2025 News and Results

Gazette Cup Change of Date

The inter clubs teams of eight will be on Sunday 15th March 2026 at St Peter's, Hale.  The date has changed because of a clash with the Hale 10K run.

Selections

The selection committee has chosen the following team for the Tollemache qualifying online on 8/9th November.

Alec Smalley/David Barton, Michael Byrne/Gary Hyett, Catherine Draper/Andrew Woodcock, Rhona Goldenfield/Kath Nelson, Rodney LIghton/Neil Thomas/Alan Mould, Gideon Harvey/Daniel Kelsall.

Guernsey Congress

In the EBUs congress on Guernsey from 21st-28th September John Holland and Raymond Semp did well.  They were second in the Open pairs and improved on that by winning the Seniors pairs and were also second in the multiple teams.  Gary Hyett finished second in the Swiss teams with Ros Wolfarth, Gunnar Hallberg and Sally Clark.

Results are on the EBU web site.

Crockfords Finals

The finals of the English teams competition were held over the weekend of 20-21st September.  In the Cup final the Manchester team of Michael Byrne, Gary Hyett, Alec Smalley with Kieran Dyke (and Tom Slater in earlier rounds) finished second having led for much of the competition.  In the plate final Alan Mould and John Holland playing on the Penfold team finished third.

Results are on the EBU web site.

Cumbria/Westmorland GP Weekend

In the Swiss teams on Saturday 20th September David Barton and Rhona Goldenfield were second playing with Jeff Smith and Jackie Pye of Lancashire.

Results are on the Cumbria web site and the Westmorland web site.

Northern Bridge League

The third round of the NBL was played on Saturday 13th September.  In the A division the Manchester team of John Stell/Andrew Green, David Barton/Robert Ferrari, Andy Brocklehurst/David Sarabowski, Royce Alexander/Peter Foster finished fourth on the day and are now fifth in the division.  Andy and David were our best pair on cross imps.

In the B division Manchester were fourth on the day and are now fifth in the division.  The team was Gordon Bickley/Ann Farquhar, Eddie Thornton-Chan/Tony Hodgson, Richard Acaster/Gilbert Fletcher, Alan Tranter/Andy Burnett.  All four pairs were near average on the cross imps.

Results can be found on the Cumbria web site.  Current standings are on the NBL site.

Premier League

The EBU's Premier League competition started on 13th September.  Various Manchester players participated.  In the first division Justin Hackett in the Mossop team, Michael Byrne in the Knottenbelt team, Alan Mould and John Holland in the Penfold team, John Hassett and Andrew Woodcock in the Hackett team.  In the third division Alec Smalley and Tom Slater in the Smalley team.

Results are on the EBU web site.  There were no great Manchester successes to report, but the event has two more weekends in October and November.

Lancashire Swiss Pairs

Congratulations to Angela and Ray Ashleigh who won the online Lancashire Swiss Pairs on Saturday 30th August.  Click here for results.

World Championships

The World Championships took place from 20th to 31st August in Herning Denmark.

John Holland and Alan Mould played in the Seniors event with Richard Chamberlain, Patrick Shields, David Mossop and Gunnar Hallberg.  In the Mixed event Michael Byrne played with Maggie Knottenbelt, Heather Dhondy, Kieran Dyke and Mike and Sarah Bell.  The event web site is here.

At the end of the round robin phase the Seniors were in sixth place.  They lost to a very strong USA 1 team in the quarter finals.

Northern Bridge League

The second round of the Northern Bridge League was played online on Saturday 15th August.  In the A division the team of Rhona Goldenfield/Kath Nelson, David Barton/Robert Ferrari, John Stell/Andy Green, Royce Alexander/Raymond Semp finished fifth and remain in fifth position overall.  John and Andy were our best pair on cross imps.  In the B division the team of Eddie Thornton-Chan/Tony Hodgson, David Fussell/Roger Hopton, Karen Jones/Barbara Eastabrook, Karen Reissmann/Irene Davies finished second on the day and move up to fourth overall.  Eddie and Tony were our best pair on the cross imps.

