Bermuda Bowl
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The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial
contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each othe ...
world championship for national . It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the
World Bridge Federation 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 prestigio ...
(WBF), alongside the
Venice Cup The Venice Cup is a biennial world championship contract bridge 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 (open), Wuhan Cup (mixed), ...
(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. 40th World Teams; "Information". 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 Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
. The term ''Bermuda Bowl'' is sometimes used for the entire two-week event, comprising the four zonal teams and one or more concurrent lesser tournaments.
Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...
, Morocco hosted the latest contest in August–September 2023, where Switzerland won the title.


Structure

See a description of the identical "Senior Bowl" structure or a detailed account of the 2011 event (
below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...
).


Inauguration and evolution

Organized principally by Norman Bach, an accountant and bridge player from Bermuda who played for Britain, the Bermuda Bowl was the first world championship event held after World War II, and started as a competition between the US, Europe and Britain in 1950. The first event was won by the US. After this, the Bermuda Bowl became a yearly challenge match between the US and the European champions. The format evolved progressively, with more teams and the addition of events for women and seniors. Key milestones were: :1950: The first open team event in Bermuda between the USA, Europe and Britain who played round-robin for raw scores or "total points". :1951: The next several contests were head-on matches between representatives of 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 sustain the ...
(North America) and the European Bridge League. :1958: The tournament permanently included the champions of South America. :1961: Eligibility was expanded to include the defending champions. :1966: The tournament expanded to five teams, with the addition of a representative from Asia. :1971: The field was expanded to include Australia. :1974: The World Bridge Federation inaugurated the
Venice Cup The Venice Cup is a biennial world championship contract bridge 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 (open), Wuhan Cup (mixed), ...
for women's teams, contested four times on no fixed schedule before 1985. :1979: The defending champions were no longer eligible on that basis alone. :1981: Europe was awarded two places in the tournament. There would be nine teams if every WBF zone sent a champion team. :1983: North America joined Europe with double representation, and the host country was automatically included too, so the potential size of the field increased by two. European and North American champions would have two places in the four-team semifinal round. European and North American runners up would contend with champions of the other zones and the host country for two other semifinal slots. :1985: The Bermuda Bowl for open teams and Venice Cup for women would be contested side-by-side in tournaments with the same structure, and in a venue outside Europe and North America (maintained until 2001).


Predecessors

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
won the 1937 International Bridge League (IBL) championships for both open and women's national teams. They are commonly considered the first world championships for national teams, and the first world championship tournaments of any kind, because teams from the United States entered both flights, two open teams and one women's. The IBL was a predecessor of both the European Bridge League (est. 1947) and the WBF (est. 1958), although there was a competing international organization in the 1930s. The IBL organized annual championships for (open) national teams beginning in 1932 and for women beginning in 1935. Prior to 1937, Austria won three of five in the open category and both in the women category. All of the sites were in Europe and the European Bridge League considers the 1930s series to be the first eight European Teams Championships. In the 1937 (6–20 June) open tournament there were 19 teams from 18 countries: the USA had two teams, one led by Ely Culbertson which came second. In the knockout stage, Culbertson beat Norway and Hungary before losing to Austria. USA Minneapolis lost to Austria in the semifinal.(Morehead)
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
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 (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...
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 B ...
was an outspoken opponent of
Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
; he fled to London and later became a British subject. That same year, at least Rixi Scharfstein (Markus) from the Ladies emigrated to Britain; from the Open team at least Karl von Bluhdorn to Paris, Edward Frischauer and Walter Herbert to the United States, eventually California. The International Bridge League organized two more European championships (making eight annual tournaments for national open teams, 1932–1939) but no more tournaments or official matches involving any team from outside Europe.


1950s


1950

Hamilton, Bermuda Hamilton is the capital city of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and the main settlement of Pembroke Parish. A port city, Hamilton is Bermuda's financial and commercial centre, and a popular tourist destination. Its population of ...

