Wednesday 28 May 2008

The Open Team's Road to Pau, part 2

Is rubber bridge a game of the past? Do you consider that to play top level tournament bridge you need to be able to play and understand complicated systems, conventions, lead styles and signalling methods? If your answer to the second question is yes then you are probably right but I believe it is no coincidence that, over the years, four of the current Open Team, Alan Mould (NPC of the Ladies Team) and myself all developed our card play and defence playing rubber bridge at Manchester Bridge Club.

Let me introduce you to the players. My idea is not to bore you with lists of facts outlining their great achievements but to provide information that will help you relate to them as individuals:-


Paul Hackett


One of the world's great players and regarded as the creator of the modern European Bridge Professional. Paul has travelled the world and has won more tournaments in different countries than anyone else. As well as fulfilling his playing commitments Paul has been instrumental in creating many well known tournaments such as The NatWest Trophy, The Molex, The Commonwealth Bridge Championships and more recently The Warren Buffett Cup.

Paul has helped many young players especially in the Manchester area and it was he, then a director of Manchester Bridge Club, who first introduced me to rubber bridge. Paul offerred to sponsor me in the £2 a hundred rubber bridge game as he felt I would benefit from playing with and against some of the great rubber bridge players and which included John Meizes, Frank Wood, Jeff Morris, John Hassett, John Holland, Howard Melbourne, Dennis Robson, Raymond Semp and Bernard Goldenfield, to name just a few. Paul has also been instrumental in introducing promising players to international bridge by inviting them to play with him in overseas events. Thanks Paul.

Paul's other interests include Calypso music, dancing (watch out Darren and Mark), the theatre, genealogy and bridge politics.

Paul is married to Olivia and is the father of Jason and Justin and with Barbara, Justin's wife, are probably the most famous bridge family in the world.


Jason and Justin Hackett


Twins Jason and Justin are widely regarded as the number one pair in Great Britain and have already won gold in the 1994 European Junior Championship and the 1995 World Junior Championship. Can they win gold in the open section of 2008 European Championship? Jeff Morris, director of Manchester Bridge Club, has been quoted "I am sure that one day they will be world champions at senior level". Let us hope they start this year at the Europeans.

When you first meet Jason you could get the impression he is solely focused on bridge. If so you could not be further from the truth — I remember sitting with Jason and his father on a warm summer's evening in Deauville with enormous glasses of lager in front of us and listening to Jason telling us of his exploits bungee jumping in Australia, white water rafting in New Zealand, and on a solo journey by train from Russia to China.

Recently Jason has been assisting with the training of our junior teams.

Justin was married to Barbara, a German ladies international and world champion, on the day England beat Germany 5 goals to 1. The elite in the bridge world were there paying their respects to Justin and Barbara and I remember well Ross Harper announcing the score between each speech — some night. Sorry about the score Barbara but it is not often we beat Germany at football.

Justin is an excellent footballer in his own right and at one time considered turning professional but ended up playing bridge. A keen Manchester United supporter but we will not hold this against him if he helps us win a medal.


Tony Waterlow


I have only played in the same team as Tony on one occasion but found him an excellent team mate (he needed to be with the results we were bringing in) with a fine taste in French wine.

Prior to retirement Tony was UK Chairman and Managing Director of a major international company. He has played bridge with Paul for over 20 years and won the silver medal in the 1995 European Pairs Championship. Tony has won most of the top domestic trophies and with Paul has an excellent record in the English trials — they played together in the European Championships in 2002 and have numerous Camrose caps.


John Armstrong


John developed his bridge at Cambridge University playing with the likes of Brian Callaghan, Steve Barnfield, Richard Fleet, Richard Granville and Graham Kirby.

In 1977 he formed a partnership with Graham which lasted 20 years and during which they represented Great Britain in two Bermuda Bowls, two Olympiads and seven European Championships wining gold in 1991 European and silver in the 1987 Bermuda Bowl. Some record.

