Latest News

Well done to the winners

Gill Woodcock and Judy Jackson topped the Ladies' Pairs with 65.74% and Rob Turner and Rod Hose took the Men's Trophy with 65.42%. Sorry for the slight delay in getting the results out. Full results available as usual from the Results Calendar.

12 January 2012

Sandy's Seniors Sock it to 'em !!!!

Last weekend, the EBU Camrose Seniors Trials event was won by a team comprising SBC members Sandy Davies, Tom Gisborne and Dave Robinson together with Warner Solomon. Full result here. The team will now be invited to represent England at the Senior Camrose Competition which will be held in Scotland in May 2011. Seriously well done all and best wishes from all at SBC for the final.
For the record - extra well done to Sandy who will become the first woman to be invited to compete for England in this event.

22 December 2011

Congratulations to John Howard

John Howard, who was a member of Sheffield Bridge Club in the late 1980s while a student, was part of the team that won the Gold Cup, Britain's premier knock-out event. In the final, his team defeated Tony Forrester and Andrew Robson by 26 IMPs.
In 1997, a team containing two former members, Paul Bowyer and John Helme, won the final against a team containing another former SBC member, Ian Reissman. In 2000, Mike Pomfrey, Tom Gisborne, Sandy Davies, Sam Manavi, David Banks and Keith Cornish reached the semi-final..

13 December 2011

Congratulations to ...

Dave Robinson on his recent promotion to Grand Master.

8 December 2011

Congratulations to ...

Graham Jepson, playing with Clive Owen from the North East, who came 3rd in the two-session Pairs A Final after coming 2nd in the qualifying session and winning the Semi-Final session. On the final day, Dave Robinson and his team came 3rd in the Swiss Teams.

7 November 2011

... and a good time was had by all.

Thanks to Lynda Mitchell and her team of helpers, a Charity Bridge Drive held at SBC on Wednesday 12 October raised £336.83 for the Whirlow Farm Trust. Ten tables of SBC members and visitors enjoyed a delicious lunch, preceded and followed by Bridge (of course).
Well done to the Winners, Marie Hallam and Peter Riggall (seen below left receiving their trophies from Lynda) and Runnersup, Pat and John Jarratt (below right).

Ken Jones won a Teddy in the raffle but sadly there is no photographic record of this. And Lynda has agreed to run another one next year !!!

25 October 2011

Sheffield Plays Rubber Bridge With 30's Fashion Flair

On Friday (23rd September 1936) party season at Sheffield Bridge Club continued with a Duplicate Rubber Bridge Evening, under the auspices of Mr. Bill Barraclough-Fortesque and Mr. Barrie Partridge-Harrison. Mrs Margaret Johnson-Neagle, our lady Chairman, dazzled in a pearl encrusted fichu worn over a lavender Shiaparelli suit with matching doll hat. The blues of her escort's paisley neckpiece drew the eye to a silver pin (a gift from the Prince of Wales, we are told.) Master of Ceremonies, Barrie, made a lamentable sartorial gaffe by teaming peasant footwear with a Savile Row dinner suit. Thankfully, Bill, our host, was as elegant as ever in his Gentlemen's Club tie. Bill's partner, Fiona Begbie-Lockwood, favoured the avant-garde with bold red and cream stripes.

Society belle, Ann Wall-Leigh, was a vision in a figure-hugging bias cut gown; spaghetti straps and a draped décolletage framed the famous Wall Pearls. She also wore the latest trend in footwear from across the Atlantic: white peep-toe cork wedges. Did her husband, the Rt. Hon. Toby, get his suit from across the pond too? Not a style that will catch on, we think! Meanwhile, Lady Rodgers-Harlow glittered. Her heavily sequinned gold and black, off-the-shoulder dress exemplified the very best Milanese couturiers have to offer this season (we love the dolman sleeves, darlings, and those kiss curls.) All present were shocked by her escort. If she will insist on foisting her chauffeur/gardener on polite society we suggest she buys him a tie. Poor Marianne Lawson-Monroe had to partner the gentleman at play. Marianne looked stunning in a black lace dress with a signature handkerchief hemline by Vionnet. We'd like to take this opportunity to strongly repudiate rumours that the 180, one-inch diameter pearls of her necklace were synthetic.