The first rendition, held at the Castle Harbor Hotel 13 to 16 November, featured three teams who played round-robin for raw scores or "total points". The USA team won both of its matches, by 4,720 points over Europe (also referred to as Sweden-Iceland featuring two pairs from Sweden and one from Iceland) and 3,660 points over Great Britain; Europe defeated Great Britain by 1,940 points.


1951

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
, Italy

Held 11 to 17 November, the match was between representatives of 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 sustain the ...
(North America) and the European Bridge League consisting of 320 boards using the 15-point International Match Point (IMP) scaling table for the first time. The USA team won by 116 IMPs.


1953 New York City, USA

The United States team won its third consecutive championship by 8,260 points. Crawford, Rapée, Schenken, and Stayman were also members of the previous two winning teams. The 256 boards were played against Sweden at the Sherry-Netherlands Hotel in New York, 5 to 10 January 1953.


1954

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, Monaco

France won the 1953 European championship with a six-man national team and the right to represent Europe in the Bermuda Bowl to be held 9–14 January 1954. Jean Besse of Switzerland and Karl Schneider of Austria replaced one of the French pairs; the team is also referred to as France. Schneider had been a member of the 1937 world champion Austrian team. The USA team had won the right to represent that country by winning the ACBL summer nationals held in St. Louis in August 1953; the five members of that team invited Lew Mathe to round out the team to six first-timers for the Bermuda Bowl event. The USA defeated Europe by 49 IMPs representing 4,400 points.


1955 New York City, USA

The 1955 event was held 9–14 January at the Hotel Beekman, New York. The British team had defeated 13 others to win the European title in 1954 in Montreux, Switzerland. The American team had won the 1954 ACBL summer nationals in Washington, D.C.; that team of five was augmented by Alvin Roth. Great Britain won by a margin of 5,420 points.


1956 Paris, France

France made it two in a row for Europe. Bacherich and Ghestem were veterans from 1954.


1957 New York City, USA

Italy's Blue Team won its first of ten consecutive Bermuda Bowls. Chiaradia, Forquet, Siniscalco, and captain Carl'Alberto Perroux were veterans from the 1951 team. Avarelli, Belladona, D'Alelio, and Forquet played in every one.


1958

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...
, Italy

For 1958 the Bermuda Bowl tournament permanently included the champion of South America, whose federation and annual tournament were then ten years old. In the next several years, expansion covered other geographic zones and the defending champion.


1959 New York City, USA


1960s

There was no Bermuda Bowl in 1960, 1964 or 1968 to avoid conflict with the
World Team Olympiad 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 Glossary of contract bridge terms#teams, teams, always including o ...
.


1961

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Argentina

The Blue Team won its fourth Bermuda Bowl, with Benito Garozzo now in the same lineup. This began a new string of annual world championships for Italy, after ranking only sixth in the inaugural
World Team Olympiad 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 Glossary of contract bridge terms#teams, teams, always including o ...
, won by France.World Team Olympiad
(to Date table). WBF.
At the same time, the Bermuda Bowl tournament expanded to include the defending champions. Throughout the 1960s that would mean Italy plus one from the rest of Europe. Italy would use the European Team Championships to give some international experience to new players or new partnerships. Argentina finished fourth.


1962 New York City, USA

Argentina finished fourth.


1963 Saint-Vincent, Italy

Italy won again. This was the last for "Professor" Eugenio Chiaradia and the only one of the ten in a row that Walter Avarelli missed. Argentina finished fourth.


1965

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Argentina

Playing at home, Argentina represented South America for the sixth time and finally defeated one of the Europeans or Americans, namely Great Britain. This was the fifth consecutive world championship for the Blue Team, as it had won the second Olympiad in 1964. Italy would continue to win annually with the identical lineup through 1969, plus a successful comeback in 1972. Great Britain finished fourth. The event was marred by a cheating scandal involving the British pair
Terence Reese John Terence Reese (28 August 1913 – 29 January 1996) was a Great Britain, British Contract bridge, 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 pare ...
and
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 ...
, known as the " Buenos Aires affair".