Hubert Phillips Bowl

Congratulations to Michael Byrne whose team won the English Mixed Teams on Friday 15th August.  Michael's team was Fiona Brown, Stefano Tommasini, Kieran Dyke, Sebastian Atisen (with Ben Green in earlier rounds).  They beat Mike & Sarah Bell, Ben Norton and Tim Leslie by over 5000 aggregate points.  The match was played in good spirits at TGRs bridge club in London.  This was a second win for Fiona, Kieran and Ben, a first for Stefano and Sebastian and a third for Michael.

EBU Summer Meeting

In the congress at Eastbourne from 7th-10th August Michael Byrne finished second in the Swiss Teams playing with Kieran Dyke, Jon Cooke and Sarah Bell.

Green Point Swiss Teams

The annual Green Point Swiss Teams event saw seventeen teams compete on Sunday 27th July at Altrincham.  The event was organised by Rhona Goldenfield and directed by Stuart Davies.

The team of Rhona Goldenfield, Raymond Semp, Joy and Irving Blakey were undefeated and won the event by 5 VPs.  In second place were Peter Richmond, Roger Allison, Liz and Bill Wattleworth and in third place were Jon Middleton, Andy Brocklehurst, David Sarabowski and Jeff Morris.  The non-expert award went to Christopher Hine, Ann Thornton, Ray and Angela Ashleigh, the final round highest score was won by John Holland, Gillian Whyte, Michael and Sally Rothwell.

Thanks to Rhona, Stuart, Joan Lewis and others for help on the day.

Results can be found here.

Raymond Semp, Joy Blakey (Kevin Comrie) Rhona Goldenfield, Irving Blakey	Peter Richmond, Roger Allison, Liz and Bill Wattleworth
Jon Middleton, Andy Brocklehurst, David Sarabowski, Jeff Morris	Chris Hine, Ray and Angela Ashleigh, Ann Thornton
Gillian Whyte, John Holland, Sally and Michael Rothwell

Scarborough Summer Congress

In the EBU event from 17th-20th July John Holland won the combined category pairs with Abi Milne on Thursday.  In the teams event on Friday Catherine Draper, Andrew Woodcock, John Hassett and John Holland were second with Joy and Irving Blakey, Rhona Goldenfield and Raymond Semp third.  In the Swiss Pairs on Saturday and Sunday John Holland and John Hassett won.  Congratulations to all.

Results are on the EBU web site.

President's Cup

The annual inter county teams of eight was held online on RealBridge on the weekend of 12-13th July.

Manchester finished fifth of seven teams.  Pairs participating were Leslie Klein/David Barton, Roger Hopton/Eddie Thornton-Chan, Joy & Irving Blakey, Kath Nelson/Rhona Goldenfield, Gary Hyett/Raymond Semp, Royce Alexander/Raymond Semp, Richard Acaster/Gil Fletcher.  Leslie and David were our best pair on the cross imps.

Results are here. 

Dragon Swiss Pairs

Congratulations to Gil Fletcher and Richard Acaster who finished second equal of 56 pairs in the WBU event held online on Sat 5th July.  Results are here.

Northern Bridge League

The 2025 season got under way on 5th July played online on RealBridge.  Manchester entered teams in the A and B divisions.

In the A division the team of Rhona Goldenfield/David Barton, Raymond Semp/Robert Ferrari, Joy & Irving Blakey, Karen Reissmann/Irene Davies finished fifth of six teams.  Rhona and David were third overall on the cross imps.

In the B division Manchester were again fifth of six teams.  The team was Eve Lighthill/David Sarabowski, Karen Jones/Barbara Eastabrook, Ann Thornton/Chris HIne, Gordon Bickley/Ann Farquhar.  Gordon and Ann were our best  pair on the cross imps.

Detailed results are on the Cumbria web site, summary results on the NBL web site.

Manchester v Lancashire

Manchester played Lancashire at Manchester Bridge Club on 29th June.  In the county level event Lancashire won 110-70 and in the club event (Jack High) Lancashire won 113-67.

The open team was Rhona Goldenfield/Kath Nelson, Eddie Thornton-Chan/Tony Hodgson, Irving & Joy Blakey, Michael Hart/Pearl Fielding, Raymond Semp/John Hassett, Neil Thomas/David Barton.  Joy and Irving Blakey were the best pair on cross-imps.