Doyenne of Thornsett society, Audrey Bottka-Dietrich, followed the advice of Mr Henry Ford and eschewed colour. The sophisticated black sweep of her robe was relived only by silver kid slippers and the exquisite amethyst pendant from the Gosforth Park jewels. She partnered Bobbie Chambers-Loy, nattily dressed in nautical navy and white. She too set trends with daring shoulder pads and navy sling-back shoes. Sir Blake Haslam, in chef's whites (don't we love his eccentricities) sat opposite Ann Watson-Todd who favoured a peridot green Norman Hartnell original.

Sir Graham Nield Bart., in a beige linen jacket and matching moccasin loafers, sat across the table from Lord John Reynolds, sharply tailored by Barney Goodman in a checked shirt and tie. Monica Cooper-Garbo wore a perky polka dot jacket with a cheeky satin Scandinavian tieback. Polka dots appeared again on Mary Aston-Astor's floating chiffon; a nod to the flapper fashions of the last decade, the dress was topped and tailed by a shocking pink plume and startlingly high stilettos. Tres chic! The Polish diplomats enjoyed the evening in polished elegant/casual style.

Mr. Don Atkinson, debonair as ever in sable sweater, partnered Sir Mike Heaney who looked ruggedly athletic in a dusky turquoise rowing shirt and suede ankle boots. Christine Parker-Stanwyck wrapped a diamante stole round her Elizabeth Arden ruffle-neck silk blouse. Her sleek bob was by Cuts of Class. Sue Wormald-Bennett, noted lady game hunter, stole the show by wearing one of her trophies, a leopard pelt held in place by the largest cameo broach this writer has seen. A cloche hat perched on her Anne of Green Gables crop. Across the table, Jane Kirk-Wray honoured us with a rare glimpse of the peerless diamond pendant eardrops and bracelet, rumoured to have belonged to the late Countess of Clifton.

Judy Jackson-Lombard's dove-grey crushed velvet was charming, but she should have known better than to wear pearls, knowing Marianne Lawson-Monroe and Ann Wall-Leigh would attend. Her hat was rather youthful, but she carried it off with aplomb. Fiona Sutherland-Lancaster wore sombre crushed velvet contrasted with a cloth-of-gold jacket. I would suggest a longer neck is needed to carry a Mandarin collar, but her enviable furs were complimented perfectly by a broad-brimmed, plum cloche. Betty Nimmo-West, effortlessly elegant, was pretty in Chanel pink with sparkling silver, pearl and diamond rocks on hands, throat and wrist. The Duchess, Margaret Elliott, dressed by House of Elliot, looked lovely in shades of autumn. Her flounced top was by Lanvin. Carol Walton-Davis, in an ecru shot-silk camisole, a silver and black scarf and ebony Cuban heeled brogues, served tea in our best china cups.

Not to be outdone, the sets of boards required for the evening's play were presented on their very own bridge table arranged in 12 stacks of 21 boards but with 7 boards of 3 different colours in each stack. Partridge-Harrison's excuse for such a huge display was that as every table had to play the same boards simultaneously, each table had to have its own boards without sharing. The colour scheme chosen was of an early-period Picasso style, with just a hint of Lowry thrown in for good measure.
The winners were Fiona Sutherland and Monica Cooper with 36 DJ Points, but Mary Aston gets extra kudos for having three partners and finishing in two of the three equal second places!
For the connoisseurs, four rounds of seven boards of rubber bridge were played. For each round, pairs were given 2 DJ Points (sorry, that's Derek Jepson Points, not Dinner Jacket Points) for every other pair playing in their direction that they outscored, with Swiss assigning for the next opponents. This event is claimed to be the first event of this format ever to be held in the entire history of the Universe.

Report by Judy Jackson & Fiona Sutherland
Bridge details supplied by Barrie Partridge.
View the elegant outfits

2 October 2011

Our Chairman speaks for us all ...
Those who will be organising the Centenary celebrations will have a lot to live up to!

