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| Americans Pull Out Bermuda Bowl Win
The issue was not settled, however, until an appeals committee had rendered a ruling on a disputed ending to the final board. In the closed room, Eric Rodwell and Jeff Meckstroth had gone plus 400 against 4© by Italy’s Norberto Bocchi and Giorgio Duboin. In the open room, Paul Soloway had doubled Lorenzo Lauria in 5¨. If Lauria could get out for down one – minus 100 – it would be an 11-IMP gain and the match would be tied. As play wound down, Lauria had already lost two tricks and still had the trump ace out against him – plus the losing ©9 in his hand. With a singleton spade in his hand, Lauria had played the king from dummy’s holding of ªK Q to five. Soloway could have cashed the ©10 to guarantee two down, but he played back a spade instead. Lauria’s partner had left the table after putting down the dummy, so Lauria was playing the cards himself. Lauria apparently expected Soloway to cash his winning heart, so he pulled the ª7 from dummy – which held only clubs and spades – realizing too late that a spade had been played. He tried to change his play to the queen, which would have allowed him to discard the losing heart and get out for minus 100. Hamman, who had started with the ªJ 10 doubleton, had played the jack to the first lead of the suit, and he covered the ª7 with the 10. A tournament director was called, and the ruling was that the ª7 was a played card, resulting in two down for minus 300. That gave the Americans a 12-IMP gain and a 1-IMP victory. The Italians appealed the ruling, but the appeals committee, citing rule 45B from the law book, backed the director. The rule states that when a card is touched it is played. In the World Transnational Open Teams, the Italian Lavazza squad cruised to a win over Zhuang of China. |
The 2003 World Bridge Championships, comprising the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, Seniors Bowl and Transnational Open Teams competitions, will take place in Monte Carlo, Monaco, November 2 to 15. The Championships will be held under the auspices of the Generali Group, Societé des Bains de Mer, Principality of Monaco and Compagnie Monégasque de Banque. The venue is Monaco's Sporting d'Hiver. The Bermuda Bowl is the symbol of world supremacy at bridge. It is awarded to the winner of the open teams competition between the representatives of the WBF geographical zones. Since its inauguration in 1950, the competition has been played 35 times. The United States of America were victorious 16 times, while their European rival, Italy, prevailed 13 times. The other titles were won by France (twice), Great Britain, Brazil, Iceland and The Netherlands. The Venice Cup is awarded to the winner of the zonal competition for women players. It was established in 1974 and since then only four countries have won it. The United States of America leads the race with 8 titles, while Europe follows with four successes achieved by Great Britain (twice), Germany (twice) and The Netherlands. The Seniors Bowl is a new competition for senior players (55 years of age or older). Representative teams from all zones are invited to participate. The first winners at the inaugural event, which took place in 2001 in Paris, France, were the United States of America. The World Transnational Open Teams Championship came into being in 1997 in Hammamet, Tunisia. It is contested by teams nominated by the NBOs without nationality or other restrictions. The first winners were the team led by Leandro Burgay of Italy, while in the second edition the title went to the USA team captained by Rose Meltzer. In Paris 2001, the winning team consisted of American and Brazilian players and was captained by Malcolm Brachman. For detailed information on past events, see the World Championships section or the sites of the particular competitions. |
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