 board match against Paul Hackett, Tony Waterlow, Ian Panto, Gerald Haase, and Victor Silverstone by 40 imps. They took an early lead in set two when they outscored the opposition 31 imps to 1, and then steadily added more before being 50 up going into the final set. The semi finals are being played on the weekend of the 9th and 10th of December in Peebles, in the next round Michael's team face either Ian Sime (Scotland), Tony Forrester or Simon Gillis. Northern
League
In
the final weekend of the Northern League (28th Oct) Manchester
held on to win the A division, capped by a fine performance by
Michael Newman and Dave Debbage. The rest of the team was Mike
Ardron/Mark Halliwell (Captain), Alan Nelson/Kath Nelson and
Dave Barton/Jeff Smith who stood into play as last minute
reserves in addition to directing.
Also thanks to the many other players that helped Manchester win this prestigious inaugral event - Michelle Brunner, Rhona Goldenfield, Alan Jones, Dave Barton, Bernard Goldenfield, David Adelman, Michael Byrne, Andrew Woodcock, Jeff Morris and Bill Hirst. Manchester also finished 1st in the Junior division, despite allowing Yorkshire to claim a 20-0 victory for the second match of the league held in August (which had been declared a friendly practice event), Manchester acquiescing as a show of good faith. They finished 3rd on the final day, (with North East A winning) and had a comfortable 10 VP cushion over the 2nd placed team. Congratulations to the team (Michael Byrne, Jon King, Simon Mattinson, Jennie Marvin) and to all of the players that stamped Manchester's authority as the breeding ground for good young players: Tom Slater, Andrew Murphy, Mark Reeve, David Collier, Edward Levy, Amy Stout, Richard O'Connor and David Barratt. Camrose Trials Congratulations
to the Manchester Players who competed successfully
in the
England Open Trials on 14th-15th October.
In first place were Manchester residents Justin and Jason Hackett, second was their father's team Paul Hackett, with MCBA selector John Holland partnering John Armstrong of Derbyshire. In fourth place was Michael Byrne's young team (Andrew Woodcock, Ben Green and Duncan Happer) which rose from second bottom after the first weekend. The trials were held over two weekends and will be used in selection for the Camrose Trophy. The team will be selected in November by the England selection committee. Full results on the EBU web site. Great Northern Pairs Congratulations
to
Andrew Woodcock and Michael Byrne who won the Great Northern
Swiss Pairs on 7th-8th October in fine style.
They scored 181 out of a possible 220, and had won the event with a match to go - then they increased their lead by winning the final match 20-0. The event is held annually at Risley and was won previously by Michael in 2001, then aged just 20. In 2nd place was Manchester's premier mini-bridge teacher David Adelman playing with Alex Hogg from Derbyshire, whilst Dave Pennington and Rod Franks were well placed at table one in the final match but a 20-0 loss to the leaders saw them slip to 11th place. Several MCBA members helped the England under 20 squad this weekend by transporting them to and from Risley, contributing towards the encouragement of junior bridge - our thanks go to Barry Hobden, Ray Ashleigh, Neil Thomas and Jeff Morris. Full results on the EBU web site. John
Hassett
and Bill Hirst, one of the county's most long standing and successful partnerships
have reached the final of the Seniors' knock out
competition for the second year running. They beat the Midlands squad captained by David Jones by 10imps, leading a very close match throughout. They face Ian Monachan's squad of London professionals in the final. Strangely they aren't seeded for next years competition. Junior Success for Manchester Pair David
Collier
and Mark Reeve finished second in the Junior Camrose trials
held at the
weekend.
Although they led the event for the most part they were
consistently at the top
and ended only a few imps behind first placed Susan Stockdale
and Dave Cropper.
Mark and David are keen supporters of the county. They finished third in the Manchester Congress teams held last January and have also represented Manchester in the Northern League Junior division which they currently lead. Mark and David met at Manchester Bridge Club and were encouraged to play together in events such as the Higson Cup, Manchester League, and Congress. They play a complicated strong club system that often baffles themselves as well as the opposition and have previously represented England in the Channel trophy, though not in a Junior Camrose. Other Manchester pairs to compete in the event were Alex Morris who played in a one off partnership with Simon Cope and did well to finish 4th (having won the event in 2002, 2004 and 2006), and Tom Slater/Andrew Murphy who finished halfway having won the event in 2005. Dr Maurice Super 1936-2006 Maurice
Super
died on the 20th September following a long illness.
Many bridge players attended the funeral
at Cheadle cemetery.
He was a keen and strong bridge player who competed
regularly at Manchester Bridge Club and also a good supporter
of MCBA events. He continued playing bridge
despite his illness and won the last duplicate that he played
in at Manchester in August. He was a former newsletter
editor and match secretary of the MCBA. He was a fine
cricketer and tennis player. Professionally he was a Consultant Paediatric
Geneticist working
at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital since 1979,
specialising in all aspects of cystic fibrosis in which he was
a world expert.
Our sympathies go to his wife Anne and all his family. Tollemache Selections The
selection committee has chosen the following pairs to
represent Manchester in the inter counties team of eight
competition.
Michael Newman/Dave Debbage, Michael Byrne/Andrew Woodcock, John Holland/Michelle Brunner, John Hasset/Bill Hirst, Alan Jones/Dave Barton NPC: Jeff Smith The qualifying round is on 25-26th November. Manchester beat Derbyshire The
Derbyshire
Match held at Spondon on Sunday 3rd Sept was won by
Manchester by 107 IMPS.