The Jack High team was Ann Thornton/Peter Green, Howard Rosemarine/Adrian Shiers, Ann Wood/Dee Connolly, Rachel Hardcastle/Phil Kemp + morning session Anne Naylor/John Commons, Usha Murugan/Graham Hobbs, afternoon session Bruce Moreman/Brian Thompson, Stephen Dauncey/Jackie O'Donnell. Ann and Dee were Manchester's best pair on cross-imps.

Thanks to David Sarabowski for directing and to Irene Davies for organising, especially for organising the lunch.  Everyone enjoyed the event.

A very exciting hand from the match.  Partner opens 1H and you hold AKJ10875432, void, A6, A  !!  Bramhall beginner Rachel Hardcastle bid and made 7S.  Unfortunately one pair in the open team reached 3S.

Results are on the Manchester events site.

Yorkshire Festival of Bridge

Congratulations to Tom Slater and Daniel Kelsall who finished second in the pairs at Harrogate on 28th June and also second in the teams on the 29th with Alec Smalley and Barbara Lewis.  Results are here.

European Open Poznan

The European Open Championship took place in Poznan, Poland from June 21st to July 5th.  Manchester players participating included Michael Byrne in the open teams and mixed teams in the Sushi Belt team, John Holland and Alan Mould in the senior teams in the Mossop team and Martin Taylor and Justin Hackett in the open pairs.  Neither team progressed to the knock out phase.  In the board a match event the Sushi Belt team finished just above half way in the final.

The event website is here.

Pachabo

Congratulations to the Manchester team that won the Pachabo, the National Teams championship for county teams, which they qualified for by winning the Goldstone Trophy.

The event was held at Milton Keynes on 14th-15th June.  Manchester led the event from the end of the first session throughout and, whilst it was close overnight, on Sunday they won nearly every match to pull away and win by a large margin,

The team was Alan Mould/John Holland who played throughout and Tom Dessain/Rodney Lighton/Michael Byrne who played as a threesome.  This was a first win for Tom, a third for Rodney, a fourth for Alan and Michael and a sixth for John who first won it for the North West in 1986.  Manchester have a fine record in this competition winning five times, finishing second three times and third and fourth once in the last ten years.

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Killarney

Congratulations to Raymond Semp and Gary Hyett who won the pairs at the Killarney Congress on 14th June.  Results are here.

Manchester Players at Killarney

Raymond Semp, Stuart Shalom, Barbara Eastabrook, Rhona Goldenfield, Gary Hyett

Joy Blakey, Celia Comrie, (Jim Luck), Kevin Comrie, Irving Blakey

AGM

The AGM of the MCBA was held at Bramhall and online on 11th June.

Gordon Bickley is the new chair of the association, Daniel Kelsall takes over as Green Point Events Secretary.  A presentation was made to Rhona Goldenfield for her many years of hard work as Green Point Events secretary.  Other officers remain in post.

The AGM voted on two major issues.  It was decided to run two separate leagues over the winter, one face to face and the other online.  The meeting voted to retain the handicap system for the Higson Cup and Plate.

The minutes are now on the documents page.

Garden Cities FInal

Well done to the Manchester Bridge Club team who finished second in the national final of the inter clubs teams of eight.

The team was John Hassett/Rhona Goldenfield, Jeff Morris/David Sarabowski, Paul Hackett/Mike Goldsmith, Paul Murray/Andrew Woodcock.  Jeff and David and John and Rhona did well in the cross imp rankings.  Full results are on the EBU web site.

John Armstrong Swiss Pairs

Congratulations to Tom Slater and Alec Smalley who won this Merseyside event on Saturday 17th May.  24 pairs competed with about 8 from Manchester,  Results are on the Merseyside web site.

League

The league is now finished for this seeason apart from a few matches in the Newcomers league, thanks to Royce Alexander for organising.

Congratulations to Mutton Madras (Justin Hackett et al) who won by the narrow margin of 0.5 VPs ahead of Michael Byrne's St Titus.

Spring Fours

The EBU double elimination event took place over the bank holiday weekend.  John Holland and Alan Mould playing in the Senior team were the last Manchester players still in the main event on Monday morning.  They lost against Gillis.  Results are on the EBU web site.

