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Manchester
County Bridge Association |
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2017
News and Results
Blackpool
Year End
Manchester pairs dominated the Swiss Pairs at the
year end congress on 28-29th December. Bernard
and Rhona Goldenfield won just ahead of John Holland
and Alan Mould (who had won the previous three
years) with Andy Green and Haidee Tattersall doing
very well to finish in third place. Full
results are on the EBU web site.
Manchester Bridge Club New Weekday Venue
From the 2nd of January Manchester Bridge Club is
moving its weekday activities (Monday to
Thursday) i.e. duplicates, teams matches and
teaching activities to
The Card Room, Grosvenor Casino, Parrs Wood Entertainment Centre, Wilmslow Road M20 5PG. Rubber bridge and weekend events will continue at the Palatine Road venue for the time being. See the Manchester Bridge Club web site for more details. Click here for a map and more information. Senior Trials
The trials for the Teltscher Trophy team took place
in Solihull on 16-17th December. Gary Hyett
and Alan Mould playing with Barry Myers and Rob
Sheehan finished in fourth place out of six, John
Holland playing with Gunnar Hallberg, David Mossop,
David Burn, Paul Hackett and Brian Senior in fifth
place. Results are on the EBU web site.
League Update (2nd Dec) The league has been running for several months now and most teams have played around three matches. In division 1 last year's winners Mouldy Mutton Tours (Adrian Kenworthy) have taken the lead with two wins and a draw. Smash the System (Irene Davies) have played five matches with three big wins and two small losses to head division 2 ahead of Sedgley (Bernard Kaye) and Cheshire Cheeses (Paul Roberts). Roger Hopton's New Connections head division three, though they have only played two matches so far. Division four is headed by Conquering Hearts (Haidee Tattersal) and Ashton Aces (Gordon Bickley) who both have a 100% record, albeit they have each only played one match. Trafford Tigers (Jean Santo) lead division five having played three matches. Jems (Peter Elton) have played one match in division six and won by a large score, which places them at the top. Finally in division seven 4 Bridgemates (Margaret Harris) have won the first three of their scheduled six matches to take a healthy lead. Tollemache Selection
The team for the Tollemache final in February will
be John Holland, Ollie Burgess, Michael Byrne,
Michael Newman, Jeff Morris, John Hassett, Catherine
Draper and Andrew Woodcock. Ollie Burgess
replaces Gary Hyett, otherwise the team is the same
as that which qualified in November. Gary will
be in Australia representing England in the
Commonwealth games event. Rhona Goldenfield is
non-playing captain.
Ben Franks The qualifier for the Corwen Trophy was held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 3rd December. 23 pairs competed which meant that everyone played two boards against every other pair. Winners were Michael Byrne and Michael Newman with an excellent score of 64%, the other qualifiers for the Corwen were Joy and Irving Blakey, Barbara Lewis and Alec Smalley and Eddie Thornton-Chan and Graham Currie. Detailed results are on the Manchester Bridge Club web site. This is the third win in a row for Michael Byrne, who won last year with John Holland and in 2015 with Michael Newman. Michael Newman has also won the last three times that he played, winning in 2014 with Alan Mould, not playing in 2016. The player of the year spreadsheet has now been updated, Michael Newman has taken the lead in the expert category, while Jonathan Engler and Adam Wiseberg lead in the intermediate category. Thanks to Jeff Smith for directing and to Ann Thornton for organising.
Llangollen Swiss Teams In the Welsh Bridge Union event over the weekend of 25-26th November Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield, John Holland and Jackie Pye won just ahead of Michael Byrne's team (Fiona Brown, Hugh McGann, Ciaran Coyle). Full results are on the WBU site. Tollemache Qualifying The
Manchester team of Michael Byrne, Michael Newman, John
Holland, Gary Hyett, Jeff Morris, John Hassett,
Catherine Draper and Andrew Woodcock played at
Solihull in the inter counties teams of eight over the
weekend of 18th-19th November in the qualifier for the
final in February. They were drawn in a tough
group including London, Cambs and Hunts, the North
East and Surrey. They won the group convincingly
ahead of Cambs and Hunts. All four pairs did
well on the cross IMPs with Jeff and John heading the
list just ahead of Andrew and Catherine. Full
results are on the EBU web site.
Pendle Witch Pairs Manchester
pairs were out in force at Brierfield on Sunday 12th
November. Congratulations to John Currie and
Kath Nelson who won ahead of Janet Tolan and Andy
Green with last year's winners Boris Ewart and Peter
Foster third. This is John Currie's third win
in four years in this event. Full results are
on the Brierfield
club site.
Autumn Intermediate Pairs 24
pairs took part at Altrincham on Sunday 5th November
and had an enjoyable afternoon. Thanks to
Barbara Lewis for organising and to Joan Lewis for her
excellent directing.
