Paul Chemla (born January 2, 1944) is a famous
French bridge
A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
player.
Chemla was born in
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
. He studied at the
École Normale Supérieure
École or Ecole may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
where he took up playing bridge. His wins include three European Pairs Championships (1976 with
Michel Lebel, 1985 with
Michel Perron, and 1999 with
Alain Lévy), two
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 ...
s (1980 and 1992), and the 1997
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 ...
. Chemla is noted for his girth and his large
cigar
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...
s.
Bridge accomplishments
Awards
* IBPA Personality of the Year 1998
Wins
*
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 ...
(1) 1997
*
World Open Team Olympiad (2) 1980, 1992
*
Transnational Mixed Teams (1) 2004
* European Championships (6)
** Open Pairs (3) 1976, 1985, 1999
** Mixed Teams (3) 1990, 1996, 1998
* Other notable wins:
** Forbo-Krommenie Nations Cup (1) 1998
** Yeh Bros Cup Open Teams (1) 2006
** Sunday Times Invitational Pairs (1) 1991
** Generali World Masters Individual (1) 1998
Runners-up
*
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 ...
(1) 1984
*
Transnational Mixed Teams (1) 2000
* European Open Bridge Championships (1)
** Open Teams (1) 2003
* European Championships (3)
** Open Teams (1) 1995
** Mixed Pairs (1) 1998
** Senior Teams (1) 1999
* Other notable 2nd places:
** Staten Bank World Top Invitational Pairs (1) 1988
**
Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 1982
External links
*
*
1944 births
French contract bridge players
Bermuda Bowl players
Living people
People from Tunis
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