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Bridging the gap

From Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1994 to northern France, the commercial and industrial town of Lille, 1998.

Yes, its time again for the 10th World Bridge Championships, kicking off from August 21 to September 4, 1998.

France will be playing hosts for the third time since the inception of these championships, which incidentally premiered in a French city better known for its international film festival, Cannes, in 1962. Now the French have the honour of hosting the last championship of this millennium.

The world bridge circuit comprises of three major tournaments. The Bermuda Bowl (open) and the Venice (cup) held biannually, which is an extremely restricted event with just a short list of eighteen teams selected from well over a hundred countries, breaking the globe into geographic convenient zones. India is in zone IV which is the zone of Asia, Africa and Middle East.

More often than not, India makes the stratosphere of the quota of just two teams from the zone, worthy competitors being Egypt, without Omar Sharif who is now more French than Camembert.

Pakistan, who reached two world events finals mainly due to their shining glory -- arguably the most colourful personality of international bridge -- Zia Mahmood, who has now obtained American citizenship, and the new kids on the block, though definitely no babes in the woods, South Africa since the curtain rung on down on apartheid.

The last edition of the Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup were held, just last year, for the first time in Africa, in Tunisia, thereby bridging the international gap and compressing the world even smaller.

India made the grade in both the open and women's sections, but hey, you wouldn't want to write home about them. The men rested their case at the unlucky thirteenth spot while their better halves did a mite better , doing the Downing Street number - ten.

The next big event is the world Olympiad held every four years, and though its a restricted event, the field is as huge as here since each country is allowed to send their best representation. Thus the field could stretch anywhere between 80 to 100 teams.

Multiply that by separate feminine participation and you have over 125 teams. India had the solitary place in the sun in this event, reaching the semifinals a decade ago in 1998.

Last, but not the least, is the truly mammoth event, the current one, the World Bridge Championships. It is literally an open house, and the world and his brother are welcome to the party. Any country can send any number of teams, and they do. Big little India has sent a contingent of around eighty players! Yeah we want to make it to all the exclusive global clubs -- the security council, the G-7, the nuke club, what have you, we're on the way. And lets hope the Indian performances make the Buddha smile again.

The format for these championships comprises the Rosenblum Cup in the Open section, thus named in honour of the World Bridge Federation president who died five months prior to its inauguration in the New Orleans edition of this championships in 1978.

Earlier these championships had the world pairs championship, whose premier edition was captured by Pierre Jais and Roger Tre'zel. The women's segment teams is the McConnel Cup. The bald eagle is ruling the roost in both these events as Uncle Sam's teams are the current defending champions.

USA (open) comprised one of the longest standing successful partnerships, of Chip Martel and Lew Stansby, Seymon Deutsch and Michael Rosenburg & Roger Bates and Gaylor Kasles. The McConnell Cup defenders are USA, again - Marinesa Letzia, Sue Picus, Judi Radin, Rozanne Pollack and Jillian Blauchard.

The other prestigious event in these championships is the World Open Pairs, which has one of the largest fields for a pairs event, though the American Nationals are supposed to have bigger fields. Trust them. The biggest, the largest, the highest, the strongest, ad nauseum.

Is God a Texan?

Anyway, Polish jokes notwithstanding, the Poles are having the last laugh as their pair of Marcin Lesniewski and Marek Szymanowski are the defending champions. If one had to name the world's ten best players, probably the Poles may not feature. But if one had to inquire as to the strongest hundred players from any country, sitting pretty, atop the pole of excellence, then the Poles would walk away with the biscuit.

Another longstanding partnership from the country which is supposed to be a man-made miracle (the Dutch literally plucked their land from the sea -- remember the Delta project) is the Netherlands pair of Bep Vrind and Carla Arnolds, holders of the Womens Pairs Championship title.

Watching your brand new Mercedes go over a cliff is a mixed feeling when your ma-in-law is behind the steering wheel. And that is what Mixed Pairs evoke, too - mixed feelings. Fact has it that Myrtle Bennett, a Kansa City housewife, on the fateful night of September 28, 1929 got incensed over a bridge game, went in and came back to pump a piece of lead square between the opthalmic spheroids of her death-do-us-apart husband, John. John had apparently butchered a Four Spades contract and boy, did he pay a price in what is famous as the Dead Man's Hand?!

Point is, so intense are the feelings evoked in the players, that the ensuing trial found Myrtle acquitted and the jury found accidental death as the cause of John's death -- and this mind you is a true story.

Anyway its the Poles yet again, who are defending the World Mixed Pairs title, in Danuta Hochekar and Apolinaire Kowalski. Americans in the teams and the Poles in the pairs made a clean sweep in Alburqueque, USA in 1994, so now lets see what the 1998 championships have to offer. Rapidly emerging as top dog are the Scaninavian countries.

So who knows? The 10th World Bridge Championships promises exciting fare over the next fortnight. Stay tuned to this site to get more ken and details as the international drama of this fascinating mind sport unfolds in France.