Bermuda Bowl

Structure

See a description of the identical "Senior Bowl" structure or a detailed account of the 2011 event (below)

Inauguration and evolution

Organized principally by Norman Bach, an accountant and bridge player from Bermuda who played for Britain the Bermuda Bowl was the first world championship event held after World War II and started out as a competition between USA, Europe and Britain in 1950.

The first event was won by USA and after this, the Bermuda Bowl became a yearly challenge match between the USA and the European Champions. The format evolved allowing for progressively more teams and the addition of events for women and seniors. Key milestones were:

1950: The first open team event in Bermuda between the USA, Europe and Britain who played round-robin for raw scores or "total points". 1951: The next several contests were head-on matches between representatives of the American Contract Bridge League (North America) and the European Bridge League. 1958: The tournament permanently included the champion of South America. 1961: Eligibility was expanded to include the defending champions. 1966: The tournament expanded to five with the addition of a representative from Asia. 1971: The field was expanded to include Australia. 1974: The World Bridge Federation inaugurated the Venice Cup for Women Teams, contested four times on no fixed schedule before 1985. 1979: The defending champions were no longer eligible on that basis alone. 1981: Europe was awarded two places in the tournament. There would be nine teams if every WBF zone sent a champion. 1983: North America joined Europe with double representation, and the host country was automatically included too, so the potential size of the field increased by two. European and North American champions would have two places in the 4-team semifinal round. European and North American runners up would contend with champions of the other zones and the host country for two other semifinal slots. 1985: The Bermuda Bowl for open teams and Venice Cup for women would be contested side-by-side in tournaments with the same structure, and in a venue outside Europe and North America (maintained until 2001).

Predecessors

Austria won the 1937 International Bridge League (IBL) championships for both open and women national teams. They are commonly considered the first world championships for national teams, and the first world championship tournaments of any kind, because teams from the United States entered both flights, two open teams and one women.

The IBL was a predecessor of both the European Bridge League (est. 1947) and the WBF (est. 1958), although there was a competing international organization in the 1930s. The IBL organized annual championships for (open) national teams beginning 1932 and for women beginning 1935. Prior to 1937, Austria won three of five in the open category and both in the women category. All of the sites were in Europe and the European Bridge League considers the 1930s series to be the first eight European Teams Championships.

The 1937 open field comprised nineteen teams from eighteen countries – the USA had two teams, one led by Ely Culbertson which placed second.

In the knockout stage, Culbertson beat Norway and Hungary before losing to Austria. USA Minneapolis lost to Austria in the semifinal.(Morehead)

World War II practically destroyed the IBL and its nascent world championship tournament series.

With Austria the leading nation at the card table, the 1938 Anschluss of Germany and Austria was a great disruption. The leading bridge theorist and mentor, Paul Stern was an outspoken opponent of Nazism who fled to London and later became a British subject. That same year, at least Rixi Scharfstein (Markus) from the Ladies emigrated to Britain; from the Open team at least Karl von Bluhdorn to Paris, Edward Frischauer and Walter Herbert to the United States, eventually California.

The International Bridge League organized two more European championships (making eight annual tournaments for national open teams, 1932–1939) but no more tournaments or official matches involving any team from outside Europe.

1950 Hamilton, Bermuda

The first rendition featured three teams who played round-robin for raw scores or "total points". The US team won both of its matches and Europe, featuring two pairs from Sweden and one from Iceland, defeated Great Britain.

The next several contests would be head-on matches between representatives of the American Contract Bridge League (North America) and the European Bridge League.

1953 New York City, USA

The United States team won its third consecutive championship with Crawford, Rapée, Schenken, and Stayman in place throughout. The fourth US winner would be a wholly new team.

1954 Monte Carlo, Monaco

France won the 1953 European championship with a six-man national team. For the Bermuda Bowl, Jean Besse of Switzerland and Karl Schneider of Austria replaced one of the French pairs. Schneider had been a member of the 1937 world champion Austrian team.

1955 New York City, USA

Europe finally won the 5th Bermuda Bowl with a team of six men from Great Britain.

1956 Paris, France

France made it two in a row for Europe. Bacherich and Ghestem were veterans from 1954.

1957 New York City, USA

Italy's Blue Team won its first of ten consecutive Bermuda Bowls. Chiaradia, Forquet, Siniscalco, and captain Carl'Alberto Perroux were veterans from the 1951 team. Avarelli, Belladona, D'Alelio, and Forquet would play in every one.

