Advice & rulings by players
Ian Payn, Chairman of the Management Committee of the Young Chelsea, writes:
It has come to my attention that recently several different players have taken it upon themselves, with the best of intentions, to explain to their opponents what the rules of bridge are, usually when an infraction has been perceived, or subsequent to an infraction. Whilst this advice is well-meaning it is seldom welcome, and can come across as a lecture. At the Young Chelsea we have by and large managed to stop the practice of lecturing partners and opponents about how they should have played, because we've all come to realise that it's out of place. Advice on the laws is similarly out of place, because even if the person giving the lecture does know the laws (by no means a racing certainty) the implication to the victim is that they are ignorant of them, and none of us like being told that.
If there's a problem at the table, call the director. That's what they are there for, that's what they're paid for. Then, when the director has come and sorted things out, either appeal or let the matter go. Acrimony has no part to play in a bridge club, and what is well-meaning to one may be patronising or offensive to another, and simple circumstances can easily spiral into unpleasantness if the director is not called over to the table to do his job. Obviously if there's a playing director, you may have to wait a bit longer for satisfaction, but a wait is preferable to an argument.
I don't want to give the impression that this is an epidemic, but it's happened often enough lately to be drawn to my attention, and if we nip it in the bud now there'll be no need for further discussion of the matter.
News
Leading Lady
Congratulations to Ruth Henig & Jack Johnstone who were in the Lords team (captained by Ruth) that won the latest Lords vs Commons
bridge match.
Camrose winners
Congratulations to Victor Silverstone who was in the winning England team in the Camrose this weekend, to Colin Simpson who was in the team on the first weekend, and to Heather Dhondy who was
the NPC this weekend and Simon Cochemé who was the Assistant NPC on the first weekend.
New Tuesday Game
The first of our Advanced Daytime Duplicates, organised by Fiona Hutchison & Mary Gordon-Smith on Tuesday afternoons, attracted fourteen tables and was won by Victor Silverstone & Brigid Battiscombe
with 62.20%. It will be a weekly event on the ground floor with a 1pm start, and will be scored by Bridgemates, with pre-duplicated hands, master points and prize vouchers
just like any of our strong evening games. The bar will be open for toasted sandwiches, panini and salads, which can be brought to you at the table as you play. The response to the first game
was so good that we are hopeful that it will join our regular schedule of games as a thriving game.
Diary Dates
The dates for a number of our annual events have now been decided for 2010:
May 22nd-23rd - Third Inter-National Teams weekend for the Elizabeth Lindsay Trophy
June 13th - Sunday Swiss Pairs, with IMP scoring
July 4th - Young Chelsea Individual, for the Keith Loveys Cup
August 1st - Final of the Young Chelsea Knockout
October 23rd-24th - Open Teams Challenge for the Peter Hecht-Johansen Trophy
October 30th-31st - LMBA Lederer Memorial Trophy (invitation/spectator event)
December 4th - Young Chelsea Christmas Party
In addition the club will be hosting the EBU's Portland Pairs (mixed pairs championship) on March 28th at 2pm. Entries should
be sent directly to the EBU.
Pay to Play
The EBU's Pay to Play
system of financing itself will come into force on April 1st. It'll mean that all club members will
automatically be EBU members without having to pay anything extra, and we'll continue to issue master points directly to
your EBU record. You won't need to do anything different, although we might ask some of you for some more details for our
database to make sure you match up with the correct EBU record.
London Champions
Congratulations to John Pemberton & Steve Popham who won the LMBA's Championship Pairs last weekend, as well as to
Victor Silverstone & Brigid Battiscombe who won the consolation event, and to
David Gold & Susanna Gross who won the qualifier.
Master Points Reports
The EBU has just published their
Annual Master Points reports
which can be downloaded from their website. Congratulations to club member Brian Callaghan who is London's highest all-time
master-point winner - with 479057 of them!
Tolly winners
Congratulations to club members Jeremy Dhondy, Richard Hillman, Keith Bennett,
Victor Silverstone, Nick Sandqvist, Andrew McIntosh & Neil Rosen, who were in the Middlesex team that won the
Tollemache Trophy - the EBU's inter-county teams of eight event - last weekend.
Monthly Swiss Pairs
The latest of our regular monthly Swiss Pairs on February 11th was won by Nick Wilson & Rosie White
with 67 VPs.
The Swiss Pairs events are usually held on the second Thursday of each month, and feature 5x5-board rounds with current assignments using Bridgemates. They
attract players from across the full spectrum of abilities of our membership, and have proved to be one of our most popular innovations of the last couple of years. The next will be on Thursday 11th March at 7.30pm.
Developing Bridge
The latest of our Sunday Developing Bridge sessions was won by
Sue Bedford & John Brierley with a score of 73.50%. Full results are available
here. The schedule for future Developing Bridge sessions is on our teaching page.
Ula's Baby
Congratulations to Ula, our regular bartender of the last several years, on the birth of her first child Gabriella. She was born on Friday (Feb 5th) weighing 3.15Kg, after 33 hours labour! Both mother & daughter are doing well.