County Seminars Michael Byrne will give two seminars for county players this autumn. The first will be held at Manchester Bridge Club on Saturday afternoon 28th October for county C players and other interested players. The second will be at Cheadle Hulme Bridge Club on Saturday afternoon 2nd December for county B players and other interested players. Invitations will be sent out by the match secretary in the next few days, but if you are interested in attending please contact him. There is plenty of space so as many of the county's members are welcome as is practical. Premier League Michael
Byrne playing with Kieran Dyke was in the team that
finished second in the EBU's Premier League over
three weekends in September and November.
Michael and Kieran were the second best pair in the
cross IMP ranking.
In the second division the Manchester team of John Hassett, Jeff Morris, Alec Smalley, Tom Slater, Catherine Draper and Andrew Woodcock were second and are promoted to the top division next year. Roger Waddington We are sorry to hear of the premature death
of Roger Waddington, a regular participant in county
and national events for many years.
Much of his bridge was played online at
Bridge Club Live and he will be sorely missed by his
many bridge playing friends both there and face to
face.
Condolences are extended to his widow Pam
and all his family.
Bernard
Kaye
Lancashire Congress Congratulations to John Holland and Rodney Lighton who won the Swiss Pairs at Brierfield on Saturday 28th October averaging over 17 VPs per match. Gary Hyett was third playing with Alan Cooke. In the Swiss Teams on Sunday at Bolton Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield won playing with Jackie Pye and Jeff Smith of Lancashire. Second were Gary Hyett, Alan Cooke, Raymond Semp and Henry Bissell. Full results are on the LCBA web site.
Northern Bridge League The
annual review meeting for the Northern Bridge League
took place in Bradford on Thursday 26th October.
The dates and provisional venues for 2018 are on the NBL web site click here. The national league final is provisionally booked for Sunday 24th June for which the Manchester A team qualified. Manchester will enter two teams in the C division next year. EBU Holiday Congress Congratulations
to Joy and Irving Blakey winners of the Swiss Teams at
Halkidiki with Tom Gisborne and Sandy Davies of
Yorkshire on 15th October. Second were Bill and
Joyce White playing with Babs and Tim Matthews of
Cumbria. Results are on the EBU web site.
NBL
Final
Matches
The
Manchester A1 team left it late this year, going into
the last round of matches they were level with
Lancashire and only a few ahead of the Yorkshire
teams. However, a solid performance at Bolton
left them winners by a clear margin. John
Holland, Alan Mould, Michael Byrne, Michael Newman,
Alec Smalley, Tom Slater, John Currie and Rodney
Lighton won all their matches to finish 23 VPs clear
of Lancashire. The Manchester A2 team produced
their best ever performance, David Barton, Leslie
Klein, Peter Foster, John Roberts, Howard Stubbings,
Dhun Daji, John Stell and Peter Jones were second on
the day but remained sixth overall. Top on the
cross IMPs were John and Alan with Alec and Tom second
overall.
In the B division at Bradford Manchester won by a huge margin on the day which moved them from sixth to third overall. The team was David Olliver, Howard Kay, Robert & Joyce Jones, Gillian McMullan, Neil Thomas, Herbert Potts and Sylvia Massey. Gillian and Neil were top on the cross IMP rankings with all pairs positive. In the C division at Manchester the team of Joan Lewis, Roy Higginbottom, Liz & Steve Halstead, Susan Triggs, Graham Winn, Tricia Blum and Simon Townsend finished second on the day, but did not improve their overall position. Susan and Graham were the best Manchester pair on cross IMPs. Thanks to all the players who have turned out for the county this season. More details and results to follow later today.  The Manchester A1 team minus John Holland Rodney Lighton, Alan Mould, Michael Byrne, Michael Newman Alec Smalley, Tom Slater, John Currie Great
Northern
Swiss Pairs
Selections The selection committee has made the following selections.
Cumbria GP Weekend Congratulations
to Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield who won the Swiss
Pairs at Kendal on 24th September. For results click
here.
 Rhona and Bernard Goldenfield Premier League in Manchester Manchester Bridge club hosted the second weekend of the Premier League for the top two divisions on 23rd-24th September. Manchester players participating are Michael Byrne, Alan Mould and John Holland in division 1, Jeff Morris, John Hassett, Alec Smalley and Tom Slater in division 2 and Ollie Burgess in division 3. Results are on the EBU web site. At the end of the second weekend Michael Byrne is in the second team in division one and Jeff Morris, John Hassett, Alec Smalley and Tom Slater are second in division two. Guernsey Congress In the Senior's pairs on the 13th Sept. at the EBU congress Joy and Irving Blakey won with Rhona and Bernard Goldenfield third. The Goldenfields and the Blakeys won the multiple teams on the 14th Sept. and the seniors teams on the 14-15th Sept. and were second in the Swiss teams on the final weekend. Congress results are on the EBU web site. Northern Bridge League The
third round (of four) of the Northern League was
played on Saturday 9th September at Bradford,
Keighley and Brierfield for the A, B and C teams
respectively.
