Mike Bell enjoyed an initial flurry of success in the Lederer, winning the event in both 2011 and 2012 – his first and second appearances. The latter of those was particularly satisfying, as he had persuaded his partner, Michael Byrne, to play a system that Mike had developed specifically for the event.
That system was designed around the Lederer’s hybrid scoring – a difference of ten points was considered a “tie” on the point-a-board, meaning there was relatively little incentive to play in no-trumps, so the system was designed to identify as many playable suit contracts as possible. Sadly, the organisers must have considered the method too powerful, because, a few short years after this success, it was decided that a difference of ten points would be considered a “win” in future; and so, “The Lederer System” was retired.
Since then, success in the event (other than winning “Best Bid Hand” in 2013) has eluded Mike. He had rather hoped this would be the year that changed, but reading a certain teammate’s profile has disabused him of this notion.
Sarah Bell (formerly O’ Connor) first represented England on the junior squad in the European Teams in Romania, 2009, and made many subsequent appearances for the u25 girls’ and u25 open sides. She qualified for the Lady Milne in 2015 (with Anne Rosen) and 2020 (with Nicola Smith) and was on the London team that won the 2017 Tollemache (with husband Mike).
In addition to practising regularly and working on her own game Sarah enjoys teaching new players and working with the juniors. She has acted as a mentor for number of developing girls’ players and has done good work with the U16 squad. See Sarah’s EBU profile.
Natalie Hoff Despite emanating from a competitive Bridge family in South Africa, Natalie only started learning Bridge seriously in her 40s. However, after her first lesson she was hooked and has been a dedicated follower of the game since then. Her game has progressed and she has represented Middlesex and won her first national tournament, the Portland Pairs in 2023. She loves playing the game and discussing bridge hands with her partners. She lives in London, and has three grown children.
Ben Norton, 26, is playing in the Lederer for the fifth consecutive time. He has never managed to do well in the event, or even finish positive on the butler. This year is unlikely to be any different. (Ed – this is a bit glum, in fact Ben will be playing with Stefano Tommasini in the Camrose the weekend after the Lederer and in the European Open Championships in Denmark in July so we’ll put the lack of Lederer success so far down to bad luck…)
Stefano Tommasini is originally from Brazil but now lives in London. He and Ben Green represented England in the European Championships in 2022. He and Ben Norton will be playing on the England Open Team in Denmark this summer.
Lederer Trophy 