The team was Caryl Bloch & Peter Hodgson with Dave Audley & Frank Brown who gained 60+ IMPS, Pat Burrows & Steve Mattinson with Rod Franks & Mary Costagliola who gained 49 IMPS, Dave Pennington & Howard Stubbings with Gill McMullen & Neil Thomas who gained 18 IMPS and Peter Foster & Dave Berrisford with Joyce & Bill White who had a negative score! The match was played in a friendly spirit and an excellent buffet was enjoyed by all the participants. Although it was never close nor the result ever in doubt, the match was enjoyable, particularly by county debutants Steve Mattinson and Dave Berrisford. Congratulations
to
Michelle Brunner and Rhona Goldenfield who won a bronze medal
in the Women's event. This qualifies them for the World
Championships. Barbara Hackett also qualified for the
German team who were in 4th place.
 Cath Jagger, Martin Jones (captain), Michelle Brunner, Sarah Teshome, Rhona Goldenfield, Heather Dhondy and Nicola Smith Partially visible behind Michelle is Chris Duckworth (coach) Northern League Congratulations
to
the various Manchester players that represented us in the
Northern League on 30th Sept.
In the Junior division Manchester scored 49 out of 60 vps, including a satisfying 20-0 whitewash of Yorkshire, to win the match comfortably and leave them well placed for victory in the final weekend. Well done to Tom Slater (Captain) /Andrew Murphy, Simon Mattinson/Richard O Connor. In the A division Manchester won by a few VPs to leave them with an enormous margin of victory going into the final match. Well played to Jeff Smith (Captain)/ Bernard Goldenfield, Bill Hirst/Michael Newman, Rhona Goldenfield/Michelle Brunner, Michael Byrne/Andrew Woodcock. In the B division the team had to trek all the way to Darlington, and our thanks go to Dave Audley (Cap) Mark Bass, Raymond Semp/Denis Robson, Mark Halliwell/Mike Ardron, Bob Cooke/Peter Jones. They finished 3rd, but gained valuable points on league leaders Yorkshire who were 4th. In the C divison many of the team competed for the first time but an enjoyable match was had at Brierfield. The team was Dave Matthews(cap)/Anne Thorton, John Parsons/Graham Winn, Karen Reissman/Irene Davies, Di Lyons/Barbara Drewry. Northern League
The Northern Counties Bridge League held on Saturday 26th
August at Manchester was again a roaring success.
In the A division the Manchester team won 4 of their 5 matches (and drew the 5th one with Cumbria of all teams!) to head the table comfortably. The team was Byrne/Woodcock, Barton/Jones, A Nelson/J Morris, K Nelson/Adelman. In the B team Smith/Klein, Lighthill/Travers, Blakey/Blakey and Hailliwell/Ardron recovered some ground after an early bashing by Yorkshire to end in 2nd place. In the C division Manchester got off to a good start but slipped away at the end to finish 5th. It was the first cap for many of the pairs and our congratulations go to Bruce and Pat Cannon, Steve Mattinson and Di Lyons, Valerie and Barry Hobden and Lance Bloohn and Karen Sandler. The Junior division didn't have a formal match, but played a friendly match against 4 vastly more experienced students from Yorkshire. Overall Manchester is placed 1st, 3rd, 2nd and 1st. At Manchester A Teams Overall position Manchester 71 141 Yorkshire 52 101 Lancashire 49 94 North East 49 103 Cumbria 44 86 Merseyside 35 75 At Keighley B Teams Yorkshire 89 150 Manchester 67 111 Lancashire 62 107 Cumbria 62 90 Merseyside 52 121 North East 44 94* Lincolnshire 44 77 At Blackburn C Teams Lancashire 60 98 Merseyside 53 112 Cumbria 52 95 Yorkshire 51 98 Manchester 47 104 North East 37 96 Gold Cup Congratulations
to
John Holland, John Hassett, Bill Hirst, Michelle Brunner, Alex
Morris and non playing captain Michael Byrne who reached the
quarter finals of the Gold Cup, by beating the number 4 seeds Armstrong (Simpson, Price, Steel, King, McGann) by a nail biting 6 imps last Friday. In the next round they play a local derby with Paul Hackett's southern sextet. NICKO Plate Congratulations
to
the Cheadle Hulme B team (Derek Gray, Mary Costagliola,
Norman Southern and Peter Hodgson) who have reached the
final of the NICKO plate, beating Swindon"A" by 62 -
52 imps in the 32 board semi-final. They will play
Monday Club "A" from London in the final.
Brighton Teams Congratulations
to Michael Byrne and Andrew Woodcock, who achieved a
phenomenal success in Brighton by winning the Four Stars Teams
Championship, one of the most prestigious competitions in the
country. Playing with Dave Bakhshi and Glyn Liggins from
London they qualified comfortably by finishing 3rd out of over
200 teams, then on the Sunday they swept the field and won all
of their matches to cruise to victory by a comfortable looking
15 VPs.
Michael (25) and Andrew (26) are both members of MCBA, Andrew having defected recently from his native Lancashire, and are representing Manchester in the Northern League this weekend. This is a tremendous result for the pair, who have previously come 3rd on separate teams, Michael in 2003 and Andrew back in 1996 when he was 17.  Andrew Woodcock, David Bakhshi, Glyn Liggins and Michael Byrne President's Cup There
were 9 Teams in the competition on 29th-30th July at
Sheffield.
