NEWS 2008  Updated on 30 Jun 2009
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EUROPEAN CUP SUCCESS
Martin Kane playing with Patrick Shields from Gloucestershire qualified for the final of the European Pairs at San Remo. This is a magnificent achievement as many top European players were eliminated at the qualifying stage.

GOLD CUP SUCCESS
The team of Clive Owen, Malcolm Oliver, Chris Owen, John Atthey ably assisted by Charles and Vi Outred from Glasgow have progressed to the last 16 of the UK's most prestigious event by beating the seeded team captained by Brian Short of Scotland. Short's team included the majority of the team that won the Gold Cup 3 years ago.

NEBA v SCOTLAND
The Team to face Scotland ED at Berwick on Sunday 5th July is

Ian Rankin & Mike Stanbury Ray Green & Gill Gold
Brian Lumsden & Norman McTaggart Margaret McCabe & Marion Curran
Frank & Janet Springett Ken Spragg & Tony Couchman
Dom Maloney & Tom Dessain Neil & Inga Aiston.

 

NEBA SUCCESS IN NORTHERN BRIDGE LEAGUE
On 13th June two NEBA teams-of-eight competed admirably at Bradford in the first round of this inter- County Teams competition.
The ‘C’ Team – Pauline & Nigel Durie (C) + Jill & Roger Hancock + Sue & Dick Davies + David Milner & David Joy – were joint winners of their section.
The ‘B’ Team – Ian Rankin & Mike Stanbury + Janet & Frank Springett + Clare Dutton & Robin Zygmond + Laura Perryman & Rob Morris were second in their section.
The ‘C’ Team would have won their section if a lorry hadn’t caused chaos by dumping a load of pig manure on the A1, leading to a late arrival fine.  Full results http://www.northernbridgeleague.org.uk/

ANDREW KAMBITES
Cramlington Bridge Club have invited Andrew Kambites to give a seminar  on the topic of
‘ACTIVE OR PASSIVE DEFENCE’ More information here.

KEMPSON FINALS
Kempson Cup Winners - Clive Owen, Malcolm Oliver, Dave Broadhead & Martin Kane.
Kempson Plate Winners - Clare Dutton, James Ewington, Eve Hatfield and Robin Zigmond.


Kempson Cup runners up were : Janet & Frank Springett + Brenda Osbourne & Alec Simpson.
Kempson Plate runners up were :
Catherine Longley, Margaret Gilbert, Rene McMahon & Jill Hancock.
Congratulations to both Teams & thanks to Peter Burnip for Directing the Finals so smoothly.

CONGRATULATIONS

Four NEBA members have just had a particularly successful weekend. 
Malcolm Oliver and Martin Kane, Dave Broadhead and Damian Hassan, won their Nicko match on Friday night to progress to the last 16 of this national event.  On Saturday they were part of the Hurworth team that qualified to play in the Garden Cities final.  Then on Sunday they were in the winning Kempson Cup team.

For the sixth successive year David Broadhead has been captain of a Nicko team that has not only been the last surviving NEBA team in the event but has also progressed to at least the last 16 of this national knockout teams event.  This is a team of 6 and in previous rounds Chris Owen and Clive Owen have also played.  On Friday they beat a Sheffield team but next round have drawn the strongest team left in the competition, a Manchester quartet captained by Michelle Brunner.  The Manchester team have previously been Gold Cup finalists.

On Saturday the four above mentioned together with Chris Owen, John Atthey, Clive Owen and Bill March came second representing Hurworth in the northern final of the Garden Cities.  This is the EBU club teams of 8 championship.  In a very strong field they qualified for the national final for a second successive year, the first time this has every been done by a North East team.

On Sunday the team of Clive Owen, Malcolm Oliver, Martin Kane and David Broadhead, Bill March and Damien Hassan beat a team captained by Frank Springett playing with his wife, Janet, and Brenda Osborne and Alec Simpson.  Initially it looked likely to be a one sided affair with the Owen team 68 imps ahead after 16 boards.  The Springett team rallied strongly over the next 8 boards reducing the deficit to 37 imps.  The last 24 boards were more closely contested and the Owen team eventually were the winners by 45 imps.

