The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national teams. It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Venice Cup (women), the d'Orsi Senior Bowl and the Wuhan Cup (mixed). Entries formally represent WBF zones as well as nations, so it is also known as the World Zonal Open Team Championship. It is the oldest event that confers the title of world champion in bridge, and was first contested in 1950. The Bermuda Bowl trophy is awarded to the winning team, and is named for the site of the inaugural tournament, the Atlantic archipelago of Bermuda.
The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the international governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competitions, most of which are conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle. The most prestigious championships are those for national teams in Open, Women, and Seniors categories: the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, and Senior Bowl, and the quadrennial World Team Olympiads, incorporated in the World Mind Sports Games beginning 2008.
Brechiena (Bep) Vriend is a Dutch bridge player and teacher. She ranked number 8 among Women World Grand Masters as of April 2011 and number 20 among 69 WGM as of June 2014.
Geir Helgemo is a professional bridge player who was born in Norway but is now a citizen of Monaco. Through 2012 he had won three world championships in teams-of-four competition. As of August 2018 he ranked first among Open World Grand Masters and his regular partner Tor Helness ranked second.
Fulvio Fantoni is an Italian international bridge player. He is a six-time world champion, a World Grand Master of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), and the WBF first-ranked player as of December 2011. He is one of 10 players who have won the Triple Crown of Bridge.
Claudio Nunes is an Italian professional bridge player.
Terje Aa is a Norwegian bridge player, WBF World Life Master, and regular member of the Norwegian team since 1993. Teams on which he was a member have placed in the top three of the World Bridge Federation European and World Championships 11 times between 1984 and 2008.
Glenn Frode Grøtheim is a Norwegian bridge player, WBF World Grand Master, winner of the 2007 Bermuda Bowl and a regular member of the Norwegian team since 1987.
The World Transnational Open Teams Championship is a major side event conducted by the World Bridge Federation during the semifinal and final stages of its world championships for national teams at contract bridge—the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, and Senior Bowl. New teams may enter the Transnational, as well as national teams eliminated before the semifinals of the main events—Open, Women, and Seniors respectively. It is not required that all team members be from one country, hence the term transnational. A series of Swiss matches qualifies eight teams for three knockout rounds which conclude during the finals of the main events.
The World Junior Pairs Championship is a bridge competition organized by the World Bridge Federation. It was inaugurated 1995 in Ghent, Belgium, when it incorporated the European Junior Pairs Championship inaugurated 1991. Officially the Juniors and Youngsters Pairs Championships are biennial in odd years, although there are parallel contests in some even years.
The World Junior Teams Championship is a bridge competition for zonal teams of players up to about 25 years old.
Cezary Jacek Balicki is a Polish bridge and chess player. After 2014 competition, he ranked 17th among Grand Masters by World Bridge Federation (WBF) masterpoints, five places ahead of his longtime partner Adam Żmudziński. They ranked 26–27th among more than 100 all-time Grand Masters by placing points that do not decay over time. Balicki also holds the chess title of FIDE Master (FM).
Jie "Jack" Zhao is a Chinese professional contract bridge player. He became a World Bridge Federation Grand Master (WGM) in 2014.
Sabine Auken is a German bridge player. She has also played as Sabine Zenkel. Sometime prior to the 2014 European and World meets, she ranked 24th among 73 Women World Grand Masters by world masterpoints (MP) and 4th by placing points that do not decay over time.
Pierre Zimmermann is a Swiss-born real estate developer and champion bridge player formerly resident in Monaco.
Cheating in bridge refers to a deliberate violation of the rules of the game of bridge or other unethical behaviour that is intended to give an unfair advantage to a player or team. Cheating can occur in many forms and can take place before, during, or after a board or game.
Boye Brogeland is a Norwegian professional bridge player. After a successful junior career, he won three Bermuda Bowl medals with the Norwegian team, including the gold in Shanghai 2007, and several North American Bridge Championships. He came into public focus in 2015 when he led a campaign against cheating in bridge, exposing wrongdoing of several top pairs, for which he received public recognition.
Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes are professional bridge players originally from Italy, but since 2011 playing for Monaco. In 2015, they were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the world respectively.