Simultaneous
PairsManchester, Staffs, Yorkshire, Lancashire, N.Wales, Cumbria, Merseyside, Derbyshire, Isle of Man Jeff Smith-Mark Halliwell, Michael Byrne-Andrew Woodcock played both days. On Saturday, Michelle Brunner-Rhona Goldenfield and Alan & Kath Nelson played On Sunday, David Adelman-Raymond Semp, Alan Jones-David Barton played. After
a solid start on the Saturday afternoon, Manchester had a
slender lead but a poor performance in the evening left them
4th overnight. The Sunday saw a recovery in the first 4
matches to climb to second place but a heavy defeat against
Yorkshire effectively ended our chances and the team
finished a creditable 3rd place on 100VPs behind
Staffordshire and Yorkshire.
Manchester
players
did exceptionally well in the recent Simultaneous Pairs
competition on Monday 24th July held in more than 130 clubs.
Ian Kane and Ken Hassell at Altrincham club look to have won
the event with 74.4% followed closely by Michael Byrne and Sid
Travers at Manchester Bridge Club lying 3rd on 71.9%
Bridge and Golf The
annual
bridge and golf event was held at Chorlton Golf Club on 13th
July. A boiling hot day at Chorlton was enjoyed by
all, nice course, good meal and of course great organisation
on the bridge front from Boris Ewart.
Overall winner Keith Sowerbutts. Runner up Michael Clarke. Golf winner. Colin Birtles Runner up Paul Beckwith. Bridge Winner Howard Melbourne. Runner up Tracy Capal The
Manchester
County Green Point Swiss Pairs was won by two England
Juniors, Andrew Woodcock and Michael Byrne, both of
Manchester. They won all of their 7 matches, including
winning the crunch match 5 against Andrew's parents,
legendary Swiss Pairs specialists Nick and Sue Woodcock
19-1. In their final match they needed only to score 8
out of 20 Vp's to finish ahead of Under 20 squad members Tom
Dessain (North East) and Ed Jones (Leics) who had travelled
up for the weekend to compete in Risley.
This was a first Risley Swiss Pairs win for Michael Byrne, who has finished 2nd several times including at the last Risley Swiss Pairs in May, and also for Andrew who has also recently finished 2nd in the first Risley Swiss Pairs of the year in March. First 20 places below, full results on EBU web site. Swiss
Pairs Sat 15th July
1st Pair
17 Michael Byrne & Andrew Woodcock
............ 120.0 VP
2nd Pair 3 Tom Dessain & Ed Jones ..................... 114.0 3rd Pair 13 Tim Prior & Chris Cooper ................... 107.0 4th Pair 11 Gordon Hadfield & Eddie Humphrey ........... 106.0 5th Pair 29 Tracy Capal & Boris Ewart ...... ........... 104.0 6th Pair 27 Ronald Stedman & Pat Crooks ................ 101.0 7th Pair 15 Ian Kane & Ken Hughes ...................... 98.0 8th Pair 4 Mike Cragg & Barbara Heaton ................ 96.0 9th= Pair 31 Sue & Nick Woodcock ... .................... 94.0 9th= Pair 60 Janet Easter & Adrian Goulding ............. 94.0 llth Pair 34 Angela Booth & Peter Radley ................ 88.0 12th Pair 51 Ruth Barker & Tony Harden .................. 87.0 13th Pair 19 Liz Commins & Warwick Horspool ............. 84.0 14th= Pair 9 Andrew Petrie & Jeff Smith ................. 82.0 14th= Pair 47 Sheila Shea & Wyn Williams ................. 82.0 14th= Pair 66 Barry Jones & Paddy Murphy ................. 82.0 17th= Pair 1 Richard Taylor & Heather Harvey ............ 81.0 17th= Pair 57 Peter Greaves & Raj Gupta .................. 81.0 17th= Pair 63 Brian Irlam & Megan Taft ................... 81.0 20th= Pair 58 Joy & Irving Blakey ........................ 80.0 Swiss Teams Sun 16th July 1 Sue Woodcock, Nick Woodcock, Andrew Woodcock, Craig Fisher 2 John Morrell, Marianne Farr, Mike Nicholson, Paul Williams 3 Heather Hobson, Roy Garthwaite, Angela Booth, Peter Radley 4= Tracy Capal, Bill Niccol, Brian Cornelius, Gary Hyett 4= Ian Kane, Ken Hassell, David Olliver, Ray Semp 6 Rod Franks, David Pennington, Pauline Lang, Steve Mattinson 7 Mike Bell, Jon King, Jennie Marvin, David Collier 8= Michael Byrne, Kath Nelson, Bryony Youngs, Susan Stockdale 8= David Strawbridge, Babs Matthews, Bill White, Joyce White 10= Bernard Kaye, Marlene Kaye, Roger Waddington, Daniel Miller 10= Bernard & Rhona Goldenfield, Richard Fleischman, Michelle Brunner 12 Andrew Petrie, Giles Foster, Jackie Pye, Jeff Smith 13= Brian Irlam, Megan Taft, David Briggs, Alan Kenyon 13= David Clarke, Roy Edwards, Jane Stirton, Judy Stevenson 15= John Hampson, Paul Roberts, Joan Marray, John Leather 15= Jenny Morris, Jim Morris, Ron Steedman, Reg Bowdler 15= Barbara Serres, Rob Roberts, Avril Lee, Roger Allison 18 Daniel McIntosh, Rob Myers, Ben Paske, Mark Reeve 19= Sheila Shea, Liz Commins, Wyn Williams, Warwick Horspool 19= Tony Harden, Ruth Barker, Chris Harris, Gita Knudu Seniors' Congress Congratulations
to John Holland and Erika Slatcher (Isle of Man) who won
the championship pairs at the Summer Seniors Congress at
Eastbourne on Saturday 15th July.
