Available - European Bridge League

w
e
i
eR v
ITALY DID IT AGAIN!
ITALY is once again the European Champion!
Their victory in Malta - certain before the
last round had started - was the third consecutive one, after Vilamoura ’95 and
Montecatini ’97. Italy has now won 14
European Open titles (about one third of all
events), and if it wins the next championship too, it will match its own record, held
since 1959 by the legendary ‘Blue Team’.
It is also remarkable that the new Italian triumph was achieved without any of the players who had succeeded in Vilamoura, and
with only two from the Montecatini team.
There was hair-raising suspense in the
Ladies series. With one round to go, Austria
seemed certain winners, unless... It all happened, and GREAT BRITAIN piped all their
opponents at the post. They managed to
retain their European Ladies title, climbing
from fourth place up to the top for the first
time at the very end of the game!
With the reigning champions in the Open
and Ladies series retaining their titles, the
Seniors could not be an exception. And so it
proved with the victory of FRANCE who finished clear ahead of a record-entry field.
TWO HAPPY
PRESIDENTS
Gianarrigo Rona
IN THIS ISSUE
n Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . .2
n France & Britain share
Seniors, after a successful
Championship in Malta. .6-7
Ë
medals at GENERALI European
Ladies Pairs Championship .2
n Harold Franklin, former EBL
Chief Tournament Director,
dies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
n Pencharz honoured, as EBL
gets new leadership . . . . . .3
n Letter from the new Presi-
dent, Gianarrigo Rona . . .4-5
n Italy retains European Open
title, and so do Great Britain in
the Ladies and France in the
Bernard Liochon
n Interview with the President
of the Austrian Federation, Dr
Franz Kriftner . . . . . . . . . . .8
n France and Poland dominate 1999 European Pairs
Championships
held
in
Warsaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
n Master Points . . . . . . .10
n Interview with a remarkable
bridge family: Great Britain’s
Hacketts . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
n Competition Calendar .12
AUSTRIA WINS
WORLD JUNIOR PAIRS
Andreas Gloyer and Bernd
Saurer of Austria won the 3rd
World Junior Pairs Championship, held in Nymburk, The
Czech Republic, from a record
entry of 186 contestants.
NCBO Presidents Gianarrigo Rona of Italy and Bernard
Liochon of France, have good
reason to be happy.
Besides having been newly
elected President of the EBL,
Mr Rona celebrates Italy’s
third consecutive victory at
the European Championships,
while Mr Liochon poses holding the GENERALI Trophy for
France’s best overall competition performance in 1997-99.
With the election of Gianarrigo Rona to the presidency
of the EBL, the League
enters a new era.
The outgoing President, Bill
Pencharz, left the office at
the end of his term with the
satisfaction that he managed
to keep the League in good
shape, despite problems
which had their roots in the
sudden death of André
Boekhorst in 1995. ‘Good
shape’ does not only mean
not losing anything. but also
gaining a lot. Almost all
recent European Championships had record entries,
and Malta saw 37 of the 41
EBL member countries taking part! At the same time,
the League is in sound financial shape, and there is unity
among its officers.
The new President,
Gianarrigo Rona, is a different kind of person. He has
made it clear from the very
beginning that he did not
come to preserve but to
change the situation and
boost the League to new
heights. He is armed with 13
years of experience as
President of the Italian
Bridge Federation. During
these years, Italy’s membership quadrupled and bridge
was accepted as a sport by
the Italian Olympic
Committee. Moreover, today,
bridge is regularly taught in
hundreds of Italian schools.
Gianarrigo Rona has the
vision and the plan. He has
also the will and the determination to succeed in his
goals. The Executive
Committee has promised
him camaraderie and unlimited support. Undoubtedly,
the NCBOs and the players
will do the same. For the
benefit of bridge.
FRANCE & BRITAIN SHARE MEDALS
AT EUROPEAN LADIES PAIRS
In a thrilling finish Elisabeth Lacroix and Catherine
Poulain of France won the GENERALI European Ladies Pairs
Championship. Their compatriots Nadine Cohen and
Catherine Multon were second, while the bronze medal went
to Nevena Senior and Sarah Teshome from Great Britain.
The 7th GENERALI European
Ladies Pairs Championship
was very successful, with an
entry of 129 competitors. It
was held in Malta, just before
the Ladies series of the Teams
Championships got under way.
The tournament was played
in two stages: three sessions
of qualification followed by
two final sessions for the top
28 pairs. At the same time, a
consolation event was arranged for those who had not
made it to the final.
Despite the traditional large
entry from France and Italy, it
was a Turkish pair, AtalayBabag, who qualified first to
the final. They were followed
by Poland’s HarasimowiczHocheker and Sweden’s
Flodqvist-Strandberg.
