Bridge at the 1st World Mind Sports Games
Encyclopedia
The first World Mind Sports Games
convened in Beijing, China, 3–18 October 2008. They were sponsored by the International Mind Sports Association
and organised by the General Administration of Sport of China and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sport.
Provisionally, the second WMSG will be August 2012 in Manchester, UK.
Contract bridge
was one of the five disciplines or mind sports constituting the first WMSG: bridge, chess
, draughts
, go, and xiangqi
. The World Bridge Federation
calls the bridge competitions collectively the "World Bridge Games".
WBF has published inconsistent details regarding which events were part of the first WMSG, which have been incorporated in the WMSG, which constitute the World Bridge Games, and so on. Some points may be resolved after formal announcement of the second World Mind Sports Games, anticipated for 17 November 2011.
According to the WBF, it incorporated the World Team Olympiad
(1960 to 2004) and several youth events in the World Bridge Games "as the stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games (after the Summer and the Winter Olympics)".
The World Masters Individual tournaments (Open and Women) were also incorporated, at least in Beijing.
The two Individual fields are composed by invitation rather than by national representatives, a distinction that may govern some WBF listings including the one in its "World Bridge Games" overview.
The first World Bridge Games featured special national teams, pairs, and individual competitions for players under age 28 (U28), as well as traditional national teams championships for the under-26 "juniors" and under-21 "youngsters".
Hereafter the competition for youth teams, pairs, and individuals will all use the age limits that are familiar in bridge, U26 and U21.
Maybe.
For three years of the supposed cycle, the WBF has called the under-28 bridge tournaments at the first Games exceptional (and the footnote to its "World Bridge Games" capsule still says so, 2011-11-04). It has said that the quadrennial Games will henceforth feature the u-26 and u-21 categories that are now standard in youth bridge.
According to a July 2011 announcement, however, the World Youth Teams with familiar u-26 and u-21 tournaments will not be part of the 2nd Games (August 2012). Rather, the Mind Sports Games will again feature u-28 teams and the now-three flights of World Youth Teams will be held July/August in Cuba.
• Youth Bridge Schedule Changes. Central America & Caribbean Bridge Federation. Quoting the ACBL Daily Bulletin, Summer 2012 NABC. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
These two tournaments for Individuals continue the series of World Masters Individual Championships inaugurated 1992 and contested every four years from 2000. In seven renditions no one has won either event twice. The fields are invitational rather representative.
(IMSA and WBF both interpreted the 2008 medals nationally, however.)
Unusually, the Individuals in Beijing were played on two widely separated days, with one session on opening Friday and two sessions on the next Thursday, before and after five days of preliminary matches in the Teams events.
OpenWBF calls these two invitational series Open and Women in preface to the historical results, and labels them Open and Women in column headings there and elsewhere. No women played in the Open flight at the 2008 Games and none are listed in ranks 1 to 25 for the inaugural contest in 1992.
There were 36 men in the Open field, including seven from host China and five from France.
Tor Helness of Norway scored 58.66%, far ahead of his regular partner Geir Helgemo in second place.
Helness enjoyed a big lead from the first session when he scored 62%.
Helgemo was the Open winner in 1996.
Women
There were 24 players in the Women field including six from host China. Catarina Midskog of Sweden scored 57.51% for a narrow win over Anne-Fréderique Lévy.
Lévy compiled a big lead during a huge first session (69%), with the eventual gold and bronze medalists standing third and fourth.
Three current members of the China national team (second at the Games) ranked fourth, seventh, and eleventh. The bronze medalist joined them for their first world championship in the 2009 Venice Cup
.
Italy, England, and Japan won the Open, Women, and Seniors Teams.
The Senior Teams is not a WMSG medal event.
These three tournaments for national teams continue the Teams Olympiad inaugurated in 1960. They differ from the "World Teams Championships" now conducted in odd-number years in that the fields are open to one team from every bridge nation without pre-qualification in geographical zones. All teams play short matches for one week after which 16 leaders enter one week of knockout play
with no carryover scores.
The round-robins are incomplete (split fields) and the knockout matches are shorter than for the World Teams, which are two-week tournaments with merely 22 pre-qualified teams.
Italy jumped ahead of England early and held on to win the two-day final, 96 deals in six sessions(#)).
Italy led 123 to 78 after the first of two days but England rallied to trail merely 189 to 170 with two deals to play, a slightly viable standing.
Teams from 71 bridge nations entered the Open field including 37 from Europe. Four groups of 17 or 18, each including 9 or 10 from Europe, played full round robins with the first four from each group qualifying for the knockout stage.
The even distribution of European teams among the groups is notable because of their number and crucial because of their high quality, but the teams from every one of eight WBF zones are divided in the same fashion, so evenly as possible among the groups. For example, the four Open teams from "Asia and the Middle East" (Zone 4), Bangladesh, India, Jordan, and Pakistan were allocated one to each preliminary group.
The sixteen qualifiers were twelve from Europe plus Brazil, China, India, and USA.
Brazil, China, and USA are the only nations from outside Europe to win a single official world championship in the history of national teams competition—in Open, Women, or Seniors flights, with or without pre-qualification by zone. (# how many tournaments?)
The seven-time champion of Europe (1995 to 2006),
Group A winner Italy scored the highest average across the entire field, 21.06 VP per match. Group A also featured six teams that scored within five VP in the contest for the the last of its four knockout slots: Romania 286.5, France 286.5, Denmark 286, Finland 284.5, Ireland 283, and Canada 281.5.
Ninth-place Canada thereby finished closer to fourth than did the fifth team in any other group.
Romania and France both scored 286.5 VP and Romania advanced by the tiebreak criterion, a 17–13 win in their short match.
In the round of 16, there was one big surprise: the lowest-scoring qualifier Romania knocked out one of the group leaders, Israel. Seven of the winners led by at least 30 IMP after the third quarter while one of the favorites, Netherlands led Estonia by 26 IMP and held on to win 99 to 89.
In the quarterfinals, England and the remaining group leaders advanced. Three winners led by at least 30 after the first day while Germany led Netherlands by 6 en route to win by 21.