Birth Congratulations ...
to Irena Grugulis, who on July 18th gave birth to a baby girl
at St. Mary's hospital in Manchester. Both mother and
baby are doing fine, and we wish them the best of health.
Harrogate Seniors Congress Manchester
players
took most of the honours on the weekend of 1st-2nd July.
Congratulations to Kath and Alan Nelson who won the
pairs, Joy and Irving Blakey, Rhona and Bernard Goldenfield
who won the Swiss Teams.
Manchester
1B have reached the semi finals of the Nicko, the first
appearance in the final stage by a Manchester team for over 10
years. Michael Byrne, David Debbage, Craig Fisher, Michael
Newman beat Lytham A (who conceded with one set to play 55imps
down) on June 25th to reach the last four. They have
previously beaten three teams from Deva, a Sheffield Team and
also, in a local derby, a team representing Cheadle Hulme.
In the next round they face the winner of the match between "77 Bridge club" in Hendon and County Bridge club in Leicester. The other semi final is between an Oxford team, and the winner of Horsham and Farnham. World
Championships
Verona
The
World Open Pairs Championship, the World Women Pairs
Championships, the World Mixed Teams Championship and the
Rosenblum Teams took place in Verona, Italy from 9th
to 24th June.
John Holland and Michelle Brunner finished a creditable 14th in the Mixed Pairs. Justin and Jason Hackett were 9th in a very strong World Pairs Championship field. Pachabo 2006 The
Manchester
team of Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, John Hassett and
Bill Hirst finished a creditable 6th out of 30 teams in
the Pachabo final at Kettering on 11th-12th June.
Full results are on the EBU web site.
To
celebrate reaching the age of 25 and therefore no longer
being qualified as a Junior, Michael Byrne held a party at
Manchester Bridge club on 3rd June. The guests
included a large selection of England's finest Junior
players, and many of Manchester's bridge playing community.
There were even a few non-bridge players;
Michael claimed at least 10. The absence of many
people aged between 30 and 50 was notable. An
excellent party was enjoyed by all - and not a pack of cards
in sight.
 Killarney 2006 Not
strictly a Manchester event, but many Manchester players
cross the Irish Sea to enjoy the Bridge, Golf , country
and hospitality. The
congress is held every May at the Lake Hotel. Thanks to Kevin Comrie
for the photos and results.
League The
final
league table of the season is now posted.
Congratulations to Isolated Menaces (Michelle
Brunner, Boris Ewart, Rhona and Bernard Goldenfield) who
win yet again. Special
mention to the young team of The Kids (Amy Stout, Jennie
Marvin, Simon Mattison et al.) who won Division Four
convincingly. Thanks
to Boris Ewart for running the League and Cup and for
supplying regular updates for the web site throughout the
season.
Manchester's
representative
team in the Garden Cities Trophy, (Manchester Bridge Club
A), won their qualifying heat easily to advance into the
final of the national club teams of 8 championships. The
qualifier, consisting of 9 teams, was held at Bradford
Bridge Club on Saturday May 20th, with the top two teams
advancing. Manchester was represented by Michael
Byrne/Michael Newman, John Hassett/Boris Ewart, Mike
Goldsmith/Craig Fisher and Jeff Smith/David Adelman.
In 2nd place was a team featuring many Manchester Players representing South Shrops Bridge Club, including former Manchester member Gary Hyett. "They just outplayed us in the 2nd half" he was heard to say about the Manchester team, who overtook South Shrops in part due to a comfortable 15-5 victory over them. The National Final will be held on June 17th at Kettering Leisure centre, Manchester have won the trophy twice previously and finished 2nd last year. Risley Green Point Weekend Swiss
Pairs
Saturday 13th May
Manchester
pairs did well. Congratulations to winners Tracy
Capal and Boris Ewart, second were Michael Byrne and
Michael Newman, in eighth place were Steve Mattinson and
Pat Burrows.
Swiss Teams Sunday 14th May 1st Paul Hackett, Justin Hackett, Brian Cornelius, Gary Hyett 2nd Ted Reveley, Ralph Churney, Tracy Capal, Bill Niccol 4th Michael Byrne, Kath Nelson, Jeff Morris, Alan Nelson 7th Jenny Morris, Jim Morris, Ron Steedman, Reg Bowdler Full results of both events are on the EBU web site. County Cup Byrne
makes
it
four in a row
The
Manchester County Cup, the qualifying event for the Pachabo,
has been won for the 4th year running by Michael Byrne's
team, breaking the record previously set for consecutive
victories.
Byrne's team (who haven't lost a match in the competition in nearly 5 years) was Michael Newman, John Hassett and Bill Hirst, all of whom were part of the team that won last year. The losing finalists, who led throughout in the final until the final board were Jeff Smith, David Adelman, Michael Clarke and Martin Braid, with Dave Barton in previous rounds. The match was played in a very friendly spirit, and all the parties involved managed to convince themselves that the bridge had been of a good quality! This year a new scoring system was used, that of "point-a-board" where every board is either won (giving you 2 points) or lost (giving you none). This meant that the price for going off in a doubled slam missing two aces and a trump trick, (as happened to team Byrne in set 3) was the same as for missing an overtrick in a cold game (as happened to team Smith in set 3). The Pachabo is the annual competition for counties to send the winners of their knock out competition, and is being held in Kettering on June 10th. Northern Bridge League The
first of this year's Northern County League matches were
held on Saturday May 6th at various venues around the
country.