Margaret's keynote speech at the Gala Dinner.....
Thank you all for coming to this fitting climax of our Celebration Week. We welcome our illustrious guests from the EBU which also celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. We are delighted too that former members have been able to join us today. Those of you who are spouses or friends of members -I hope you may even be encouraged to join us at Thornsett Road -we are a very friendly lot there! It is particularly nice to be able to reverse the roles and entertain our steward and his wife.
Our most Honoured Guest this evening is Ena Brown, whose husband David Brown was one of the first two members to pay their annual subscription in 1936 when the Club was founded. The David Brown Memorial Library was donated by Ena and family and is much used and appreciated by the membership. Ena still plays a very mean hand of bridge and at the conclusion of tonight's proceedings has agreed to draw the winning ticket for the Champagne raffle.
Sheffield Bridge Club has thrived over the last 75 years and our membership runs from novices, newly joined from our teaching classes, to Grand Masters who win National Events and have played for their country. I should like to thank your extremely hard-working Committee and their helpers for their efforts in making these last 8 days of celebrations such a resounding success.
We have had Swiss Teams, a Brains Trust, a Pie and Pea supper and a Battle of the Sexes where 9 teams of Ladies played 9 teams of Men. As Chairman, I congratulate the men on winning, but as one of the Ladies I would suggest they were lucky!
The Lord Mayor cut our wonderful birthday cake on our 75th birthday anniversary on Thursday. Here I must tell you that we have done our bit for International Relations! Two Polish visitors turned up on Thursday night to play bridge. They were on holiday for a week and did not have a great command of English, although it was better than our Polish! To their amazement, they were greeted with cake, champagne and the Lord Mayor in full regalia! Then something they found very unusual, Ladies playing bridge! They enjoyed it so much they returned on Friday, to find ladies in hats and gloves, dressed in the fashion of 1936, and found themselves playing Duplicate Rubber Bridge Swiss Pairs for 2p per 100. They left with pockets full of copper, a bemused look on their faces and a rather strange impression of Bridge in Sheffield to take back to Poland.!
Yesterday we had an Invitation teams competition, won by the home team of Sandy Davies, Graham Jepson, Frank Littlewood and Dave Robinson. [Read a report from one of the visiting teams here] One of the Manchester team was the daughter of Mr Lewis ,who was Mr Brown's partner in1937 when they won the first competition to be held at Sheffield Bridge Club. This is now called the Chairman's Trophy.
This afternoon we have had the largest Duplicate pairs event for many years - 23 tables. In conclusion, I would like to pay tribute to the many members in the past 75 years who have helped to make SBC so successful. Some of their names are commemorated in our trophies which I am now about to present to this year's winners.
Those who will be organising the Centenary celebrations will have a lot to live up to!

25 September 2011

Battle of the Sexes Results

Nine teams of men and nine teams of women competed on Wednesday evening in a very enjoyable and challenging match. In the top men's team were Mike Pomfrey, Martin White, Rod Hose and Rob Turner who won with 119 IMPs. The top women's team of Gill Woodcock, Judy Jackson, Mary Whyms and Sue Lloyd gained 69 IMPs. The full results can be seen here.
Highly paid professional and highly motivated amateur statisticians of both genders are even now poring over these results to give credence to their own theories on the age old question. Meanwhile, well done this time guys, and thanks to all who participated in another great evening of bridge at SBC.

22 September 2011

Pie and Peas Pack 'em In

The Top Chefs Jean Rodgers, Ann Wall and Ann Cockerill cooked up a stormingly splendid supper of Pie and Peas. In the 16 table Aggregate Bridge session afterwards, winners were Stuart Fletcher and Mick Lindley (NS) and Irene Newbound and Martin James (EW).

20 September 2011

Bridge and Brains Trust

Thanks to Sandy Davies, Graham Jepson and Barrie Partridge for dispensing wisdom on a grand scale. Topics ranged from making Grand Slams with 14 HCP, through going for -3,400 on a single board, to dealing with partners that pull faces. Even bigger thanks to Sandy for sharing her birthday cake with us.