Long-time world championship contenders Italy and Norway met in one semifinal. Norway was the current Bermuda Bowl
(2007) and European (June 2008) champion; Italy had won the preceding world (2005) and the seven preceding European championships.
Italy rolled up a big score on the first day, 138 to 59, and Norway withdrew before the final session. In the other semifinal England led Germany by only 8 overnight but compiled a huge margin on day two, 192 to 50.
Norway easily won the bronze medal from Germany without playing the third scheduled session.
England beat China by one IMP in the two-day final (six sessions, 96 deals).
England led 141 to 58 after the first of two days (48 deals) but China closed to 190–176 with 12 deals to go.
Teams from 54 bridge nations entered the Women field including 23 from Europe. Three groups of 18, each including 7 or 8 from Europe, played full round robins from which the top five plus the highest-scoring sixth-place team qualified for the knockout stage.
England, Germany, and Finland qualified first in their groups. Germany scored 21.88 VP per match, England 20.94. The sixteen qualifiers were 12 from Europe plus Brazil, China, Singapore, and USA.
Brazil and Japan finished fifth and sixth only 2.5 points apart in Group E, the closest decisive margin.
In the one-day round of 16, one preliminary leader and one runner-up were knocked out: Finland and Netherlands. Three matches were routs, essentially decided during the first two of four sessions, and only one provided a close finish: Denmark's 98 to 86 VP knockout of Netherlands.
In the two-day quarterfinal matches (96 deals), China battered Germany in the final session, 48–2 to win by 48. USA won a close match with Denmark, England beat France comfortably, and Turkey knocked out Russia in a cliffhanger. Russia scored 12 on the 93rd deal, which closed to the final margin, merely 5 VP.
In the two-day semifinals, China routed USA 131 to 35 IMP on the first day and coasted to win by 97 (USA no closer than 60). England led Turkey 132 to 81 en route to win by 85 (Turkey no closer than 33).
For the bronze medal, USA jumped ahead by 43 VP in the first of three sessions and won by 46.
The WBF determined in 2005 to increase the threshold one year annually, from age 55 to age 60 in 2010. The rate of increase ensured that all players in Seniors tournaments would remain eligible to compete as Seniors. Senior Bridge. WBF. Retrieved 2007-06-28. (obsolete version)
The first two were conducted under the "Olympiad" moniker alongside the parallel Open and Women tournaments.
It was incorporated in the "World Bridge Games" although it is not a WMSG medal event.
Japan defeated USA, 202 to 200 IMP in the two-day 96-deal final despite losing four of six sessions.
USA led 124 to 81 after the first of two days (48 deals) but trailed 148 to 169 after five of six sessions. USA regained the lead 179 to 173 with games swings on the 83rd, 84th, and 85th deals.
During the up and down finish, Japan scored just well enough to win, including a decisive 3 IMP on the final deal where South declared four spades at both tables. Japan defeated that contract by three tricks, USA by only one trick.
The Seniors field of 32 played round-robin in two groups of 16, each with 7 teams from Europe.
The first eight in each group, the top half, qualified for the knockout stage, led by eventual silver and bronze medalists USA and Indonesia. Japan and Australia scored well and ranked second by big margins.
The Senior field proved to be better-balanced than the others geographically, as the Europeans scored only about average overall and earned merely 7 of 16 knockout slots, joined by USA, Canada, Egypt, Pakistan, Japan, China Taipei, China Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Australia.
In the round of 16 (one day, four sessions, 56 deals), Japan and Germany played a close match throughout. Two other matches were ultimately close, as Australia and Egypt survived big rallies in the last quarter. China Hong Kong and China Taipei (*) scored poorly and withdrew after three quarters.
In the two-day quarterfinal matches (six sessions, 96 deals), three of the winners led by significant margins after the first of two days while Indonesia trailed Netherlands 81 to 98 but scored very well on the second day to win comfortably. Against Japan, England (*) withdrew after five of six sessions.
In 2005 and 2007, USA teams had won the last two Senior Bowl
s, the odd-year world championships, while Indonesia had won both silver medals. Egypt and Japan had no recent success in the Seniors or any other category.(#)
In the two-day semifinals (six sessions, 96 deals), USA led Egypt 81 to 9 IMP after the first of six sessions; Egypt did not close the margin and withdrew with one session unplayed. Japan won a close match with Indonesia, leading by 9 after five sessions but losing 14 IMP on the first deal of the final session when Indonesia bid and made 6D in one room and defeated it in the other.
Indonesia jumped ahead by 36 in the first of three sessions (48 deals) and won the bronze medal comfortably.
Like the Seniors, the Mixed Teams was not a WMSG medal event. It is an official world championship tournament but a secondary one. This rendition was played on the last six days of the Games, concurrently with the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final knockout matches for national teams.
Furthermore, members of quarterfinal-losing teams in the main events were welcome to enter new teams in the Mixed on the third of four days preliminary play.
This year 116 teams played on the first two days, 118 on the next two days. There were four belated entries
assigned a tie for 15th place
and evidently two dropouts.
One of the drop-in was Sabine Auken of Germany with three men and one woman from Poland.
Auken was the defending 2004 champion captain, from the last Olympiad, playing with new teammates.
In fact Auken scored very well and climbed to second place while two more of those belated entries scored well and advanced to the knockout stage; all three won round of 16 matches.
The tournament comprised 3-1/2 days of 10-deal matches followed by 20 deals in the round of 16 matches, 24-deal quarterfinals, 32-deal semifinals, and a 48-deal final coinciding with the second day of the 96-deal finals in the main events.(# complex!)
The gold and bronze medalists were in fact uni-national teams from Taipei and China respectively, while the silver medalist called "Russia" was trans-national from Russia and Belarus
.
Maybe.
Norway
and Chinese Taipei
advanced to the 8-team knockout stage in all three Teams categories, where France
, Denmark
, and Norway won the gold medals. Three young men from Turkey won the Pairs and Individuals championships, the first medals for Turkey in world bridge competition, only a few months after its first gold medal in European competition (Senior Teams).
