The World Junior Teams Championship is a bridge competition for zonal teams of players up to about 25 years old. [a] [b] [c]
Zonal signifies both organization by the World Bridge Federation (WBF) and qualification in eight WBF zones; for example (2006, 2008), six teams qualify from 'Europe' defined by European Bridge League membership. Zones may require national representation; for example, the six European teams must represent six member nations of the EBL.
The oldest event, sometimes called the Junior Teams without qualification, dates from 1987 with some changes in definition. Today that is the "open" u-26 tournament (Juniors) in contrast to the u-26 for women (Girls), the open u-21 (Youngsters) and the open u-16 (Kids). It has been held every two years, odd-number years to 2005 and even years from 2006. Competitors vie for the Ortiz-Patiño Trophy, formerly presented by WBF President Emeritus Jaime Ortiz-Patiño (1930–2013) who conceived the idea while serving as WBF President in 1985. The even-year tournaments officially constitute the World Youth Teams Championships for so-called juniors, girls, and youngsters. The entries are national teams, representing countries affiliated with the WBF via membership in the eight geographical "zonal organizations". Moreover, they must qualify within their zones, usually by high standing in a zonal championship tournament that is limited to one team per member nation.
The 2008 junior teams championships were part of the inaugural World Mind Sports Games in Beijing, China. Denmark won its second gold medal, beating Poland in the final, while Norway won the bronze. The 1st Games also included under-28 [a] and under-21 team championships won by Norway and France. Under-21 and u-26 are part of the WBF youth program (namely, two of the three World Youth Teams Championships) but u-28 is not. [b]
In 2010 Israel defeated France in the Juniors final while China won the bronze medal. The event was part of the newly christened World Bridge Series that also included World Young Ladies Teams and under-21 World Youngsters Teams, both won by Poland. [1]
In 2011, at the 2nd World Youth Congress, "Ned Juniors" comprising four players from the Netherlands won the main teams event, a six-day tournament with 27 entries. Ned Juniors won the full-day 56-deal final by 131 to 60 IMPs against "Arg Uru" from Argentina and Uruguay. Meanwhile, "Ned Rum", with one Dutch pair and one transnational pair from Romania and the United States, won third place against "France". [2] [d]
Arg Uru led the preliminary round-robin from which eight teams advanced to full-day knockout matches, and its second-place finish matched that by Argentina in 1989, the best finish for any youth players from outside Europe and North America. [3]
The Youth Congress in odd-number years is transnational: pairs and teams comprising players from different bridge nations are eligible to enter. Transnational teams finished second and third in the main event, but 23 of 27 entries have team names which imply nationality. Medal ceremonies raise the national flag and play the national anthem is the gold medal winner is national in composition.
The Junior Teams event (or tournament in a narrow sense) officially became part of the plural "World Youth Teams Championships" when a tournament for under-21 players was initiated. Beginning 2009, teams events were added to the WBF youth program for odd-number years, contested immediately prior to the older events for pairs in the newly christened "World Youth Congress".
Odd-year teams events are distinct from the older series of teams championships (now biennial in even years) and even-year pairs events are distinct from the older series of pairs championships (now biennial in odd years). Some conditions differ.
This article covers all "world championships" for youth teams while World Junior Pairs Championship covers all "world championships" for youth pairs or individuals.
The Youth Teams series has moved around the world, with only one of the last 10 renditions in Europe. Meanwhile, all eight renditions (to 30 August 2011) now counted in the Youth Pairs series have been in Europe. [4]
The distinct Youth Congress has been held 2009 in Turkey and 2011 in Croatia.
The World Youth Teams Championships now comprise three concurrent events or flights: the original Juniors, the Youngsters from 2004, and the Girls from 2010. The latter are sometimes called "Schools" and "Young Ladies", as they were christened in Europe before adoption at the world level.[ citation needed ]
The Juniors format has evolved. Currently all three flights determine three medalists. They end with a knockout stage and a playoff between losing semifinalists; that is, two concluding matches determine first and third places.[ citation needed ]
The Netherlands won the inaugural world championship for junior teams in 1987 and won the Bermuda Bowl in 1993 with three of the recent junior players: De Boer, Leufkens, and Westra. No other junior teams champions have so quickly won the Bermuda Bowl.