1958 Como, Italy

For 1958 the Bermuda Bowl tournament permanently included the champion of South America, whose federation and annual tournament were then ten years old. In the next several years, expansion covered other geographic zones and the defending champion.

1960s

There was no Bermuda Bowl in 1960, 1964 or 1968 to avoid conflict with the Bridge Olympiad.

1961 Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Blue Team won its fourth Bermuda Bowl, with Benito Garozzo now in the same lineup. This began a new string of annual world championships for Italy, after ranking only sixth in the inaugural World Team Olympiad, won by France.

At the same time, the Bermuda Bowl tournament expanded to include the defending champions. Throughout the 1960s that would mean Italy plus one from the "rest of Europe". Italy would use the European Team Championships to give some international experience to new players or new partnerships.

Argentina finished fourth.

1962 New York City, USA

Argentina finished fourth.

1963 Saint-Vincent, Italy

Italy won again. This was the last for "Professor" Eugenio Chiaradia and the only one of the ten in a row that Walter Avarelli missed.

Argentina finished fourth.

1965 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Playing at home, Argentina represented South America for the sixth time and finally defeated one of the Europeans or Americans, namely Great Britain.

This was the fifth consecutive world championship for the Blue Team, as it had won the second Olympiad in 1964. Italy would continue to win annually with the identical lineup through 1969, plus a successful comeback in 1972.

Great Britain finished fourth. The event was marred by a cheating scandal involving the British pair Terence Reese and Boris Schapiro, known as the "Buenos Aires affair".

1966 Saint-Vincent, Italy

The tournament expanded to five with Asia, represented by Thailand. Venezuela took Argentina's usual place and won another third for South America. Canadians Sami Kehela and Eric Murray joined four US Americans for North America.

Netherlands finished fourth and Thailand fifth.

1967 Miami Beach, USA

Thailand and Venezuela returned to the field. More than forty years later, 1966/1967 remain their best national performances.

Thailand finished fourth and Venezuela fifth.

1969 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Taiwan appeared on the world bridge scene with a shocking second-place performance, represented by six players using the Precision Club bidding system recently invented by C. C. Wei.

The Blue Team of Italy retired after winning its tenth consecutive Bermuda Bowl (from 1957) and ninth consecutive annual world championship in open teams (from 1961).

The United State team included two members of the professional Dallas Aces, Eisenberg–Goldman and two young players who would be Aces, Hamman and Kantar.

France finished fourth and Brazil fifth.

1970 Stockholm, Sweden

The Aces won the 17th Bermuda Bowl, the first for a United States or North America team since they won the first four. Taiwan finished second again, with only five players and only two veterans from 1969. Norway and Brazil also finished ahead of Italy, the defending champion bridge nation represented by a wholly new team.

Brazil finished fourth and the new Italy fifth.

1971 Taipei, Taiwan

The Aces won as defending champions while the field expanded to include Australia.

Taiwan finished fourth at home, one year after finishing second.

1973 Guarujá, Brazil

The Blue Team had successfully completed a comeback by winning the 1972 Olympiad with its 1964–69 lineup. Three then retired permanently but its three greatest players continued to play for Italy: Belladonna, Forquet, and Garozzo. And to win.

The second-place Aces were defending champions with one personnel change.

North America finished fourth, represented by a team of six men from the US.

1974 Venice, Italy

Italy defended its championship at home. The World Bridge Federation inaugurated its Venice Cup for "Women Teams", which increased in size and frequency to match the biennial Bermuda Bowl tournament for "Open Teams" in 1985. No woman had played for a Bermuda Bowl winner; only two had finished second. Meanwhile, the quadrennial Olympiad ran two tournaments, open and women, side-by-side from its start in 1960.

* De Falco and Franco did not play enough boards to qualify for the title of World Champion.

Indonesia finished fourth.

1975 Southampton, Bermuda

For the 25th anniversary of the inaugural tournament, the 21st returned to Bermuda, as the 34th tournament would do for the 50th anniversary. Italy won its thirteenth Bermuda Bowl, its third in a row, and its last before 2005. Pietro Forquet missed this one, leaving Giorgio Belladonna alone with 13 Bowls.

Indonesia finished fourth, Brazil fifth.

1976 Monte Carlo, Monaco

The 22nd was the only Bermuda Bowl contested during a World Team Olympiad year. The two Open tournaments were played back to back during three weeks in May, with Italy beaten first by the United States and then by Brazil in the finals.

Israel finished third as the second representative of Europe.

Brazil finished fourth with the same lineup that placed third in 1973 and 1974. With one personnel change they won the Open Olympiad tournament that immediately following this exceptional Bermuda Bowl. It remains the only year with two world champion teams in the open category.