Two new records were established.  Clive Owen first won the Kempson Cup 35 years ago.  The gap between winning the event for the first and last time equalled the record previously set by the late Len Wood.  Also, Bill March won the event for a record 17 times.
Simultaneously, the final of the Kempson Plate was held at the St Georges Bridge Centre and the team of Clare Dutton, Robin Zingmond, James Ewington and Eve Hatfield beat the team captained by Catherine Longley by 95 imps.

CFO  18 May 2009
 

SUCCESS IN TURKEY AT THE SCOTTISH CONGRESS
Janet & Frank Springett won the Swiss Pairs event at the first SBU Overseas Congress held in Marmaris May 2 to May 7

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
I know its hard to believe but in July, St. Georges Bridge Centre celebrates its 10th anniversary. The committee have planned a weekend (10 - 12 July) of various bridge activities .
On Saturday night (11 July) they are holding a Play with the Experts teams night with the additional excitement of Strawberries and Fizz at the interval. The experts are Jason and Justin Hackett and the late great John Armstrong and John Holland. This event will be open to non members of St Georges Bridge Centre to which a cordial invitation is extended.
Emailed entries to bev@stgeorgesbridge.co.uk

EBU SPRING FOURSOMES
Although a team of U 25's including Chris Owen and John Atthey from NEBA together with Fiona Brown and Alex Morris were knocked out in the fourth round they did manage one outstanding result when they beat the full current Gold Cup holders captained by Janet de Botton by 70 imps in a 32 board match.

FIRE AT BRUNTON
There has been a fire at St Aidan's Community Centre, and Brunton Bridge Club has had to move, temporarily, to alternative premises.
On Mondays 20th April, 4th May and 11th May, we will be playing at Gosforth Civic Centre, on Regents Farm Road.
From 25th May, until further notice, we will be meeting at Northern Rugby Club, at McCracken Park, Gosforth.

THERE WILL BE NO BRIDGE ON MONDAYS 27TH APRIL AND 18TH MAY
.  Full story of the fire here.

NEBA YOUTH SUCCESS
The Arnott Davidson trophy has been won by the NE region, with three pairs from Yorkshire and Tom Pallister and Ben Wooff from the NEBA area. The NE region won the Northern final at Sheffield. The Southern final was not contested, and so the overall title goes to the NE.

CLEAN SWEEP AT PEEBLES
Clive Owen & Charles Outred won the Friday Pairs, the Swiss Pairs and, with Violet Outred and Michael Alexander they won the Swiss Teams at the Buchanan Congress in Peebles. To round off the NEBA clean sweep Mike and Dorothy Craig won the 'No Fear' Congress.

VAL GIBSON CBE
Congratulations to Val Gibson who
was awarded the CBE in the New Year's Honours List.

JIMMY MILLER
Jimmy Miller passed away on Tuesday 30th December, his funeral will be at Sunderland crematorium on Friday 9th January.

WYN BOOTH
Wyn Booth died suddenly in hospital on the 22nd of December. She had been taken to the hospital at the weekend with a chest infection, and appeared to be improving, however it was not to be.

TOLLEMACHE
The North East team finished a disappointing 5th out 10 in their group at the Tollemache last weekend. It was particularly disappointing as the team starting so strongly winning their first 3 matches 12-8, 20-0 and 19-1 against Northants, Middlesex and Lincs respectively.

The win by 20-0 over a very strong Middlesex side who showed their class by still winning the group was an outstanding performance. Unfortunately on Saturday evening the team performed poorly losing to Bedfordshire Oxfordshire and Staffs and Shropshire.