Year, Site, Entries | Juniors Medalists | |
---|---|---|
1987 [5]
| 1. | ![]() Wubbo de Boer, Jan Jansma, Enri Leufkens, Marcel Nooijen, Rob van Wel, Berry Westra |
2. | ![]() Bénédicte Cronier, Alexis Damamme, Christian Desrousseaux, Franck Multon, Jean-Christophe Quantin, (François Crozet)* | |
3. | ![]() Guy Doherty, Jon Heller, Billy Hsieh, Asya Kamsky, Aaron Silverstein | |
1989 [6]
| 1. | ![]() John Hobson, Derek Patterson, John Pottage, Andrew Robson, Gerald Tredinnick, Stuart Tredinnick |
2. | ![]() Alejandro Bianchedi, Marcelo Cloppet, Juan Quitegui, Claudio Varela, (Alexis Pejacsevich, Leonardo Rizzo)* | |
3. | ![]() Alexis Damamme, Christian Desrousseaux, Pierre-Jean Louchart, Franck Multon, Jean-Christophe Quantin | |
1991 [7]
| 1. | ![]() Martha Benson, John Diamond, Jeff Ferro, Brian Platnick, Wayne Stuart, Debbie Zuckerberg |
2. | ![]() Mark Caplan, Fred Gitelman, Bronia Gmach, Geoff Hampson, Michael Roberts, Eric Sutherland | |
3. | ![]() Robert Fruewirth, Matthew Mullamphy, Peter Newman, John Spooner, Ben Thompson, Jim Wallis | |
1993 [8]
| 1. | ![]() Guido Hopfenheit, Marcus Joest, Klaus Reps, Roland Rohowsky, (Rolf Kühn, Frank Pioch)** |
2. | ![]() Lasse Aaseng, Geir Helgemo, Svein Gunnar Karlberg, Espen Kvam, Jørgen Molberg, Kurt-Ove Thomassen | |
3. | ![]() Jeff Ferro, Eric Greco, Leni Holtz, Rich Pavlicek Jr., Kevin Wilson, Debbie Zuckerberg | |
1995 [9]
| 1. | ![]() Jeffrey Allerton, Danny Davies, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Phil Souter, Tom Townsend |
2. | ![]() David Ackerley, Ashley Bach, Ishmael Del'Monte, Nigel Kearney, Charles Ker, Scott Smith | |
3. | ![]() Freddy Brøndum, Mathias Bruun, Nicolai Kampmann, Lars Lund Madsen, Morten Lund Madsen, Jacob Røn | |
1997 [10]
| 1. | ![]() Freddy Brøndum, Mik Kristensen, Lars Lund Madsen, Morten Lund Madsen, Mikkel Bensby Nøhr, Jacob Røn |
2. | ![]() Boye Brogeland, Thomas Charlsen, Espen Erichsen, Christer Kristoffersen, Bjørn Morten Mathisen, Øyvind Saur | |
3. | ![]() Arseni Chour, Youri Khiouppenen, Jouri Khokhlov, Dmitri Lobov, Alexander Petrunin, Boris Sazonov | |
1999 [11]
| 1. | ![]() Bernardo Biondo, Mario D'Avossa, Riccardo Intonti, Matteo Mallardi, (Furio Di Bello, Stelio Di Bello)** |
2. | ![]() Tom Carmichael, Eric Greco, Chris Willenken, Joel Wooldridge, (Chris Carmichael, David Wiegand)* | |
3. | ![]() Gregers Bjarnarson, Anders Hagen, Kasper Konow, Mik Kristensen, Morten Lund Madsen, Mikkel Bensby Nøhr | |
2001 [12]
| 1. | ![]() Brad Campbell, Joe Grue, John Hurd, John Kranyak, Kent Mignocchi, Joel Wooldridge |
2. | ![]() Asaf Amit, Inon Liran, Yossi Roll, Ranny Schneider, Yaniv Vax, Aran Warzawsky | |