At Brierfield the A team were represented by Newman/Debbage, Brunner/Goldenfield, Smith(Cap)/Goldenfield, Jones/Barton and are leading comfortably having won all but one of their matches. At Deva Bridge Club the B team were represented by Lighthill/Travers, J Blakey(Cap)/I Blakey, R Semp/D Oliver, T Capal/B Ewart and recovered some ground after a disastrous start to leave them lying 4th out 6. At Manchester the C team were represented by P Buxton(Cap)/A McKillop, B Beever/E Thornton-Chan, D Matthews/B Hobden, and G Mc.Mullan/J Fitzgerald and are lying 2nd, only 2 vp's behind first place. Also at Manchester the Junior team was represented by M Byrne (Cap)/E Levy, A Stout/J Marvin, S Mattison/R O'Connor, M Reeve/D Collier and they won all three of their matches heavily to leave them top out of the 4 teams. Every team enjoyed themselves and felt the format and organisation were top-class, the C team all commented on how friendly and pleasant the bridge had been, and the visitors were all impressed at the welcoming atmosphere of Manchester Bridge Club. The Juniors were treated to a brief post-bridge magic show by 17 year old Tom Whigham from the North East team, which entertained everyone who saw it.
Note:
Each match is out of 20 victory points, with the maximum
being 100, or 60 for the juniors, where teams have been
unable to send a team then they have been credited with an
average number of victory points.
Dates & Venues for 2006 (No. of Teams in Brackets): Sat 6th May Brierfield (5) Chester (6) Manchester (6) Manchester (4) Sat 26th Aug Manchester (6) Keighley (7) Blackburn (6) Blackburn (4) Sat 30th Sep Bradford (6) Darlington (7) Brierfield (6) Bradford (4) Sat 28th Oct Manchester (6) Manchester (7) Darlington (6) Darlington (4) Michael Byrne (Match Secretary) is the main organiser from Manchester. Spring Fours Michael
Byrne's
team (Andrew Woodcock, Ben Green, Duncan Happer) were the
last unbeaten team in the EBU's double elimination event.
This gave them a bye to the semi-finals, but they lost to
Wolfarth who they had previously beaten. An
excellent result for a young team who clearly have a great
future in the game.
Visit the EBU site for full results. Congratulations
to Michael Byrne and John Hassett who won the National Pairs
held at Kettering Lesiure Centre on 22nd/23rd April. John
adds this to his already impressive CV, becoming the only
Manchester player past or present to have won all of
Crockfords, Nicko, Hubert Phillips, Gold Cup (1987) and now
the National Pairs, whilst Michael at 24 is one of the
youngest ever winners. This was a fine achievement for
the pair who came from 5th position at the start of Sunday
morning to score 62% in set 6 and 64% in set 7, ending with
an average of 59% to just pip the overnight leaders Dhondy
and Pagan.
 John
Hassett
and Michael Byrne with the Northern Pair's Trophy
MCBA Annual General Meeting Was
held
at Manchester Bridge Club on Thursday 27 April 2006.
The most interesting topic was whether the MCBA should
purchase a duplimate machine with some of the £9,000 that it
has in the bank. Would your club be interested in
computer dealt hands for its duplicates, with print outs of
the deals generated? Could regular simultaneous pairs
be held within the MCBA? Let the MCBA Officers
know your views.
Club Tournament Director Course Congratulations
to Steven Mattinson and Peter McWhirter who passed the EBU
course with distinction and Richard Acaster who passed.
More details
on the EBU web site.
Kevin's 65th  Congratulations
to popular local player, teacher and vice-chair of the
association Kevin Comrie who was 65 recently, pictured here
celebrating with his wife, Celia.
A heat of this event was held on Sunday 26th March 2006. The following pairs were successful 1st Yvonne Barnes - Gunter Berzins 65.65% (2nd nationally - well done) 2nd Karen Reissman - Irene Davies 62.78% 3rd George Leigh - Ann Turner 59.97 
Pictured are Manchester Grammar pupils Daniel Perks (facing) and Tom Beach, playing against heat winners Gunter Berzins and Yvonne Barnes Lady Milne Congratulations
to
Michelle Brunner and Rhona Goldenfield who were members of
the victorious England team in the Ladies Home International
event in Northern Ireland on 1st and 2nd April.
Congratulations
to
Michael Byrne and John Hassett who were comfortable victors at
the Northern Pairs Championship held at Bradford Bridge club
on Sunday 25th March. They led throughout and finished on 64%,
three whole boards clear of second place - who were also a
Manchester pair, Dave Audley and Frank Brown.
55 pairs took part in the competition, which is used as a qualifying event for the National pairs, with the top 8 pairs going through. Of the 8 qualifiers, three of them were Manchester partnerships, the 3rd pair being the transatlantic pairing of Frank Mc.Carthy and Neil White. The final is being held in Kettering on April 22nd/23rd. North West Green Point Events 11th-12th March at Risley Swiss
Pairs
1st Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield 2nd Ollie Burgess and Andrew Woodcock 3rd Joy and Irving Blakey Swiss Teams 1st Dave Debbage, Jeff Morris, Kath Nelson, David Adelman 2nd Tracy Capal, Boris Ewart, Jeff Smith Andrew Petrie 3rd Michael Byrne, Ollie Burgess, Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield Full results on EBU web site Commonwealth Games Bridge Silver for England The English team finished the round robin stage in third place. However, they lost a tight semi-final KO match against an Indian team by 15 IMPs after leading by a slender margin at the half way stage. This was for the Gold/Silver medal as only National teams were eligible for medals, they then went on to win the third place play off by defeating an Australin team by 1 IMP. The
Commonwealth
Games Bridge Event took place in Australia from 7th-12th
March. Click here
for the web site. Playing
for
England are Michelle Brunner, John Holland, John Hassett and
Bill Hirst.