In the A division the A1 team of David Barton/Leslie Klein, Alan & Kath Nelson, John Roberts/Pete Foster, Gary Hyett/Michael Newman finished second on the day and moved into first equal position overall. The A2 team of Nicholas Greer/Henry Bissell, Herbert Potts/Sylvia Massey, Rodney Lighton/Royce Alexander, Marcelo & Elena Rosenbaum were sixth and remain in sixth place overall, but did have the satisfaction of beating the A1 team in their individual match. Gary and Michael were best on the cross IMP scores with Pete and John also doing well. In
the B division Eve Lighthill/Ken Hassell, Dhun
Daji/Howard Stubbings, Rod Franks/Steve Mattinson,
Roger Hopton/David Fussell finished fifth equal and
now lie sixth equal overall. Ken and Eve did
well on the cross IMPs.
In the C division Karen Reissmann/Irene Davies, Joan Lewis/Barbara Eastabrook, Adam Wiseberg/Jonathan Engler, Michael Wymer/Stephen Ward were seventh and now lie sixth overall. John Currie, Rodney Lighton, Nicholas Greer and Neil Thomas won the Swiss teams at Bolton on 3rd September for the third year running. Stephen Ward and Michael Wymer were second in the consolation pairs on the previous day. Congratulations to all, results are on the Bolton web site. Northern Bridge League The
second round of matches took place on Saturday 19th
August.
In the A division at Bradford the teams were A1 Michael Byrne/Michael Newman, John Holland/Gary Hyett, Kath & Alan Nelson, Leslie Klein/David Barton and A2 Rodney Lighton/Royce Alexander, John Parsons/Nicholas Greer, Joy & Irving Blakey, Joyce & Bill White. The A1 team were second and remain in second place overall while the A2 team were fifth, but stay in sixth place. Michael and Michael and Royce and Rodney were best on the cross IMPs. In the B division at Manchester the team of Howard Stubbings/Dhun Daji, Jeanne & Ron Bayly, Ken Hassell/Adam Wiseberg, Eve Lighthill/Raymond Semp finished seventh and dropped to fifth overall. Howard and Dhun did well on the cross IMPs. In the C division at Leeds Karen Reissmann/Irene Davies, Elena & Marcelo Rosenbaum, Gordon Bickley/Ann Farquhar, Gilbert Fletcher/Steve Mattinson were third on the day and remain in fourth position overall. Irene and Karen were our best pair on the cross IMPs. See the NBL site for detailed results. Venice Cup Catherine Draper played on the England Womens Team in the world championships in Lyons from 12th to 26th August, she partnered Nicola Smith with Sally Brock, Fiona Brown, Nevena Senior and Sandra Penfold being the other players. England reached the final against China, having won a tense semi-final against Sweden, but lost, conceding after five of the six sets. Preston Blue Point Pairs Congratulations
to Ann Thornton and Mary Green who finished second in
the 12 table event at Preston on Sunday 6th August.
Eastbourne The EBU's main congress of the year took place from 4th to 13th August. In the Swiss Pairs played over the first weekend Alan Nelson and John Holland were fourth and Kath Nelson and Jeff Smith were eighth. In the Senior's pairs Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield were second with John Holland and Alan Nelson third. Michael Byrne won the GCH Fox pairs with Jonathan Richards. In the Mixed Pivot Teams John Holland, Peter Jones and Raymond Semp were second playing with Karen Harris. Michael Byrne won the Thursday Open Pairs with Karen Harris. Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield, Alan and Kath Nelson won the Seniors Swiss Teams. Michael Byrne and Rhona Goldenfield were second in the Mixed Pairs. John Holland and Michael Byrne won the point a board teams with Mike and Sarah Bell. And finally Michael Byrne rounded off a very successful week by winning the Four Star Teams with Kieran Dyke, Mike Bell, Sarah Bell and Marion Robertson.
Scarborough Summer Congress Congratulations
to Joyce and Bill White who won the B teams with Babs
Matthews and John Farmer of Cumbria on Sunday 30th
July in the EBU congress.