1966 Saint-Vincent, Italy

The tournament expanded to five with Asia, represented by Thailand. Venezuela took Argentina's usual place and won another third for South America. Canadians Sami Kehela and Eric Murray joined four US Americans for North America. Netherlands finished fourth and Thailand fifth.


1967

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
, USA

Thailand and Venezuela returned to the field. More than forty years later, 1966/1967 remain their best national performances. Thailand finished fourth and Venezuela fifth.


1969

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, Brazil

Taiwan appeared on the world bridge scene with a shocking second-place performance, represented by six players using the Precision Club
bidding system A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of agreements and understandings assigned to calls and sequences of calls used by a partnership, and includes a full description of the meaning of each treatment and convention. The purpose of bi ...
recently invented by C. C. Wei. The Blue Team of Italy retired after winning its tenth consecutive Bermuda Bowl (from 1957) and ninth consecutive annual world championship in open teams (from 1961). The United States team included two members of the professional Dallas Aces, Eisenberg–Goldman and two young players who would be Aces, Hamman and Kantar. France finished fourth and Brazil fifth.


1970s


1970

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, Sweden

The Aces won the 17th Bermuda Bowl, the first for a United States or North America team since they won the first four. Taiwan finished second again, with only five players and only two veterans from 1969. Norway and Brazil also finished ahead of Italy, the defending champion bridge nation represented by a wholly new team.World Team Championships
(To Date table). WBF.
Brazil finished fourth and the new Italy fifth.


1971

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
, Taiwan

The Aces won as defending champions while the field expanded to include Australia. Taiwan finished fourth at home, one year after finishing second.


1973 Guarujá, Brazil

The Blue Team had successfully completed a comeback by winning the 1972 Olympiad with its 1964–69 lineup. Three then retired permanently but its three greatest players continued to play for Italy (Belladonna, Forquet, and Garozzo), and to win. The second-place Aces were defending champions with one personnel change. North America finished fourth, represented by a team of six men from the US.


1974

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, Italy

Italy defended its championship at home. The World Bridge Federation inaugurated its
Venice Cup The Venice Cup is a biennial world championship contract bridge 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 (open), Wuhan Cup (mixed), ...
for "Women Teams", which increased in size and frequency to match the biennial Bermuda Bowl tournament for "Open Teams" in 1985. No woman had played for a Bermuda Bowl winner; only two had finished second. Meanwhile, the quadrennial Olympiad ran two tournaments, open and women, side by side from its start in 1960. :* De Falco and Franco did not play enough boards to qualify for the title of World Champion. Indonesia finished fourth.


1975

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
, Bermuda

For the 25th anniversary of the inaugural tournament, the 21st returned to Bermuda, as the 34th tournament would do for the 50th anniversary. Italy won its thirteenth Bermuda Bowl, its third in a row, and its last before 2005. Pietro Forquet missed this one, leaving Giorgio Belladonna alone with 13 Bowls. Indonesia finished fourth, Brazil fifth.


1976

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, Monaco

The 22nd was the only Bermuda Bowl contested during a
World Team Olympiad 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 Glossary of contract bridge terms#teams, teams, always including o ...
year. The two Open tournaments were played back to back during three weeks in May, with Italy beaten first by the United States and then by Brazil in the finals.Results & Participants
5th World Team Olympiad, 1976. WBF.
Israel finished third as the second representative of Europe. Brazil finished fourth with the same lineup that placed third in 1973 and 1974. With one personnel change they won the Open Olympiad tournament that immediately following this exceptional Bermuda Bowl. It remains the only year with two world champion teams in the open category.


