The Venice Cup is a biennial world championship

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 ...

tournament for national of Women. It is contested every odd-number year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the

Bermuda Bowl The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national . 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 W ...

(Open) 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". 40th World Teams, Information. It was first contested in 1974, as one long match between two teams, and has been concurrent with the Bermuda Bowl from 1985. Alternatively, the Venice Cup is the trophy awarded to the winning team. It was donated by Italy when

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

hosted the inaugural contest. The most recent contest took place in September–October 2015 in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(formerly Madras), India. The last event took place in 2017 in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, France.

Structure

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

1937 world championships

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

won the first world teams championships in both open and women categories, conducted 1937 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary. They were organized by the International Bridge League, essentially the predecessor of both the

European Bridge League The European Bridge League is a confederation of National Bridge Federations (NBFs) that organize the card game of contract bridge in European nations. In turn the EBL organizes bridge competition at the European level. It is a member of the Europ ...

(est. 1947) and the WBF (1958). 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 The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

of Germany and Austria was a great disruption. The leading bridge theorist and mentor,

Paul Stern Paul Stern (4 April 1892 – 12 June 1948) was an Austrian international bridge player and lawyer, who fled to London in 1938. He was a bidding theorist and administrator who contributed to the early growth of the game. He founded the Austrian Br ...

was an outspoken opponent of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

who fled to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

that year. Another 1938 refugee from Austria to England,

Rixi Markus "Rixi" Markus MBE (27 June 1910 – 4 April 1992) was an Austrian and British international contract bridge player. She won five world titles, and was the first woman to become a World Grand Master within the World Bridge Federation.

(born Erika Scharfstein) was a member of both the 1937 champions and the 1976 Great Britain team that was defeated by the United States for the second Venice Cup.

Historical results

China is the only bridge nation outside Europe and the United States to win the Venice Cup. Following its third-place breakthrough in 1991, China finished second in 1997 and 2003, and third in 2007, before winning in 2009. ''Every Venice Cup tournament has run alongside the Bermuda Bowl except in 1978, which was not a Bermuda Bowl year. Before 1985, however, the Open tournament was more frequent; from that time they have run together in odd years.'' United States teams won the first three championships and they have won 10 of 17 including six as one of two USA teams. The first two "tournaments" were head-on matches between representatives of North America and Europe, like the Bermuda Bowls of 1951 to 1957. The next two were open to one team from every WBF geographic zone. From 1985 the Venice Cup and Bermuda Bowl have run side-by-side in odd years, expanding together from 10 to 22. Prior to the inaugural Venice Cup, there had been four Olympiad tournaments for women contested 1960 to 1972. The winners had been

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

, Great Britain, Sweden, and Italy. (After losing the first Venice Cup tournament in 1974, Italy would defend its Olympiad title in 1976 and lose the third Venice Cup in 1978.) (The United States won the first three Venice Cups 1974/76/78 but did not win any early Olympiad tournament.) :* Dennison–Williams in 1981 did not play enough boards to qualify for the title of World Champion :** Brito–Saad in 1981 did not play enough boards to qualify for third place The third and fourth Venice Cup tournaments welcomed one team from each WBF geographic zone. On both occasions there were entries from Europe, North America, South America, and South Pacific; they were joined by Asia in 1978, Central America and the Caribbean in 1981. All of the entries were national teams, listed here by zone. :1978: Italy, USA, Argentina, Australia,

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

:1981: Great Britain, USA, Brazil, Australia, Venezuela Except for USA ahead of Italy in 1979, those were also the final standings. (Under the same rules, there were six teams in the 1979 Bermuda Bowl tournament because Asia and CAC both participated. A second team from Europe was added in 1981.)

1985

The fifth Venice Cup was not until 1985, when the two tournaments were permanently joined side-by-side in odd years with the same structure (like the Olympiad tournaments established in 1960). Since then, the numbers of teams entered have been identical except once. For 1985 the champion teams from Europe and North America were granted slots in the 4-team semifinal knockout. One representative from every other zone, the host country team, and second teams from Europe and North America, played round-robin for the other two semifinal slots. As for all three renditions under that format, five other zones participated (not yet Africa) and there were ten teams in the field. :1985 Venice Cup, final standings #Great Britain (Europe 2) #USA 1 (North America 1) #France (Europe 1) #Chinese Taipei (Pacific Asia) #USA 2 (North America 2) #Australia (South Pacific) #Argentina (South America) #Brazil (host country) #Venezuela (Central America & Carib.) #India (Asia & Middle East)