3. | ![]() Michael Askgaard, Gregers Bjarnarson, Kåre Gjaldbæk, Jonas Houmøller, Andreas Marquardsen, Martin Schaltz | |
2003 [13]
| 1. | ![]() Furio Di Bello, Stelio Di Bello, Ruggiero Guariglia, Fabio Lo Presti, Francesco Mazzadi, Stefano Uccello |
2. | ![]() Kåre Gjaldbæk, Boje Henriksen, Bjørg Houmøller, Jonas Houmøller, Andreas Marquardsen, Martin Schaltz | |
3. | ![]() Kevin Bathurst, Joe Grue, John Hurd, John Kranyak, Kent Mignocchi, Joel Wooldridge | |
2005 [14] | 1. | ![]() Ari Greenberg, Joe Grue, John Hurd, John Kranyak, Justin Lall, Joel Wooldridge |
2. | ![]() Konrad Araszkiewicz, Krzysztof Buras, Jacek Kalita, Krzysztof Kotorowicz, Piotr Mądry, Wojciech Strzemecki | |
3. | ![]() Tim Capes, Vincent Demuy, David Grainger, Charles Halasi, Daniel Lavee, Gavin Wolpert | |
2006 [16]
| 1. | ![]() Joshua Donn, Jason Feldman, Ari Greenberg, Joe Grue, John Kranyak, Justin Lall |
2. | ![]() Andrea Boldrini, Stelio Di Bello, Francesco Ferrari, Fabio Lo Presti, Alberto Sangiorgio, Matteo Sbarigia | |
3. | ![]() Alex Loh, Choon Chou Loo, Kelvin Ng, Hua Poon, Fabian Tan, Li Yu Tan | |
2008 [17]
| 1. | ![]() Dennis Bilde, Anne-Sofie Houlberg, Jonas Houmoller, Emil Jepsen, Lars Kirkegaard Nielsen, Martin Schaltz |
2. | ![]() Piotr Nawrocki, Michal Nowosadzki, Przemyslaw Piotrowski, Jan Sikora, Artur Wasiak, Piotr Wiankowski | |
3. | ![]() Erik Berg, Ivar Berg, Petter Eide, Espen Lindqvist, Allan Livgard, Tor Ove Reistad | |
2010 [18]
| 1. | ![]() Eliran Argelazi, Alon Birman, Lotan Fisher, Ron Schwartz, Bar Tarnovski |
2. | ![]() Thomas Bessis, Christophe Grosset, Nicolas Lhuissier, Cedric Lorenzini, Quentin Robert, Frederic Volcker | |
3. | ![]() Yichao Chen, Junjie Hu, Zisu Lin, Yinghao Liu, Yinpei Shao, Di Zhuo | |
2012 [19]
| 1. | ![]() Berend van den Bos, Aarnout Helmich, Gerbrand Hop, Joris van Lankveld, Ernst Wackwitz, Chris Westerbeek |
2. | ![]() Eyal Erez, Lotan Fisher, Gal Gerstner, Moshe Meyuchas, Dror Padon, Lee Rosenthal | |
3. | ![]() Adam Edgtton, Nabil Edgtton, Peter Hollands, Justin Howard, Andy Pei-en Hung, Liam Milne | |
2014 [20]
| 1. | ![]() Harald Eide, Mats Eide, Kristian Ellingsen, Tor Eivind Grude, Kristoffer Hegge |
2. | ![]() Joris van Lankveld, Tobias Polak, Tom van Overbeeke, Ernst Wackwitz, Chris Westerbeek, Ricardo Westerbeek | |
3. | ![]() Maciej Bielawski, Pawel Jassem, Michal Klukowski, Slawomir Niajko, Piotr Tuczynski, Jakub Wojcieszek | |
2016 [21]
| 1. | ![]() Marcin Bojarski, Maksymilian Chodacki, Wojciech Kazmierczak, Michal Klukowski, Kamil Nowak, Justyna Zmuda, Marek Markowski (npc) |