Full results of the congress are on the EBU web site.  Bill and Joyce White, Babs Matthews and John Farmer Derbyshire Match The annual Manchester v Derbyshire Match took place on the 30th July at Manchester Bridge Club. The Manchester players were: Team 1: Joan Lewis & Anne Jordan / Barbara Eastabrook & Karen Jones, Team 2 : Henry Bissell & Josh Clarke / Kevin Higgins & Richard Sinton, Team 3 : George Leigh & John Moran / Elena & Marcelo Rosenbaum. After losing by 54 imps in the first half, Manchester almost regained the lead, but ended up losing a very friendly match by 5 imps. Thanks to Rocky Bullin for directing. Team 1 scored best overall, but congratulations go to Henry and Josh, the only pair to bid the slam on the following hand - even if it wasn't text book bidding! A10xxx KJx QJ1098 -- KQJ987 A853 K 10x Thanks to Joan Lewis for the above report Green Point Swiss Teams The Green Point Swiss Teams was held at Altrincham on Sunday 22nd July. Well done to winners John Holland, Gillian Whyte, Pat Burrows and Pauline Lang. Second were Alan Mould, Michael Newman, Toby Nonnenmacher and Raymond Semp. Thanks to organisers Rhona and Bernard Goldenfield, directors David Stevenson and Joan Lewis and to Barbara Eastabrook for providing the photos. The player of the year spreadsheet has now been updated for this event.
Michelle Brunner Memorial The annual charity Mixed Pivot Teams event was held at Manchester Bridge Club on Saturday 21st July. Over £2000 was raised for Christies and the St. Ann's Hospice. 21 teams took part with John Morrell, Jim Luck, Peter Jones and Marianne Farr winning ahead of Kevin and Celia Comrie, Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield. The Intermediate winners were Graham Winn, Susan Triggs, Diana Calvert and Hazel Powell. Thanks to all who participated and to those volunteers who gave freely of time and effort.
President's Cup The
inter county teams of eight weekend took place at
Manchester Bridge Club on 15-16th July. There
was a smaller entry than usual with only six counties
competing.
However, Manchester won ahead of Yorkshire. The Manchester team was David Barton, John Holland, Robert Myers, Alec Smalley, Tom Slater (who played both days) Royce Alexander, Jeff Morris and John Hassett (who played on Saturday), Leslie Klein, Kath and Alan Nelson, who played on Sunday. Results are on the Manchester Bridge Club web site.  The Manchester team for Sunday (Marieke Quant assistant TD) Alec Smalley, David Barton, Rob Myers, Leslie Klein, Kath Nelson, John Holland, Tom Slater, Alan Nelson Northern League and National Finals The first round of the Northern League took place on Saturday 8th July. In the A division at Keighley the Manchester A1 team of Pete Foster/John Roberts, David Barton/Leslie Klein, Nicholas Greer/Neil Thomas. Alec Smalley/Tom Slater were second well behind Yorkshire 2. The Manchester A2 team, Raymond Semp/Peter Jones, Karen Jones/Barbara Eastabrook, John Parsons/Josh Clarke, Gordon Bickley/Ann Farquhar fared less well. On the cross IMPs Pete and John did well. In
the B division at Bradford the team did well to lead
the field. The team was Steve Mattinson/Rod
Franks, Adam Wiseberg/David Olliver, Eddie
Thornton-Chan/Tony Hodgson, Roger Hopton/Andy
Green. Eddie and Tony and Roger and Andy were
our leading pairs on the cross IMPs.
In the C division at Manchester the team finished fourth out of seven. Playing were Susan Triggs/Graham Winn/Kevin Higgins/Richard Sinton, Victor Ridding/Mary Green, Michael Wymer/Stephen Ward. Here Michael and Stephen and Victor and Mary were best on cross IMPs. The National finals for those teams which had won the Northern league last summer took place at Coventry on Sunday 9th July. Congratulations to the B team of Eve Lighthill/Ken Hassell, Robert & Joyce Jones, Gillian McMullan/Neil Thomas, Peter Foster/John Roberts who won the B division. In the A division Alan Mould/Michael Newman, Alec Smalley/Tom Slater, Kath & Alan Nelson, Bernard & Rhona Goldenfield were second. For full results click here.  Gillian McMullan, Robert Jones, Eve Lighthill, Peter Foster, John Roberts, Joyce Jones, Neil Thoms, Ken Hassell Peter Watson Only
the longest standing members of the county will
remember Peter Watson who died on 22nd June.
Peter was one of the most talented players of his era
and a great mentor to the generation of Manchester
University players of the early seventies. As a
player his best achievement was winning the National
Swiss Teams in 1992. Sadly, ill health meant
that he participated little in later years. He
left the Manchester area to live near London when his
wife's job moved and they returned to the Manchester
area a few years ago when Frances retired. He
was always full of ideas and fun to associate
with. Our condolences to his wife and children.
Hubert Phillips Final
The
final of the EBU Mixed Pivot Teams was held at
Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday June 25th.