1991 to date

After 1989, the championship fields were expanded from 10 to 16 teams. European and North American zones were granted four and three slots respectively, without special treatment for any. (The American Contract Bridge League allocated two places to United States teams and one to the winner of a playoff, if necessary.) :1991 Venice Cup participants by zone :Europe: Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Great Britain (1st to 4th in Europe) :North America: USA 1, USA 2, Canada :South America: Argentina, Venezuela :C. America & Carib.: Martinique :Asia & Middle E.: India :Pacific Asia: China, Chinese Taipei, Japan (host) :South Pacific: Australia :Africa: Egypt All three teams from Pacific Asia advanced to the quarterfinal knockout stage, a very strong performance. China became the first team from outside Europe and the Americas to win a medal. Through 1993, United States teams won seven and Great Britain two. :* Brunner – Scott-Jones in 1985, Caesar–Mögel in 1995, Farwig–Hackett in 2001, and Frey–Reess in 2005 did not play enough boards to qualify for the title of World Champion :** Shaomin–Wang in 1991, and Drøgemüller – Koch-Palmund in 2000 did not play enough boards to qualify for third place :*** Spinn–Widengren in 1991 and Fishpool–Hugon in 2001 did not play enough boards to qualify for second place

2009

Over 13 days in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Brazil, beginning 30 August 2009, China became the first bridge nation outside Europe and North America to win the Venice Cup. Indeed, only China has won any gold, silver, or bronze medal in the tournament (see table, below). The Chinese victory was decisive, culminating in a 220 to 148 IMP domination of USA1 in the two-day final match. Previously China led the seven-day 21-round-robin (France second) from which eight of 22 teams advanced to the knockout stage, then defeated Sweden 259–182 in the quarterfinal and France 245–221 in the semifinal. The 77-IMP and 72-IMP wins over Sweden and USA1 were the second and third biggest margins in the seven knockout matches.39th World Teams, Results
(linked schedule), 2009. WBF.
The schedule is linked to session-by-session and cumulative scores for 13 days of Venice Cup tournament play. Bénédicte Cronier–Sylvie Willard of France were the high-scoring players on all 22 teams during the round-robin, playing 15 of 21 matches and scoring 0.93 IMP per board. Hongli Wang–Ming Sun of China were second at 0.81 in 15 matches and their teammate pairs (six players on a "Team-of-four") ranked third and eighth.

2011

France won the 2011 Venice Cup by 196 to 103 in a two-day final match against Indonesia 40th World Teams, Results
Women final
France started with one-third IMP carryover from the 16-deal round-robin match, meaning Indonesia must score at least one IMP better on the 96 s of the final. France scored consistently well during the first three segments, to lead overnight by 126+ to 56, and Indonesia conceded after two of three segments scheduled for the next day. ;Notable performances This is the second Venice Cup for France and the 7th medal in 14 Venice Cup tournaments from 1985 to date, the time of equality with the Bermuda Bowl. Silvie Willard has played for all seven medalists; Véronique Bessis, Bénédicte Cronier, and Catherine D'Ovidio (Saul) six; and Danièle Gaviard (Allouche) five. Following the tournament, D'Ovidio and Willard moved up current ranks one and two among Women Grand Masters and their three frequent teammates moved into the top twelve. The silver medal for Indonesia represents a sudden arrival among the stronger teams, having placed during the preceding decade no better than 9th (2009), just outside the knockout stage in the current format. ;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. "Participation in the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup & D'Orsi Senior Bowl" (May 2011),
General Conditions of Contest for all World Championships ...
', Appendix 7. WBF. Retrieved 2011-12-12. :Europe: France, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, England, Poland, Italy —ranks 1 to 7 in the European championshipResults & Participants
50th European Team Championships, 2010.

