Jie "Jack" Zhao (born 14 June 1969) is a

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

professional

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 ...

player. He became a

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 ...

Grand Master (WGM) in 2014.

Bridge career

Zhao and Zhong Fu won the quadrennial

World Open Pairs Championship The World Open Pairs Championship is a 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, competin ...

, 2006 in Verona, Italy. On a team of five players that same year, they won the annual Vanderbilt, the oldest major tournament in North America. Zhao has more than 10 Chinese National Championships, and has represented China from 2003 to 2009 in various World Championship events including quarterfinal or better finishes in the Bermuda Bowl, the Mind Sport Olympics, the transnational teams, and the Rosenblum. Zhao played on China open teams that qualified for the biennial Bermuda Bowl as Pacific Asia (zone 6) champions in 2005, 2007, and 2009. (The latter finished fourth, China's only appearance in the Bermuda Bowl semifinals.) He played for China in the 2003 Bermuda Bowl as well, as a high runner-up in zone 6. Zhao and Kerri Sanborn of the U.S. won the quadrennial

World Mixed Pairs Championship The World Mixed Pairs Championship is a bridge championship for mixed-gender pairs held every four years as part of the World Bridge Championships. Results World meets commonly run for 15 days on a schedule whose details vary. In 2006 the Mixed ...

in 2014. As a player primarily affiliated with China and zone 6, he was the first from outside Europe and North America, World Bridge Federation zones 1 and 2, to win any gold, silver, or bronze medal in 13 renditions from 1966. At the same time Sanborn, who won as Kerri Shuman in 1978, became the first player to win the gold medal twice.

Personal

Zhao is a full-time professional bridge player and lives in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

, China, as well as

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States. He travels frequently between the two countries. His family is currently in

Bridge accomplishments

Wins

* Vanderbilt, 2006 *

, 2006 * Cavendish Invitational Teams, 2009 * 10 Chinese national championships * 5 Pacific Asia Bridge Federation championships as part of the China national team * Dutch national teams champion, 2000 * Dutch national pairs champion, 1998

Other finishes

* Vanderbilt: Semifinalist, 2008 *

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 Wu ...

: 5th place, 2007; 4th, 2009 (China national team) * World Transnational Teams: 2nd place, 2003; 4th, 2005 The Transnational Teams permit late entry by players from national teams knocked out before the Bermuda Bowl semifinals. China finished 12th, 10th, 5th, and 4th in the last four Bermuda Bowl tournaments, 2003 to 2009; thus it was possible for Zhao (or the China team intact) to enter the Transnational Teams as well, except in 2009, and to finish 2nd, 4th, and 10th.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Jack 1969 births Chinese contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Sportspeople from Tianjin Living people Place of birth missing (living people)