Congratulations
to
Michael Byrne and Alex Morris members of England's
victorious Junior Camrose Team on 18th-19th Feb. See
the EBU web site for results.
Congratulations
to John Holland and John Armstong (of Derbyshire) who
received a call up to the Team for the European Championships
to be held in Warsaw this August. Although they lost in final
of the Open Trials John and John were rewarded with a spot in
the highest standard competition in Europe. Many
consider this event to be tougher than the Bermuda Bowl, for
which it is a qualifying event.
The rest of the team are Townsend/Gold and Price/Simpson from London. Surprisingly Justin and Jason Hackett, the country's leading pair and the anchor pair at the last European, Olympiad, and Bermuda Bowl are only reserves. In the Ladies Rhona Goldenfield and Michelle Brunner were once again selected for their 4th consecutive European to be held alongside the Open event, they will be hoping to build upon their Gold medal from 2001, and their Bronze from 2002. Their team mates will be Nicola Smith/Heather Dhondy and the inexperienced partnership of Sarah Teshome/Catherine Jagger. Cantor Cup The
8th
Annual Cantor Cup was held on Sunday February 26th at
Altrincham Bridge Club. This event is for improving
bridge players and those inexperienced in tournaments.
Results22 pairs took part and had an enjoyable and successful afternoon. Many of the Cantor family came and Martin Cantor presented the prizes together with one of his nephews. The Cantor family donated £140 in prizes, together with trophies for the winners (who also get to keep the Cup for a year), complemented by further prizes from MCBA. 1st Peter Bailey and Frank Wetton 64.55% 2nd = Irene Davies and Karen Reissman 63.41% 2nd = Josie Johnson and Joyce Bateson 63.41% 4th Joyce Downie and Margaret Kelly 61.14% 5th Michael Cull and Pauline Cull 54.77% Full list of results on the results page.  Peter Bailey and Frank Whetton between Martin Cantor (right) and nephew (left) Bridge in Oz Manchester Players Enjoy Round the World Success In
the prestigious Surfers Teams competition held annually in
Surfers Paradise, Australia, John Holland and Michelle
Brunner, playing with Paul Marston, Hugh McGann, John
Armstrong and Howard Melbourne won the competition for a 2nd
year in a row.
This tough competition takes the format of a Swiss teams, with the top 4 teams from 200 going through to the knockout stages. The Holland team managed to avoid losing a single set in the whole event, going from strength to strength and leaving all behind them in their wake. In addition, Kath, Alan Nelson and Boris Ewart, along with Peter Hardyment from the South narrowly missed out on qualification for the knockout stages. They more than made up for it by winning the Consolation event, an excellent achievement considering that they weren't in regular or first choice partnerships Gazette Cup Congratulations
to
Manchester A who won the Gazette Trophy held on Sunday 5th
February. They scored 89 out of a possible 100 victory points
and were clear victors by over 30 vps.
This is the 4th year in a row that Manchester A has won the Gazette trophy, they will go on to represent the county in the regional final to be held at Bradford Bridge Club in May, and earn a chance to play in the national final of the Garden Cities trophy, in which they have finished 2nd (2005) and 1st (2003). Second were Altrincham with Bramhall A third of six teams. Golfprint Trophy Congratulations
to
Dunham Golf Club who won the qualifying heat of the Golfprint
Trophy held at Manchester Bridge Club on Thursday 3rd
February.
The Golf print is a competition open to Golf clubs that play bridge, and is limited to one experienced duplicate member per team. Dunham was represented by Nathan Marks and Geoffrey Fink, who first won the Manchester Teams Championship in the 1950's, and County President and Life Master Eve Lighthill playing with Murray Sherman. They will go forward to represent Manchester in the regional final to be held on February 25th. National Swiss Teams In
the National Swiss Teams competition held 21st-22nd January in
Kettering (in a change from the usual Leeds venue) all the
Manchester teams competing acquited themselves well.
Although Audley (Dave Audley, Jeff Smith, Pete Foster,
Peter Jones) lost their first match 19-1 they came back
strongly and were in the top 5 during the last day, dropping
slightly to 10th place, shared equally with Monachan,
containing John Holland and Alan Mould. Slightly ahead of them
were Michael Byrne, Gary Hyett, Justin Hackett, John Hassett
and Brian Cornelius in 8th position.
83 teams took part, and the event was won by a team from Amersham, who are current holders of the Nicko. See EBU site for full results. Farokh Engineer scores his first hundred at Lord's - at BRIDGE! MCC members and guests took part in an inaugral teams of four bridge competition in the famous Long Room at Lord's on Sunday 22nd January. 24 teams took part during six hours of intense competitive play in the magnificent setting of Lord's Long Room.Farokh partnered Manchester Bridge Club proprietor Jeff Morris and their team mates were London players actor, James Smith, and Simon Cocheme. They scored exactly 100 international match points (imps) to win the event 3 imps in front of the second place team consisting entirely of MCC members. Farokh, who played cricket for India and Lancashire and is one of the few honourary Life Members of the MCC, was bowled over by the result - he had never won a bridge competition before! Members of the MCC stood, cheered and applauded when the result was announced by the Chairman of the MCC Bridge Society, Brian Wardlilley. James Smith has been resident in Manchester for the last three months whilst rehearsing and performing in the acclaimed Royal Exchange production of "Harvey". He took the role of the psychiatrist Dr Chumley. He is currently appearing on TV playing the Senior Political Assistant, Glenn Cullen, in the award winning satirical comedy 'The Thick of It' which is now being shown on Monday nights on BBC 2. Whilst in Manchester he managed to fit in a number of bridge sessions at Manchester Bridge Club where he was introduced to Farokh Engineer by club proprietor Jeff Morris. Farokh has played most of his bridge socially and it has only been in the last year or so that he has started to play in competitions. He has become a very enthusiastic player and despite his inexperience he rose to the big ocassion with a level of play and concentration surpassing anything he has done in bridge before. 