The three Teams tournaments were contested in parallel during the first ten days of the Games. After one week of short matches, the leading teams played one-day quarterfinal, semifinal, and final knockout matches.
More conditions of contest: Three round-robin leaders sequentially choose their quarter-final opponents from the 5th to 8th qualifiers. Then (before quarterfinals are played) one round-robin leader sets the semifinal matches. Seating rights for every match are determined by coin toss: the winner chooses to take seats before or after its opponent in one of the three sessions; the loser chooses one of two remaining sessions; the winner gets the remaining session.
France defeated England 149 to 125 IMP in the final of the established Youngsters category, under age 21.
England had qualified first and France second among 18 teams in the preliminary round-robin that advanced eight to knockout play. In fact, they led by a wide margin with 20.6 and 20.5 VP per match, third place only 18.2.
This was the third world tournament for Youngsters Teams (U21) and the first win for France.
China defeated Norway by 9 IMP in the quarterfinal, with a final-session rally (44–14) and 12 IMP carryover from their round-robin match, the only U21 match where carryover was decisive.
With one short match to play, five teams had practically secured knockout slots, but "there was a desperate battle in the last round to settle the remaining three places."
Incomplete standings before round 17
Poland and Singapore were disappointed.
Denmark defeated Poland 208 to 137 IMP in the final of the established Juniors category, under age 26, primarily by winning the first and fourth quarters 67–17 and 59–4.
Poland had qualified first and Denmark second among 18 teams in a round-robin stage that advanced eight to the knockout stage diagrammed here. Poland scored 19.9 VP per match, Denmark merely 17.8 (13 teams scored 14.0 or better)
This was the twelfth world tournament for Juniors Teams (U26) and the second win for Denmark, after 1997.
Poland survived a big final-session rally (20–56) to defeat USA by 9 IMP in the quarterfinal, with 12 IMP carryover from their round-robin match, the only U26 match where carryover was decisive.
After 16 of 17 rounds, seven teams were secure or nearly so with one more in a very strong position.
Incomplete standings before round 17
Chinese Taipei faced Germany and scored the maximum 25 VP, four more than necessary to surpass them (21–9).
Norway had defeated Poland 48–34 in the 17th and last match of the preliminary Swiss, a margin worth 4.7 (one-third) in the knockout stage.
With that 17th-hour preliminary win, Norway had placed eighth of 74 teams by a single point ahead of USA. Poland had qualified first with 18.6 VP per match, ahead of France 18.0.
The carryover from round-robin matches was decisive only in the final.
After 16 rounds, the first 23 of 74 teams with at least 254 VP were mathematically viable. Seven were at least strong favorites to advance, with six more close contenders for the last slot.
Incomplete standings before round 17
Norway faced Poland, nominally the toughest final match, and won 18 VP to 12. India and Indonesia were defeated while USA scored 23 VP against Czechia, a big win but one point short of what the Americans needed.
The Pairs tournament would proceed over five days, second Saturday to Wednesday, beginning in parallel with quarterfinal Teams matches and ending with two days following the Teams conclusion. There would be three stages with two flights at each stage: four sessions qualifying, three sessions semifinal, and three sessions final.
At stage three the upper flight would award medals and the world champion title. From stage one to two, and stage two to three, many leaders from upper flight A and few leaders from B would advance to the next A while the remainder who chose to continue would compose the next B. Members of 24 Teams quarterfinalists, as many as 72 pairs, would be welcome to "drop in" after concluding their Teams play; quarterfinal losers would bypass the first stage of Pairs and quarterfinal winners would bypass the first two stages. In effect, team play qualified them for the pairs semifinal or final.
The upper flights would have 120, 120, and 96 pairs while the lower flight sizes would depend on the numbers of initial entrants, drop-ins from teams, and drop-outs. Members of quarterfinal teams would be welcome to join the upper flight of Pairs after concluding team play: to enter the medal flight after Teams semifinals and finals or to enter stage two A after losing the Teams quarterfinals. At stage one, A would comprise players from middle-ranking teams and B players from low-ranking teams plus any newcomers(#). Along with late entries from high-ranking teams, stage two A would be filled by the leaders of stage one A and B in 3:1 ratio (at least 63 and 21 pairs); the medal flight would be filled by the leaders of stage two A and B in 9:1 ratio (at least 54 and 6 pairs).
In fact there were about 200, about 190, and 136 pairs at each stage. Actually 68 and 22 pairs advanced from stage one A and B to semifinal A, implying 30 belated entries from teams;
59 and 6 pairs advanced from semifinal A and B to the medal flight, implying 31 belated entries from teams.
The champion pair Şakirler—Şen climbed from 28th after one and 18th place after two of three final sessions, just above 54% and then 55%.
It was their second big comeback, for they ranked 85th in stage one A, before winning semifinal B where only six slots in the medal flight were available.
Before the last round of two deals, the Turkey and Israel pairs were nearly secure in the first two places. Playing at different tables, Israel scored well enough to secure second; Turkey bid 7NT on the final deal, which was too ambitious a contract in theory, but successful in fact.
European pairs filled the first eight places and Poland placed four in the top ten. The leading non-European pairs placed 9th (Taipei), 11 and 12 (China), and 13 (USA)
Dropouts were not permitted.
WBF competition for individuals requires that everyone use a stipulated bidding system that is published in advance. In Beijing, the medal flight of Youth used the same system as the Men and Women while the lower flights of Youth used a much simpler system.
Balanced competition for individuals is possible only with a few specific numbers of players such as 52, the number selected for the Games. There would be four or five Individual flights A to D or E, pending the number of entries. Flights would compete separately with three medals and one world champion title earned in group A: those 48 entrants who ranked highest in the Pairs final plus those 4 entrants who ranked highest in the Pairs consolation (52 players). Among Pairs competitors who elected to enter, the next 48 finalists and 4 from consolation would compose Group B, and similarly for C. As many as 48 more Pairs finalists would be in D, while other entrants would complete Group D and constitute E if necessary.