2. | ![]() Yanfeng Chen, Sili Liu, Shiyu Sun, Zhi Tang, Yong Tao, Hongji Wei, Jun Ji (npc), Jun Ji (coach) | |
3. | ![]() Simon Ekenberg, Mikael Gronkvist, Daniel Gullberg, Simon Hult, Mikael Rimstedt, Ola Rimstedt, Martin Loefgren (npc), Tom Gards (coach) | |
2018 [22]
| 1. | ![]() Ida Grönkvist, Mikael Gronkvist, Simon Hult, Mikael Rimstedt, Ola Rimstedt, Adam Stokka, Martin Loefgren (npc), Tom Gards (coach) |
2. | ![]() Ryan Chan, Peter Haw, Yu Chen Liu, Jazlene Ong, Ming Yang Zhou, Xin Chen Zhu, Yisheng Kelvin Ong (npc), Choon Chou Loo (coach) | |
3. | ![]() Veri Kiljan, Guy Mendes De Leon, Michel Schols, Thibo Sprinkhuizen, Luc Tijssen, Ricardo Westerbeek, Agnes Snellers (npc), Wubbo De Boer (coach) | |
Year, Site, Entries | Youngsters Medalists | |
---|---|---|
2004 [15]
| 1. | ![]() Marcin Malesa, Piotr Nawrocki, Filip Niziol, Michal Nowosadzki, Przemyslaw Piotrowski, Jan Sikora |
2. | ![]() Eliran Argelazi, Eran Assaraf, Alon Birman, Gilad Ofir | |
3. | ![]() Petter Eide, Espen Lindqvist, Allan Livgard, Steffen Fredrik Simonsen | |
2006 [16]
| 1. | ![]() Eliran Argelazi, Alon Birman, Dror Padon, Ron Segev, Dana Tal, Bar Tarnovski |
2. | ![]() Jurijs Balasovs, Janis Bethers, Peteris Bethers, Adrians Imsa, Martins Lorencs | |
3. | ![]() Piotr Butryn, Bartlomiej Igla, Artur Machno, Maciej Sikora, Joanna Krawczyk, Artur Wasiak | |
2008 [17]
| 1. | ![]() Marion Canonne, Pierre Franceschetti, Alexandre Kilani, Aymeric Lebatteux, Nicolas Lhuissier, Cedric Lorenzini |
2. | ![]() Adam Hickman, Edward Jones, Daniel McIntosh, Robert Myers, Benjamin Paske, Thomas Paske | |
3. | ![]() Simin Chen, Yichao Chen, Chunhui Dong, Junjie Hu, Yujie Jiang, Qi Song | |
2010 [18]
| 1. | ![]() Pawel Jassem, Tomasz Jochymski, Wojciech Kazmierczak, Mateusz Mroczkowski, Adam Smieszkol, Piotr Tuczynski |
2. | ![]() Daniel McIntosh, Thomas Paske, James Paul, Thomas Rainforth, Graeme Robertson, Shivam Shah | |
3. | ![]() Lotte Leufkens, Vincent Nab, Rens Philipsen, Rik van Leeuwen, Thijs Verbeek, Ernst Wackwitz | |
2012 [19]
| 1. | ![]() Michal Gulczynski, Wojciech Kazmierczak, Michal Klukowski, Igor Losiewicz, Andrzej Terszak, Lukasz Witkowski |
2. | ![]() Zachary Brescoll, Adam Grossack, Zachary Grossack, Andrew Jeng, Richard Jeng, Adam Kaplan | |
3. | ![]() Julien Bernard, Ivan Caillau, Fabrice Charignon, Baptiste Combescure, Clement Laboureyre, Grégoire Lafont | |
2014 [20]
| 1. | ![]() Ida Grönkvist, Mikael Rimstedt, Ola Rimstedt, Johan Säfsten |
2. | ![]() Nolan Chang, Christopher Huber, Oren Kriegel, Benjamin Kristensen, Kevin Rosenberg, Cole Spencer | |
3. | ![]() Christian Bakke, Espen Flaatt, Joakim Saether, Marcus Scheie | |
2016 [21]