Club Championship Pairs 2010
The first game in this year's Club Championship Pairs, which runs on the last
Thursday of each month, and this year is scored by Cross-IMPs (like Friday nights), was won
by Tom Gunn & Shyam Sashital, followed by last year's winners Heather Dhondy & Brian Callaghan.
Lady Milne Trials
Congratulations to Susanna Gross & Sally Brock, Chris Duckworth & Nicole Cook and Nevena Senior who all came in the top six pairs of the
EBU's Women's Trials at the club last weekend and thereby
qualified to play in the EBU team in the next Lady Milne Trophy.
Bridge Sub-Committee Minutes
The minutes of the Bridge Sub-Committee held on December 17th are now available to be downloaded.
Young Chelsea Knockout
Congratulations to Richard Hillman's team (Jon Green, Keith Bennett, Paula Leslie & Neil Rosen) who won the 2009 Young Chelsea Knockout on
January 3rd when they beat Tom Townsend, David Gold, Nick Irens, Norman Selway, Espen Erichsen, Stelio di Bello.
The draw for the 2009-10 YCKO
has been published, and the first round matches must be played by the end of the month.
There are now 28 teams including a couple of late entries. Teams may be of up to six players all of whom must be members of the club. Entry fee is £5 per player, and matches must be played at the
club, paying table money for the night in question. The winning team will once again receive £1000, and the runners-up £200. The final will be played at the club on Sunday 1st August and shown on Bridge Base Online.
Junior Channel Trophy Winners
Well done to the England Under 25 team, including YC student members Tom Paske, Ed Jones & Alice Kaye, and n.p.c. Simon Cope, who won the Junior Channel Trophy in Belgium.
Year End Winners
The top ten of the Swiss Pairs at the EBU's Year End Congress looked like a list from our membership database, so congratulations
to all our members who did well in it - including the winners Tom Paske & Ed Jones who are two of our student members.
Congratulations also to Frances Liew who won the Mixed Pairs, and to Gunnar Hallberg & Graham Osborne who were in the winning team
in the "A" flight Swiss Teams, as well as to all the many others who performed well in the various events.
Young Chelsea won the NICKO!
As confidently predicted here some time ago, the Young Chelsea won the EBU's National
Inter-Club Knockout for the first time when Young Chelsea "H" (Richard Hillman, Jon Green, Frances Hinden, Jeremy Dhondy, Keith Bennett, Paula Leslie) beat
Young Chelsea "F" (Sarah Dunn, David Ewart, David Gold, Phil King, Tom Townsend, Gunnar Hallberg),
in an all-YC final.
Club Championship Pairs 2009
The 2009 Championship Pairs
was won by Brian Callaghan & Heather Dhondy, followed by last year's winners Dom Goodwin & Gordon Rainsford.
The full ranking list is available.
Chris Duckworth & Mike Graham won the prize for the best three scores in the last six months, Steve Popham & John Pemberton
won the one for the best two scores from the last three games, and Barry Myers & Frank To won the prize for the best single score.
Autumn Ladder 2009
The Autumn Ladder which started on Fri 4th Sep and finished
on Fri 4th Dec was won by Alan Woo with 62.03%, followed by Olivia Woo & Michael Ranis. Alan
now belongs (with Rob Cliffe & Richard Hillman) to the select group of players who have won the ladder
more than once.
Under 19s Pairs
Congratulations to Chris Dean & Nick Dean, two of our regular Tuesday night players, who won the LMBA Under 19s Pairs on Sunday 29th November.
Open Teams Challenge
The annual Open Teams Challenge for the Peter Hecht-Johansen Cup, played on 21-22 November, was won by the holders, Janet de Botton, Nick Sandqvist,
David Burn, Artur Malinowski, Andrew McIntosh. Runners-up were Brian Callaghan, Ian Payn,
Michael Ranis & Rob Cliffe, and third place went to Margaret James, Martin Nygren, Fredrik Bjornlund & Helen Erichsen.
The consolation event was won by Gordon Rainsford, Lorne Anderson, Brian McGuire & Tim Gauld followed by Anne Catchpole, Jackie Fairclough, Graham Orsmond & Ben Ritacca.
As always, Gitte provided bottles of Famous Grouse whisky
for players to have a drink in Peter's memory (which didn't necessarily improve their bridge!) and a number of
Peter's friends came from Denmark for the occasion.
Children In Need Simultaneous Pairs
The club's heat of the CIN Sim Pairs was won by Mala Lever & Tom Gunn with 73.33% nationally,
a score that seems likely to make them the national winners of the entire event!
Premier League Winners
Congratulations to Janet de Botton & her team (Nick Sandqvist, Artur Malinowski, Andrew McIntosh, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett), who
won the Premier League Division 2 and so will be promoted to Division 1 next year.
Novice Duplicates
We run a novice duplicate on the first Thursday of every month.
