The 2014 bridge year ended with the Year End and Northern Year End (see article here) congresses, with 350 tables in play across the events.
At the Year End Congress in London, held 27th to 30th December, the competitions started with a stratified Swiss Pairs event. This was won by the Norwegian pair of Arild Rasmussen & Kjell Gaute Fyrund (pictured left with EBU Vice Chairman Ian Payn) who finished on 162, 4 VPs ahead of Jerry Harouni & Waseem Naqvi (both Middlesex). Arild and Kjell built a big lead in the first two sessions, and led by 26 VPs with three rounds to play, but three defeats meant they ultimately won by a much narrower margin. There was a strong showing from junior players in the event, with Phil Morrison & Alexander Wilkinson third on 154, and Basil Letts & Shivam Shah in fourth, a further 2 VPs back.
The Mixed Pairs event on day three was won by Espen & Helen Erichsen (both Kent) (picture). They recorded the second best score in each session, and their overall score put them 3% ahead of the field on 63.72%. Anne Catchpole (London) & Phil Mattacks (Essex) were second on 60.74%, and Ian Pagan & Catherine Seale (both Middlesex) were third with 60.43%.
The Open Pairs event which took place alongside the Mixed Pairs was won by David Gold (London) & Kevin Castner with 62.76% (picture). Roger Gibbons (Hertfordshire) & David Kendrick (Cambs & Hunts) were second on 61.39%, with Phil King (London) & Graham Osborne (Surrey) third on 61.02%.
The congress concluded with the Swiss Teams. The team of Susanna Gross, Frank To (both London), Sally Brock and Barry Myers (both Berks & Bucks) went through the event undefeated and won with a score of 103 VPs. The team of Jeffrey Allerton, Peter Lee, Graham Osborne and Frances Hinden (all Surrey) tied for second with the team of David Sherman, Peter Hasenson (both Middlesex), Andy Bowles and Shireen Mohandes (both London), both teams scoring 97 VPs.
On Saturday another Really Easy Afternoon took place, with 63 pairs taking part. The event is aimed at those who are new to 'tournament bridge' and the hands were played at four venues - the main Year End Congress in London, Bradford BC, Richmond BC and First Class Bridge Club & Academy in Billericay - and scored across the whole field. The winners, with 69.43%, were Pru Bland & Amanda Sjodin (picture) (both London) who played at the London venue. Second on 65.07% were Chas Moore & Monica Watters (both Essex) who played in Billericay, and third were Graham Goodwin & Alix Payne (both Surrey) who scored 63.19% when playing at Richmond. The leading pair at Bradford, and also the winners of the 'B Stratification', were Colin Robinson & Janet Hardcastle (both Yorkshire) with 61.03%.
Thanks to Shireen Mohandes for the pictures.
January 2, 2015