1977 Manila, Philippines

Both teams "North America" and "Defending Champions" comprised six men from the US. The six defending champion players divided two and four, as the Aces with defending players Eisenberg and Soloway regrouped as "North America". (Under double representation for the United States beginning 1991, the two USA teams must face each other if both advance to the semifinal.)

Argentina finished fourth.

1979 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The 24th Bermuda Bowl was the first to be decided by a margin that is commonly scored on a single deal, merely 5 IMPs. Malcolm Brachman's professional team of US Americans defeated Italy by that much.

The defending champion team was not invited after 1977, so the tournament again matched one team from each WBF geographic zone that chose to participate. The number of teams remained at six because "Central America & the Caribbean" sent a team for the first time, three players from Panama and three from Venezuela with a Guadeloupe captain. Brachman from North America and national teams from Italy, Australia, Taiwan, and host Brazil represented the other four zones.

Taiwan finished fourth.

1980s

The Bermuda Bowl made several changes around 1980. The defending champion team was dropped in 1979. For 1981 Europe was awarded two places in the tournament, the first expansion beyond zonal champions (plus the world champion, 1961 to 1977). There would be nine teams if every WBF zone sent a champion. For 1983, European and North American champions would have two places in the 4-team semifinal round. European and North American runners up would contend with champions of the other zones and the host country for two other semifinal slots. (Europe and North America had won all the Bermuda Bowls. Outsiders had finished second in 1969–70 and 1981.) Beginning 1985, the Bermuda Bowl for open teams and Venice Cup for women would run side-by-side with the same structure in a venue outside Europe and North America (maintained until 2001).

1981 New York City, USA

Pakistan represented "Asia and the Middle East", a novelty, and finished second, a shock. This was the third silver medal for teams from outside Europe and North America, joining Taiwan 1969–70. "Pakistani preempts" were notable and team's best player Zia Mahmood was recognized as a great one.

For the United States, led by Bud Reinhold—who played, but not enough to qualify personally as a world champion— Levin, Rodwell, and Meckstroth made their international debuts at 23 to 25 years old, Levin being the youngest winner on record.

Europe was represented by both Poland and Great Britain, first and second in the 18-team open flight of the European championships.

* Reinhold did not play enough boards to qualify for the title of World Champion.

Argentina finished fourth.

1983 Stockholm, Sweden

Beginning 1983, North America joined Europe with double representation, and the host country was automatically included too, so the potential size of the field increased by two. United States teams finished first and second in North America while France, Italy, and world host Sweden ranked 1, 2, and 7 among 24 teams in the open European championship. Under the new structure, USA1 and France earned byes to the Bermuda Bowl semifinal while USA2, Italy, and Sweden contended with the champions of other zones for two more semifinal slots. Five other zones were represented, ten teams in all.

USA2 and Italy won the preliminary stage; USA1 and Italy won semifinal matches to meet in the final, the international swan song for Giorgio Belladonna and for the legendary Belladonna–Garozzo partnership.

USA 2 finished fourth.

The size of the field increased by three, not two, because "Asia and the Middle East" (debut 1981) and "Central America and the Caribbean" (debut 1979) were both represented, by Pakistan and a transnational squad including four men from Jamaica. Only Africa among the eight modern geographic zones was not yet represented.

1985 São Paulo, Brazil

Beginning 1985 the Bermuda Bowl and the Venice Cup for women have been side-by-side tournaments with the same structure. From 1985 to 2000 they were always sited outside Europe and North America.

For three cycles 1985 to 1989, one team each from the United States and Canada represented North America. All three US teams were based on the San Francisco-area team anchored by Chip Martel–Lew Stansby and Peter Pender–Hugh Ross. They won the annual US Grand National Teams in 1982-83-85-87 (with another pair in '82, with Mike Lawrence in '87).

Austria and Israel finished 1–2 among 21 open teams in Europe and placed 2–3 behind USA in São Paulo.

* Frydrich and Hochzeit did not play enough boards to qualify for third place.

Brazil finished fourth.

Infrequent entries Canada, New Zealand, and India finished 8–9–10, having qualified in the familiar places of "USA 2", Australia, and Pakistan.

1987 Ocho Ríos, Jamaica

The "San Francisco" GNT with world veterans Hamman–Wolff defended successfully. Great Britain and Sweden reversed their European finish.

Chinese Taipei finished fourth.

1989 Perth, Australia

Brazil won its first Bermuda Bowl, defeating a team of three "San Francisco" pairs in the final.