Around 20 spectators turned up at one time or
another. Michael
Byrne, Ollie Burgess, Fiona Brown and Hugh McGann beat
Jeff
Smith,
Jackie Pye, Alan Mould, John Holland over 60
boards. Four of the eight finalists were
Manchester players. Paul Hackett presented the
trophy.
Garden Cities Trophy The
final
of the Garden Cities Trophy was held at Solihull
Bridge Club on Saturday 24th June. Due to
holidays and other absences Manchester Bridge Club
had great difficulty in getting a team
together. Despite this Manchester Bridge
Club managed to win this event for the fifth time
in thirty years scoring 110 Victory Points out of
140. They won six and drew one of their seven
matches. The fifth win now equals the total
of Coventry Bridge Club. Well done to:-
This is the third win in the event for Jeff, John, Bernard, Rhona and Michael. Edward
Levy & Rob Myers have only played together on
half a dozen occasions while Newman & Debbage
last played a competitive game together exactly
ten years ago in June 2007.  John Hassett, Rhona and Bernard Goldenfield, Michael Newman Jeff Morris, Dave Debbage, Ed Levy, Rob Myers European Open The
European Open Championships were held at Montecatini,
Italy from 10th-24th June. Michael Byrne and
John Holland from Manchester played in some of the
events. The event
web
site is here.
 EBL inaugural Hall of Fame Benito Garozzo, Geir Helgemo, John Holland, Apolinary Kowalski, Nicola Smith and Sylvie Willard Summer Intermediate Pairs The
Intermediate Pairs at Altrincham on Sunday 11th June
attracted a good entry of 28 pairs who had an
enjoyable afternoon. Winners by a large margin
were Graham Winn and Susan Triggs. Thanks to
Barbara Lewis and Ann Thornton for organising and to
Joan Lewis for directing. Detailed results are
on the Altrincham Club web site.
Pachabo Cup Manchester's
representatives
in the inter county teams of four on 10-11th June were
Catherine Draper, Andrew Woodcock, Jeff Morris and
John Hassett. They qualified by winning the
Goldstone Trophy. After an average first day
they stormed through the field to maintain
Manchester's fine recent record in this event by
finishing second to Kent. In the last four years
Manchester have finished second three times and won
once.
Corwen Trophy Congratulations
to Michael Byrne and John Holland who won the inter
county pairs event at Northampton on 3rd-4th
June. They led after three of the four
sessions and finished with a score of 61%.
This is only the third time a Manchester pair has
won this event, John Holland having last won it in
1991 with Alan Nelson. Alan Mould and Alec
Smalley finished a creditable tenth, the other
Manchester representatives John Parsons/Nicholas
Greer and John Currie/Rodney Lighton were just above
half way.
 Michael Byrne, John Holland Bank Holiday Events Congratulations
to Michael Byrne who won the Swiss Teams at Stratford
on Monday 29th May with Stephen Kennedy, Ben Norton
and Andrew Murphy. Results are on the EBU web
site.
Meanwhile
at
Bolton John Holland, Alan Mould, Raymond Semp and John
Hassett won the Swiss Teams ahead of Janet Tolan, Andy
Green, Michael Wymer and Stephen Ward. Results are
on the Bolton
web site.Annual General Meeting The
AGM of the association was held on Thursday 25th May
at Manchester Bridge Club.
Presentations were made to league winners, PotY winners and to retiring secretary Michael Newman who had served for ten years and to Haidee Tattersal who had served as treasurer for two years. Jeff Smith received a presentation for all the work that he does for the county. Ken Hassell also retired from the selection committee after several years including a couple as chair. Alan Mould takes over as secretary, Peter Green as treasurer and Adam Wiseberg was elected to the selection committee.
Officers' reports.
John Armstrong Pairs About
a dozen Manchester pairs went to Merseyside on
Sunday 21st May for the John Armstrong Swiss Pairs
event. Successful were Steve Mattinson and
Pauline Lang in second place, Kevin Higgins and
Richard Acaster third, Rodney Lighton and John
Currie fourth and Janet Tolan and Andy Green
fifth. They were, however, a long way behind
winners David Flacks and Paul Roberts from
Merseyside. Full results are on the Manchester
and Altrincham bridge club web sites.
Teltscher Trophy The
Senior Camrose took place on 19th-21st May in
Belfast. John Holland played for England with
team mates Nick Irens, David Kendrick, Tony
Forrester and Norman Selway. The team won
ahead of Ireland, full results are on the Irish web site.