In the final, Lacroix-Poulain
climbed to the top after being
third at the end of the first session. The consolation event
was won by Colonna-de Sario
of Italy.
There were many prizes and
a very warm atmosphere at
the prize giving, nicely arranged by Ladies Committee Chairman Anna Maria Torlontano.
OBITUARY
HAROLD
FRANKLIN
(1915-1998)
Harold Franklin of Great Britain, EBL Chief Tournament Director from the mid 1970s
until 1985, died on 23 December 1998.
He conceived, with Jaime
Ortiz-Patiño, and ran the 1st
EBL Tournament Directors’
Course in 1982. He was
instrumental in introducing
screens to the European
Championships.
Harold Franklin was the originator of the Sunday Times
Pairs (now the Macallan)
which he kept organizing until
his retirement.
PENCHARZ LEAVES IN HONOUR
• Elected Honourary President
• Received EBL Gold Medal
BILL PENCHARZ of Great Britain left the office of the
President of the European Bridge League in full honour.
At the end of his 4-year term, Pencharz was elected
Honourary President by the Congress and received the
EBL Gold Medal - the League’s highest distinction - for
his outstanding services to bridge.
NEW LEADERSHIP IN THE EBL
With the election of Gianarrigo Rona of
Italy as the EBL’s new President, and
with two newcomers in the Management Committee, the League enters a
new era.
The Congress in Malta elected Laurens
Hoedemaker of The Netherlands as the
League’s 2nd Vice President, and voted
Belgium’s Marc de Pauw the new
Treasurer.
Jean-Claude Beineix of France and
Panos Gerontopoulos of Greece were
re-elected 1st Vice President and
Secretary respectively.
Anna Maria Torlontano of Italy, Nissan
Rand of Israel and Jens Auken of
Denmark were re-elected to serve a further 4-year term as members of the
Executive Committee.
Hoedemaker
2nd Vice President
de Pauw
Treasurer
EBL MEDAL AWARDS
Pencharz served the League for 20 years. He entered
the Executive Committee in 1979 at the Congress in
Lausanne, and was re-elected in 1983. In 1987, he
became 2nd Vice President and in 1995 Treasurer. That
was the tragic year when André Boekhorst died three
days after he was elected EBL President. Bill Pencharz
was called upon to lead the League and was formally
elected President in 1996. At the end of his term, he
chose not to run again, but made his services available
to the EBL.
Before becoming President, Pencharz served as
Chairman of the Appeals Committee and was in charge
of the League’s Statutes and the Rules & Regulations of
the various Championships. He described his achievements as President in an excellent report to the
Congress in Malta, which ended as follows: ‘Compared
with four years ago I believe the League is a more
open, a more democratic and a richer place. Richer
both in human resources and money in the Bank. I am
proud of all that’.
TORLONTANO: Gold
OLIVEIRA: Silver
ANNA MARIA TORLONTANO of Italy and JOSÉ OLIVEIRA of
Portugal were honoured in Malta for their outstanding
services to the EBL. TORLONTANO is identified with Ladies
bridge and takes care of the League’s ceremonial image,
while OLIVEIRA is credited with the successful negotiations
that led to the dissolution of the European Union Bridge
League (EUBL) and its integration in the EBL.
LETTER FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT
F
irst I would like to thank
the Congress Delegates
who were kind enough
to elect me President of the
European Bridge League. My
thanks also go to those who
supported my candidature,
especially the Italian Federation
to whom I owe this new position. May I also praise my
illustrious predecessors who
guided the League wisely and
competently during the last
twenty years, thus reaching
our present prestigious position in the world. I refer to
André Lemaitre, Jimmy OrtizPatiño, Nils Jensen, José
Damiani, André Boekhorst and
Bill Pencharz who have honoured me with a friendship and
esteem of which I am proud.
I hope I am worthy of the
position assigned to me and
able to fulfill your expectations.
I can assure you that I will
inject into my activities all my
enthusiasm and passion and I
am confident that working
together we can identify and
reach all goals. I am convinced
that if a team works, any
objective is attainable; I am
sure that we are a great team.
Now, I would like to explain
how I see things, hoping that
you may agree with me and
share some of my ideas.
At the threshold of the third
millennium, we should not for-
get that Europe, our countries
and the society in general are
experiencing a difficult transition period of profound social,
political and institutional transformations.
The status quo that guided
our thinking, choices and plans
in the past, has changed completely. Profound political
changes have overturned cultural and social realities, once
regarded as irreversible. The
economic changes, beyond
recession and the employment
crisis, are transforming structurally the same factors. The
same is true of the demographic change, with the elderly population on the point of outnumbering the youth; the latest
social and environmental
changes concerning state-citizen relationships and those of
people and groups, etc.
