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World Open Pairs Championship

{{Short description|Bridge (cards) competition}}

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 widely regarded as the most prestigious pairs competition in contract bridge. In its present form, the competition lasts eight days.

Results

World meets commonly run for 15 days on a schedule whose details vary.

In 2006 the Open Pairs played Saturday to Saturday, the 8th to 15th days of the meet, with five qualifying, five semifinal, and five final sessions. At the start of qualifying, 32 teams remained in the knockout stage of the marquee teams competition for the Rosenblum Cup. During qualifying sessions for the pairs, the Rosenblum teams were reduced from 32 to 8. There were some provisions for late entry to the pairs by players knocked out of the teams at a late stage. There were 392 pairs in the qualifier, 193 in the semifinal, and 72 in the final.[http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/Verona.06/Results.htm Results (linked schedule)], 12th World Bridge Championships, 2006. WBF.

United States pairs have won four of 14 tournaments through 2014, Brazil two, Poland two, and six other nations one each. (The tournament is "open" in several respects including the registered nationalities of partners but no transnational pair has won any of the 42 medals.) Marcelo Branco of Brazil is the only two-time champion.

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!Year, Site

Entriescolspan=2| Medalists
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1962 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=406&qmenudetid=286 Results & Participants], 1st World Open Pairs Championship, 1962. WBF.


Cannes, France


1.{{flagicon|France}} Pierre Jaïs{{flagicon|France}} Roger Trézel
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2.{{flagicon|Great Britain}} Terence Reese{{flagicon|Great Britain}} Boris Schapiro
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| {{efn|name=toptwo|1={{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} The WBF currently lists only the winners and runners up, neither third place nor the size of the field.}}

|3.

{{flagicon|France}} René Bacherich{{flagicon|France}} Pierre Ghestem
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1966 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=405&qmenudetid=285 Results & Participants], 2nd World Open Pairs Championship, 1966. WBF.


Amsterdam, Netherlands 


1.{{flagicon|Netherlands}} Hans Kreijns{{flagicon|Netherlands}} Bob Slavenburg
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2.{{flagicon|USA}} John Fisher{{flagicon|USA}} Jim Jacoby
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| {{efn|name=toptwo}}

|3.

{{flagicon|USA}} B. Jay Becker{{flagicon|USA}} Dorothy Hayden
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1970 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=406&qmenudetid=286 Results & Participants], 3rd World Open Pairs Championship, 1970. WBF.


Stockholm, Sweden


1.{{flagicon|Austria}} Fritz Babsch{{flagicon|Austria}} Peter Manhardt
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2.{{flagicon|Italy}} Benito Garozzo{{flagicon|Italy}} Federico Mayer
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| {{efn|name=toptwo}}

|3.

{{flagicon|Italy}} William Saulino{{flagicon|Italy}} Italo Zanasi
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1974 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=406&qmenudetid=286 Results & Participants], 4th World Open Pairs Championship, 1974. WBF.


Las Palmas, Spain


{{efn|name=leaders|1=For 1974 to 1998 the WBF currently lists at least three leaders (3 in 1974; 72 in 1998) without the size of the field. Some of those listings may enumerate the finalists.}}1.{{flagicon|USA}} Bob Hamman{{flagicon|USA}} Bobby Wolff
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2.{{flagicon|Italy}} Adriano Abate{{flagicon|Italy}} Leandro Burgay
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3.{{flagicon|Italy}} Federico De Paula{{flagicon|Italy}} Italo Zanasi
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1978 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=408&qmenudetid=288 Results & Participants], 5th World Open Pairs Championship, 1978. WBF.


New Orleans, USA


1.{{flagicon|Brazil}} Marcelo Branco{{flagicon|Brazil}} Gabino Cintra
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2.{{flagicon|Canada}} Eric Kokish{{flagicon|Canada}} Peter Nagy
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3.{{flagicon|USA}} Roger Bates{{flagicon|USA}} John Mohan
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1982 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=409&qmenudetid=289 Results & Participants], 6th World Open Pairs Championship, 1982. WBF.


Biarritz, France


1.{{flagicon|USA}} Chip Martel{{flagicon|USA}} Lew Stansby
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2.{{flagicon|Netherlands}} Anton Maas{{flagicon|Netherlands}} Max Rebattu
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3.{{flagicon|Brazil}} Gabriel Chagas{{flagicon|Brazil}} Roberto Mello
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1986 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=410&qmenudetid=290 Results & Participants], 7th World Open Pairs Championship, 1986. WBF.