League and Cup Rules The rules for the league and Higson Cup and Plate have been revised for the 2017-18 season. They can be read by going to the league page and clicking on League Handbook. National Swiss Teams Congress Manchester players were in each of the top three teams at the Swiss Teams in Solihull on 13-14th May. Michael Byrne's team (Toby Nonnenmacher, Ed Jones, Kieran Dyke) won. Catherine Draper and Andrew Woodcock were second playing with Nicola Smith and Michael Prior and John Holland was third with Ben Green, Barry Myers and Sally Brock. Full results are on the EBU web site.  Kieran Dyke, Michael Byrne, Toby Nonnenmacher and Ed Jones Calendar I
have added many events in neighbouring counties to the
calendar page. Please let me know of any
errors/omissions
National League Finals The selection committee has selected the following players for the National League A and B finals on July 9th in Coventry. A team: Alec Smalley/TomSlater, Kath & Alan Nelson, Rhona & Bernard Goldenfield, Michael Newman/Alan Mould. B team: John Roberts/Peter Foster, Joyce & Robert Jones, Eve Lighthill/Ken Hassell, Gillian McMullan/Neil Thomas. The teams qualified for these finals by winning their respective divisions in the Northern League last summer. Madeline Berney Swiss Pairs Congratulations
to Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield who won at Brierfield
on Sunday 30th April. Results are on the Lancashire
web site
EBU Spring Fours The
EBU's double elimination event took place over the
May day bank holiday weekend. By Sunday
evening (end of round 3) Marion Robertson's team
including Michael Byrne and Toby Nonnenmacher's team
including John Hassett and John Holland were once
defeated. They played each other in round 6,
resulting in a narrow victory for Michael's
team. Michael's team then lost in the quarter
finals to Zia. Results are on the EBU web
site.
Goldstone Final The
final of the Goldstone Trophy took place on Sunday 7th
May at Manchester Bridge club. Congratulations
to Jeff
Morris's team (John Hassett, Catherine Draper, Andrew
Woodcock) with Ollie Burgess, Rob Myers in earlier
rounds who won a close match by 8 IMPs against Michael
Byrne's
team (Michael Newman, Alan Mould, John Holland, Gary
Hyett, Rodney Lighton). The winners will go on
to represent Manchester in the Pachabo in June, where
Manchester have finished second, first and second in
the last three years.
Garden Cities Regional Final Well done to the Manchester Bridge Club team of Alan Mould, Michael Newman, John Holland, Robert Myers, David Debbage, John Hassett, Andrew Woodcock and Catherine Draper who won the regional final of the inter clubs team of eight at Bradford on Saturday 6th May. They go on to the national finals in June. Full results are on the EBU web site. Thirty Years of MCBA MCBA
was
established in 1987 when the North West split into
three seperate counties. Click
here to read a brief history of the county.
Player of the Year Congratulations
to Adam Wiseberg who has won the intermediate
category one point ahead of Barbara Eastabrook, with
Sally Bray and Judith Dunkerley in joint third
place.
In the expert category Alan Mould and John Holland were joint winners. Congratulations to all winners and high scoring players. League Update (9th May) Congratulations to Mouldy Mutton Tours (Adrian Kenworthy, Jason Hackett, Alan Mould, Ollie Burgess) who have won the league winning all their matches. Isolated Menaces (Rhona & Bernard Goldnefield, John Hassett, John Holland) finished second with St Titus (Michael Byrne) third. In division two last year's relegated teams The North Star (Mike Hart) and Team Mayhem (Neil Thomas) are promoted. In division three Smash the System (Irene Davies) just beat Bank (Nigel Pearce) both winning eight out of nine. In division four Hydrangeas (Gordon Johnson) and Manchester A (Ray Ashleigh) are promoted. In division five The Four Dummies (Karen Jones) and Ashton Aces (Gordon Bickley) are promoted. In division six Overtrick Lunatics (Faye Georgiou) and LastMinute.bid (Adam Wiseberg) are promoted. In division seven, School of Slamwich, the University team captained by Henry Bissell have won the division. Touching the Void (Ally Olliver) won the final match of the season to join them in promotion. Congratulations to all division winners and promoted teams, condolences to those relegated. We hope to see you all back next year for another league season. Thanks to Kath Nelson for her hard work in running the league. Higson Cup and Plate Finals The multi-team finals of the Higson Cup and Plate finals were held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 23rd April. In the cup Adrian Kenworthy's team held a small half-time lead over Michael Newman's team, but in a second half of very interesting and swingy boards Inverted Minors leapt from fourth to first place, with Michael Newman's team second and Adrian's team third. In the plate competiton The Four Dummies (Barbara Eastabrook, Richard Acaster, Susan McGeechan & Judy Yates) led at half time and held on despite a strong second half from New Connections who moved from fifth to second place. Thanks to Kath Nelson for organising, Irene Davies for helping and Joan Lewis and Jeff Smith for directing. Higson Cup
Higson Plate
Easter Festivals In the Northern event Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield won the mixed pairs, John Holland and Jeff Smith won the open pairs, both on Good Friday. At Ilkley John Holland/Alan Mould won the Swiss Pairs with Kath & Alan Nelson third and Irene Davies/Karen Reissmann seventh in a field of 44 pairs. In London Ollie Burgess had an excellent result winning the pairs with David Bakhshi in a field of over 100 pairs. In the Swiss Teams at Ilkley Bernard & Rhona Goldenfield, Kath & Alan Nelson won.