Goldstone Final

The Goldstone final was played on Thursday 1st May at Bramhall and Cheadle Bridge Centre.  St Titus (Michael Byrne, John Holland, Alan Mould, Gary Hyett) with Tom Dessain and Rodney Lighton in earlier rounds beat Inverted Minors (Rhona Goldenfield, David Barton, Joy & Irving Blakey).

The match was keenly fought before St Titus pulled away in the third quarter thanks to a wild set of boards.

This was a well bid slam by both teams.

KJ1097

Mould/Holland had an uncontested auction to 6C which made easily with trumps 2-1.

Goldenfield/Barton faced a weak 2D opener from the dealer (East) but bid (2D) 2S (P) 4D [splinter] (P) 6S

getting to the slam in three bids and winning an imp for their team.

The winners will go on to represent Manchester in the Pachabo in June.

Higson Finals

The finals of the Higson Cup and Plate took place at Altrincham on Sunday 27th April.  Seven teams contested the Higson Cup and six the Higson Plate.  Handicapping based on NGS grades was applied to the raw scores. 

In the Cup Grasshoppers (Barbara Lewis, Ann Thornton, Alec Smalley and Tom Slater) won just ahead of New Connections (Roger Hopton, David Fussell, Neil Thomas and Gillian McMullan) with St Titus, who were top before the handicap was applied, in third place.

In the Plate Mutton Madras (Justin & Paul Hackett, Barbara Hackett and Martin Taylor) were 1 VP ahead of Petersfield (Eddie Thornton-Chan, Tony Hodgson, Fly Leung and Ray Ashleigh).

Thanks to Paul Beckwith for organising the event, Stuart Davies for directing and Joan Lewis and Altrincham Bridge Club members for their help.

Handicapped results below.

Higson Cup

Higson Plate

Raw results are on the Manchester Events web site.  The PotY spreadsheet has been updated with little significant change to the placings.

Ann Thornton, (Paul Beckwith) Barbara Lewis, Alec Smalley, Tom Slater

Justin Hackett, Martin Taylor, (Paul Beckwith), Barbara Hackett, Paul Hackett

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Easter Festival

Congratulations to Michael Byrne who won the Pairs in London with Kieran Dyke in a field of 62 pairs.  Results are on the EBU web site.

Michael and Kieran

National Pairs

Well done to Kath Nelson who finished 5th with Arthur Hughes of Yorkshire in the final of the National Pairs held online on 12-13th April.

Results are on the EBU site.

Wakefield Swiss Pairs

Congratulations to Gideon Harvey and Daniel Kelsall who were joint winners of the Wakefield Swiss Pairs on 6th April.  Results can be seen here.

Northern Pairs

Congratulations to Kath Nelson who won the Northern heat of the National Pairs with Yorkshire's Arthur Hughes on Sunday 23rd March.  Jeff Morris and David Sarabowski were second.  Both these pairs qualify for the national final finishing sixth and eleventh in the national ranking respectively.

Hubert Phillips

In an exciting clash between two of Manchester's top teams Byrne (Michael Byrne, Kieran Dyke, Fiona Brown, Ben Green) overcame Hackett (Justin, Barbara and Paul Hackett, Martin Taylor) to win the semi final of the Hubert Phillips Bowl.

There were a lot of slam deals in the 48 board match including two back to back 6C deals, one where team Byrne missed slam completely but team Hackett overreached to a no play grand slam.

After taking an early lead Byrne were pegged back and going into the final set of 8 boards the margin was just 1270 aggregate points (equivalent to about 25-30 imps).  A strong finish by Byrne meant they pulled away to win by 2410 points.

In the final Byrne will face a former Manchester team containing Mike and Sarah Bell.  Manchester has a long history of success in this event with John Holland having won 6 times in the 1980s and 1990s and Rhona Goldenfield having won 3 times in the 1980-2000s.

Thanks to Michael Byrne for this report

Peebles Congress

John Holland and Raymond Semp have been doing well at Peebles from 14-16th March.  They were second in the BAM teams with Ian Sime and Liz McGowan and then won the Friday Pairs by a good margin. In the Saturday Pairs FInal they were fourth.  Results are on the SBU web site.

Camrose

The second weekend of the home nations event took place in Northern Ireland from 7th-9th March.  There were no Manchester players but Michael Byrne was non-playing captain.  England won the event ahead of Ireland.  See the EBU web site for results.