He formed a partnership with John Holland in 2005 and they have finished in the top four of the English trials each year from 2005 to 2008.

Main interests outside bridge are orienteering, hill walking, classical piano music and reading my fantasy novels.

A superb bridge player with great table manners and temperament and with John Holland could make a big impact on this year's championship.


John Holland


I have been fortunate to play in the same team as John for the past ten years and I can not speak too highly of him as both a bridge player and team mate.

He played with Michelle Brunner for approaching 30 years during which time they they have won the Portland (mixed pairs championship) three times and the Hubert Phillips (mixed teams) six times and must be recognised as one of the best mixed pairs in the world. John has won virtually all the major domestic trophies although surprisingly the Gold Cup has eluded him. He played with John Armstrong in 2006 European Championship and the experience should stand him in good stead for this year's event.

As I have already said the opposition will be tough but we believe this team will do us proud.

Wednesday 21 May 2008

The Open Team's Road to Pau

England has a considerable number of fine bridge players but can we produce a great team? Apart from The English Ladies Team, who have had a number of excellent results in recent years our successes in the Open and Senior events have been limited. Perhaps the forthcoming European Championships in Pau, France will help answer this question.

England will be represented in the Open Championship by Paul Hackett and Tony Waterlow, John Armstrong and John Holland and Jason and Justin Hackett. Opposition is likely to be very strong recognising the quality of teams such as Italy, Norway, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Poland, Russia and other Eastern European countries. The Team are used to playing together and without exception the players have excellent temperaments, a factor of considerable importance in a series lasting two weeks and I believe they should do very well indeed.

What represents success? Our first objective is to qualify for The World Championship and after that a medal would, in my opinion, represent a fantastic achievement but with a following wind who knows!- The Irish Team have shown us what can be done with commitment, hard work and above all ability.

We need your support- any one in France who can spend a day or two in Pau, between June 15th to 28th, please come along and make yourself known to us and you will be made most welcome. I will try to respond to any emails or letters and answer any questions. If any individual or Company would like to be directly involved by providing some sponsorship, however small, please contact The EBU or myself and we will be delighted to discuss it with you. I believe it to be of paramount importance that all bridge players in the country get behind and feel part of the team in the same way that we support our football, cricket and rugby teams.

In future articles we will look at the prospects of the Ladies and Senior Teams and provide more information on individual players and, during the course of The Championships we will keep you up to date with the progress of our teams. Keep reading these pages.

Monday 19 May 2008

Stockdale and Brown win Under 28 Trials

The trials for the Under 28 team that will represent England in the 2008 World Mind Sport Games (formerly known as the Olympiad) in Beijing were concluded yesterday, and the outcome was a win for Susan Stockdale and Fiona Brown. The trials winners were guaranteed selection so their place in the team is assured.

The rest of the triallists will have to wait until the selectors meet to decide the remainder of the team; that meeting will take place on June 4th.

Final Results
Susan Stockdale and Fiona Brown136
Andrew Murphy and Simon Cope121
Ollie Burgess and Andrew Woodcock121
Mike Bell and Michael Byrne119
Ben Handley-Pritchard and Alex Hydes102.5

Thursday 15 May 2008

Under 28 Trials for Beijing

The Trails for the Under 28 team that will represent England in the 2008 World Mind Sport Games (formerly known as the Olympiad) in Beijing will take place this weekend, 17th - 18th May.

It will be a pairs trial (scored by cross-imps), and there are six pairs entered:-
Ben Handley-Pritchard and Alex Hydes
Andrew Murphy and Simon Cope
Ollie Burgess and Andrew Woodcock
Mike Bell and Michael Byrne
Ben Green and Duncan Happer
Susan Stockdale and Fiona Brown

The format will be a double round robin of 10 x 10-board matches with 50 boards on each day starting at 11.00 and finishing at 20.15, the winners are guaranteed seelction for the World Mind Sport Games.