Miami Beach, USA


1.{{flagicon|USA}} Jeff Meckstroth{{flagicon|USA}} Eric Rodwell
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2.{{flagicon|Austria}} Heinrich Berger{{flagicon|Austria}} Wolfgang Meinl
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3.{{flagicon|Australia}} Steve Burgess{{flagicon|Australia}} Paul Marston
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1990 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=411&qmenudetid=291 Results & Participants], 8th World Open Pairs Championship, 1990. WBF.


Geneva, Switzerland


1.{{flagicon|Brazil}} Marcelo Branco{{flagicon|Brazil}} Gabriel Chagas
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2.{{flagicon|USA}} Ralph Katz{{flagicon|USA}} Peter Nagy
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3.{{flagicon|Poland}} Cezary Balicki{{flagicon|Poland}} Adam Żmudziński
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1994 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=412&qmenudetid=292 Results & Participants], 9th World Open Pairs Championship, 1994. WBF.


Albuquerque, USA


1.{{flagicon|Poland}} Marcin Leśniewski{{flagicon|Poland}} Marek Szymanowski
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2.{{flagicon|USA}} Bob Hamman{{flagicon|USA}} Michael Rosenberg
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3.{{flagicon|Netherlands}} Eric Kirchhoff{{flagicon|Netherlands}} Anton Maas
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1998 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=34&qmenudetid=293 Results & Participants], 10th World Open Pairs Championship, 1998. WBF.[http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/Lille.98/Lille.htm 1998 World Bridge Championships] contemporary coverage, 1998. WBF.


Lille, France


1.{{flagicon|Poland}} Michał Kwiecień{{flagicon|Poland}} Jacek Pszczoła
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2.{{flagicon|USA}} David Berkowitz{{flagicon|USA}} Larry N. Cohen
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3.{{flagicon|Sweden}} Peter Fredin{{flagicon|Sweden}} Magnus Lindkvist
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|2002 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=135&qmenudetid=294 Results & Participants (Open series)], 11th World Championship, 2002. WBF.[http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/Montreal.02/Montreal.htm World Bridge Championships] contemporary coverage, 2002. WBF.


Montreal, Canada


3271.{{flagicon|Italy}} Fulvio Fantoni{{flagicon|Italy}} Claudio Nunes
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2.{{flagicon|USA}} Zia Mahmood{{flagicon|USA}} Michael Rosenberg
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3.{{flagicon|Brazil}} Diego Brenner{{flagicon|Brazil}} Gabriel Chagas
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|2006 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=579&qmenudetid=393 Results & Participants], Open Pairs, 2006. WBF.[http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/Verona.06/Verona.htm 12th World Bridge Championships] contemporary coverage, 2006. WBF.


Verona, Italy


3921.{{flagicon|China}} FU Zhong{{flagicon|China}} ZHAO Jie (Jack Zhao)
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2.{{flagicon|USA}} Bobby Levin{{flagicon|USA}} Steve Weinstein
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3.{{flagicon|Italy}} Fulvio Fantoni{{flagicon|Italy}} Claudio Nunes
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|2010 [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/PairsChampRP.asp?qtournid=828&qmenudetid=496 Results & Participants], Open Pairs, 2010. WBF.[http://www.worldbridge.org/tourn/Philadelphia.10/Philadelphia.htm 13th World Bridge Series] contemporary coverage, 2010. WBF.


Philadelphia, USA


3131.{{flagicon|USA}} Bobby Levin{{flagicon|USA}} Steve Weinstein
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2.{{flagicon|Sweden}} Björn Fallenius{{flagicon|Sweden}} Peter Fredin
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3.{{flagicon|Germany}} Josef Piekarek{{flagicon|Germany}} Alexander Smirnov
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| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|2014 [http://www.worldbridge.org/Data/Sites/1/media/documents/tourn/MedalTables/14WBS-SanyaMedaltable.pdf "The results from the Red Bull World Bridge Series"]. WBF. October 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-12.


Sanya, China


200{{efn|There were 200 initial entries in 2014, excluding drop-ins from the teams.}}1.{{flagicon|ISR}} Ehud Friedlander{{flagicon|ISR}} Inon Liran
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2.{{flagicon|POL}} Jacek Kalita{{flagicon|POL}} Michał Nowosadzki
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3.{{flagicon|FRA}} Thomas Bessis{{flagicon|FRA}} Cédric Lorenzini

See also

Notes

{{notelist |25em}}

References

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External links

  • [http://www.worldbridge.org/world-open-pairs.aspx World Open Pairs Championships 1962–present (table)] at the World Bridge Federation.

{{WPCBIndex}}

Open Pairs