Things picked up on Sunday when we beat Cumbria and Gloucestershire. So with a match to go we could still have qualified. However a strong Manchester side who had previously underperformed played well and we lost 20-0

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY WEARSIDE
Herewith the planned celebrations for the 60 years young Wearside Bridge Club. February 2009
Mon.       2nd. to which our NEBA friends are invited to help kick start the week.
                      60th Anniversary set hands for pairs.
Tues.      3rd.  60th Anniversary lucky dip team event. (draw for partner team)
Wed.      4th   (the actual anniversary of the formation meeting)
                      60th Anniversary Aggregate score slam bang (set hands).
Thurs      5th.  Eileen Spalding (inaugural) pairs event. Eileen was one if the characters     
                      of  the club who, sadly, died last year.
Sunday   8th.  The Grant Cohen Memorial comp. Grant was one of our larger than life characters
                      whose love of fun is celebrated annually at this competition.

FOUR NEBA JUNIOR INTERNATIONALS
As short a time ago as 2004 the North East had never produced a Junior International.  It is with some pride that we can now announce that 4 of our U25s have been selected to play for England in forthcoming Internationals.  John Atthey and Chris Owen have been selected to play in the Channel Trophy against France, Belgium and the Netherlands.  This event will be held in London on 19/20/21 December.

Tom Dessain and Dom Maloney have been selected to play in the Junior Camrose against Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in February 2009.  All 4 players have played for Hurworth in the 'A' Division this year and their selection for the international team is well merited as they have all won National competitions over the last 12 months.

Clearly, we are very fortunate to have 4 such talented junior players in the area simultaneously but it does demonstrate the rewards achieved when time is taken with junior players.  We hope this will encourage other youngsters in the North East to re-double their efforts to improve their game.
Clive Owen

NO FEAR CONGRESS AT PEEBLES
I would like to inform you of the No Fear Congress that we are running
at Peebles Hydro from 27th  to 29th March
2009.
It is aimed at learners who have completed at least one year of tuition and who would like to have a taste of a bridge congress without the stress of playing against strong players.

There will be four sessions of pairs over the weekend and they could choose to omit one if they wanted to go shopping in Peebles or just have a rest. Their two best scores would count towards their final placing. All boards would be duplicated across all sections and hand records would available at the end to encourage discussion.
The SBU National congresses at Peebles are very popular with many players from England and we would like to extend this to the less experienced players.

Information is available on the West District website at www.sbuwest.co.uk 
If you wish I can send you paper brochures.Needless to say, that if any of your club players would like to come to the main congress (red pointed), they would be made most welcome.

Regards, David Merriman Congress Convener

NORTHERN BRIDGE LEAGUE
Two NEBA Teams played at Bradford in the final round of the Northern Bridge League on 25th October.
The NEBA ‘B’ Team – Ian Rankin & Hayden  Dando + Gill Gold & Ray Green + Ted Murdoch & Tony Wardle + Ken Pattison & Peter Allan – were second to Yorkshire.
The NEBA ‘C’ Team – Nigel & Pauline Durie + Roger & Jill Hancock + Dick & Sue Davies + David Joy & David Milner were second to Manchester.For overall results see http://www.northernbridgeleague.org.uk/  
Over the season, the NEBA Teams performed well and enjoyed all their matches.

YOUTH BRIDGE - SATURDAY 6TH DECEMBER
Ken Pattison is running a heat of the Schools Simultaneous Minibridge/Bridge Pairs event organised by the English Bridge Union (EBU). This is a national event run within a set time scale, with schools all over the country playing exactly the same hands, these hands then being scored up at the EBU headquarters. Details can be found in the Youth Bridge section at www.ebu.co.uk . The date is Sat. 6th December ’08 at St Georges Bridge Centre. Details of the Bridge Centre and its location can be found at www.stgeorgesbridge.co.uk.

The event is intended to be light hearted and informative, but with a slight competitive edge. Other schools will be attending and there are up to 12 hands to play over a period of about 2/ 2½ hours. Start time is 10.00, therefore it is requested everybody gets there by 09.45 at the latest. Refreshments and prizes will be provided by courtesy of our sponsors Hurworth Bridge Club.

In previous years we have simultaneously provided “taste bridge” sessions for interested parents/family/friends and we are expecting to do the same again, so do give it a try.

If you would like a refresher Ken is going to hold a walk-in session on Sat morning 15th Nov at St Georges.
All welcome, both players and helpers. Start 9.30, come when you like, stay as long as you like.