Green Point Swiss Pairs

The Green Point Swiss Pairs was held at Altrincham on Saturday 1st March.  34 pairs entered.  With one round to go there were six or seven pairs who could win overall if they won their last match well.  In the end Michael Fay and Sue Woodcock of Lancashire triumphed, just ahead of David Sarabowski and Andy Brocklehurst with Alan Mould and Rodney Lighton third.  Leading non-expert pairs were Kevin and Celia Comrie who had volunteered as reserve pair to ensure that there were no half tables.  The event was ably run by Stuart Davies.  Thanks to him and Rhona Goldenfield for organising.  Thanks also to Alrincham Bridge club and their members who helped with setting up and clearing away.

In the Player of the Year Rodney Lighton has taken a clear lead over Rhona Goldenfield and John Hassett in the expert category, while in the non-expert category Karen Jones and Barbara Eastabrook have increased their lead over Richard Acaster.

Results are now on the MCBA events site.

Winners Michael Fay, Kevin Comrie (MCBA President) and Sue Woodcock	Second Andy Brocklehurst and David Sarabowski
Third Rodney Lighton and Alan Mould	Fourth equal Roger Hopton, Gillian McMullan, Rhona Goldenfield, Kath Nelson
Non-expert winners Celia and Kevin Comrie	Second non-expert Barbara Eastabrook and Karen Jones
Last round winners  Jeff Angove and Paul Hackett

Cantor Cup

This single session event for new and inexperienced players was held at Manchester Bridge Club on Sunday 23rd February.  17 pairs competed playing 18 boards each.  Winners were Jackie O'Donnell and Stephen Dauncey with a good score of nearly 63%.  Carol Gavin and John Dunn were second, Jean Kirsten and Julie Johnston third.  Results can be found on the Manchester Club Web Site.

Thanks to Susan Triggs for organising this event, Manchester Bridge Club for hosting and Ann Thornton for help and presenting prizes.

Ann Thornton with winners Steve Dauncey and Jackie O'Donnell	Second Carole Gavin and John Dunn
Third Jean Kirsten and Julie Johnston	Fourth Kathryn Morley and Andreas Kotsinagis

Gazette Cup

The inter clubs teams of eight event was held at Bramhall on Sunday 16th February.  There was a good entry of ten teams of which six were non-expert.  Bramhall and Altrincham each fielded three teams, Manchester two and Trafford and Ashton one each. Thanks to Irene Davies, Barbara Lewis and Alec Smalley for organising and to Jonathan Lillycrop for his excellent directing and running up and down the stairs at Bramhall to move the boards and players! 

Manchester Hassett won the event just 3 VPs ahead of Bramhall Slater.  Congratulations to John Hassett/Rhona Goldenfield, Jeff Morris/David Sarabowski, Paul Hackett/Mike Goldsmith, Justin Hackett/Martin Taylor.  They go on to represent Manchester in the Garden Cities regional final.  Trafford did well to finish fourth and win the non-expert prize.  Their team was Diana Calvert/Judith Gilder, Louise Henry/Seema Gupta, Ann Whitehead/Nicki Decent, Mel & Estelle Megitt.  Detailed results are on the online results site

The Player of the Year spreadsheet has now been updated with the results from this event.  In the expert category John Hassett and Rodney Lighton are joint leaders just ahead of Raymond Semp.  In the non-expert category Barbara Eastabrook and Karen Jones still lead.

(Kevin Comrie MCBA President), Paul Hackett, Jeff Morris, Rhona Goldenfield, Mike Goldsmith, John Hassett, David Sarabowski, Justin Hackett, Martin Taylor, (Irene Davies organiser)

Ann Whitehead, (Kevin Comrie), Judith Gilder, Diana Calvert, Seema Gupta, Louise Henry

Harrogate Spring Congress

IN the EBU congress at Harrogate from 7th-9th February Martin Taylor and Justin Hackett did well to finish second in the Swiss Pairs.  Paul Murray was fourth with Paul Hackett.