1977

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
, Philippines

Both teams "North America" and "Defending Champions" comprised six men from the US. The six defending champion ''players'' divided two and four, as the Aces with defending players Eisenberg and Soloway regrouped as "North America". (Under double representation for the United States beginning in 1991, the two USA teams must face each other if both advance to the semifinal.) Argentina finished fourth.


1979

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, Brazil

The 24th Bermuda Bowl was the first to be decided by a margin that is commonly scored on a single deal, merely 5
IMPs IMP or imp may refer to: * Imp, a fantasy creature Arts and entertainment Music * IMP (band) a Japanese boy band Fictional characters * Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power'' * Imp a character in ''Artemis Fowl: The Lost ...
. Malcolm Brachman's professional team of US Americans defeated Italy by that much. The defending champion team was not invited after 1977, so the tournament again matched one team from each WBF geographic zone that chose to participate. The number of teams remained at six because "Central America & the Caribbean" sent a team for the first time, three players from Panama and three from Venezuela with a Guadeloupe captain. Brachman from North America and national teams from Italy, Australia, Taiwan, and host Brazil represented the other four zones. Taiwan finished fourth.


1980s

The Bermuda Bowl made several changes around 1980. The defending champion team was dropped in 1979. For 1981 Europe was awarded two places in the tournament, the first expansion beyond zonal champions (plus the world champion, 1961 to 1977). There would be nine teams if every WBF zone sent a champion. For 1983, European and North American champions would have two places in the 4-team semifinal round. European and North American runners up would contend with champions of the other zones and the host country for two other semifinal slots. (Europe and North America had won all the Bermuda Bowls. Outsiders had finished second in 1969–70 and 1981.) Beginning in 1985, the Bermuda Bowl for open teams and Venice Cup for women would run side by side with the same structure in a venue outside Europe and North America (maintained until 2001).


1981 Port Chester, NY , USA

Pakistan represented "Asia and the Middle East", a novelty, and finished second, a shock. This was the third silver medal for teams from outside Europe and North America, joining Taiwan 1969–70. "Pakistani preempts" were notable and team's best player Zia Mahmood was recognized as a great one. For the United States, led by Bud Reinhold—who played, but not enough to qualify personally as a world champion— Levin, Rodwell, and Meckstroth made their international debuts at 23 to 25 years old, Levin being the youngest winner on record. Europe was represented by both Poland and Great Britain, first and second in the 18-team open flight of the
European championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
.Results & Participants
35th European Team Championships, 1981. European Bridge League (EBL).
:* Reinhold did not play enough boards to qualify for the title of World Champion. Argentina finished fourth.


1983

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, Sweden

Beginning in 1983, North America joined Europe with double representation, and the host country was automatically included too, so the potential size of the field increased by two. United States teams finished first and second in North America while France, Italy, and world host Sweden ranked 1, 2, and 7 among 24 teams in the open European championship.Results & Participants, 36th European Team Championships
1983, EBL.
Under the new structure, USA1 and France earned byes to the Bermuda Bowl semifinal while USA2, Italy, and Sweden contended with the champions of other zones for two more semifinal slots. Five other zones were represented, ten teams in all. USA2 and Italy won the preliminary stage; USA1 and Italy won semifinal matches to meet in the final, the international
swan song The swan song (; ) is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement. The phrase refers to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song just before their death while they have been ...
for Giorgio Belladonna and for the legendary Belladonna–Garozzo partnership. USA 2 finished fourth. The size of the field increased by three, not two, because "Asia and the Middle East" (debut 1981) and "Central America and the Caribbean" (debut 1979) were both represented, by Pakistan and a transnational squad including four men from
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
. Only Africa among the eight modern geographic zones was not yet represented.


