The Gold Cup is the premier open British

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions o ...

competition for teams of four. (Teams may comprise up to six players but only four take part at any one time.) It was first contested in the 1931/32 season, making it one of the oldest contract bridge tournaments anywhere. The event was run by the

British Bridge League The British Bridge League (BBL) was founded in 1931 by A. E. Manning Foster. It formerly selected bridge teams to represent Great Britain in European and World competitions and organised the Camrose Trophy, the Gold Cup, the Portland Cup and the L ...

through 1999 and subsequently by

Bridge Great Britain Bridge Great Britain is an organisation which was formed to continue the organisational functions of the British Bridge League from 1 January 2000 when that body was dissolved at the end of 1999.''English Bridge'', August 1999, p. 3.

, a newly formed not-for-profit organisation. Except for 1933/34 the format has always been

single-elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

(knock-out). The 2019 Gold Cup was the 82nd. There were eight annual competitions before 1940 and 74 more have been completed since its resumption in 1946.Archives: Gold Cup Roll of Honor
Bridge Great Britain. Retrieved 2013-12-17. Currently there are eight rounds to handle as many as 256 entries, with at least 32

deals Deals (previously stylized as ''DEAL$'') was an American chain of discount variety stores owned by Dollar Tree. The chain operated more than 221 stores located in shopping centers, malls (until 2015), and urban areas in 19 states throughout the U ...

in the first round, subsequently 48 or more.Gold Cup: Introduction
Bridge Great Britain. Retrieved 2013-12-17.

Boris Schapiro Boris Schapiro (22 August 1909 – 1 December 2002) was a British international bridge player. He was a Grandmaster of the World Bridge Federation, and the only player to have won both the Bermuda Bowl (the world championship for national teams) ...

played on 11 winning teams, with 52 years between his first success in 1945/46 and his last in 1997/98. Tony Forrester equalled his record when he was a winner in 2012 and surpassed it when he won again in 2013; his first win was in 1983. His win in 2019 was his fourteenth.''Daily Telegraph'', page 26, "Bridge Hand", 21 October 2019.

Terence Reese John Terence Reese (28 August 1913 – 29 January 1996) was a British bridge player and writer, regarded as one of the finest of all time in both fields. He was born in Epsom, Surrey, England to middle-class parents, and was educated at Bradfiel ...

had 8 wins.Archives: Most Gold Cup Wins
. Bridge Great Britain. Retrieved 2013-12-17.

References

*Peter Hasenson (ed), ''British Bridge Almanack'', 77 Publishing, 2004, , pp240–249.

External links

Gold Cup: Introduction
Bridge Great Britain. Retrieved 2013-12-17. —sibling pages cover 2013 administration
Archives: 4 Gold Cup Wins
Bridge Great Britain. Retrieved 2013-12-17. —career leading players

Bridge Great Britain. Retrieved 2013-12-17. —list of winning teams and members

Bridge Great Britain. Retrieved 2013-12-17. —sibling pages cover seven previous competitions Contract bridge zonal competitions British games {{Bridge-game-stub

See also

References

External links