19 September 2011

Celebrations off to a cracking good start

Fifteen teams of four battled it out on Sunday 18 September and the stakes were high. At the end of the event the top scoring team was Rod Hose, Mary Whyms, John Edwards and Stuart Fletcher and the first three teams won bottles of bubbly. An absolutely delicious meal was enjoyed by all at half time. Big thanks to Barrie for TD-ing it and huge thanks to Ann Cockerill, Ann Wall and Jean Rodgers for feeding us all.

18 September 2011

Sheffield Successes at Brighton

Marie Hallam and Julia Broady have won the Swiss Pairs on a split tie at the Brighton Really Easy Congress for Novice Pairs. The previous day, they won both sessions of Pairs with almost identical scores of 69.41% and 69.98%. Peter and Chris Riggall won their section of Pairs on the first day of the congress. Full results and a photo on the EBU website.
Meanwhile at the Seniors Congress, Tom Gisborne and Sandy Davies finished 5th in the Pairs "A" Final.

18 August 2011

Sheffield Successes at Scarborough

Sandy Davies and Dave Robinson have won the two-day Swiss Pairs event at the EBU Summer Congress at Scarborough. They scored 180 out of 240 VP, 5 VPs ahead of second place. Frank Littlewood and David Musson were 11th.
Mike and Jean Rodgers had a disappointing first three matches but then notched up huge scores of 17+ in six of the remaining matches to finish 22nd. Conversely, Roger Taylor and Bill Barraclough had a great start but finished 37th. Many other Sheffield pairs made up the total of 162 pairs.
In the Multiple Teams event on the Friday, Sandy and Dave teamed up with Graham Jepson and David Musson and came second in the A Final, with +47 IMPs, just 8 IMPs behind the winners, after winning their qualifying group in the afternoon with +51 IMPs.
The team of TDs included Rob Turner and Janet Hempson.

Full results on the EBU website

1 August 2011

Sheffield BC hosts President's Cup - Yorkshire finish 3rd

Ten counties competed in this Inter-County Teams-of-eight event, hosted this year by Sheffield Bridge Club. This event was previously held at the club about 6 years ago. This year's winners were Merseyside and Cheshire, and Yorkshire took third place. 12 players altogether represented Yorkshire and these included Dave Robinson (Captain) and Richard Pike both days, David Musson both days with Graham Jepson on the Saturday and Frank Littlewood on the Sunday, and Tom Gisborne and Sandy Davies on the Saturday.
With 20 tables in play, the club was heaving. Andrew Petrie, the EBU Vice-Chairman, thanked the club for hosting the event when presenting the trophy.
(The other teams were Lancashire, Manchester, Cumberland, Westmorland, Staffs & Shropshire, Herefordshire, North Wales and Mid Wales.)

19 July 2011

Butler Series 2011

With the final event being played last night, the winner of the series is Ian Johns, who takes the Bowler Grade 1 Trophy after a close finish against Martin Cantor and Baz Caygill. Ian played all but one session with Matthew Kiggins, who cames a close 4th. All four finished with huge plus scores, so well done to all four.

12 July 2011

Improvements to the Standby System

A new recording system is now in place for the standby system. All that members need to do is sign up in advance, no later than the evening before, using the sheets on the clipboard on the Tournament Director's noticeboard. To make the recording easier for the scorers, please include your Bridgemate player number. It's no longer necessary to ask the TD to sign the book when you do the standby.

The scorer for each session will record who did the standby and also add any new sign-ups to the club computer at the end of each session. The latest copy of the standby rota, showing availability for the next eight weeks, will then be uploaded to the website.

Members, and potential visitors, can now see whether a game is guaranteed on a particular occasion. In the event that no-one has signed up, individual players can negotiate who plays with whom. In the event of an odd number of individual players, the person who doesn't play will be given a free game voucher.

The success of the standby system relies totally on the willingness of members to commit in advance to a standby. The committee would like to thank the 142 members who did one or more standby duties during the 2010-2011 season. Also thanks in advance to the scorers who will be making this happen, in addition to their sterling services in getting the results and trophy ladders into cyberspace as soon as the event is over.

The new page showing the current state of the rota is now available and there is a link to it from the sidebar on the other web pages. It has to be said that it's a bit sparse at the moment. Please consider signing up to do a standby soon- the incentives include a 33% discount off your next year's membership fee, a free game and the chance to play with someone new.