1985

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
, Brazil

Beginning in 1985 the Bermuda Bowl and the Venice Cup for women have been side-by-side tournaments with the same structure. From 1985 to 2000 they were always sited outside Europe and North America. For three cycles, 1985 to 1989, one team each from the United States and Canada represented North America. All three US teams were based on the San Francisco-area team anchored by Chip Martel
Lew Stansby Lew Stansby (August 17, 1940 – May 24, 2024) was an American bridge player from Dublin, California. At the time of his death Lew, a former commodities trader, lived with wife and fellow national champion JoAnna Stansby. Since his first national ...
and Peter Pender–Hugh Ross. They won the annual US
Grand National Teams The Grand National Teams (GNT) North American bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Grand National Teams is a team knockout event. The event is broken into ...
in 1982-83-85-87 (with another pair in '82, with Mike Lawrence in '87). Austria and Israel finished 1–2 among 21 open teams in Europe and placed 2–3 behind USA in São Paulo.Results & Participants
37th European Team Championships, 1985. EBL.
:* Frydrich and Hochzeit did not play enough boards to qualify for third place. Brazil finished fourth. Infrequent entries Canada, New Zealand, and India finished 8–9–10, having qualified in the familiar places of "USA 2", Australia, and Pakistan.


1987 Ocho Ríos, Jamaica

The "San Francisco" GNT with world veterans Hamman–Wolff defended successfully. Great Britain and Sweden reversed their European finish.Results & Participants
38th European Team Championships, 1987. EBL.
Chinese Taipei finished fourth.


1989

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Australia

Brazil won its first Bermuda Bowl, defeating a team of three "San Francisco" pairs in the final. Australia finished fourth at home. Egypt and Colombia represented Asia–Middle East and Central America–Caribbean. Poland and France, the best of 25 teams in Europe, finished only 3rd and 6th.


1990s


1991

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
, Japan

Iceland won the Bermuda Bowl after finishing fourth in Europe, the last to qualify from Zone 1. Europe's fourth, third, and second place teams won all three medals while European champion Great Britain finished 5th to 8th in the world.Results & Participants
40th European Team Championships, 1991. EBL.
The tournament expanded from 10 teams with a 4-team knockout conclusion to 16 teams with an 8-team KO, without any playoffs to distinguish the four quarterfinal losers. Defending champion Brazil finished fourth, Argentina 5th to 8th. The two USA teams also finished 5th to 8th. Brazil finished fourth with the same lineup that won in 1989. With expansion from 10 to 16 teams, a third entry was awarded to North America, and the American Contract Bridge League settled on two United States teams, who both finished 5th to 8th. (The two US teams are determined under the auspices of the United States Bridge Federation. The other team from Zone 2 is determined by a playoff of other national teams, if necessary.)


1993

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Netherlands won its first Bermuda Bowl. Netherlands and Norway were fourth and third in Europe, as finalists Iceland and Poland had been two years earlier.Results & Participants
41st European Team Championships, 1993. EBL.
De Boer, Leufkens, and Westra had played on the Netherlands 1987 world champion junior team. Helgemo of Norway played on the contemporary junior team and thus won two silver medals in 1993. USA 2 finished fourth. South Africa represented Africa for the first time. Mexico won the third slot from North America. Host Chile finished last, as Japan and Jamaica had done.


1995 Beijing, China

This was the first win for Nick Nickell's professional team ("Nickell" in North American tournaments). Canada made its best showing by far and South Africa finished fifth while the European and US champions did not reach the quarterfinal.Results & Participants
42nd European Team Championships, 1995. EBL.
Sweden finished fourth.


1997 Hammamet, Tunisia

France won its second Bermuda Bowl as the fifth and last qualifier from Europe following another Bermuda Bowl tournament expansion.Results & Participants
43rd European Team Championships, 1997. EBL.
USA 1 finished fourth. Host Tunisia finished last and South Africa second-last.


