YCBA are running a café bridge event in Easingwold on Wednesday 20th May (11am to 4pm). The promotional flier is attached HERE.
Easingwold is 12 miles north of York, just off the A19. It is a vibrant market town with a surprising number of cafes centred around the market square. Parking is free and unrestricted.
The cost of the event is £25, which includes a good lunch and £5 to be donated to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance
What is Café Bridge?
It is duplicate pairs set up in multiple cafes, pubs or restaurants. Pairs move to a new venue after each round, guided by a map and movement card. Boards remain at their starting tables throughout. Scoring is with the BriAn Bridge app which is free to download on your smartphone (only 1 phone required per table).
How to Register your Entry
Email Pauline at Events@ycba.co.uk, providing the name of you & your partner. Please also provide: –
Your EBU numbers, if you have one (but all bridge players are welcome).
Confirmation on whether you have a smartphone in your partnership, and whether you are willing to do the scoring.
Details of any food allergies, special requirements (vegetarian option will be available).
Payment of £50 for your partnership to be made by bank transfer to
1st: Dave Robinson, Tony McNiff, Martin Edge, Nick Woolven 2nd: John Sansom, Jason Hackett, Damian Hassan, Clive Owen 3rd: Oscar Selby, Antonia Zeman Espinosa, Dan McIntosh, Claire Robinson
Congratulations to the winners of the Winter 2026 season of the Online Yorkshire League:
Division 1 – Leeds B
Division 2 – Sheffield Falcons
Division 3 – Scarborough.
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The next season of the Online Yorkshire League will be in the summer, with a compact programme of match days on 7th and 21st June and 5th July. Make a note in your diaries now!
Northallerton BC session for Girl Guides 19.01.2026
3rd February 2026
Northallerton BC session for Girl Guides 19.01.2026
In January 2026 Northallerton BC arranged a Taster session of MiniBridge for a group of Girl Guides – we use their HQ every week for Gentle Duplicate and Teaching sessions. The Guide Leader was keen for us to give the Guides an introduction to Bridge, so 9 empathetic Club Members facilitated a session for 20 Guides, aged 10 to 14. After a very brief explanation on the basic features of a card deck, point counting and card play we set up 5 tables, using prepared hands to make sure every Guide became Declarer in a NT contract. The tutors helped patiently throughout, and emphasised the importance of partnership, analysis and planning in Bridge. The evening was a resounding success, and several Guides were heard to say, “This is fun”. One tutor reported back, slightly incredulously, “they’ve only played 3 hands, but have got all the concepts already”. Steve Wilson, Club Secretary and organiser said, “The feedback was that everyone enjoyed the session, and it was great to see the Guides rise to an unfamiliar challenge. Additionally, it was very pleasing to see the high level of inter-generational co-operation – the Guides and Club Members clearly enjoyed each other’s company, so both groups had a fun time. The Guides were interested in learning, on task, and polite throughout”. The Guide Leader concurred – she was delighted with the format of the evening and the friendly support from all the Club Members.
Tollemache Final
3rd February 2026
Yorkshire finish sixth in Tollemache final
In November last year, 30 counties took part in the qualifying round of the EBU’s Tollemache Cup, and the Yorkshire county team of eight reached the final for the first time since 2016. The final was played over the weekend of 31st January and 1st February at an excellent hotel venue near Cambridge.
The Yorkshire team of five pairs was: Dave Robinson (captain) & Tony Sowter, Alan Hayward & Steve Raine, Paul Brereton & Frank Dixon, Alan Brosgill & Robin Jepson, and Tom Copeland & Alan Jarvis.
Yorkshire finished sixth out of the eight teams. Slightly disappointing, perhaps, but better than seventh or eighth! The format was all play all, seven 14-board matches, four on Saturday and three on Sunday. Yorkshire began with three losses, to Kent (narrowly) Middlesex and Sussex before putting our first win on the board against Dorset. On Sunday we defeated Norfolk and then, the highlight of the weekend, an excellent 16-4 win over Warwickshire, the leaders at the time and eventual winners. At this point we were on track for a top four finish but in the final match were brought down to earth with a 0-20 loss to Surrey.