In fact there were 220 entries placed in four groups of size 52, 52, 64, and 52.(# complex) Overnight, Johansen of Norway led with 57.90%; eventual gold and silver medalists Anter and Nistor stood fourth and sixth.
In the middle of the last session, Anter was leading and scored very well on two deals against the player standing third.
He went on to win by a huge margin.
Players from twelve different countries won the three medals and the nine certificates awarded in lower groups.
On the other hand, youth bridge powerhouse Poland placed twelve people in the medal flight, where five finished in the top ten; only one player in the second flight; none in the third or fourth flight.
Europeans filled the top fourteen ranks and there were only nine non-Europeans in the medal flight (52): seven players from China placed 15th, 17th, and below median; one from USA placed 23rd; one from Taipei placed below median.
Anter finished 17th as a pair with Omer Kizilok; Şakirler 40th and Şen 22nd as individuals.
The gold medals by Şakirler–Şen and Anter were the first world championships at bridge for Turkey, only a few months after Turkey's first European championship, which the senior national team won in June.
World Mind Sports Games
The first World Mind Sports Games were held in Beijing, China from October 3 to 18, 2008, about two months after the Olympic Games. They were sponsored and organised by the International Mind Sports Association with the General Administration of Sport of China and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of...
convened in Beijing, China, 3–18 October 2008. They were sponsored by the International Mind Sports Association
International Mind Sports Association
The International Mind Sports Association is an institution of the world governing bodies for contract bridge, chess, draughts , and go, namely the World Bridge Federation , World Chess Federation , World Draughts Federation , and International Go Federation...
and organised by the General Administration of Sport of China and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sport.
Provisionally, the second WMSG will be August 2012 in Manchester, UK.
Contract bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
was one of the five disciplines or mind sports constituting the first WMSG: bridge, chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, draughts
Draughts
Draughts is a group of abstract strategy board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemy's pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque...
, go, and xiangqi
Xiangqi
Xiangqi is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi, Indian chess and janggi. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess in English. Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in China...
. The World Bridge Federation
World Bridge Federation
The World Bridge Federation is the world governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competition, most of which is conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle...
calls the bridge competitions collectively the "World Bridge Games".
WBF has published inconsistent details regarding which events were part of the first WMSG, which have been incorporated in the WMSG, which constitute the World Bridge Games, and so on. Some points may be resolved after formal announcement of the second World Mind Sports Games, anticipated for 17 November 2011.
According to the WBF, it incorporated the World Team Olympiad
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 teams, always including one open and one restricted to women...
(1960 to 2004) and several youth events in the World Bridge Games "as the stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games (after the Summer and the Winter Olympics)".
The World Masters Individual tournaments (Open and Women) were also incorporated, at least in Beijing.
The two Individual fields are composed by invitation rather than by national representatives, a distinction that may govern some WBF listings including the one in its "World Bridge Games" overview.
The first World Bridge Games featured special national teams, pairs, and individual competitions for players under age 28 (U28), as well as traditional national teams championships for the under-26 "juniors" and under-21 "youngsters".
Hereafter the competition for youth teams, pairs, and individuals will all use the age limits that are familiar in bridge, U26 and U21.
Maybe.
For three years of the supposed cycle, the WBF has called the under-28 bridge tournaments at the first Games exceptional (and the footnote to its "World Bridge Games" capsule still says so, 2011-11-04). It has said that the quadrennial Games will henceforth feature the u-26 and u-21 categories that are now standard in youth bridge.
According to a July 2011 announcement, however, the World Youth Teams with familiar u-26 and u-21 tournaments will not be part of the 2nd Games (August 2012). Rather, the Mind Sports Games will again feature u-28 teams and the now-three flights of World Youth Teams will be held July/August in Cuba.
• Youth Bridge Schedule Changes. Central America & Caribbean Bridge Federation. Quoting the ACBL Daily Bulletin, Summer 2012 NABC. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
Medalists
Norway won six medals including two gold; host China reaped four lesser medals. Turkey won its first medals in world bridge, in the events for Pairs and Individuals under age 28. The category is considered a novelty and an exception in bridge, two years older than the established Juniors category, but it is the standard age limit for university games (FISU) including the "World University Cup" that was part of the 2000 and 2004 Teams Olympiads.| Individual >  Tor Helness| Geir HelgemoGeir Helgemo Geir Helgemo is a Norwegian professional bridge player. As of April 2011 he ranks number 11 among Open World Grand Masters.... |  Andrey Gromov |
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| (transnational) > Yeh Bros (all Chinese Taipei in fact) | Russia (all Russia in fact) | A – Evertrust Holding Group (all China in fact) |
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Individuals
WBF competition for individuals requires that everyone use the same bidding system, even if they play briefly with a regular partner. The stipulated system is published in advance.These two tournaments for Individuals continue the series of World Masters Individual Championships inaugurated 1992 and contested every four years from 2000. In seven renditions no one has won either event twice. The fields are invitational rather representative.
(IMSA and WBF both interpreted the 2008 medals nationally, however.)
Unusually, the Individuals in Beijing were played on two widely separated days, with one session on opening Friday and two sessions on the next Thursday, before and after five days of preliminary matches in the Teams events.
| Individual > Tor Helness |
> | > | 53.75% |
| > | > | > | 55.10% |
OpenWBF calls these two invitational series Open and Women in preface to the historical results, and labels them Open and Women in column headings there and elsewhere. No women played in the Open flight at the 2008 Games and none are listed in ranks 1 to 25 for the inaugural contest in 1992.
There were 36 men in the Open field, including seven from host China and five from France.
Tor Helness of Norway scored 58.66%, far ahead of his regular partner Geir Helgemo in second place.
Helness enjoyed a big lead from the first session when he scored 62%.
Helgemo was the Open winner in 1996.
Women
There were 24 players in the Women field including six from host China. Catarina Midskog of Sweden scored 57.51% for a narrow win over Anne-Fréderique Lévy.
Lévy compiled a big lead during a huge first session (69%), with the eventual gold and bronze medalists standing third and fourth.