The trials will be shown on Bridgebase online. You can download Bridge Base Online from their website http://online.bridgebase.com or view it without downloading anything, from the BBOTV website http://www.bbotv.com/vugraph/

Tuesday 6 May 2008

Spring foursomes - Semi-final & Final

Congratulations to Chris Jagger, Filip Kurbalija, Ian Pagan & Tim Rees , winners of the Schapiro Spring Foursomes.

They had a massive final set, to beat top seeds Alexander Allfrey, David Bakhshi, Peter Crouch, Tony Forrester, Glyn Liggins & Andrew Robson by 57 - 28 in the final. They were undefeated throughout the tournament. This was their second victory over the Allfrey team in the tournament, they had already beaten them in Round 6 in the match between the last two undefeated teams.

Earlier in the day, two very close Semi-finals were fought.

In their match the Jagger had won through to the final by beating Jon Cooke, Martin Garvey, Jeffrey Allerton, Frances Hinden & Graham Osborne (seeded 11) ,

Meanwhile the Allfrey team had won through to the final buy beating Simon Gillis, Boye Brogeland, Tom Hanlon, Espen Lindqvist, Hugh McGann, Odin Svendsen (seeded 2) 56 - 53.

Monday 5 May 2008

Spring Foursomes - Quarter-Final

There were no big surpises in this afternoons Quarter-final matches.

Alexander Allfrey, David Bakhshi, Peter Crouch, Tony Forrester, Glyn Liggins, Andrew Robson & Tim Rees (seeded 1) beat Geoffrey Wolfarth, Gary Hyett, Vladi Isporski & Valio Kovachev (seeded 7) 96 - 52

Simon Gillis, Boye Brogeland, Tom Hanlon, Espen Lindqvist, Hugh McGann, Odin Svendsen (seeded 2) beat Neil Rosen, Martin Jones, Catherine Draper, Ben Green, Duncan Happer & Andrew Woodcock (seeded 3) 72 - 36

Jon Cooke, Martin Garvey, Jeffrey Allerton, Frances Hinden & Graham Osborne (seeded 11) beat Ian Lancaster, Dave Franklin, John Frosztega & Gerry Stanford (seeded 32) 87 - 38

the Undefeated team Chris Jagger, Filip Kurbalija, Ian Pagan & Tim Rees (seeded 10) had a bye this round. They also get to choose their semi-final opponents, and chose to play against Cooke.

The Semi-Final line up is :-
Jagger*(10) v Cooke (11)
Allfrey (1) v Gillis (2)

*If Jagger (the undefeated team) is in arrears after 32 boards, the match will be extended to 40 boards. If they are still in arrears after 40 boards it will be deemed that they have been twice defeated, and they will be eliminated from the competition.

The semi-final & final which take place tomorrow (Tuesday 6 May) will be shown on Bridge Base Online. You can download Bridge Base Online from their website http://online.bridgebase.com or view it without downloading anything, from the BBOTV website http://www.bbotv.com/vugraph/

Spring Foursomes - Round 6

The upset of round 6 came in the match between the last two undeafeted teams, with underdogs Chris Jagger, Filip Kurbalija, Ian Pagan & Tim Rees (seeded 10) overturning the top seeds Alexander Allfrey, David Bakhshi, Peter Crouch, Tony Forrester, Glyn Liggins, Andrew Robson & Tim Rees by a score of 88 - 56.

In the once defeated pool, no. 7 seed Geoffrey Wolfarth, Gary Hyett, Vladi Isporski & Valio Kovachev beat the no. 4 seed Janet de Botton, David Burn, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Artur Malinowski, Nick Sandqvist by just one imp, 56 - 55.