. :North America: Canada, USA 1, USA 2 :South America: Brazil, Venezuela :Asia & Middle East: India, Jordan :C. America & Carib.: Trinidad & Tobago :Pacific Asia: China, Indonesia, Japan :South Pacific: Australia, New Zealand :Africa: Egypt, Morocco The first stage was a full round-robin scheduled in advance. Every team played 21 short matches of 16 deals, three daily. The women of France, Germany, and the Netherlands have been strong teams for about two decades but this year they waged a close fight for the last two slots in the knockout, Netherlands and France surviving with Germany 7 VP short. The two USA teams led the round-robin and selected quarterfinal opponents Indonesia, sixth, and Netherlands, seventh. England placed third and selected Sweden, fifth. That left defending champion China, fourth, to face France, eighth, a rematch of one 2009 semifinal. In the quarterfinals, Indonesia and Netherlands both overcame 16-IMP carryovers (the maximum achievable head starts) to defeat the Americans by 33 and 28 IMP. England defeated Sweden to be the only preliminary leader who advanced, and France defeated China, 205+ to 197, in the only match that "went to the end". France led by 15+ after five segments and extended the lead to 29+ IMP on the 84th deal (#20), but the champions yielded nothing more and cut the margin to 2+ on the 95th deal. (The leader was known only to spectators, including local and internet commentators and presumably the third pair from each team.) Finally China defeated 3 one trick worth 50 points, while France doubled 4 and beat it two tricks, worth 300 points and a final margin of eight up from two IMP. In the semifinals, Indonesia outscored England by 18 IMP on 96 deals to overcome 10.5 carryover. France outscored Netherlands by 21 to overcome 0.5 carryover. While France won the Cup from Indonesia, the host Netherlands overcame 12 IMP carryover to beat England in 48 deals and win the bronze medal, 109 to 91. So the preliminary eight, seventh, and sixth place teams had finished one, two, three on the victory stand.

2013

USA2 won the 2013 Venice Cup in Bali, Indonesia, defeating England by a score of 229 to 220.3 . The two-day final match of 96 s was unusually close: the margin, a fraction less than 9 IMP, is frequently exceeded on a single deal; China and France had won the 2009 and 2011 Cups by more than 70 and 90 IMP. USA2 was the second of two United States entries in the field of 22: namely, Hjordis Eythorsdottir, Jill Levin, Jill Meyers, Janice Seamon-Molson, Jenny Wolpert, Migry Zur-Campanile; Sue Picus npc. England was represented by the same team that won the 2012

World Mind Sports Games The World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) was a multi-sport event created by the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) as a "stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games" after the Summer and the Winter Olympics". The i ...

: Sally Brock, Fiona Brown, Heather Dhondy,

Nevena Senior Brian R. Senior (born 1953) is a professional bridge player and writer from Nottingham. He has represented Great Britain, England, Northern Ireland and Ireland in international competition and has won all the major English Bridge Union competiti ...

, Nicola Smith, Susan Stockdale; Jeremy Dhondy npc, David Burn coach. The Netherlands won another close match for third place, defeating China by 152 to 139. The bronze medalists: Carla Arnolds, Marion Michielsen, Jet Pasman, Anneke Simons, Wietske van Zwol, Meike Wortel; Alex van Reenen npc, Hans Kelder coach. Jill Meyers now has four Venice Cup wins (after 1993, 1997 and 2007), Levin three (2003, 2007) and Seamon-Molson two (2003). Meyers is the first to win six world titles for women, as Nicola Smith would have been with an England victory. She has won five medals in Venice Cup tournaments, as have the Dutch women Arnolds, Pasman, and Simons.http://www.worldbridge.org/repository/tourn/bali.13/microsite/bulletins/Bul_14.pdf

2015

In 2015 the Venice Cup was held in

(formerly Madras), India. It was won by France, with USA2 taking silver. England beat the Netherlands in the bronze medal play-off.

2017

In 2017 the Venice Cup was held in

, France. It was won by China, with England taking silver. Sweden beat Poland in the bronze medal play-off.

2019

In 2019 the Venice Cup was held in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

, China. It was won by Sweden, with China taking silver. England beat Netherlands in the bronze medal play-off.

2022

In 2022 the Venice Cup was held in Salsomaggiore, Italy. It was won by Sweden, with Turkiye taking silver. England beat Poland in the bronze medal play-off.45th World Team Championships results
www.worldbridge.org

Hosts

*1974

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

*1976

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

*1978

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

*1981 New York,

*1985

San Paolo San Paolo (Italian for "Saint Paul") is a ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of northern Italy. It has a population of some ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

*1987 Ocho Ríos,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

*1989

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Australia *1991

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, Japan *1993

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

*1995

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China *1997 Hammamet,

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

*2000 Southampton,

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

*2001

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

*2003

*2005

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

*2007

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China *2009 San Paulo,

*2011

Veldhoven Veldhoven () is a municipality and town on the Gender in the southern Netherlands, just southwest of Eindhoven. Topography Dutch topographic map of Veldhoven (town), Dec. 2013 Population centres The modern town of Veldhoven is an agglomerat ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

*2013 Bali,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

*2015

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

*2017

*2019

, China *2022 Salsomaggiore,

Zones and nations

:''See the version at "Senior Bowl".''

Notes

References

;Citations *

External links

Women
program top page at the World Bridge Federation
World Championships
program overview at the World Bridge Federation {{WPCBIndex Contract bridge world competitions