Intermediate Swiss Pairs A new venture for the county, the Intermediate Swiss Pairs, at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 9th April proved popular with 32 pairs entering. They played five rounds of five board matches. Winners were Annie Curtis and Jackie Lowrie with a good score of 79 VPs, five ahead of joint second David Tattersall/Graham Wood and Lynda Grundy/Sheila Nolan. Detailed results are on the Manchester Bridge Club web site. Thanks to Joan Lewis for directing, Irene Davies for presenting prizes, Susan Triggs and Graham Winn for organising and taking photos.
Wrexham The
North Wales association held a Swiss weekend on 1st-2nd
April at Wrexham. Pat Burrows and Pauline Lang
were second in the pairs with Jeff Morris/Tracy Capal
and Peter Jones/Paddy Murphy joint third. In the
teams Gary Hyett/Tracy Capal with Bernard and Rhona
Goldenfield won narrowly ahead of Peter Jones'
team. Congratulations to all. Full results
are on the North Wales web site.
Goldstone Final The
Goldstone Cup final will be a repeat of last year's
final with Michael Byrne (Michael Newman, John Holland,
Alan Mould, Gary Hyett, Rodney Lighton) playing Jeff
Morris (John Hassett, Catherine Draper, Andrew Woodcock,
Ollie Burgess, Rob Myers). The winners go on to
represent Manchester in the Pachabo (inter counties team
of four) in Daventry in June.
Peter Hishmurgh We are sorry to report the death of Peter Hishmurgh on Saturday 25th March. Although he hadn't played much in recent years Peter was a keen participant in earlier times, usually playing with his wife, Joyce. They had many successes at local level winning the Higson Plate on numerous occasions as well as the Higson Cup and Manchester teams. For an account of a nicely played hand by Peter look at the 1999 archive page where he brought home a tricky slam to help to win the BBL Swiss Teams. Our condolences to Joyce and family. Hubert Phillips - Manchester Final Following
on from Jeff Smith's team's win in the semi-finals (see
below), Michael Byrne's team (Ollie Burgess, Fiona Brown,
Hugh McGann) beat Sally Brock's team at Spondon on
Saturday 19th March to set up a final featuring a majority
of Manchester players for the first time since 1999 when
the final was held at Manchester Bridge Club with a large
crowd of spectators watching.
Congratulations to Jeff Smith, John Holland, Alan Mould and Rhona Goldenfield (substituting for Jackie Pye who is recovering from a recent operation) who have reached the final of the EBU's Mixed Teams Championship. They beat the Hinden team in the semi finals and will play the winners of Michael Byrne vs Sally Brock. Cumbria Congress The
Cumbria Congress took place over the weekend of 17-19th
March.
In the Mixed Pairs on Friday Steve Mattinson and Pauline Lang won, with John Holland and Jackie Pye third. In the Ladies pairs Joyce White was second playing with Babs Matthews. Joy and Irving Blakey were third in the Championship Pairs. All results are on the Cumbria web site. National Pairs A
number of Manchester pairs went to Bradford on Sunday 12th
March to play in the Northern heat of the National Pairs
qualifying. Only John Roberts and Pete Foster were
successful, finishing second at Bradford after a big
second session and qualifying for the national final next
month.
Green Point Pairs There
was a full house at Altrincham on Saturday 4th March where
fifty pairs competed in the Swiss Pairs.
Congratulations to the joint winners Jeff Smith/Alan
Nelson and Marianne Farr/John Morrell who were ahead of
Kath Nelson/Jeff Morris in third place.
Thanks to Rhona Goldenfield for organising this enjoyable event assisted by Bernard and committee members. Also thanks to the directors David Stevenson and Joan Lewis for running the event efficiently.
More details on the Altrincham and Manchester Club web sites PotY results have been updated. In the Intermediate category Adam Wiseberg has taken the lead, John Holland still leads the expert category.
Cantor Cup This annual event for inexperienced tournament players was held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 26th February. 25 pairs had an enjoyable introduction
to a County bridge event. The event was organised by
Barbara Lewis and ably directed by Joan Lewis, with
sponsorship from the Cantor family - resulting from
their generous donation to MCBA. Manchester
Bridge Club provided an excellent afternoon tea.