The other results in the once defeated pool were:-
Neil Rosen, Martin Jones, Catherine Draper, Ben Green, Duncan Happer & Andrew Woodcock (seeded 3) beat Sarah Dunn, David Ewart, David Gold, Gunnar Hallberg, Andrew McIntosh & Tom Townsend (seeded 13) 59 - 53

Ian Lancaster, Dave Franklin, John Frosztega & Gerry Stanford (seeded 32) beat Alex Gipson, Paul Gipson, Finlay Marshall & Harry Smith (seeded 22) 91 - 58

Jon Cooke, Martin Garvey, Jeffrey Allerton, Frances Hinden & Graham Osborne (seeded 11) beat Patrick Jourdain, Tony Ratcliff, John Salisbury, Mike Tedd & David Jones (seeded 23) 83 - 62

Simon Gillis, Boye Brogeland, Tom Hanlon, Espen Lindqvist, Hugh McGann, Odin Svendsen (seeded 2) beat Sandra Penfold, Nevena Senior, Rumen Trendafilov & Kalin Karalvanov (seeded 25) 79 - 51

and that the draw for the Quarter-Final is

Undefeated team - Jagger (10) - Bye
Allfrey (1) v Wolfarth (7)
Gillis (2) v Rosen (3)
Cooke (11) v Lancaster (32)

Spring Foursomes - Rounds 1 to 5 Highlights

Round 1
Two of the top eight seeds lost a life to unseeded teams in the first round.

Nick Doe, Simon Husband, Stuart Nelson & Alan Shillitoe beat the No. 5 seed Rob Helle, Steven Green, Egbert Henstra, Ed Hoogenkamp & Simon de Wijs.

Steve Johnston, David Owen, Stephen Peterkin & Samantha Punch neat the No. 8 seed David Mossop, Gojko Zivkovic, John Carroll, Tommy Garvey, David Price & Colin Simpson.

However the result of the round was achieved by a team of Under 20's Juniors. James Paul, Graeme Robertson, Adam Hickman & Daniel McIntosh who are the England Under 20's B team beat the No. 13 seeds Sarah Dunn, David Ewart, David Gold, Gunnar Hallberg, Andrew McIntosh & Tom Townsend the latter four being the team that were runners-up in the trials for the European Open team only two months ago. Very well done to James, Paul, Graeme & Adam.

Round 2
Just one upset this round, again it was achieved by a team of Juniors (well almost). I say well almost, Michael Byrne is no longer a Junior, but only just, he still qualifies for our Under 28 team, and is Squad Trainer & Captain for our Under 20's team so that counts, surely? Anyway, his team consisting of Michael Byrne, Ed Jones, Rob Myers, Ben Paske, Tom Paske beat the no 7
Geoffrey Wolfarth, Gary Hyett, Vladi Isporski & Valio Kovachev, so another great result achieved by a Junior team. Well done!

Round 3
The result of the round was achieved by Sandra Penfold, Nevena Senior, Rumen Trendafilov & Kalin Karalvanov seeded 25, who comfortably beat the No. 9 seed Espen Erichsen, Glenn Groetheim, Nick Irens, Norman Selway & Ulf Tundal in the undefeated pool.

Meanwhile in the once defeated pool No. 21 seed Sarah Teshome,Tony McNiff, Bill Townsend & Richard Winter inflicted the second defeat over the No. 5 Seeded Rob Helle, Steven Green, Egbert Henstra, Ed Hoogenkamp & Simon de Wijs, causing them to become the first of the top eight seeds to exit the tournament.

Round 4
This is the round that will reduce the Udefeated Pool from 8 teams down to four. Three of the top four seeds survived, the only on that didn't make it through this round was No 2. Seed Simon Gillis, Boye Brogeland, Tom Hanlon, Espen Lindqvist, Hugh McGann & Odin Svendsen who lost their first life to No. 10 seed Chris Jagger, Filip Kurbalija, Ian Pagan & Tim Rees

Meanwhile in the once defeated pool the Under 20's team of James Paul, Graeme Robertson, Adam Hickman & Daniel McIntosh collexted another scalp, this time beating 21 seed Sarah Teshome,Tony McNiff, Bill Townsend & Richard Winter.