It starts at 7pm with wine and cheese, followed by a gentle duplicate with a friendly director, for an all-in charge of £10 per player (£5 for bone fide students). Master points are issued and prize vouchers awarded to the winners, so this could offer a first opportunity for you (or a less experienced friend) to shine! Please let anyone know who you think might be interested - they don't need to come with a partner.
The most recent one, on Thursday November 5th, was won by Emma Hartt & Caroline Stewart with 61.80% (apart from organisers Chris Duckworth & Audrey Hartley who played without standing). The full results can be found here.
The next novice duplicate will be on December 3rd.
Autumn Congress Winners
Congratulations to the following members of the YC who won events at the EBU's Autumn Congress in Birmingham:
Michael Ranis & Sybil Bragadir won the Satellite Qualifier;
David Burn & Jason Hackett won the Two Stars Final;
Espen Erichsen won the Satellite Pairs Final;
Simon Cope won the Swiss Pairs;
Jeremy Dhondy & Alan Kay were in the team that won the Eastbourne Bowl;
Alan Woo & Olivia Woo were in the team that won the Sussex Cup;
Jon Lillycrop & Dan Cardnell were in the team that won the Yellow Section of the Sussex Cup.
Bridge Lessons
Do you know anyone who would like to learn bridge or improve their game? The next round of classes at the club has just been announced and there are courses
for a range of players. We will be running two eight-week courses:
Beginning Bridge for complete beginners on Tuesday evenings starting on 19th January 2010.
Continuing Bridge, for those who have done the first course or have a knowledge of the basics, on Thursdays starting on 14th January 2010.
In addition we host Ned Paul's "Learn Bridge in a Weekend" courses which he will be running on 7th-8th November and 12th-13th December 2009.
For more details on any of these, please check the teaching pages on the website or contact Chris Duckworth at chris.duckworth@lineone.net.
Lederer Memorial Trophy
The LMBA's Lederer Memorial Trophy, an annual invitation event featuring a star-studded lineup (including Zia Mahmood, Andrew Robson, Tor Helness)
which was played at the club on the 17th & 18th October, was won by the Irish team, but the two teams composed entirely of YC members (England & YC Knockout) came second & third respectively.
Final results are available on this website.
Further details about the event are available from the LMBA website.
The Play With The Stars satellite event for the Teltscher Trophies, in which players at various clubs play the same boards as two of the star pairs in the Lederer and then score as a team with them, was won by
Juliet Scott & Aline Sandberg from Hurlingham BC as NS, and by Patti Gamble & Denis Bennett from Andrew Robson BC as EW.
Regular Individual Duplicate
The most recent of our regular monthly Individuals on Thursday 15th October was won by Hugh Nobes with 61.81%. Full results are available.
The next individual will be held on Thursday November 19th.
- 7.30pm start
- approximately 24 boards of duplicate bridge
- No partner to arrange!
- Default system to avoid the need for detailed discussions
Feedback Welcome
From the AGM minutes of Ian Payn's report, "It was important that the views of all the membership were taken into account in deciding the way forward and the shape of the club in the future, however, and he asked for thoughts, comments and suggestions from all members as soon as possible, for consideration at that meeting. Members views on whether we should aim to expand or contract, what activities we should embrace and which we should reject, methods of finance, etc would all be very welcome."
"On a less serious note the chairman announced that the club would in future no longer be serving draught bitter and lager, which had proved uneconomic. They would be replaced by a range of canned and bottled beers, and at the same time the range of food and wine would be reviewed. Members’ views with regard to future choices in this area would also be welcomed."
Young Chelsea AGM
The fourth AGM of the Young Chelsea as a members' club, on Tuesday 6th October, was attended by twenty-one club members as well as the committee.
The committee members were all re-elected or co-opted.
The duplicate game after the meeting attracted seven tables of players, and was won by Carrie & Mike Eden.
Minutes from the AGM are available to be downloaded.
Beer
Because we no longer have sufficient demand for draught bitter and lager to ensure that they are always in good condition, and because of the amount of wastage involved in providing them, the Management Committee has decided that we will in future only offer beers in bottles or cans.
However, we intend to take this opportunity to increase the range of beers on offer, and will now have a wider range than formerly.
Ian Payn, Chairman of the management committee, succeeded in drinking the last pint of draught lager, known in certain circles as a "handbag" - though he had to spend two evenings in a row at the club to achieve it!
English Seniors - World Champions
The English Seniors team won the round robin stage of the WBF Seniors' Bowl in Sao Paolo, narrowly won their quarter-final against Egypt, won their semi-final against Indonesia, and eventually beat Poland to become our latest world champions. Most of the
team (Paul Hackett, Gunnar Hallberg, Ross Harper, John Holland, David Price, Colin Simpson) are Young Chelsea members, and we offer them our congratulations.
We sometimes get enquiries about whether our website could be used by members to find new partners and to arrange dates for playing.
It is not possible to do this using our own web site, but we do have a Young Chelsea group at Facebook
which can be used by members to arrange games with their existing partners, as well as by those who wish to meet new potential bridge partners. It can also be used for bridge-related discussions.