1st Neville Toft & Mathew Stibbe 66.80 2nd Tim O'Connor & John O'Connor 65.82 3rd David Rigby & Malcolm Allum 60.65 4th Vicci Johnson & Robin Johnson 58.30 5th Jan Lancaster & Ann Morris 56.59 6th Shirley Leak & Phillipe Noel 55.43 7th Sheila Wimbleton & Chris Richardson 54.58 8th Vera Lowson & Stephen Fernley 53.91 9th John Rudd & Mike Whiteoak 53.72 10th Josh Clarke & Josh Roberts 53.40 11th Richard Aubery & Mike Faust 52.89 12th Suzanne Beckett & Roy Beckett 52.48 13th Richard Mallard & Lynn Mallard 52.31 14th Pat Shea & Bernard Shea 52.17 15th Carole Whitehurst & Sue Berry 50.17 16th Sue Freeman & Diana Gruber Milne 49.64 17th Rocky Bullin & Peter Chua 49.02 18th Edmund Ross & Henry Bissell 47.24 19th Nigel Campbell & Tessa Connolly 46.11 20th Simon Burgess & Lauren Robertson 42.41 21st Dave Moules & Hilary Moules 37.72 22nd Gillian Maguire & Diane Kelsall 37.34 23rd Peter & Anne Shakespeare 36.33 24th Julia Faulkner & Lynn Parkin 34.97 25th Mike Kilkenny & Debbie Kennedy 32.80 Detailed results are on the Manchester Bridge Club web site
Tollemache Final Manchester finsihed sixth in the inter counties team of eight final in Solihull on February 11th & 12th. The team was never in contention, winning three out of seven matches. Playing for the county were Michael Byrne & Michael Newman, Andrew Woodcock & Catherine Draper, John Holland & Alan Mould (playing captain), Alec Smalley & Tom Slater. Full results are on the EBU site. Alan and John were our best pair on cross IMPs just ahead of Catherine and Andrew. Gazette Trophy The favourites, Manchester, were lying third at the break, behind Cheadle Hulme and Altrincham, but pulled ahead in the last match to win 7 VPs ahead of Cheadle Hulme. Manchester go on to represent the county in the regional finals of the Garden Cities Trophy. Altrincham (Eastabrook) won the trophy for the best intermediate team. Rodney Lighton won the picture quiz. Thanks to Ann Thornton, Barbara Lewis and Irene Davies for their hard work in organising the event and to Joan Lewis for directing efficiently. Player of the Year scores have been updated. There has been no change in the leading places.
For cross IMP scores click here. Bridge Overseas Congress Lisbon Joy and Irving Blakey made an excellent start in this event, winning the pre-congress pairs on 2nd Feb and the Swiss pairs on the 3rd-4th Feb. They completed a successful holiday by finishing second in the Swiss Teams with Sandy Davies and Warner Solomon. Full results are on the EBU web site. Chester Congress Rodney
Lighton and John Currie were first equal in the pairs final
at Deva on Saturday 21st January, with Bernard and Rhona
Goldenfield fourth. In the consolation final Lance
Bloohn and Karen Sandler were third.
In the Swiss Teams on the Sunday Bernard and Rhona Goldenfield, Kath and Alan Nelson won. Full results on the Deva web site Simultaneous Pairs Congratulations
to Ken Hassell and Ian Kane who scored 73.58% playing at
Marple Bridge Club on Wednesday 11th January finishimg first
nationally for the sixth time in one of these events.
Full
results are on the EBU web site.Manchester Congress With
73 entries for the pairs and 38 for the teams this was the
best attended congress for several years. Everyone
enjoyed a friendly and lively event.
In the
Intermediate category Sally Bray and Judith Dunkerley are
joint leaders just ahead of Adam Wiseberg.Result of the weekend was achieved by Barbara Moore and Lindsey Cuff, who play in division five of the Manchester League. They finished third in the pairs event ahead of many international players. Congratulations to Andrew Woodcock and David Debbage winners of the pairs; Gary Hyett, Bill Hirst, Ben Norton and Sam Behrens teams winners. Thanks to Irene Davies and her large team of volunteers and the directors for all their hard work. Results are on the Manchester Bridge Club web site click here For Pairs ranking click here For Teams results click here Michael Byrne's quiz was won by Mike Wood with Ross Allen second. Click here for more results and quiz answers. Raymond Semp's quiz was won by Ross Allen with Toby Nonnenmacher second. Player of the year points have been added. John Holland has increased his lead in the expert category ahead of Alan Mould now.
Gold Cup Upset Congratulations to Raymond Semp's team (Toby Nonnenmacher, Jeff Smith and Alan Nelson) who beat Brian Senior's number seven seeded team in a third round Gold Cup match at Manchester Bridge Club on Friday 6th Jan. |
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