The World Bridge Championships consists of several sets of championships organized 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 prestigiou ...

World Bridge Series Championships

''World Bridge Series Championships'' is the new 2010 name for a quadrennial meet organized by the

in non-leap even years. (Another meet, the

World Bridge Games The World Bridge Games are held quadrennially. The first two events were held in 2008 and 2012, in Beijing and Lille respectively, as part of the World Mind Sports Games (WMSG), and superseding the World Team Olympiad, which had been held every fou ...

, is held quadrennially in leap years.) Most of its world championship events are open in the sense that entries do not represent geographic zones or nations. The meet was inaugurated in 1962 as the ''World Pair Olympiad'' comprising the

World Open Pairs Championship The World Open Pairs Championship is a contract bridge competition initiated in 1962 and held as part of the World Bridge Series Championships every four years. Open to all pairs without any quota restrictions on nationality, the championship is wi ...

and

World Women Pairs Championship The World Women Pairs Championship is a bridge championship held every four years as part of the World Bridge Championships. It is restricted to women pairs only. Results World meets commonly run for 15 days on a schedule whose details vary. In 2 ...

, as well as the

World Mixed Teams Championship The World Mixed Teams Championship is a bridge competition for teams of mixed pairs. At every table, two teams are always represented by a mixed pair, one man and one woman. The Mixed Teams event was held in conjunction with the first and fourth ...

. For the second rendition in 1966 the mixed event was for pairs, the

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 ...

, as it would be thereafter except in 1974. The World Knockout Teams for the

Rosenblum Cup Rosenblum Cup is an Open Teams event held every four years as part of the World Bridge Championships. The event was added to the world championships in New Orleans in 1978 to commemorate Julius Rosenblum, who served as president of the World Bridge ...

was inaugurated in 1978 and soon became the most prestigious event of the meet. A parallel knockout teams for women was added in 1994, for the

McConnell Cup McConnell Cup is a team event for women held every four years as part of the World Bridge Series Championships. The event was inaugurated in 1994 and is named in honor of Ruth McConnell, former treasurer for the World Bridge Federation (WBF) and ...

. Seniors competition debuted in 1990 with the

World Senior Pairs Championship The World Senior Pairs Championship is one of the competitions held as part of the quadrennial World Bridge Championships (formerly World Pairs Olympiad), inaugurated at the 8th rendition of the meet in 1990. Prior to 2005 both members of each pai ...

and the

World Senior Teams Championship The World Senior Teams Championship is one of the competitions held as part of the World Bridge Championships. This event was initiated in 1994 and is held every four years. It is not necessary that all team members be from the same country. Prior t ...

followed in 1994. The "World Bridge Series" or "World Series" for short comprises championship tournaments for both pairs and teams in open, women's, seniors, and mixed categories. Other events are irregular. All events in the World Bridge Series are open without regard to nationality. Pairs or teams may be transnational and there are no limits on the numbers who enter.

Venues of past events

*1962

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

, France *1966

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, Netherlands *1970

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden *1974

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

, Spain *1978

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, United States *1982

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...

, France *1986

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

, United States *1990

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland *1994

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, United States *1998

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

, France *2002

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada *2006

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, Italy *2010

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, United States *2014 Sanya, Hainan, China *2018

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

, United States * 2021 World Bridge Team Championships

America vs Europe

These were most prestigious Bridge competitions in the World between 1950 and 1960. This was a country vs country qualification within the entire New World and within Europe. With some initial exceptions, the winners of these qualifications then met in a final. The United States won all American qualifications, whilst Europe was represented by Italy, England, France and Sweden. The final venue alternated between the continents. *1950

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 = , e ...

- USA defeated England and a Swedish-Icelandic combination *1951

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy - USA defeated Italy *1953

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, USA - USA defeated Sweden *1954

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/France - USA defeated France *1955

, USA - England defeated USA *1956

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France - France defeated USA *1957

, USA - Italy defeated USA *1958

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

, Italy - Italy defeated USA *1959

, USA - Italy defeated USA There was no contest of this kind in 1952. Summary - USA 4 titles, Italy 3 titles, England 1 title and France 1 title.

World Bridge Team Championships

''World Bridge Team Championships'' is a new name for the biennial meet organized by the World Bridge Federation in odd years. There are three main events, the World Team Championships for national teams in three flights: Open, Women, and Seniors. Those are commonly called

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 Wuh ...

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) and d'Orsi Bowl (S ...

, and d'Orsi

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

after the trophies awarded to the winners. Initiated by the British former international player Norman Bach, the Bermuda Bowl was first contested in 1950 in

Hamilton, Bermuda The City of Hamilton, in Pembroke Parish, is the territorial capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination. Its population of 854 (2016) is one of the sm ...

; the Venice Cup and the Senior Bowl were integrated as part of the championships in 1974 (in

Venice, Italy 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 islan ...

) and 2000 (in

Southampton, Bermuda Southampton Parish is one of the nine parishes of Bermuda. It is named for Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624). It is located in the southwest of the island chain, occupying all of the western part of the main island, except ...

) respectively. The Senior Bowl, subsequently named the d'Orsi Senior Bowl, has been one of three concurrent World Team Championships throughout its history but the Venice Cup was originally contested less frequently than the Bermuda Bowl and it was once contested alone in a different year (1978). The Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup have always run concurrently since 1985. In addition to the foregoing, the

World Transnational Open Teams Championship The World Transnational Open Teams Championship is a major side event conducted by the World Bridge Federation during the semifinal and final stages of its world championships for national teams at contract bridge—the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, and ...

is contested during the late stages of the main events. This competition is open to players of all categories who may form teams without nationality restrictionsWorld Bridge Federation World Transnational Open Team Championshi
website
except that players on the twelve teams that reach the semifinals in the three main flights (ordinarily 72 players) are not eligible.

References

External links

"World Bridge Series Championships"
at the World Bridge Federation. Confirmed 2010-11-07.
"World Team Championships"
at the World Bridge Federation. Retrieved 2010-11-07. {{Main world championships *