Michael Byrne has made the long trek from the North of England to make another appearance in the Lederer.
In 2022 Michael and Kieran played in the Lederer shortly before they went on to represent England in the Bermuda Bowl where they reached the quarter finals. They are hoping to end the Lederer differently to the Bermuda Bowl in two ways – they want to win and they want to finish with the same number if teammates they began with!
Kieran Dyke is a professional bridge player from Australia and has lived in England for the last decade.
His bridge results include national championship wins – a bunch in Australia, a few in England and one in New Zealand. He won a bronze medal in the European Teams in 2015 and reached the quarter-finals of the Bermuda Bowl in 2022, losing to the eventual winners.
He lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and two cats. He listens to a lot of 1970s progressive rock and wishes that he was able to play boardgames more often.
Ben Handley-Pritchard (aka BHP) last played the Lederer in 2001 representing England Juniors where he famously won the Best Played Hand award. He now lives in Croatia with his wife but recently rejoined the English bridge scene, representing the Open Team at the 2022 and 2024 European Championships. Ben is widely considered the best Barbu player of all time.
Ed Jones is from Leicestershire originally, though now lives in London working as a software engineer. He came through the junior ranks with mixed success, the zenith of which was a Silver Medal in the U21s World Championships in Beijing in 2008, partnering Tom Paske. In 2019 he won the Spring Fours and Crockfords. International performances of note include winning the 2019 European Open Championship and getting a Bronze medal in the Rosenblum in Orlando in 2018.
Maggie Knottenbelt was taught to play bridge at age 11 by her bridge playing parents. She played many all-night rubber bridge sessions while studying Physics at Oxford university. These turned out to be excellent practice for the all-nighters she later pulled in her career as a management consultant. While bringing up her 2 sons she retrained as a psychotherapist and worked at St Thomas’s Hospital for several years. Just before Covid she found her way to Andrew Robson and her bridge passion was re-ignited. She became an American National Champion at her first US Nationals in Austin in 2021 and won a bronze medal at the World Open Transnationals in Marrakesh in 2023. In 2024 she has been selected to represent England in the Open, Mixed and Women’s categories in various events. 2024 will be a busy year as she is also moving to Milan with her husband and intending to check out the Italian bridge scene.
Tom Townsend, 53, lives in Shepherd’s Bush with Ewa Kater, their 14-year-old son Max, and their Labrador puppy Gotham. Tom plays professionally and is Daily and Sunday Telegraph bridge columnist. He and BHP came third in last year’s transnational world championships in Marrakech, second in the Blue Ribbon Pairs in Atlanta, and have won the last two EBU Open pairs trials.. See Tom’s EBU page.
Lederer Trophy 