1 July 2011

Sheffield and Yorkshire in the Corwen

The top Yorkshire pair at the Corwen was Dave Robinson with Phil Godfrey (York) in 16th place out of 106.
The Corwen is the national Pairs event for which qualification is to come at the top of your county's premier Pairs event. The top five pairs from the Yorkshire Pairs qualified to represent Yorkshire.

7 June 2011

Recent Results

Monday night (May 16th) saw the final of the Waddington Shield, the Yorkshire premier teams knock-out, being played at the club.
After 48 boards that started at 6.30pm and finished at 12.30am, our team of Sandy Davies, Tom Gisborne, Mike Pomfrey, David Banks, Keith Cornish and Arthur Hughes (the latter two not playing this match) beat Hugh McGann, Danny Davies, Fiona Brown and Sandra Penfold by 51 IMPs, after pulling ahead strongly in the 5th set of 6.
Our team will represent Yorkshire at the Pachabo event.

Congratulations to ...

David Fletcher and Graham Jepson who won the May Day Swiss Pairs and were awarded to Flo Dornan Trophy with a score of 90VPs. Well done also to Toby and Ann Wall who came a close second with 88VPs.

Congratulation to ...

Sandy Davies who is now the 2010-2011 Pairs Pentathlon Winner.

Belated Congratulations to ...

LOG Team Sheffield D (Margaret Johnson's Team) who won the LOG Jamboree on Monday 4 April. Well done Margaret Johnson, Pat Powell, Wendy Watson, John Squires, Terry Jacobs, Dave Duckworth, Steve Willis and Mick Lindley.

20 May 2011

Dr Barry Cruddis

It is with great sorrow that we have to announce the death of Dr Barry Cruddis on Tuesday 12th April.

He has been a well respected member of SBC for 45 years and his name can be seen on many of the trophy winners' lists. He was Chairman from 1971-1974 and a Trustee from 1984 onwards.

Barry was one of the best bridge players and always modest, courteous and kind, held in great affection by all who knew him. He will be sorely missed.

His funeral will be at 3 30pm on Tuesday 19th April at Grenoside Crematorium [North Chapel].

15 April 2011

2011 Vice Chairman's Teams Results

Well done to the winners - Rod Hose, John Edwards, Roger Taylor and Mary Whyms with a score of 81 IMPs in a field of 12 teams. Full results here

12 April 2011

Well done Margaret

On Friday 11 March, Margaret Johnson organised the Mather Individual Trophy Event efficiently, directed and scored it brilliantly and, on top of all that, played magnificently and won the Trophy with a score of 64.58%.

12 March 2011

Congratulations to Pat and Frank

At a well attended session on Thursday 3 March, Pat and Frank Littlewood won the W E Dornan Mixed Pairs Trophy with a score of 65.32%.

4 March 2011

Sheffield Bridge Club Student SIM Pairs

Our student groups are competing in the ECATs Student SIM Pairs event which runs throughout March. Local results are on this website and can be accessed as usual from the SBC Results Calendar. National Results can be seen at the ECATs website. Well done to all who take part in this introduction to competition bridge.

1 March 2011

Congratulations to Ann and Toby Wall

Well done both on winning the Swiss Pairs Trophy Event at the EBU Congress in Antalya. Turkey. Click here to see the trophy presentation.

12 February 2011

YCBA SIM Pairs

Well done to Martin Cantor & Bazil Caygill who scored 71.54% NS in the YCBA Sim Pairs at the Club. Joint top EW were Steve Willis & Bernard Parkes and Raphael Grossman & Arthur Hughes with 59.04%. Full results for this event are on the YCBA website.

10 February 2011

Congratulations Mags and Sandy and Rob and Rod

At a very well attended and very enjoyable Men's and Ladies Pairs Event on Wednesday 6 January, Mags Bye and Sandy Scott won the Brighton Salver trophy. Rob Turner and Rod Hose won the Woodward Cup trophy. Well done all.
Apologies all round for the minor technical hitch which delayed the publication of the Ladies' results. The arrow switch has now been accounted for.