Australia finished fourth at home. Egypt and Colombia represented Asia–Middle East and Central America–Caribbean. Poland and France, the best of 25 teams in Europe, finished only 3rd and 6th.

1991 Yokohama, Japan

Iceland won the Bermuda Bowl after finishing fourth in the Europe, the last to qualify from Zone 1. Europe's fourth, third, and second place teams won all three medals while European champion Great Britain finished 5th to 8th in the world.

The tournament expanded from 10 teams with a 4-team knockout conclusion to 16 teams with an 8-team KO, without any playoffs to distinguish the four quarterfinal losers. Defending champion Brazil finished fourth, Argentina 5th to 8th. The two USA teams also finished 5th to 8th.

Brazil finished fourth with the same lineup that won in 1989. With expansion from 10 to 16 teams, a third entry was awarded to North America, and the American Contract Bridge League settled on two United States teams, who both finished 5th to 8th. (The two US teams are determined under the auspices of the United States Bridge Federation. The other team from Zone 2 is determined by a playoff of other national teams, if necessary.)

1993 Santiago, Chile

Netherlands won its first Bermuda Bowl. Netherlands and Norway were fourth and third in Europe, as finalists Iceland and Poland had been two years earlier.

Boer, Leufkens, and Westra had played on the Netherlands 1987 world champion junior team. Helgemo of Norway played on the contemporary junior team and thus won two silver medals in 1993.

USA 2 finished fourth. South Africa represented Africa for the first time. Mexico won the third slot from North America. Host Chile finished last, as Japan and Jamaica had done.

1995 Beijing, China

This was the first win for Nick Nickell's professional team ("Nickell" in North American tournaments).

Canada made its best showing by far and South Africa finished fifth while the European and US champions did not reach the quarterfinal.

Sweden finished fourth.

1997 Hammamet, Tunisia

France won its first Bermuda Bowl as the fifth and last qualifier from Europe following another Bermuda Bowl tournament expansion.

USA 1 finished fourth.

Host Tunisia finished last and South Africa plummeted to second-last.

2000 Southampton, Bermuda

The Bermuda Bowl cycle continued as usual in 1998/1999 but the concluding tournament was in January 2000, marking the 50th anniversary of the inaugural contest in Hamilton. In contrast to that three-way competition among teams representing America, Britain, and Europe, there were now eight geographic zones from which twenty teams qualified in numbers influenced by past bridge population and performance.

Europe: Italy, Sweden, Norway, Bulgaria, France, Poland —ranks 1 to 6 in the European championship North America: Canada, USA 1, USA 2 South America: Argentina, Brazil Asia & Middle East: Pakistan C. America & Carib.: Guadeloupe and Bermuda as the host country Pacific Asia: China, Taiwan, Indonesia South Pacific: Australia, New Zealand Africa: South Africa

Norway finished fourth.

Europe's six teams all finished in the top ten but only Norway reached the semifinal. Bermuda finished last, the fifth time for six hosts since 1989.

2001 Paris, France

Italy finished fourth.

2003 Monte Carlo, Monaco

Expansion to 22 teams. Perennial European champions Italy returned to the top ranks of the Bermuda Bowl competition, but lost to USA 1 in the finals.

* Morse and Wolff did not play enough boards to qualify for third place.

Norway finished fourth.

2005 Estoril, Portugal

Italy's 14th Bermuda Bowl was its first since 1975.

Sweden finished fourth.

2007 Shanghai, China

The 38th Bermuda Bowl saw Norway win its first title, after two second, one third, and two fourth from 1993. Helgemo–Helness and Glenn Grøtheim were members of all six teams.

South Africa finished fourth. Its advance to the quarterfinal was a surprise and there it knocked out the defending champion and advance favourite Italy.

2009 São Paulo, Brazil

This was the fourth win for Nick Nickell's professional teams representing the United States (1995, 2000, 2003, 2009). Meckstroth–Rodwell and Bob Hamman were also members of all four teams.

* Katz was the replacement for Richard Freeman, who died after USA 2 qualified for the Bermuda Bowl.

China "Long Zhu" finished fourth. Beside China and the American winners, the quarterfinalists were all six teams from Europe. Bulgaria placed third after winning the first European Small Federations Trophy in 2007, for national teams representing no more than 500 players.

2011 Veldhoven, Netherlands

The 40th Bermuda Bowl tournament concluded Saturday, 29 October.