| 1. | ![]() Francesco Chiarandini, Alvaro Gaiotti, Gianmarco Giubilo, Andrea Manganella, Federico Porta, Sebastiano Scata |
2. | ![]() Youp Caris, Pim Dupont, Oscar Nijssen, Sven Overvelde, Leen Stougie, Marc Stougie | |
3. | ![]() Chris T H Chan, Alfred Lam, Niko Man, Jackson Tsang, Sam Tseng, Michael Wu | |
2018 [22]
| 1. | ![]() Teo Bodin, Sanna Clementsson, Erik Hansson, Castor Mann, Alexander Sandin |
2. | ![]() Ilai Ilan Baniri, Nir Khutorsky, Tomer Loonstein, Gal Matatyahou, Yonatan Sliwowicz, Aviv Zeitak | |
3. | ![]() Raphael Basler, Luc Bellicaud, Arthur Boulin, Melic Dufrene, Maxence Fragola, Theo Guillemin | |
Year, Site, Entries | Girls Medalists | |
---|---|---|
2010 [18]
| 1. | ![]() Ewa Grabowska, Magdalena Holeksa, Danuta Kazmucha, Natalia Sakowska, Joanna Krawczyk, Justyna Zmuda |
2. | ![]() Marion Canonne, Claire Chaugny, Jessie Carbonneaux, Carole Puillet, Aurely Thizy | |
3. | ![]() Xiufen Chang, Xing Li, Yanjiao Liu, Wei Meng, Lulu Peng | |
2012 [19]
| 1. | ![]() Katarzyna Dufrat, Magdalena Holeksa, Danuta Kazmucha, Natalia Sakowska, Kamila Wesolowska, Justyna Zmuda |
2. | ![]() Natalia Banaś, Judith Nab, Jamilla Spangenberg, Sigrid Spangenberg, Magdaléna Tichá, Janneke Wackwitz | |
3. | ![]() Giorgia Botta, Federica Butto, Margherita Chavarria, Margherita Costa, Flavia Lanzuisi, Michela Salvato | |
2014 [20]
| 1. | ![]() Jessie de Tessières-Carbonneaux, Anne-Laure Huberschwiller-Tatarin, Anaïs Leleu, Jennifer Murgues, Aurélie Thizy, Mathilde Thuillez |
2. | ![]() Li Chen, Bo Fu, Hanxiao Li, Xinyi Li, Qihao Wu, Bing Zhao | |
3. | ![]() Giorgia Botta, Caterina Burgio, Federica Butto, Margherita Chavarria, Margherita Costa, Michela Salvato | |
2016 [21]
| 1. | ![]() Merel Bruijnsteen, Natalia Gawel, Magdalena Ticha, Maaike Van Ommen, Esther Visser, Janneke Wackwitz |
2. | ![]() Jessica Brake, Renee Cooper, Kirstyn Fuller, Francesca McGrath, Ella Pattison | |
3. | ![]() Katarina Ekren, Thea Hove Hauge, Thea Lucia Indrebo, Agnethe Hansen Kjensli, Sofie Grasholt Sjodal | |
2018 [22]
| 1. | ![]() Yijing Cai, Bo Fu, Chengke Hu, Xinyi Li, Xinyi Ni, Yang Yang |
2. | ![]() Zofia Baldysz, Hanna Ciunczyk, Joanna Kokot, Dominika Ocylok, Joanna Zalewska, Anna Zareba | |
3. | ![]() Sarah Combescure, Marie-Valentine Coupel, Beryl Dufrene, Emeline Jounin, Anais Leleu, Mathilde Thuillez | |
Koç University, host of the 2014 championships, sponsored an invitational tournament for "National Kids Teams" of players born 1999 and later (age 15 and under, roughly). Seven invitations were accepted: five from Europe including host Turkey, India from Asia & the Middle East, and China from Asia Pacific.