Three current members of the China national team (second at the Games) ranked fourth, seventh, and eleventh. The bronze medalist joined them for their first world championship in the 2009 Venice Cup
Venice Cup
The World Teams Championship in contract bridge for women players only is also known as the Venice Cup, because the first edition was held in Venice, Italy in 1974.It is held every two years, in parallel to the Open World Teams Championship, the Bermuda Bowl....
.
National Teams
- For the histories of the three quadrennial tournaments, see World Team OlympiadWorld Team OlympiadThe 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 teams, always including one open and one restricted to women...
.
Italy, England, and Japan won the Open, Women, and Seniors Teams.
The Senior Teams is not a WMSG medal event.
These three tournaments for national teams continue the Teams Olympiad inaugurated in 1960. They differ from the "World Teams Championships" now conducted in odd-number years in that the fields are open to one team from every bridge nation without pre-qualification in geographical zones. All teams play short matches for one week after which 16 leaders enter one week of knockout play
with no carryover scores.
The round-robins are incomplete (split fields) and the knockout matches are shorter than for the World Teams, which are two-week tournaments with merely 22 pre-qualified teams.
| Open Teams |  Italy Italy |
 Kingdom of England England |
Norway Norway |
| Women Teams | Kingdom of England England |
 Mainland China China |
 United States USA |
Open
This was the 13th quadrennial world championship for national Open Teams —open to one national team per bridge nation, composed regardless of player age, gender, and past performance. The first twelve were conducted under the "Olympiad" moniker alongside the parallel event for Women, with another parallel for Seniors from year 2000.Italy jumped ahead of England early and held on to win the two-day final, 96 deals in six sessions(#)).
-
ITA – 60 46 17 – 17 28 32 – 200 - ENG – 44 4 30 – 42 13 37 – 170
Italy led 123 to 78 after the first of two days but England rallied to trail merely 189 to 170 with two deals to play, a slightly viable standing.
| Year, Host, Entries | Semifinalists |
|---|---|
| 2008 Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , China 71 teams |1. |
Italy Giorgio Duboin Giorgio Duboin Giorgio Duboin is an Italian professional bridge player. He has won four world teams championships along with six consecutive European teams championships and a seventh European in 2010... , Fulvio Fantoni Fulvio Fantoni Fulvio Fantoni is an Italian international bridge player. He is a six-time world champion, a World Grand Master of the World Bridge Federation , and the WBF first-ranked player as of April 2011... , Lorenzo Lauria, Claudio Nunes Claudio Nunes Claudio Nunes is an Italian bridge international. He is a five-time world champion, a World Grand Master of the World Bridge Federation , and the WBF second-ranked player as of April 2011... , Antonio Sementa, Alfredo Versace |
| England David Gold, Jason Hackett, Justin Hackett, Artur Malinowski, Nicklas Sandqvist, Tom Townsend |
|
| Norway Terje Aa Terje Aa Terje Aa is a Norwegian bridge player, WBF World Life Master, and regular member of the Norwegian team since 1993. Teams on which he was a member have placed in the top three of the World Bridge Federation European and World Championships 11 times between 1984 and 2008.In 1993, Aa debuted as the... , Glenn Grøtheim Glenn Grøtheim Glenn Grøtheim is a Norwegian bridge player, WBF World Grand Master, winner of the 2007 Bermuda Bowl and a regular member of the Norwegian team since 1987.... , Geir Helgemo Geir Helgemo Geir Helgemo is a Norwegian professional bridge player. As of April 2011 he ranks number 11 among Open World Grand Masters.... , Tor Helness, Jørgen Molberg, Ulf Håkon Tundal |
|
 Germany Michael Elinescu, Michael Gromoeller, Andreas Kirmse, Josef Piekarek, Alexander Smirnov, Entscho Wladow |
Teams from 71 bridge nations entered the Open field including 37 from Europe. Four groups of 17 or 18, each including 9 or 10 from Europe, played full round robins with the first four from each group qualifying for the knockout stage.
The even distribution of European teams among the groups is notable because of their number and crucial because of their high quality, but the teams from every one of eight WBF zones are divided in the same fashion, so evenly as possible among the groups. For example, the four Open teams from "Asia and the Middle East" (Zone 4), Bangladesh, India, Jordan, and Pakistan were allocated one to each preliminary group.
The sixteen qualifiers were twelve from Europe plus Brazil, China, India, and USA.
Brazil, China, and USA are the only nations from outside Europe to win a single official world championship in the history of national teams competition—in Open, Women, or Seniors flights, with or without pre-qualification by zone. (# how many tournaments?)
The seven-time champion of Europe (1995 to 2006),
Group A winner Italy scored the highest average across the entire field, 21.06 VP per match. Group A also featured six teams that scored within five VP in the contest for the the last of its four knockout slots: Romania 286.5, France 286.5, Denmark 286, Finland 284.5, Ireland 283, and Canada 281.5.
Ninth-place Canada thereby finished closer to fourth than did the fifth team in any other group.
Romania and France both scored 286.5 VP and Romania advanced by the tiebreak criterion, a 17–13 win in their short match.
* Norway withdrew after five of six sessions in its semifinal defeat and won the bronze medal in two of three sessions next day.
In the round of 16, there was one big surprise: the lowest-scoring qualifier Romania knocked out one of the group leaders, Israel. Seven of the winners led by at least 30 IMP after the third quarter while one of the favorites, Netherlands led Estonia by 26 IMP and held on to win 99 to 89.
In the quarterfinals, England and the remaining group leaders advanced. Three winners led by at least 30 after the first day while Germany led Netherlands by 6 en route to win by 21.
Long-time world championship contenders Italy and Norway met in one semifinal. Norway was the current Bermuda Bowl
Bermuda Bowl
The Bermuda Bowl is a trophy awarded to the winners of the Open series in the World Team Championship in contract bridge and is named for the site of the inaugural tournament held in 1950...
(2007) and European (June 2008) champion; Italy had won the preceding world (2005) and the seven preceding European championships.
Italy rolled up a big score on the first day, 138 to 59, and Norway withdrew before the final session. In the other semifinal England led Germany by only 8 overnight but compiled a huge margin on day two, 192 to 50.
