Christchurch Bridge Club

Our History
The formation of our club came about as a result of the vision of a small number of competitive bridge enthusiasts wanting something more than that available at the clubs in existence at the time. On April 24th 1952 a meeting was held at a local commercial laundry and the Christchurch Contract Bridge Club was born. The club still celebrate this event with an annual tournament that would be one of the most popular club event on the calendar. The founding group immediately set about organizing the funding and purchase of a premises, located in Cambridge Terrace, and set about renovating and furnishing the property. They were playing club bridge within two weeks of the purchase.

Ten years later the membership was starting to expand due to the rise in popularity of Duplicate Bridge as against Rubber Bridge. The club facility was expanded through renovation to cater for the growth. By 1969 the membership had expanded to a stage where new and larger premises were required. Our current site was purchased as vacant land and club rooms were designed an constructed, this being the first purpose built bridge club in New Zealand. The new rooms were opened on August 21st with a tournament with a field of 120 pairs competing making it the largest bridge event ever held in New Zealand at the time.

By 1975 the club membership had exceeded the 1000 mark and further expansion was required, during the renovations a fire occurred that reduced the club rooms plus 23 years of history to ashes. After two years of operation in a local rugby club rooms the new enlarged club room that we enjoy today were completed.

Over the last five years the rooms have been renovated and refurbished to maintain the high standard of presentation and comfort. In 2005 a revised and improved constitution was adopted which included a name change that dropped the word 'Contract' from our name.

Current Committee
Select to view committee details

Grand Masters

Over the years the club has produced many Grand Masters. Many still play their club bridge here. Others have either passed on or moved on to clubs outside the Christchurch area.
Click on the Icon to view the list.

Honors Boards

There are some worthy names listed on the various Honors boards displayed around the club walls.
As time permits we hope to have these available for view from this site.