The Kids played round-robin in three days with a four-team knockout, semifinals and finals, completed during the 5- and 6-day round-robin stages of the official events. France and Poland virtually tied the round robin (a margin less than 1/2 VP) and won the semifinals before Poland won the trophy over 42 deals. China beat Sweden in the third-place match. Meanwhile, India won a two-day, three-team contest for fifth place. [20]
Poland, France, India, China and the host were represented in all four tournaments. [20]
Year, Site, Entries | Kids Medalists | |
---|---|---|
2014 [20]
| 1. | ![]() Michael Kaleta, Kacper, Kopka, Michal Maszenda, Jakub Patreuha, Patryk Patreuha, Tomasz Pawelczyk |
2. | ![]() Luc Bellicaud, Theo Guillemin, Romaric Guth, Victor Le Lez | |
3. | ![]() Zhiyu Cheng, Dongke Fang, Baozhuo Jiang, Randy Pan, Jiahe Shen, Zihan Wang | |
2016 [21]
| 1. | ![]() Shahar Dank, Nir Khutorsky, Gilad Lifshitz, Tomer Loonstein, Gal Matatyahou, Aviv Zeitak |
2. | ![]() Yunpeng Chen, Cheng Deng, Yizhou Liu, Xinyao Ruan, Penghao Wang, Ruizhe Wang | |
3. | ![]() Maxence Fragola, Romaric Guth, Hugo Rabourdin, Clement Teil, Benoit Deveze | |
2018 [22]
| 1. | ![]() Tie Chen, Zanchao Cui, Xihong Dai, Sicheng Liu, Yiping Lu, Zichen Wang |
2. | ![]() Romain Bloch, Aurele Gallard, Leo Rombaut, Thibaut Zobel | |
3. | ![]() Michael Hu, Harrison Anders Luba, Rory Xiao, Michael Xu, Jonathan Yue, Arthur Zhou | |
The World Youth Congress is a distinct meet in odd years with transnational entries permitted in all teams and pairs events. It was inaugurated 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey; reiterated 2011 in Opatija, Croatia. The 2013 rendition in Atlanta, United States, is termed the "3rd World Youth Open Bridge Championships" as of August 2014.
40 teams entered the main event at the 1st World Youth Congress in 2009. At least two-thirds of the team names, and more among the strong performers, suggest a single nationality. "Japan Czech" won the final against "Italy Red" while "USA 1" won third place against "Netherlands Red". Evidently 8 teams advanced from preliminary play to knockout matches and there were no playoffs to distinguish any of the quarterfinal losers, 5th to 8th places. [23]
27 teams entered at the 2nd Congress in 2011, all but four having team names that suggest a single nationality. [3]
Year, Site, Entries | Medalists | |
---|---|---|
2009 [23] | 1. | ![]() ![]() Noriaki KOIKE (Jap), Michal KOPECKY (Cze), Milan MACURA (Cze), Hiroaki MIURA (Jap) |
2. | ![]() Massimiliano DI FRANCO, Arrigo FRANCHI, Andrea MANNO, Aldo PAPARO | |
3. | ![]() Jason CHIU, Kevin DWYER, Kevin FAY, Jeremy FOURNIER, Justin LALL, Matthew MECKSTROTH | |
4. | ![]() Bob DRIJVER, Marion MICHIELSEN, Danny MOLENAAR, Tim VERBEEK | |
2011 [3] | 1. | ![]() Berend van den BOS, Aarnout HELMICH, Gerbrand HOP, Joris van LANKVELD |
2. | ![]() ![]() Maximo CRUSIZIO (Arg), Felipe Jose FERRO (Arg), Rodrigo GARCIA DA ROSA (Uru), Alejandro SCANAVINO (Arg) | |
3. | ![]() ![]() ![]() Marius AGICA (USA), Bob DRIJVER (Ned), Radu NISTOR (Rom), Ernst WACKWITZ (Ned) | |
4. | ![]() Edouard DU CORAIL, Nicolas GAYDIER, Aymeric LEBATTEUX, Simon POULAT | |
2013 [24]
| 1. | ![]() Marius AGICA, Kevin DWYER, Adam GROSSACK, Zachary GROSSACK, Adam KAPLAN, Owen LIEN (all USA) |
2. | ![]() Maxim HENBEST, Peter HOLLANDS, Justin HOWARD, Nathan HOWARD, Ellena MOSKOVSKY, Lauren TRAVIS | |
3. | ![]() Erkmen AYDOGDU, Altug GOBEKLI, Berk GOKCE, Akin KOCLAR, Muhammet OZGUR, Sarper USLUPEHLIVAN | |