2000s


2000

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
, Bermuda

The Bermuda Bowl cycle continued as usual in 1998/1999 but the concluding tournament was in January 2000, marking the 50th anniversary of the inaugural contest in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
. In contrast to that three-way competition among teams representing America, Britain, and Europe, there were now eight geographic zones from which twenty teams qualified in numbers influenced by past bridge population and performance. :Europe: Italy, Sweden, Norway, Bulgaria, France, Poland —ranks 1 to 6 in the European championshipResults & Participants
44th European Team Championships, 1999. EBL.
:North America: Canada, USA 1, USA 2 :South America: Argentina, Brazil :Asia & Middle East: Pakistan :Central America & Caribbean: Guadeloupe and Bermuda as the host country :Pacific Asia: China, Taiwan, Indonesia :South Pacific: Australia, New Zealand :Africa: South Africa Norway finished fourth. Europe's six teams all finished in the top ten but only Norway reached the semifinal. Bermuda finished last, the fifth time for six hosts since 1989.


2001 Paris, France

Italy finished fourth.


2003

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, Monaco

Expansion to 22 teams. Perennial European champions Italy returned to the top ranks of the Bermuda Bowl competition, but lost to USA 1 in the finals. :* Morse and Wolff did not play enough boards to qualify for third place. Norway finished fourth.


2005

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...
, Portugal

Italy's 14th Bermuda Bowl win was its first since 1975. Sweden finished fourth. Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes of the Italian teams were later found cheating, and are currently barred from play by multiple bridge associations.


2007

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, China

The 38th Bermuda Bowl saw Norway win its first title, after two second, one third, and two fourth from 1993. Helgemo–Helness and Glenn Grøtheim were members of all six teams. South Africa finished fourth. Its advance to the quarterfinal was a surprise and there it knocked out the defending champion and advance favourite Italy.


2009

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
, Brazil

This was the fourth win for Nick Nickell's professional teams representing the United States (1995, 2000, 2003, 2009). Meckstroth–Rodwell and Bob Hamman were also members of all four teams. :* Katz was the replacement for Richard Freeman, who died after USA 2 qualified for the Bermuda Bowl. China "Long Zhu" finished fourth. Beside China and the American winners, the quarterfinalists were all six teams from Europe. Bulgaria placed third after winning the first European Small Federations Trophy in 2007, for national teams representing no more than 500 players.