Yorkshire’s strongest pair over the weekend was Alan & Steve, who played every board in every match and were the fifth best pair overall in the cross-imps. Paul & Frank were also plus in the cross-imps. Thanks to the selectors – Alan Brosgill, Dave Robinson & Nichola Cockerill-Smith; to Alan who undertook the bulk of the administration, and to Dave who was an excellent captain.
A Yorkshire team will be back again in the autumn for another crack at this competition and hopefully we won’t have to wait another ten years to reach the final again!
Robin Jepson.
Yorkshire School Winners
29th January 2026
On Sunday 25th January York Bridge Club hosted the Yorkshire Schools Competition on behalf of EBED and YCBA. There were three events entrants could choose from: The Yorkshire Schools Cup – a 24 board competition for experienced players The Yorkshire Minibridge Cup – a 12 board competition for improvers Tuition and mini competition for beginners
Play and tuition began at 12.30 and players had a break at 2.00 for High Tea. Competitions finished at 4.00. The young players had a super time with winners from York Bridge Club’s Youth Academy in the Yorkshire Schools Cup and Yorkshire Schools Minibridge. Results were as follows:
Yorkshire Schools Cup – joint winners Bertie and Sophie and Beth and Harriet
Yorkshire Minibridge Cup – Jacob and Barnaby
Osborn Cup – joint winners Priestholme and Leeds Cooperative Academy Congratulations to all entrants for making the day a huge success and a big thank you to all parents and carers for bringing their youngsters to the competition.
Café Bridge in Sheffield!
29th January 2026
On 17th March, for the first time, there will be up to 80 people playing cafe bridge in Sheffield.
Where?
In the heart of the former cutlery industry, Kelham Island has been renovated and has kept many of the striking features of its past. It is home to the famous Kelham Island museum which is free to visit. Here you can sometimes see an impressive live display of a steam engine. Kelham Island is also now home to multiple trendy, quirky and interesting venues that offer excellent food and drink. We have chosen five of the best for your café bridge experience.
What is café bridge?
Cafe Bridge is a duplicate event which takes place in multiple venues throughout the day. Pairs move to a new venue after each round, guided by a personal movement card. The boards remain on their starting tables throughout. The ticket includes lunch at your lunchtime venue. Café bridge is extremely popular in other parts of the country, notably in Scotland and the South. It is popular for the social side of things.……. and the bridge.
First time in Sheffield
In March, for the first time, there will be up to 80 people playing cafe bridge in Sheffield (tickets are limited to this number). We will be promoting this event citywide, as well as to surrounding towns and villages through the YCBA and the EBU.
Bridge outreach & charity
Café bridge is a type of event that attracts all kinds of players including kitchen bridge players and U3A players. It is highly sociable and offers an opportunity to show the outside world the game we love. It is great for attracting new members to our clubs and encouraging others to learn to play. Money raised during café bridge events is often donated to charity. In our case, to the Kelham Island Museum.
The early bird price for the Kelham Island Café Bridge event is £25.
In this podcast, Lesley Millet interviews Rowena White and Richard Croot about youth bridge development, focusing especially on Yorkshire. Rowena describes running a long-standing school bridge club and a weekly youth academy that is informal, free, inclusive, and flexible to accommodate busy schedules and students with different needs. Richard highlights how youth bridge can grow through academies, school clubs, enthusiastic teachers, external volunteers, and even students themselves taking initiative, while noting how difficult it can be to gain access to schools. They discuss upcoming Yorkshire youth competitions, bridge camps, and the wider social, educational, and personal benefits bridge offers young people, particularly those who may struggle elsewhere or lack other opportunities to represent their schools.
They also discuss the importance of developing youth bridge through academies, schools, and universities, emphasizing that encouraging young people to play bridge offers social and cognitive benefits compared with solitary activities like computer games. The speakers stress that successful youth programmes rely heavily on the support of local bridge clubs, which can provide volunteers, resources, and links to schools and universities. While only a few youth bridge academies currently exist and none are large, they are seen as a workable model when driven by committed individuals and supported locally. Overall, the conversation concludes that the future of bridge depends on closer collaboration between schools and local clubs, with flexible, realistic volunteering as the key to growth.