4. | ![]() Yuki HARADA, Koichiro HASHIMOTO, Kosuke ITO, Tadahiro KIKUCHI, Ryoko OYAMA, Takumi SESHIMO | |
| 1. | ![]() Andrew JENG, Richard JENG, Oren KRIEGEL, Burke SNOWDEN (all USA) |
2. | ![]() Brandon HARPER, Gregory HERMAN, Ben KRISTENSEN, Ryan MILLER (all USA) | |
3. | ![]() Brandon Kai JIN, Tianyi JIN, Zhizhou SHA, Yiling SHEN, Kaiwen WU, Felica Xinying YU, Weichang QIU (NPC), Bing ZHAO (coach) | |
4. | ![]() Samuel AMER, Hakan BERK, Nolan CHANG, Jake OLSEN, David SOUKUP (all USA) |
The World Youth Congress (to conclude 29 August 2011) will include "world championships" for teams, pairs, and individuals, each with Juniors and Youngsters flights if the number of u-21 entries is sufficient. There will also be secondary contests with alternative forms of scoring, board-a-match teams and IMP pairs(*).
Some of these events may officially continue "world championships" for junior players contested before 2009: miscellaneous ones, not those now held in even-number years: biennial (zonal) World Youth Teams Championships and quadrennial World Bridge Games.
The 2011 events for teams and pairs will be transnational in that entries may comprise players from different countries and open in that there is no preliminary qualification at zonal level.
Here is a list of pertinent past championships.
Teams
Pairs
Individuals
This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards.(April 2015) |
"under the auspices of the FISU".World University Team Cup. WBF.
Teams comprise university student players from one nation, not one university.(2010 conditions [26] )
Europe 1993 to 2001 (worldwide in 2000 and 2001) [27] [28]
Bridge Olympiades (11th Olympiad)
1st World University Teams Bridge Cup (conditions): [30] "Players must be students of a recognized University, between 17 and 28 years of age. Each country may enter one representative team."
EBL from 199x, worldwide 2000, FISU 2002
alongside 12th Olympiad
first European (EUC) 1993 Antwerp, initiator Paul Magerman, son Geert M is now technical delegate FISU
Year | n | Champion | Runners up |
---|---|---|---|
2000 [39] | 24 teams | ![]() Andreas Gloyer, Arno Lindermann, Bernd Saurer, Martin Schifko | ![]() DEN NED |
2002 [27] | 13 | ![]() Michael Askgaard, Gregers Bjanarson, Anders Hagen, Kasper Konow, | ![]() NED POL |
2004 [32] [40] | 15 | ![]() Krzysztof BURAS, Jacek KALITA, Krzysztof KOTOROWICZ, Piotr MADRY, Grzegorz NARKIEWICZ, Wojciech STRZEMECKI | ![]() USA TUR |
2006 [29] [41] | 27 | ![]() Jing Jin, Xin Li, Jing Liu, Shu Liu, Yan Liu, Yan Wwang | ![]() POLb SWE |
2008 [28] [42] | 21 | ![]() Marion Michielsen–Meike Wortel, Bob Drijver–Merijn Groenenboom, Danny Molenaar–Tim Verbeek | ![]() NORa POLb |
2010 [26] [36] | 14 | ![]() Wojciech GAWEL, Jacek KALITA, Michal NOWOSADZKI, Jan SIKORA, Piotr WIANKOWSKI, Piotr ZATORSKI | ![]() ISR USA [37] |
2012 [38] July 10–15, Reims, France | 18 | ![]() |
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 Venice Cup is a biennial world championship contract bridge tournament for national teams of women. It is contested every odd-number year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Bermuda Bowl (open), Wuhan Cup (mixed), and d'Orsi Bowl (seniors). Entries formally represent WBF Zones as well as nations, so it is also known as the World Zonal Women Team Championship, one of three World Zonal Team Championships. It was first contested in 1974 as one long match between two teams and has been concurrent with the Bermuda Bowl from 1985.