Simon
Cocheme,
James Smith, Brian Wardlilley, Farokh Engineer, Jeff Morris
Cantor Cup 2006 1st Peter Bailey and Frank Wetton 64.55% 2nd = Irene Davies and Karen Reissman 63.41% 2nd = Josie Johnson and Joyce Bateson 63.41% 4th Joyce Downie and Margaret Kelly 61.14% 5th Michael Cull and Pauline Cull 54.77% 6th Peter Jackson and Jenny Birchall 54.55% 7th Sue Howorth and Judy Godwin 51.82% 8th Mandy Cohen and Marcia Joseph 51.59% 9th Anne Eddleston and Barbara Vaughan 51.36% 10th Myrna Essayan and Eileen Campbell 50.23% 11th = Lawrence Slack and John Jones 50.00% 11th = Martin Crowther and Dave Welsh 50.00% 13th Gordon Kershaw and Jean Kershaw 49.32% 14th Yvonne Brooks and Betty Hesp 47.50% 15th Val Godlieb and Michael Quinn 47.27% 16th Margaret Harris and Jonathan Harris 46.59% 17th Maureen Walker and Barbara Horn 46.14% 18th Yvonne Ellis and Joan Kelly 41.82% 19th Jean Heap and Jean Robinson 41.59% 20th Eileen Harris and Marjorie Ray 39.09% 21st Sandra Hutterli and Pat Lockey 37.91% 22nd Brenda Swales and Barbara Dickie 35.91% Manchester Congress 7th-8th January Thanks to Kevin Comrie for photos. CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS Winners Joy & Irving Blakey Men’s Pairs Andrew Woodcock & Ollie Burgess Ladies Pairs Sandra Penfold & Nevena Senior Mixed Pairs Kevin & Celia Comrie 2nd place in the Championship pairs Dhun Daji & Howard Stubbings 3rd place in the Championship Pairs Frank Brown & David Audley Tournament Master Pairs Winners (below Regional Master) Ben Beever & Graham Currie 2nd place in the Tournament Masters Pairs Chris Whaley & Colin Nugent Session 1 winners Michael Byrne & Rhona Goldenfield Session 2 winners Tim Smith & Brian Senior Ascenders Andrew McIntosh & Lilla Panahpour CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS Winners Janet de Botton, Nick Sandqvist, Jason Hackett & Justin Hackett Consolation A Final M.Pierce, A.Williams, R,Harper & V.Silverstone Consolation B Final P.Beckwith, A.Marvin, G.Johnson & D.Ackroyd Pairs
Trophies
and Prizes were presented by Barbara Hackett - German Silver
Medallist in the Venice Cup
Teams Prizes and Trophies were presented by Janet de Botton - Captain of 2005 Gold Cup winning team
Pairs 1st Joy & Irving Blakey 2nd Andrew Woodcock & Ollie Burgess 3rd Dhun Daji & Howard Stubbings 4th Sandra Penfold & Nevena Senior 5th Frank Brown & Dave Audley 6th Kevin & Celia Comrie 7th Janet de Botton & Nick Sandqvist 8th Michael Byrne & Rhona Goldenfield 9th Andrew Brocklehurst & Mark Bass 10th Maurice & Anne Super 11th Andrew McIntosh & Lila Panahpour 12th John Rudolf & John Liebeshuetz 13th Mosa Panahpour & Phil King 14th David Pennington & Rod Franks 15th Babs & Tim Matthews 16th Jeff Smith & Bernard Kaye 17th Ross Harper & Victor Silverstone 18th Bill & Joyce White 19th Tim Smith & Brian Senior 20th Ben Beever & Graham Currie (I) 21st Edward Levy & Craig Fisher 22nd Chris Whaley & Colin Nugent (I) 23rd Mark Reeve & David Collier 24th Mick Davies & Mike Green (I) 25th Eve Lighthill & Sid Travers 26th Ruth & James Thrower 27th Raymond Ashleigh & Neil Thomas 28th Gillian McMullan & John Fitzgerald (I) 29th Martin Taylor & Daniel McIntosh Teams Final 1st J de Botton, N. Sandqvist, J. Hackett & J. Hackett 151 VP 2nd M. Byrne, M. Newman, J. Hassett & J. Morris 132 3rd N. Reeve, D. Collier, A. Murphy & T. Slater 126 4th E. Lighthill, I. Kane, D. Olliver & M. Asher 124 5th= S. Herman, B. Lewis, C. Comrie & K. Comrie 123 Sth= E. Thornton—Chan, D. Tattersall,G. Currie & B. Beever 123 7th D. Matthews, B. Hobden, K. Higgins & R. Sinton 120 8th D. Debbage, M. Pitts, C. Fisher & E. Levy 117 9th J. Morris, 3. Morris, D. Baskin & D. McCarthy 115 10th B. Cornelius, G.Hyett, B. Senior & B. Hackett l1O llth= J. White, W. White, B. Matthews & T. Matthews 109 llth= H. Stubbings, D. Daji, E. Rosenbaum & M. Rosenbaum 109 13th B. Kaye, N. Kaye, R.Waddington & A. Trantor 101 Consolation A Final 1st M.Pierce, A.Williams, R,Harper & V.Silverstone 102 VP 2nd P.Worswick, P.Burrows, J.Bayly & R.Bayly 95 3rd A.Greem, D.Stuart, H.Kaye & R.Cooke 89 4th P.Jones, J.Jones, D.Gray & M.Costagliola 87 5th T.Capal, D.Stevenson, J.Pye & J.Smith 82 6th= R.Acaster, C.Benson, D.Lyons & S.Mattinson 75 6th= A.Brown, J.Brown, B.Newgrosh & V.Newgrosh 75 8th R.Allison, P.Richmond, B.Serres & M.Howe 58 9th G.Clarke, P.Clarke, P.Booth & E.Clarke 57 Consolation B Final 1st P.Beckwith, A.Marvin, G.Johnson & D.Ackroyd 113 VP 2nd B.Ewart, J.Luck, R.Goldenfield & B.Goldenfield 106 3rd J.Blakey, 1.Blakey, S,Travers & G.Fink 103 4th J.Rudolf, J.Liebeshuetz, P.Jones & P.Foster 90 5th P.Greaves, B.Greaves, K.Harris & B.Drewery 82 6th R.Ashleigh, N.Thomas, M.Super & A.Super 80 7th G.Cowie, C.Boyd, R.Roberts & J.Rowland 65 8th K.Taylor-Thomas, J.Stelfox, I.Davies & K.Reissmann 57 9th T.Mcaughey, A.McKillop, G.McMullen & J.Fitzgerald 55 10th L.Goldstein, H.Fisher, A.Mattison & R.Rosenthal 49 Novice Events Sat Aft Jan 7th 2006 1 Bill Whiteley & Gwen Raison 118 62.11% 2 Judy Stelfox & Anne Turner 106 55.79 3 Anne Entwistle & June Driver 105 55.26 4 Louis Vincent & Mary Giles 103 54.21 5 Joan Kelly & Yvonne Ellis 101 53.16 6 Joan Braganza & Tony Wilson 98 51.58 7 Tony Hyams & Jacqui Hyams 96 50.53 8= June Farrell & Dorothy Wood 95 50.00 8= Michael Cull & Pauline Cull 95 50.00 10 Anne Shaw & Brenda Jackson 91 47.89 11= Brenda Donough & Liz Neild 85 44.74 11= Jean Kershaw & Gordon Kershaw 85 44.74 13 Bill Philllips & Monica Lyness 63 33.16 Sat Jan 7th 2006-01-09 Sat Night 1 Joan Kelly & Yvonne Ellis 61.25% 2 Ann Entwistle & June Driver 60.63 3 Sue Bailey & Susan Triggs 47.57 4 Louise Vincent & Mary Giles 46.25 5 Tony Hyams & Jacky Hyams 30.63 Sun Aft Jan 8th 2006 NS 1 Pat Gorham & Susan Triggs 102 63.75 2 David Geary & Pat Dunningham 96 60.00 3 Louise Vincent & Mary Giles 80 50.00 4 Ian Clough & Jackie Clough 78 48.75 5 Myrna Essayan & Eileen Campbell 69 43.13 6 Joan Kelly & Yvonne Ellis 59 36.88 EW 1 Maggie McPhillips & Judy Hearson 102 63.75 2 Dave welsh & Martin Crowther 82 51.25 3 Stella Beswick & Rita Bradbury 80 50.00 4 Nigel Catterall & Phil Hayward 79 49.38 5 Pat Turner & Elaine Edwards 74 46.25 6 William Maude & Christine Butterworth 66 41.25 Sun Eve Jan 8th 2006 NS 1 Sue Bailey & Susan Triggs 102 61.25 2 Anne Turner & George Leigh 134 55.83 3 David Geary & Pat Dunningham 125 52.08 4 Louise Vincent & Mary Giles 121 50.42 5 Marie Hoctor & Monica Lyness 98 40.83 6 Barbara Hamburger & Gwen Niemand 95 39.58 6 EW 1 William Maude & Christine Butterworth 143 59.58 2 Dave Welsh & Martin Crowther 135 56.25 3 Ann Entwistle & June Driver 113 47.08 4 Joan Kelly & Yvonne Ellis 111 46.25 5 Vanessa James & Gerald Slack 110 45.83 6 Maggie McPhillips & Judy Hearson 108 45.00 County Cup 2005-6 (Pachabo Qualifier)
TEAMSD.AUDLEY
F.Brown, M.Bass, M.Super Brocklehurst
M.BYRNE
A.Morris, B.Hirst,J.Hassett,M.Newman
R.GOLDENFIELD B.Goldenfield,M.Brunner,J.Holland
B.KAYE
D.Tobias, G.Cohen,B.Mendelsohn
B.LEWIS P Foster,S.Herman,
K&C.Comrie,P.Jones
J.SMITH
D. Adelman M Clarke M Braid
R.SEMP D.Robson, J & I BlakeyLeague
2005-6
Roy Higson Cup and Plate Finals April 2006
The Roy Higson Cup and Plate finals were played at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 9th April. Winners of the Cup were Joy and Irving Blakey, Leslie Klein and David Barton who just held on to their half time lead to beat Rhona Goldenfield, Michelle Brunner, Bernard Goldenfield and Boris Ewart. In third place were Michael Newman, Dave Debbage, Craig Fisher and Rodney Lighton. The plate was won by DASH from Altrincham Bridge Club - Ian Kane, Barry Davies, David Olliver and Raymond Semp.
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