5 January 2011

Well done Simon & Robert and Glyn & Alex

At a well attended and very enjoyable New Year Swiss Pairs on Sunday 3 January, Simon and Robert Woolham won the trophy with 85 VPs. Glyn and Alex Foley were close in second place with 83 VPs

Rodger Mixed Pivot Team Results

Congratulations to this year's trophy winners: Dave Robinson, David Waxman, Sandy Davies and Tom Gisborne.

Tom Rainforth wins World Silver Medal!

Recent member Tom Rainforth was part of the England Under 21 team that won Silver in the World Championships in Philadelphia, US, in October. More news on the Junior's success is available on the EBU web site.

Success in the Lord Mayor's Swiss Pairs

Meanwhile, back at the club, Sandy Davies and Tom Gisborne consolidated their successful win of the Great Northern Swiss Pairs by winning the Lord Mayor's Swiss Pairs at SBC on Sunday 17 October. It was not until the final round that they overtook John Woodman and Ron Muse who had started with three 20-0 wins in the first half of the event.

Brian Garlick and Martin Pierce win the ProAm Trophy

After a very enjoyable series of Monday Evening Pro-Am events, Brian Garlick and Martin Pierce are the winners of this year's series. Gill Woodcock and Gill Leeson were close runners-up. Thanks to Gill Woodcock for organising this very successful event.

PS to the postcard from Brighton

Also at the Brighton Congress, Marie Hallam and Julia Broady came second out of 12 with 64% and Peter & Chris Riggall came fifth with 54.91% in the final pairs event at the Really Easy Congress on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, Julia and Marie came 2nd out of 26 in the Swiss Pairs. Playing together, Marie, Julia, Peter and Chris came 3rd out of 13 in the Teams. Well done all.

A postcard from Brighton

At the Brighton Congress Swiss Pairs, the largest bridge event to be held each year in England, Sandy Davies and Tom Gisborne were 24th out of 352 pairs. and Davids Waxman and Fletcher 79th. The other Sheffield pair, Arthur Hughes and David Musson finished 4VP inside the top of the field. Many former Sheffield players were there, including Alex Hydes (6th), John Howard (16th), Tom Slater (19th), Roman Gembicki (43rd), Mark Lehto (59th), Gad Chadha (75th), Jim Grant, Mike Wenble and Suzanne Gill.

Barrie Partridge was TD-ing this event and can be seen hard at work in the Brighton Bulletin No 2 Page 3.

At the Bridge For All Pivot Teams for Students/Teachers and Newcomers to Bridge, played at Bradford on Sunday 11 July, Gill Woodcock (right) led her team, (l-r) Marie Hallam, Julia Broady and Chris Riggall, to victory. Congratulations to all.

SBC successes at the EBU Summer Congress - Scarborough

Sandy Davies and Dave Robinson were 7th and Graham Jepson and David Musson 14th out of 172 in the Swiss Pairs and together, they won the Championship Teams Main Final with +88 IMPs having won their qualifying group with exactly the same number (+88) of IMPs!

Congratulations to Graham Jepson and David Musson ...

... on finishing second, and to Dave Robinson, who partnered Phil Godfrey, on finishing eighth in the Corwen Pairs on 5/6 June.
The Corwen is a National Pairs final and to represent Yorkshire as one of the 113 pairs in the final, you have to come in the top 5 places in the Yorkshire Pairs. Indeed, this was won by Graham and David. David Fletcher and Roger Taylor, and Richard Pike and David Waxman also qualified and finished mid-field in the Corwen.
The winning pair included former Sheffield BC member, Jim Grant, who now lives in Devon.

David Fletcher is the SBC 2009/2010 Teams Pentathlon Trophy Winner

Congratulations to David Fletcher.
Final rankings for the Teams Pentathlon

SBC Nancy Campfield Swiss Teams winners

Congratulations to David Fletcher, Graham Jepson, Dave Robinson and Richard Pike on winning this trophy (Tuesday 25 May 2010).

More congratulations to David Fletcher ...

and Graham Jepson and two players from Hull on winning the Bridlington Congress Swiss Teams Event at Tickton Grange (Wednesday 19th May).