The United States Bridge Federation (USBF) is the
nation
A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by th ...
al federation for
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 ...
in the United States and a non-profit organization formed by the
American Contract Bridge League
The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. It is the largest such organization in North America having the stated mission ''"to promote, grow and susta ...
(ACBL) and the
American Bridge Association (ABA) in 2001 to hold the United States Bridge Championships and to select, train, and support Open, Women, Senior and Junior teams to represent the United States in international competition.
The USBF receives support for its teams from the ACBL International Fund and Junior Fund, its membership dues, contributions and entry fees for the USBCs.
Organization
2018 officers.
* President:
Marty Fleisher
* Vice President: Josh Parker
* CFO: Stan Subeck
* Secretary & COO:
Jan Martel
The President and the Vice President are elected for 2-year terms.
Olympic recognition
Originally, the USBF was also created to support the
World Bridge Federation (WBF) efforts to obtain Olympic recognition for bridge. Following August 2002 recommendations by the Olympic Programme Commission, bridge and chess were recognized as "mind sports" by the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...
but they were not found eligible for the main Olympic program.
On April 19, 2005, three years after that negative Commission report and three years before the
2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing whose program was its focus, four mind sports including bridge and chess established the
International Mind Sports Association with primary purpose to organize quadrennial World Mind Sports Games approximately alongside the Olympics.
"History"
IMSA – International Mind Sports Association (imsaworld.com). Retrieved 2014-11-05. The inaugural, 2008 World Mind Sports Games
The first World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) were held in Beijing, China from October 3 to 18, 2008, about two months after the 2008 Summer Olympics, Olympic Games. were held in Beijing during October, two months after the Summer Olympics and using the same facilities. The second, 2012 WMSG were held in Lille, France, entirely unassociated with the London Summer Olympics—smaller than in 2008, with a much smaller bridge program including no individuals, pairs, or youth events.
See also
* List of bridge federations
References
External links
*
American Bridge Association
(official)
American Contract Bridge League
(official)
{{WPCBIndex
Contract bridge governing bodies
Contract bridge in the United States
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...