PEEBLES SUCCESS
The team of Chris Owen Clive Owen and the Scottish pair Charles and Vi Outred won the major teams event 'The Herald Trophy' at the main Scottish Congress of the year played at the Peebles Hydro. 

This was a notable double for Chris Owen as he had also won the July Teams event at Peebles albeit in a different team. It was also the first time a father /son combination has won this longstanding trophy.
Sandy Allan was in the winning team for the 2 board Knock-Out a charity raising event on the Sunday morning.

THE LEDERER
The Lederer is probably the most prestigious Invitation Event run in this country. Organised by the London Association it attracts an extremely powerful field. This year was no exception. The players there were a Who's Who of the current top players in the UK. It was quite an honour therefore for John Atthey and Chris Owen to represent the English Juniors. Although  their team not unexpectedly finished last it was  a tremendous learning experience. 

81%
Amalia Jobes and Rita Robson scored a massive 81% during the final evening play on the holiday in Cala San Vicente. Both players compete regularly at the Whitburn and Wearside Bridge Clubs. Other members beware!

GREAT NORTHERN SWISS SUCCESS
Clive Owen and John Atthey finished 2nd in the Great Northern Swiss Pairs on the 4th / 5th Oct.
In so doing they narrowly failed to complete a double as they won the event the previous year. 

TOLLEMACHE SELECTION 2008
The team to represent the North East in the Tollemache in November is :
John Atthey, Dave Broadhead, Julian Gibson, Val Gibson, Damian Hassan, Martin Kane, Bill March, Chris Owen,  Clive Owen, Malcolm Oliver.

BOOK REQUEST
I very much wish to obtain a copy of "Kempson on Bidding", the 1937 edition for preference.
Given Kempson's connection with the North-East over a long period, I was hoping that one of your members might have a copy that is no longer required: would it be possible for you to publish something on the website asking anyone with a spare copy to contact me?


Incidentally, I suspect that the Dr Niman whose name is commemorated in the Niman Israel Cup is Ralph Niman. He was a prominent player in the North before and immediately after WW2 and was a member of the EBU selection committee. He partnered Joel Tarlo in the Camrose match v Republic of Ireland in 1946; Kempson wrote about the selection process as follows in the December 1946 edition of Contract Bridge Journal:

“Joe O’Neill was coming over … Clearly there was only one person capable of sitting up with Joe until 4 a.m., so we were selected. This let in Selby Wraith as a sort of hospital ship …

“Somebody then said that Mr [Joel] Tarlo was a fine player ... Being polite, he did not contradict the statement … Mr Tarlo was selected … Questioned as to his choice of partner, Mr Tarlo was about to reply when Mr Niman offered him a cigarette … Mr Butler offered him a cigar … Mr Niman … ordered a whisky and soda for Mr Tarlo … Mr Niman was selected.

“It was then felt that some effort should be made to win the match so Mr L. Tarlo and Mr J Janes were selected.”

The match was lost!


Richard Fleet
16 Upper Hall Park
Berkhamsted
Hertfordshire
HP4 2NW
01442 875968

NORTHERN LEAGUE SUCCESS
Both the NEBA ‘B’ & ‘C’ Teams were successful in the second round matches of the Inter-County Northern Bridge League on Saturday 30th July.
The ‘B’ Team was Ian Rankin (Capt), Mike Stanbury, Gill Gold, Ray Green, Ken Pattison, Peter Allan, Phil Smith & Dom Maloney.  Playing at Bradford, they were joint top with Yorkshire.
The ‘C’ Team was Nigel Durie (Capt), Pauline Durie, Jill Hancock, Roger Hancock, Sue Davies, Dick Davies, David Joy & David Milner.   Playing at Brierfield, they finished a creditable third on the day.

 Full details http://www.northernbridgeleague.org.uk/

SCARBOROUGH SUCCESS
The EBU Northern Summer Congress was again held at Scarborough. Clive Owen's team of John Holland from Manchester,  Giles Foster from Yorkshire and Ron McEwan from Derbyshire successfully defended the Main Teams Final Trophy winning by the narrow margin of 1 imp over the second place.
The team of Emily Goodway Linda Benneworth Joan Astill and Stella Findlay also qualified for the main final.