Round 5
We were now down to the last four Undefeated teams. No 1. Seed Alexander Allfrey, David Bakhshi, Peter Crouch, Tony Forrester, Glyn Liggins, Andrew Robson beat No. 4 seed Janet de Botton, David Burn, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Artur Malinowski & Nick Sandqvist while No. 10 seed Chris Jagger, Filip Kurbalija, Ian Pagan & Tim Rees beat No 3. Neil Rosen, Martin Jones, Ben Green, Duncan Happer, Catherine Draper & Andrew Woodcock.

In the once defeated pool one more of the top eight seeds was destined to go out, as two were drawn against each other. The outcome was that the no 7. seed Geoffrey Wolfarth, Gary Hyett, Vladi Isporski & Valio Kovachev survived, at the expense of John Armstrong, Paul Hackett, John Holland & Tony Waterlow.

The run of the Under 20's team finally come to an end when they lost to No. 11 seeds Jon Cooke, Martin Garvey, Frances Hinden, Graham Osborne, Jeffrey Allerton but they can be proud of their achievement, surviving as far as round 5 in such a tough tournament is no mean feat.

Friday 2 May 2008

Schapiro Spring Foursomes

The Schapiro Spring Foursomes, one of the great events in the English calendar, begins this evening. Details about all aspects of this exciting and challenging tournament can be found on the EBU Website. The principal event, the Schapiro Trophy, has become one of the toughest events in domestic bridge. It is run on double-elimination lines over nine sessions each of 32 boards. Due to the generous sponsorship arrangement in place for this event, prizes are approximately twice the normal EBU value. The English Bridge Union extends its gratitude to Mrs. Helen Schapiro in supporting this most prestigious event in this way, and in donating a trophy in the name of her husband, the late, and truly great, Boris Schapiro.

In my column I will be following the progress of the leading seeds, and of course reporting on all the great giant-killing acts.
The top seeds this year are:-
1. Alexander Allfrey, David Bakhshi, Peter Crouch, Tony Forrester, Glyn Liggins & Andrew Robson
2. Simon Gillis, Boye Brogeland, Tom Hanlon, Espen Lindqvist, Hugh McGann & Odin Svendsen
3. Neil Rosen, Martin Jones, Catherine Draper, Ben Green, Duncan Happer, & Andrew Woodcock
4. Janet de Botton, David Burn, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Artur Malinowski & Nick Sandqvist
5. Stephen Green, Rob Helle, Egbert Henstra, Ed Hoogenkamp & Simon de Wijs
6. John Armstrong, Paul Hackett, John Holland & Tony Waterlow
7. Geoffrey Wolfarth, Gary Hyett, Vladi Isporski & Valio Kovachev
8. David Mossop, Gojko Zivkovic, John Carroll, Tommy Garvey, David Price & Colin Simpson

Many foreign players have been attracted to these shores to take part in this great event. These include
from Norway: Boye Brogeland, Glenn Groetheim, Ulf Tundal, Espen Lindqvist, Odin Svendsen, Tonje Brogeland, Torkel Viken
from Bulgaria: Vladi Isporski, Valio Kovachev, Kalin Karalvanov, Ruman Trendafilov
from the Netherlands:Egbert Henstra, Ed Hoogenkamp, Simon de Wijs, Frank Burghout
from Croatia: Sandra Probst, Lara Ruso
from Switzerland: Gojko Zivkovic
From Denmark: Kenneth Edvardsdal
and of course many players from Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

The semi-final & final which take place on Tuesday 6 May will be shown on Bridgebase online. You can download Bridge Base Online from their website http://online.bridgebase.com or view it without downloading anything, from the BBOTV website http://www.bbotv.com/vugraph/