Norway easily won the bronze medal from Germany without playing the third scheduled session.
Women
This was the 13th quadrennial world championship for national Women Teams —restricted to one team of female national players from each bridge nation. The first twelve were conducted under the "Olympiad" moniker alongside the parallel Open event, with another parallel for Seniors from year 2000.England beat China by one IMP in the two-day final (six sessions, 96 deals).
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ENG – 37 50 54 – 19 30 33 – 223 - CHN – 23 21 14 – 66 19 79 – 222
England led 141 to 58 after the first of two days (48 deals) but China closed to 190–176 with 12 deals to go.
| Year, Host, Entries | Semifinalists |
|---|---|
| 2008 Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , China 54 teams |1. |
England Sally Brock, Heather Dhondy, Catherine Draper, Anne Rosen, Nevena Senior, Nicola Smith Nicola Smith Nicola Smith MBE has been a leading English bridge player for over thirty years, with many successes in international competition to her credit. She was a member of the British teams which won the Venice Cup, the women's world championship, in 1981 and 1985, and which finished second in 1976... |
| China Ling GU, Yi Qian LIU, Ming SUN, Hongli WANG, Wenfei WANG, Yalan ZHANG |
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| USA Mildred Breed, Marinesa Letizia, Sylvia Moss, Judi Radin, Janice Seamon-Molson, Tobi Sokolow Tobi Sokolow Tobi Sokolow is an American bridge player. As of April 2011 she ranks number 15 among Women World Grand Masters.... |
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 Turkey Belis Atalay, Mine Babac, Hatice Erbiz, Filiz Uygan Erdogan, Irem Ozbay, Dilek Yavas |
Teams from 54 bridge nations entered the Women field including 23 from Europe. Three groups of 18, each including 7 or 8 from Europe, played full round robins from which the top five plus the highest-scoring sixth-place team qualified for the knockout stage.
England, Germany, and Finland qualified first in their groups. Germany scored 21.88 VP per match, England 20.94. The sixteen qualifiers were 12 from Europe plus Brazil, China, Singapore, and USA.
Brazil and Japan finished fifth and sixth only 2.5 points apart in Group E, the closest decisive margin.
In the one-day round of 16, one preliminary leader and one runner-up were knocked out: Finland and Netherlands. Three matches were routs, essentially decided during the first two of four sessions, and only one provided a close finish: Denmark's 98 to 86 VP knockout of Netherlands.
In the two-day quarterfinal matches (96 deals), China battered Germany in the final session, 48–2 to win by 48. USA won a close match with Denmark, England beat France comfortably, and Turkey knocked out Russia in a cliffhanger. Russia scored 12 on the 93rd deal, which closed to the final margin, merely 5 VP.
In the two-day semifinals, China routed USA 131 to 35 IMP on the first day and coasted to win by 97 (USA no closer than 60). England led Turkey 132 to 81 en route to win by 85 (Turkey no closer than 33).
For the bronze medal, USA jumped ahead by 43 VP in the first of three sessions and won by 46.
Seniors
This was the third quadrennial world championship for national Seniors Teams —open to one team from each bridge nation, composed of players age 58 and older (in transition).The WBF determined in 2005 to increase the threshold one year annually, from age 55 to age 60 in 2010. The rate of increase ensured that all players in Seniors tournaments would remain eligible to compete as Seniors. Senior Bridge. WBF. Retrieved 2007-06-28. (obsolete version)
The first two were conducted under the "Olympiad" moniker alongside the parallel Open and Women tournaments.
It was incorporated in the "World Bridge Games" although it is not a WMSG medal event.
Japan defeated USA, 202 to 200 IMP in the two-day 96-deal final despite losing four of six sessions.
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JPN – 28 29 24 – 44 44 33 – 202 - USA – 60 33 31 – 12 12 52 – 200
USA led 124 to 81 after the first of two days (48 deals) but trailed 148 to 169 after five of six sessions. USA regained the lead 179 to 173 with games swings on the 83rd, 84th, and 85th deals.
During the up and down finish, Japan scored just well enough to win, including a decisive 3 IMP on the final deal where South declared four spades at both tables. Japan defeated that contract by three tricks, USA by only one trick.
| Year, Host, Entries | Semifinalists | |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , China World Mind Sports Games non-medal event 32 teams born 1950 or earlier |
1. |  Japan Hiroya Abe, Makoto Hirata, Masayuki Ino, Yoshiyuki Nakamura, Kyoko Ohno, Akihiko Yamada |
| USA Grant Baze, Billy Eisenberg Billy Eisenberg William Eisenberg is an American bridge and backgammon professional. In bridge, Eisenberg has won five Bermuda Bowl world team titles and in backgammon he won the world title in 1975... , Russ Ekeblad, Matt Granovetter, Sam Lev, Reese Milner |
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 Indonesia Michael Bambang Hartono, Henky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, Munawar Sawiruddin, Ferdinand Robert Waluyan |
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 Egypt Amr El Askalani, Mohamad Shaker Ghamrawy, Mohsen Mohamed Kamel, Mohamed Yehia Khalil, Marwan Khedr, Wael Wattar |
The Seniors field of 32 played round-robin in two groups of 16, each with 7 teams from Europe.
The first eight in each group, the top half, qualified for the knockout stage, led by eventual silver and bronze medalists USA and Indonesia. Japan and Australia scored well and ranked second by big margins.
The Senior field proved to be better-balanced than the others geographically, as the Europeans scored only about average overall and earned merely 7 of 16 knockout slots, joined by USA, Canada, Egypt, Pakistan, Japan, China Taipei, China Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Australia.
* Hong Kong, Taipei, England, and Egypt withdrew before the final sessions of their knockout defeats.
In the round of 16 (one day, four sessions, 56 deals), Japan and Germany played a close match throughout. Two other matches were ultimately close, as Australia and Egypt survived big rallies in the last quarter. China Hong Kong and China Taipei (*) scored poorly and withdrew after three quarters.
In the two-day quarterfinal matches (six sessions, 96 deals), three of the winners led by significant margins after the first of two days while Indonesia trailed Netherlands 81 to 98 but scored very well on the second day to win comfortably. Against Japan, England (*) withdrew after five of six sessions.