Algarve Congress

Several Manchester Pairs played in the EBU holiday congress from 3rd to 9th Feb.  Congratulations to Rhona Goldenfield and Raymond Semp who won the pre-congress pairs and Joy and Irving Blakey who won the imp pairs.  These two pairs teamed up to win the Swiss teams.  Results are on the EBU web site.

Tollemache Final

Manchester finished third in the Tollemache final at Telford on 1st-2nd February.  They were just 1 VP behind Surrey but a long way behind London.  Manchester won five of their seven matches and the two they lost were only 8-12 losses.  Congratulations to Alec Smalley/Tom Slater, Alan Mould/John Hassett, Rodney Lighton/Tom Dessain and Nicholas Greer/Phil Taylor.  Alec and Tom were our best pair on the cross imps, Alan and John also did well.  Results are on the EBU web site.

EBU Swiss Pairs

Richard Acaster and Gil Fletcher did well to finish third with 72 pairs playing in the EBU online event on 26th January.  Results are on the EBU web site.

Chester Congress

This popular event took place at Deva Bridge Club on 25th-26th January.  In the pairs on Saturday 28 pairs played with a good entry of about 13 from Manchester.  Karen Reissman and Irene Davies were top qualifiers, followed by Rodney Lighton and Tom Dessain.  The top 14 pairs played a Howell movement in the evening.  Congratulations to Tom Slater and Alec Smalley who won with a good score of 63% ahead of John Holland and Jackie Pye.  In the consolation final Boris Ewart and Tracy Sherman were second, with Gideon Harvey and Daniel Kelsall fourth.

The multiple teams event on the Sunday was won by Alan Mould, John Hassett, John Holland and Jackie Pye.  Tom Slater, Daniel Kelsall, Barbara Lewis and Alec Smalley were third.

Thanks to David Smith and Deva members for organising and to James Vickers for directing.

Results are on the Deva Club web site.

David Smith of Deva with Alec Smalley and Tom Slater

David Smith with Alan Mould, John Holland, Jackie Pye, John Hassett

Teltscher Trials

The trials for the England Senior Team took place in York from 10-12th January.  John Holland played with Jackie Pye of Lancashire.  They finished fifth in a field of 12 pairs.  Results are on the EBU web site.

Manchester  Online Weekend

The loss of the booked venue for the Manchester Congress meant that the event was run as an online weekend on RealBridge on 4-5th January.

36 pairs entered the Saturday event, 10 of whom were Manchester pairs with a handful of Manchester players also playing with partners from outside the county.

Congratulations to the winners, Dido Coley and Lily Kearney who play on the England U26 women's team.  In second place about three and a half percent behind were Alan Hayward and Alan Jarvis who were the leading Men's pair.  Highest place Manchester player was Gary Hyett who was third playing with Ros Wolfarth of Sussex.  They are mixed pairs winners.  Tracy Sherman and Chris Child in sixth place were leading Ladies pair.  Highest placed pair registered to MCBA were Eve Lighthill and Barbara Lewis in twelfth position.

Twelve teams entered on Sunday.  The event was run as all play all with four board rounds.  Winners were the Devon team of Harry Anoyrkatis, Stefan Lindors, Jim Grant and Jesper Rundin who were comfortably ahead of Paul Hackett, Diego Brenner, John Sansom and David Debbage.  Third place went to the Manchester team of John Hassett, Jeff Morris, Raymond Semp and Royce Alexander.

Detailed results can be found on Oliver Cowan's website.

The Player of the Year spreadsheet has been updated, Rodney Lighton and Tom Dessain lead in the expert category with Raymond Semp and John Hassett getting closer.  In the non-expert category Karen Jones and Barbara Eastabrook have a small lead over Richard Acaster.

Thanks to Barbara Lewis and Oliver Cowan for organisation, Ken Johnston for directing.  Hoping to be back face to face next year!

Click here for Michael's Congress Quiz.

Click here for Michael's quiz answers

Winners were Karen Reissmann and friends with 34/40, second Harry Anoyrkatis and team from Devon, third Lily Kearney.  Congratulations to all.

Tollemache Team

The following team has been selected to play in the Inter Counties Team of Eight final at Telford on 1st-2nd February.  Alec Smalley/Tom Slater, Tom Dessain/Rodney Lighton, John Hassett/Alan Mould, Nicholas Greer/Phil Taylor.

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