BRIGHTON SUCCESS
John Atthey who is now playing in the NEBA area, won the Brighton Swiss Pairs competition playing with Simon Cope. This considerable victory was achieved against 474 pairs.

HARROGATE SUCCESS
Although only 2 teams containing NE players participated both trophies travelled home northwards. In first place were Clive Owen, John Atthey  and the Yorkshire pairing of Liz Reese and Mark Bratley. In third place and winners of the non expert shield were Eve Hatfield James Ewington Claire Dutton and Robin Zigmond.

HEXHAM NEWS
Hexham Bridge Club are having to move for three weeks while development works at Wentworth Leisure Centre are completed.
They are re-locating to The TORCH Centre on Thursdays, 7th, 14th and 21st of August and will be back at Wentworth Leisure Centre on the 28th August.

PEEBLES SUCCESS
At the July Peebles Congress the team of Liz Muir, Chris Owen and John Atthey from the North East and Liz Reece from Yorkshire won the main event of the congress - the teams final.
This was a particularly good achievement as they also won their qualifying round in what was undoubtedly the toughest section finishing ahead of a number of internationals who played for their country in the recent European Championships.

North East players did particularly well in this event with Steve and Georgia Ray in a team that finished third.
Ian Rankin, Ajit Shivdasani, Mike Stanbury and David Morrison finished fourth and Clive Owen and Malcolm Oliver were in a team that finished fifth.

This must be the best overall result ever achieved by North East players in the major final at a Peebles Congress. 

ALNWICK BRIDGE CLUB HOLIDAY
The Alnwick Bridge Club committee is pleased to announce it has arranged a holiday for next year at the spacious Victorian AA 3-Star Cumbria Grand Hotel, Grange-over-Sands which overlooks Morecambe Bay and Grange Golf Course.  Andrew Kambites, a bridge Grandmaster, EBU senior congress director and experienced teacher will offer Bridge tuition on this holiday.
Full details and a booking form can be obtained from the Club's web site. www.alnwickbridgeclub.co.uk



Grand Hotel, Grange-over-Sands   

GERARD FAULKNER SALVER SUCCESS
The team of Clive Owen plus three Manchester players, John Holland,  Bill Hirst and John Hassett,  beat the Kent team captained by Denis O'Donovan by 54 imps in the final of the Gerard Faulkner Salver which is the National Knock Out teams competition for Senior players. Their team included three players who have won the Gold Cup.

After 16 boards O'Donovan had led by 40 imps. In previous rounds, matches had been won against teams from Hampshire, Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Manchester.

GARDEN CITIES SUCCESS
Hurworth, the winners of the North East Inter Club teams of 8 competition, represented the NEBA at the weekend in the Northern Regional finals at Bradford with the top 2 teams qualifying for the 8 team national final.

The team of Julian Gibson Haydn Dando Clive Owen Chris Owen Malcolm Oliver Martin Kane David Broadhead and Damian Hassan came second on a split tie but 15 victory points clear of third and so represent the North East in the final at Solihull on 21st June.

OBITUARIES FOR IAN SPOORS
Are shown separately here


    KEMPSON CUP WINNERS 2007/8
   
    The Final of the Kempson Cup was won by Clive
    Owen's Team - Clive Owen, Malcolm Oliver, Bill March, 
    Damian  Hassan, Martin Kane & Dave Broadhead.

    They beat Tony Jackson's Team - Tony Jackson, Fred Dalton,
    David Joy & David Milner - in a hard fought match.
    Nigel Durie was the TD.

HEATON IN THE 50'S - 'LEGENDS OF THE EBOR STREET GANG'
If you lived in or around Newcastle in the 50's you may be interested in this new novel by local writer John Rothwell.
Michael Bailey is an intelligent and perceptive ‘almost twelve’ year old living in the terraced streets of r
ailway houses in post war Britain. These Legends, written from his perspective and delightfully embellished by the author, give an unashamedly nostalgic insight into the nineteen fifties. They portray relationships within families, loyal and lasting friendships and the working class ethics of the time. The novel evokes memories of an era that will soon be forgotten and is sensitively written with great humour and pathos.