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.
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.
The World Team Olympiad was a contract bridge meet organized by the World Bridge Federation every four years from 1960 to 2004. Its main events were world championships for national teams, always including one open and one restricted to women. A parallel event for seniors was inaugurated in 2000.
The World Open Pairs Championship is a contract bridge competition initiated in 1962 and held as part of the World Bridge Series Championships every four years. Open to all pairs without any quota restrictions on nationality, the championship is widely regarded as the most prestigious pairs competition in contract bridge. In its present form, the competition lasts eight days.
Rosenblum Cup is an Open Teams event held every four years as part of the World Bridge Championships. The event was added to the world championships in New Orleans in 1978 to commemorate Julius Rosenblum, who served as president of the World Bridge Federation (WBF) until 1976. A similar event for women, the McConnell Cup, which takes place alongside the Rosenblum Cup was added in 1994.
McConnell Cup is a team event for women held every four years as part of the World Bridge Series Championships. The event was inaugurated in 1994 and is named in honor of Ruth McConnell, former treasurer for the World Bridge Federation (WBF) and former president of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). McConnell was also instrumental in inaugurating the Venice Cup women's team championship in 1974.
The World Senior Pairs Championship is one of the competitions held as part of the quadrennial World Bridge Championships, inaugurated at the 8th rendition of the meet in 1990.
The World IMP Pairs Championship is a contract bridge competition established in 1998 by the World Bridge Federation. Since then it has been a major side event in the quadrennial meet that is now called the "World Bridge Series Championships", "World Bridge Series", or "World Series".
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 Mixed Teams Championship is a bridge competition for teams of mixed pairs. At every table, two teams are always represented by a mixed pair, one man and one woman.
The d'Orsi Senior Bowl, or Senior Bowl or d'Orsi Bowl, is a biennial world championship contract bridge tournament for national teams of "Seniors", players age 60 and older. It is contested every odd-number year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Bermuda Bowl (Open), Venice Cup (Women) and Wuhan Cup (Mixed). Entries formally represent WBF Zones as well as nations so it is also known as the "World Zonal Senior Team Championship", one of three "World Zonal Team Championships". It became an official world championship event in 2001 following a successful exhibition in 2000.
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.
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).
Tor Helness is a Norwegian professional bridge player. He was a stalwart on Norway junior and open teams for thirty years before moving to Monaco. Through 2012 he has won four world championships in teams-of-four competition. As of October 2016 he ranks second among Open World Grand Masters and his regular partner Geir Helgemo ranks first.
The first World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) were held in Beijing, China from October 3 to 18, 2008, about two months after the Olympic Games. They were sponsored and organised by the International Mind Sports Association with the General Administration of Sport of China and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sport.
The 2012 World Mind Sports Games were held in Lille, France, from 9 to 23 August 2012. The meeting started during the 2012 Summer Olympics and ending shortly before the 2012 Summer Paralympics, both in London. This was the second rendition of the World Mind Sports Games, which was inaugurated in 2008 in Beijing. The mind sport games had about 2000 players from 95 nations—down from 2,763 competitors and 143 countries at the 1st Games. More than half of the gold medals were contested at draughts and Russia, with the strongest draughts squad, won the most gold and most overall medals. China won five gold medals—all five events contested at Xiangqi. Chinese Taipei won four gold medals—four of the five events contested at go.
Lotan Fisher is an Israeli bridge player ranked as a World Life Master by the World Bridge Federation. He first appeared in international competition at the 18th European Youth Team Championships in Torquay in 2002 where his schools division team placed first. He competed primarily in pairs and individual junior events until 2008.