In 2005 and 2007, USA teams had won the last two Senior Bowl
Senior Bowl (bridge)
Senior Bowl, also known as the d'Orsi Senior Bowl, is a bridge competition held at the same venue as Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup. This event first started in 2000 as an exhibition contest before growing into a World Seniors Championship in 2001. It is contested every odd-numbered year...
s, the odd-year world championships, while Indonesia had won both silver medals. Egypt and Japan had no recent success in the Seniors or any other category.(#)
In the two-day semifinals (six sessions, 96 deals), USA led Egypt 81 to 9 IMP after the first of six sessions; Egypt did not close the margin and withdrew with one session unplayed. Japan won a close match with Indonesia, leading by 9 after five sessions but losing 14 IMP on the first deal of the final session when Indonesia bid and made 6D in one room and defeated it in the other.
Indonesia jumped ahead by 36 in the first of three sessions (48 deals) and won the bronze medal comfortably.
Transnational Mixed Teams
Mixed means that a team must always be represented at the tables in play (normally two) by "mixed" partnerships of one man and one woman. Transnational means that four to six players regardless of nationality may compose a team (including at least two men and two women, for mixed play).Like the Seniors, the Mixed Teams was not a WMSG medal event. It is an official world championship tournament but a secondary one. This rendition was played on the last six days of the Games, concurrently with the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final knockout matches for national teams.
Furthermore, members of quarterfinal-losing teams in the main events were welcome to enter new teams in the Mixed on the third of four days preliminary play.
This year 116 teams played on the first two days, 118 on the next two days. There were four belated entries
assigned a tie for 15th place
and evidently two dropouts.
One of the drop-in was Sabine Auken of Germany with three men and one woman from Poland.
Auken was the defending 2004 champion captain, from the last Olympiad, playing with new teammates.
In fact Auken scored very well and climbed to second place while two more of those belated entries scored well and advanced to the knockout stage; all three won round of 16 matches.
The tournament comprised 3-1/2 days of 10-deal matches followed by 20 deals in the round of 16 matches, 24-deal quarterfinals, 32-deal semifinals, and a 48-deal final coinciding with the second day of the 96-deal finals in the main events.(# complex!)
The gold and bronze medalists were in fact uni-national teams from Taipei and China respectively, while the silver medalist called "Russia" was trans-national from Russia and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
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Youth
For the inaugural Games there were national teams, pairs, and individual events for participants under age 28 (U28). Hereafter the youth events for teams, pairs, and individuals will all use the age limits that are familiar in international bridge, U26 and U21.Maybe.
Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Chinese Taipei
Chinese Taipei
Chinese Taipei is the designated name used by the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, to participate in some international organizations and almost all sporting events, such as the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian Games and Asian Para Games...
advanced to the 8-team knockout stage in all three Teams categories, where France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, and Norway won the gold medals. Three young men from Turkey won the Pairs and Individuals championships, the first medals for Turkey in world bridge competition, only a few months after its first gold medal in European competition (Senior Teams).
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The three Teams tournaments were contested in parallel during the first ten days of the Games. After one week of short matches, the leading teams played one-day quarterfinal, semifinal, and final knockout matches.
More conditions of contest: Three round-robin leaders sequentially choose their quarter-final opponents from the 5th to 8th qualifiers. Then (before quarterfinals are played) one round-robin leader sets the semifinal matches. Seating rights for every match are determined by coin toss: the winner chooses to take seats before or after its opponent in one of the three sessions; the loser chooses one of two remaining sessions; the winner gets the remaining session.
U21 Teams
- For the history of national teams competition for "Youngsters" at the world level, see World Junior Teams ChampionshipWorld Junior Teams ChampionshipThe World Junior Teams Championship is a bridge competition for zonal teams of players up to about 25 years old.Now "under-26" means that players must be under 26 at the end of the calendar year. So they may celebrate their 25th birthdays during the year; Junior competition during calendar 2011 is...
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France defeated England 149 to 125 IMP in the final of the established Youngsters category, under age 21.
England had qualified first and France second among 18 teams in the preliminary round-robin that advanced eight to knockout play. In fact, they led by a wide margin with 20.6 and 20.5 VP per match, third place only 18.2.
This was the third world tournament for Youngsters Teams (U21) and the first win for France.
China defeated Norway by 9 IMP in the quarterfinal, with a final-session rally (44–14) and 12 IMP carryover from their round-robin match, the only U21 match where carryover was decisive.
With one short match to play, five teams had practically secured knockout slots, but "there was a desperate battle in the last round to settle the remaining three places."
Incomplete standings before round 17
5th place 283- 6 SINGAPORE 263
- 7 POLAND 260.5
- 8 NORWAY 260
- 9 USA 260
- 10 NETHERLANDS 257
Poland and Singapore were disappointed.
U26 Teams
- For the history of national teams competition for "Juniors" at the world level, see World Junior Teams ChampionshipWorld Junior Teams ChampionshipThe World Junior Teams Championship is a bridge competition for zonal teams of players up to about 25 years old.Now "under-26" means that players must be under 26 at the end of the calendar year. So they may celebrate their 25th birthdays during the year; Junior competition during calendar 2011 is...
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Denmark defeated Poland 208 to 137 IMP in the final of the established Juniors category, under age 26, primarily by winning the first and fourth quarters 67–17 and 59–4.
Poland had qualified first and Denmark second among 18 teams in a round-robin stage that advanced eight to the knockout stage diagrammed here. Poland scored 19.9 VP per match, Denmark merely 17.8 (13 teams scored 14.0 or better)
This was the twelfth world tournament for Juniors Teams (U26) and the second win for Denmark, after 1997.
Poland survived a big final-session rally (20–56) to defeat USA by 9 IMP in the quarterfinal, with 12 IMP carryover from their round-robin match, the only U26 match where carryover was decisive.
After 16 of 17 rounds, seven teams were secure or nearly so with one more in a very strong position.