2010s


2011 Veldhoven, Netherlands

The 40th Bermuda Bowl tournament concluded Saturday, 29 October. Italy had routed the USA champions 167–69 in a one-day match for the bronze medal while the host Netherlands faced USA 2 in a three-day final. The Dutch hosts led by 55 IMP after two days (96 deals) and scored very well in the first session on Saturday to lead by 83 and coast to victory. USA 1 finished fourth. The losing quarterfinalists were Israel, Sweden, Iceland, and China. Netherlands won the 2011 Bermuda Bowl by 300 to 255 in three days play against USA 2,40th Bermuda Bowl Knockout: Final
, 2011. WBF.
the second of two entries from the United States. The final eight segments of 16 s each started with an insignificant one IMP advantage for Dutch home team. The one IMP represented half the margin in their short match, a 25–23 win for Netherlands in round two. With a strong third segment, Netherlands surged to a 130–108 lead after one day and then extended the difference to as much as 65 on day two ultimately finishing 55 IMPs ahead after six segments. After day three's seventh segment, the margin increased to 76 IMPs, nearly decisive with only 16 deals to play. The Americans rebounded in the last segment but the gains were "too small" as time ran out. ;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.# :Europe: Italy, Poland, Israel, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands, Bulgaria —ranks 1 to 7 in the European championshipResults & Participants
50th European Team Championships, 2010. European Bridge League.
:North America: Canada, USA 1, USA 2 :South America: Brazil, Chile :Asia & Middle East: India, Pakistan :C. America & Carib.: Guadeloupe :Pacific Asia: China, Japan, Singapore :South Pacific: Australia, New Zealand :Africa: Egypt, South Africa The first stage was a full round-robin. Every team played 21 short matches of 16 deals, three daily, scheduled in advance. Italy, Netherlands, USA 2, and Israel earned the first four places comfortably, each almost a full match ahead of the next place. The US champions finished fifth by scoring 340.5 , or 16.2 per match where a draw is worth 15. Sweden, China, and Iceland qualified with fewer than 16 VP per match while Japan, New Zealand, and Australia made strong showings as the first three also-rans, ahead of two Europeans, Poland and Bulgaria. (All six Europeans had qualified for knockout play two years earlier.) Italy, Netherlands, and USA 2 selected quarterfinal opponents China, Iceland, and Sweden leaving Israel to face USA 1. Italy and China, second and fourth in 2009, played the only close match, where Italy built a 5 IMP lead to 26 during the last segment. During the same segment Sweden trailed USA 2 by at least 30, Iceland trailed by almost 100, and Israel conceded to USA 1 without play. Two US American entries in a Zonal Teams knockout always meet in one semifinal match, if they survive so long (and they never meet earlier).# In Veldhoven a strong fifth segment was almost decisive for USA 2, who extended a lead from 12 to 62 IMP with 16 deals to play, and won by 60. Meanwhile, Italy and Netherlands were nearly even at the end of every segment, the only time players know the score precisely. After five Netherlands led by 3+ IMP including 2+ carryover, having bettered Italy 155 to 154 on 80 deals. They "won" the final segment by 26 and the match by 199+ to 170. In retrospect, two "slam swings" were decisive. On the 87th and 90th deals (#23, #29), Netherlands bid 6 and 6 while Italy bid 4 and 4. All four declarers took the twelve tricks for slam, worth twice 13 IMP for the winners. While Netherlands and USA 2 played for the Bowl, Italy easily beat the US champions in 48 deals and earned the bronze medal, 167–69.


2013

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
, Indonesia

Italy won its 15th Bermuda Bowl with a 210–126 defeat of Monaco, represented by Pierre Zimmermann's immigrant professional team. Poland won the bronze medal by a fraction less than 5 IMPs. USA1 finished fourth.


2015 Chennai, India

The two-week tournament in
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, India (formerly Madras), began on Sunday, 27 September, with one week of round-robin play through Saturday, 3 October. During the preceding month, revelations of cheating by two of the leading pairs, at events including the 2014 European Team Championships, had led to withdrawal from the Bermuda Bowl by the Israel and Monaco teams that had placed first and second in that event. Germany had dropped from the 22-team field after one of its three pairs confessed "preemptively". On the last day before the first matches in Chennai, the World Bridge Federation had announced its withdrawal of credentials for one of three pairs on the Poland team, making that pair ineligible to play, however Poland were not forced to withdraw. (Two pairs from each team participate in each segment.) The Bermuda Bowl was won by Poland, who defeated Sweden in the final by 308.5 IMPs to 293. The bronze medal went to USA2, who defeated England in the third-place match 252.3 to 243. England finished fourth.


2017 Lyon, France

New Zealand finished fourth.


2019 Wuhan, China

USA 1 finished fourth.


2020s


2022 Salsomaggiore, Italy

Tournament scheduled for 2021 but held in 2022 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...


2023 Marrakech, Morocco

46th World Team Championships
/ref> USA 2 finished fourth.


Medals (1950-2023)


Zones and nations

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


See also

*
World Team Olympiad 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 Glossary of contract bridge terms#teams, teams, always including o ...
* 2021 World Bridge Team Championships


Notes


References

;Citations *40th World Team Championships
contemporary website. 2011. WBF. Retrieved 2011-07-10.


Further reading

* * * * * * *


External links


World Team Championships
at the World Bridge Federation. Confirmed 2010-11-07.

2011 tournament dedicated website. Retrieved 2011-05-26. {{WPCBIndex Contract bridge world competitions fr:Championnat du monde de bridge#Bermuda Bowl et Venice Cup