Copies can be purchased directly from the author at £7.95.  Ring John on 01325 262573

ENGLISH BRIDGE JUNE 2008
The cover design of the June 2008 issue of English Bridge advertises the forthcoming Brighton Congress and features the work of the NEBA webmaster!

 

MORPETH BRIDGE CLUB'S 40TH BIRTHDAY
In 2008 the Morpeth Bridge Club celebrates 40 years since it was founded. A party will be held at Embleton Hall on Sunday 1st June 2008

All current and past members of the club are most welcome.Tickets £15 Reserve your place now with Moyra

REVENGE
The Durham University team of James Ewington, Tom Dessain, Dominic Maloney and Robin Zigmond have today won the EBU inter-university cup, the Portland Bowl. They beat Edinburgh 147-125 in the semi-final, then led the strong Oxford A team throughout in the
final, winning 143 - 96. Fitting revenge for last year, when they lost to the Oxford A in the final.

GERALD FAULKNER SALVER
The National Seniors Knock Out is played annually for the Gerald Faulkner Salver. This year a team captained by Clive Owen has reached the final . The team which includes three North West players in John Holland Bill Hirst and John Hassett beat  a Hampshire team captained by Jeremy Baker in the semi finals.

It is with regret that we have to report that Norman Dykes passed away suddenly on Wednesday 5th March 2008. Norman was both a driving force and a leading player at Stockton Bridge Club for over 30 years and will be sorely missed by all who knew him.  

EBU SILVER PLATE SUCCESS
The team of Clive Owen, Julian Gibson, Bill March and Val Gibson won the final of the Silver Plate by 23imps over 48 boards.

The Silver Plate is played by teams who were knocked out in the first or second round of the Gold Cup .
In the final played at Derby against a London team captained by Adam Humphreys they led from start to finish.

To get to the final they won 6 previous rounds against teams from Scotland,  London, Berks and Bucks, Lancashire ,Yorkshire and the North East. Their closest match came in the first round when they narrowly beat a Durham University side captained by Tom Dessain after being 30 imps behind going into the last 8 boards.

   FUTURE CHAMPIONS
   The February cover of English Bridge features a photograph taken at the 2007 NEBA
   Congress and the magazine includes an article about the very encouraging youth
   events that took place on the Saturday morning of the congress.
  
   As reported earlier thirteen tables of youngsters took part and
Yarm School won the
   Sinclair Trophy and Polam 'A' won the Mini Bridge event.


£10,000 FOR LOCAL BRIDGE CLUB
The committee and members of Whitley Bay Bridge Club were delighted to have been informed by Awards for All (part of the National Lottery) that they have been awarded a grant of £10,000.
celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 2005, has occupied the same premises on Whitley Road for over 40 years.

It is acknowledged as having some of the best playing facilities in the region and this grant will enable work to commence on bringing the rest of the premises to a similarly high standard.


The club which offers both lessons and playing sessions on most days of the week has in excess of one hundred and sixty members and is always pleased to accommodate visitors and new members. The premises are also used each week by both Tynemouth and the YMCA Bridge Clubs and throughout the season Whitley Bay Bridge Club hosts regional competitions.

Awards for All is the small grants scheme administered by the Big Lottery Fund on behalf of Lottery good cause funders, Arts Council England, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sport England. The scheme makes awards of between £300 and £10,000 to grass-roots community groups and voluntary organisations.

Pam Gladwin -
Secretary of Whitley Bay Bridge Club

THE FUTURE OF BRIDGE !
A little late, but this montage shows some of the participants at the 2007 NEBA congress and offers some hope for our game!

Thirteen tables of youngsters aged between 6 and 15 played in the NEBA congress on November 10th 2007. Yarm School won the Sinclair Trophy and Polam 'A' won the Mini Bridge event. Well done to children, teachers and parents!
Watch out for the February issue of English Bridge!