Italy had routed the USA champions 167–69 in a one-day match for the bronze medal while the host Netherlands faced USA 2 in a three-day final. The Dutch hosts led by 55 IMP after two days (96 deals) and scored very well in the first session on Saturday to lead by 83 and coast to victory.

USA 1 finished fourth. The losing quarterfinalists were Israel, Sweden, Iceland, and China.

Netherlands won the 2011 Bermuda Bowl by 300 to 255 IMP in three days play against USA 2, the second of two entries from the United States.

The final eight segments of 16 deals each started with an insignificant one IMP carryover advantage for Dutch home team. The one IMP represented half the margin in their short match, a 25–23 win for Netherlands in round two. With a strong third segment, Netherlands surged to a 130–108 lead after one day and then extended the difference to as much as 65 on day two ultimately finishing 55 IMPs ahead after six segments. After day three's seventh segment, the margin increased to 76 IMPs, nearly decisive with only 16 deals to play. The Americans rebounded in the last segment but the gains were "too small" as time ran out.

Preliminary

There were 22 national teams in the field, who represented the eight WBF zones as follows. The regular quota for Europe is six teams, seven at Veldhoven because the host country qualifies automatically.#

Europe: Italy, Poland, Israel, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands, Bulgaria —ranks 1 to 7 in the European championship North America: Canada, USA 1, USA 2 South America: Brazil, Chile Asia & Middle East: India, Pakistan C. America & Carib.: Guadeloupe Pacific Asia: China, Japan, Singapore South Pacific: Australia, New Zealand Africa: Egypt, South Africa

The first stage was a full round-robin. Every team played 21 short matches of 16 deals, three daily, scheduled in advance. Italy, Netherlands, USA 2, and Israel earned the first four places comfortably, each almost a full match ahead of the next place. The US champions finished fifth by scoring 340.5 Victory Points, or 16.2 per match where a draw is worth 15. Sweden, China, and Iceland qualified with fewer than 16 VP per match while Japan, New Zealand, and Australia made strong showings as the first three also-rans, ahead of two Europeans, Poland and Bulgaria. (All six Europeans had qualified for knockout play two years earlier.)

Italy, Netherlands, and USA 2 selected quarterfinal opponents China, Iceland, and Sweden leaving Israel to face USA 1. Italy and China, second and fourth in 2009, played the only close match, where Italy built a 5 IMP lead to 26 during the last segment. During the same segment Sweden trailed USA 2 by at least 30, Iceland trailed by almost 100, and Israel conceded to USA 1 without play.

Two US American entries in a Zonal Teams knockout always meet in one semifinal match, if they survive so long (and they never meet earlier).# In Veldhoven a strong fifth segment was almost decisive for USA 2, who extended a lead from 12 to 62 IMP with 16 deals to play, and won by 60. Meanwhile, Italy and Netherlands were nearly even at the end of every segment, the only time players know the score precisely. After five Netherlands led by 3+ IMP including 2+ carryover, having bettered Italy 155 to 154 on 80 deals. They "won" the final segment by 26 and the match by 199+ to 170. In retrospect, two "slam swings" were decisive. On the 87th and 90th deals (#23, #29), Netherlands bid 6♠ and 6♥ while Italy bid 4♠ and 4♥. All four declarers took the twelve tricks for slam, worth twice 13 IMP for the winners.

While Netherlands and USA 2 played for the Bowl, Italy easily beat the US champions in 48 deals and earned the bronze medal, 167–69.

2013 Bali, Indonesia

Italy won its 15th Bermuda Bowl with a 210–126 defeat of Monaco, represented by Pierre Zimmermann's immigrant professional team. Poland won the bronze medal by a fraction less than 5 IMPs.

USA1 finished fourth.

2015 Chennai, India

The two-week tournament in Chennai, India (formerly Madras), began on Sunday, 27 September, with one week of round-robin play through Saturday, 3 October. During the preceding month, revelations of cheating by two of the leading pairs, at events including the 2014 European Team Championships, had led to withdrawal from the Bermuda Bowl by the Israel and Monaco teams that had placed first and second in that event. Germany had dropped from the 22-team field after one of its three pairs confessed "preemptively". On the last day before the first matches in Chennai, the World Bridge Federation had announced its withdrawal of credentials for one of three pairs on the Poland team, making that pair ineligible to play. (Two pairs from each team participate in each segment.)

The Bermuda Bowl was won by Poland, who defeated Sweden in the final by 308.5 IMPs to 293. The bronze medal went to USA2, who defeated England in the third-place match 252.3 to 243.

England finished fourth.

Zones and nations

See the version at "Senior Bowl".