Incomplete standings before round 17
| 7. | (seventh) | 257 |
| 8. | Germany | 250 |
| 9. | Taipei | 239 |
| 10. | Italy | 233 |
Chinese Taipei faced Germany and scored the maximum 25 VP, four more than necessary to surpass them (21–9).
U28 Teams
Norway edged Poland 118.7 to 116 IMP in the final of the special under-28 category, primarily by scoring two-thirds of its points during a huge fourth quarter, 76–26, but the 4.7 IMP carryover ("c/o") was also decisive.Norway had defeated Poland 48–34 in the 17th and last match of the preliminary Swiss, a margin worth 4.7 (one-third) in the knockout stage.
With that 17th-hour preliminary win, Norway had placed eighth of 74 teams by a single point ahead of USA. Poland had qualified first with 18.6 VP per match, ahead of France 18.0.
The carryover from round-robin matches was decisive only in the final.
After 16 rounds, the first 23 of 74 teams with at least 254 VP were mathematically viable. Seven were at least strong favorites to advance, with six more close contenders for the last slot.
Incomplete standings before round 17
| (seventh) | 279 VP |
| India | 272 |
| Norway | 271 |
| Indonesia | 266 |
| USA | 265 |
| Czechia | 263 |
| Greece | 263 |
Norway faced Poland, nominally the toughest final match, and won 18 VP to 12. India and Indonesia were defeated while USA scored 23 VP against Czechia, a big win but one point short of what the Americans needed.
Youth Pairs
- For the history of pairs competition in the WBF youth program, see World Junior Pairs ChampionshipWorld Junior Pairs ChampionshipThe World Junior Pairs Championship is a bridge competition organized by the World Bridge Federation. It was inaugurated 1995 in Ghent, Belgium, when it incorporated the European Junior Pairs Championship inaugurated 1991...
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The Pairs tournament would proceed over five days, second Saturday to Wednesday, beginning in parallel with quarterfinal Teams matches and ending with two days following the Teams conclusion. There would be three stages with two flights at each stage: four sessions qualifying, three sessions semifinal, and three sessions final.
At stage three the upper flight would award medals and the world champion title. From stage one to two, and stage two to three, many leaders from upper flight A and few leaders from B would advance to the next A while the remainder who chose to continue would compose the next B. Members of 24 Teams quarterfinalists, as many as 72 pairs, would be welcome to "drop in" after concluding their Teams play; quarterfinal losers would bypass the first stage of Pairs and quarterfinal winners would bypass the first two stages. In effect, team play qualified them for the pairs semifinal or final.
The upper flights would have 120, 120, and 96 pairs while the lower flight sizes would depend on the numbers of initial entrants, drop-ins from teams, and drop-outs. Members of quarterfinal teams would be welcome to join the upper flight of Pairs after concluding team play: to enter the medal flight after Teams semifinals and finals or to enter stage two A after losing the Teams quarterfinals. At stage one, A would comprise players from middle-ranking teams and B players from low-ranking teams plus any newcomers(#). Along with late entries from high-ranking teams, stage two A would be filled by the leaders of stage one A and B in 3:1 ratio (at least 63 and 21 pairs); the medal flight would be filled by the leaders of stage two A and B in 9:1 ratio (at least 54 and 6 pairs).
In fact there were about 200, about 190, and 136 pairs at each stage. Actually 68 and 22 pairs advanced from stage one A and B to semifinal A, implying 30 belated entries from teams;
59 and 6 pairs advanced from semifinal A and B to the medal flight, implying 31 belated entries from teams.
The champion pair Şakirler—Şen climbed from 28th after one and 18th place after two of three final sessions, just above 54% and then 55%.
It was their second big comeback, for they ranked 85th in stage one A, before winning semifinal B where only six slots in the medal flight were available.
Before the last round of two deals, the Turkey and Israel pairs were nearly secure in the first two places. Playing at different tables, Israel scored well enough to secure second; Turkey bid 7NT on the final deal, which was too ambitious a contract in theory, but successful in fact.
European pairs filled the first eight places and Poland placed four in the top ten. The leading non-European pairs placed 9th (Taipei), 11 and 12 (China), and 13 (USA)
| > | > | > | 58.82% |
| > | > | > | 54.59% |
Youth Individuals
Individuals played four sessions on the last two days of the Games, after the conclusion of other youth bridge events.Dropouts were not permitted.
WBF competition for individuals requires that everyone use a stipulated bidding system that is published in advance. In Beijing, the medal flight of Youth used the same system as the Men and Women while the lower flights of Youth used a much simpler system.
Balanced competition for individuals is possible only with a few specific numbers of players such as 52, the number selected for the Games. There would be four or five Individual flights A to D or E, pending the number of entries. Flights would compete separately with three medals and one world champion title earned in group A: those 48 entrants who ranked highest in the Pairs final plus those 4 entrants who ranked highest in the Pairs consolation (52 players). Among Pairs competitors who elected to enter, the next 48 finalists and 4 from consolation would compose Group B, and similarly for C. As many as 48 more Pairs finalists would be in D, while other entrants would complete Group D and constitute E if necessary.
In fact there were 220 entries placed in four groups of size 52, 52, 64, and 52.(# complex) Overnight, Johansen of Norway led with 57.90%; eventual gold and silver medalists Anter and Nistor stood fourth and sixth.
In the middle of the last session, Anter was leading and scored very well on two deals against the player standing third.
He went on to win by a huge margin.
Players from twelve different countries won the three medals and the nine certificates awarded in lower groups.
On the other hand, youth bridge powerhouse Poland placed twelve people in the medal flight, where five finished in the top ten; only one player in the second flight; none in the third or fourth flight.
Europeans filled the top fourteen ranks and there were only nine non-Europeans in the medal flight (52): seven players from China placed 15th, 17th, and below median; one from USA placed 23rd; one from Taipei placed below median.
Anter finished 17th as a pair with Omer Kizilok; Şakirler 40th and Şen 22nd as individuals.
The gold medals by Şakirler–Şen and Anter were the first world championships at bridge for Turkey, only a few months after Turkey's first European championship, which the senior national team won in June.