SILVER PLATE SUCCESS
The team of Clive Owen Julian Gibson Val Gibson and Bill March have reached the final of the Silver Plate, a competition open to teams knocked out in rounds 1 or 2 of the Gold Cup.

The final will be played in February against a London/ Oxford team captained by ARC Humphrey.

 ENGLAND SELECTION FOR CHRIS
Chris Owen has been selected to play for England under 25 in the Channel Trophy against France Holland and Belgium in Utrecht on the 23/24 December. His partner will be John Atthey from Gloucestershire. This will be their 3rd outing in this event. They won the Junior Channel Trophy in Coventry 3 years ago and finished last in the Channel Trophy 2 years ago.

WOW !
Julian Gibson and Phil (King) have won the Young Chelsea Marathon.  The event was played over 24 hours non stop, starting at 2.00 pm 17th and finishing at 2.00 pm 18th November.  They played 156 boards.  First prize was £3000 between them.  Full details can be found at www.ycbc.co.uk. - BRILLIANT!!

WELL DONE JOHN AND ERIC!
John Wooton & Eric Brown of Wearside were 3rd of 1482 pairs with 72.6% in the David Boston Sims

2007 TOLLEMACHE
The NEBA team finished 3rd out of 10 in what was undoubtedly the strongest of the four sections of the Tollemache Trophy last weekend.
For those who do not know, the Tollemache is a team of 8 competition for all counties in England and Wales.

The NEBA team consisted of: Clive Owen, Chris Owen, Steve Ray, Georgia Ray, Dave Roberts, Liz Muir, Damien Hassan, Bill March, Dave Broadhead, Martin Kane.

In fact it was probably the North East's best performance for many years as, with one round to play, a draw or win against what was in effect the Welsh National Team would have ensured qualification for the Final.   Unfortunately, we lost 12-8. There is no doubt we have found a team that can compete against the best counties in the country and hope to improve on this result next year.

NEBA's 1ST PREMIER GRAND MASTER
Hearty congratulations go to Clive Owen,  who has recently become the 1st Premier Grand Master in the North East of England.

'Premier Grand Master' is England's highest rank in bridge requiring
1,500 Green Points.


BRIGHTON SUCCESS
Clive Owen, playing with John Holland, Bill Hirst and Patrick Jourdain. won the Senior Teams at Brighton.

NEW EBU WEB FOR BEGINNERS
The EBU 4th "Really Easy Congress" took place in Brighton this week (13th - 15th August). Steve Kitching and Ann Liddell won the Victor Ludorum prize with 64.74%, Steve plays at Whitley Bay Bridge Club.

This information is from a new  EBU web site devoted to bridge students and newcomers. Check it out at www.reallyeasybridge.com.

A WELCOME IN THE ISLANDS
While still young and responsive, I taught all of my children to play bridge so that I should never be without a four on holiday. When I started to play “properly” at Cramlington Bridge Club, as young adults they agitated to come along but were daunted by the level of knowledge involved, the prospect of bidding boxes and so on.

This summer on Arran we decided the time had come to take the plunge into competitive bridge. Adam and I consulted the “Arran Banner” and on Monday night we spruced ourselves up to go to Brodick Bridge Club, only to find when we got there that it was closed! We consulted the Arran Banner again to find that “Summer Bridge” took place at a home in Lamlash on Thursdays. Fancy getting spruced up twice on holiday!

When we arrived there was some consternation. The club took place in someone’s home and they always knew beforehand exactly how many pairs there would be. Our arrival would result in four and a half tables, and a half-table would have meant half hour sit-outs for pairs. That was clearly not attractive.

Never mind, with wonderful hospitality and determination that we should not be disappointed they accommodated us. We played five tables with a phantom bidder summoned from any available dummy to bid each hand for the two “solo pairs”. Twenty hands were played in good time and we were made to feel very welcome.

It would be good to say that this resulted in a young club member in the making, but I’m not so sure. He found it hard work and commented at the end that his brain ached. What the experience certainly was, however, was a lesson to any bridge club in how to welcome strangers and new players.- Owen Temple