This difficult process of
change is not yet over; on the
contrary, it seems that it is
being fed continuously by
new outbursts, spontaneously
occurring, that induce anxiety
and uncertainty and create
deep and legitimate worries.
Without going too far away,
the dramatic events in the
martyred Balkans are a vivid
testimony which should make
us all very pensive.
If society has changed, it is
evident that also our behaviour,
11 PRESIDENTS FOR THE EBL
Gianarrigo Rona is the 11th person in just over 50 years
who assumes the highest office of the League. The following served as Presidents before him:
1947-48
1948-51
1951-65
1965-69
1969-73
1973-80
1980-87
1987-95
1995
1995-99
A.J.E.Lucardie
Sir Noel Mobbs
Baron Robert de Nexon
Count Carl Bonte
Marchese
Silvio Carini-Mazzaccara
André Lemaitre
Nils Jensen
José Damiani
André Boekhorst
Bill Pencharz
The Netherlands
Great Britain
France
Sweden
Italy
Belgium
Sweden
France
The Netherlands
Great Britain
mental predisposition, viewpoints, plans and objectives,
must adapt to the new course
and new models created.
The primary task of the
League is to supply NCBOs
with a model enabling them to
attract attention and curiosity
concerning the increasing
importance that bridge
assumes in this process of
society renewal. This can only
be achieved by proposing the
objectives and making available the techniques of a decisive development phase.
The goal is to make the fascinating bridge experience
available to an ever increasing
number of people. One should
start from fundamental principles which constitute the basis
of bridge aggregation and
revisit and redesign a scheme
of principles, objectives and
directions for all those interested in bridge.
At our starting point, we are
fortunate to be assisted by two
remarkable achievements: (i)
the IOC recognition, whereby
bridge is finally considered a
true sport, soon to be given
Olympic dignity; (ii) the
UNESCO resolution on the
developmental, cultural and
educational value of teaching
bridge to school children.
Available information indicates that bridge is experiencing a great increase in popularity all over Europe, more in
some countries than in others.
The increasing demand for
bridge is in direct proportion to
the changes which characterize our times: the progressive
improvement in quality of life,
the new way of dealing with
free time, the increase in female participation, the increase in bridge popularity
within social groups once
reluctant and lacking encouragement (elderly, handicapped), the increasingly positive attitude of the educational
establishment towards bridge
for young people.
In response to this ever
increasing demand for bridge,it
would be absurd to remain
indifferent and not make the
most of the opportunity presented. All NCBOs must be
able to take advantage of this
extraordinary opportunity. For
these reasons the League
must become a solid and well
organized structure, being able
in its turn to help and support
NCBOs in their developmental
and organizational activities.
To be able to do so, the
League must plan a programme of objectives to be
gradually reached. It would be
foolish to try and do everything immediately. Not even if
we had a magic wand could
we face and resolve all problems at once. Of course the
League does not possess a
magic wand; and maybe it is
better this way. I maintain that
only fruits achieved by one’s
own ideas and labour are truly
gratifying. Planning is synonymous to solidity, stability and
development; chance is only
and always a carrier of superficial values in all aspects of
life - not only at bridge.
The main objectives of the
EBL in the next four years are:
1. Above all, to create the
necessary conditions for the
EBL to be able to decide its
programs and achieve its
objectives efficiently.
2. To do so, it is necessary
to acquire the appropriate
resources which would allow
the officers and committees to
function together (until now
committees have been nonoperative groups, due entirely
to lack of funds). We cannot
go on only thanks to the willingness of the chairmen who
are not only unable to make
the committees operative but
often need to contribute personally in order to obtain
results. It is therefore necessary that the committees have
their own budget, even a
restricted one, to resolve this
situation.
3. It is also necessary to
change the acquisition criteria
of membership dues, which in
the immediate future constitute
the only available resource.
4. Once funds have been
secured, the Executive and the
committees must start to work
immediately - work involving
WHO IS WHO
Gianarrigo RONA was born in Rome in
1940, but as a child he lived Pavia. He
went to school there, and later studied law,
following family tradition. He was Vice
President of the National Foundation of
Italian Lawyers until last April.
a son and a daughter by his first marriage. Under his leadership, the Italian Federation
was recognized by the National Olympic
He remarried last year.
In 1986 he became President of the Italian Committee (1993), and organized numerFederation, a post he retains today. When ous European and World Championships.
he started, there were about 9,000 mem- Gianarrigo Rona entered the EBL Executive
bers of the Federation, and this number in 1997 and became Acting Treasurer at
the end of 1998.
He started playing bridge in 1974. He has has now risen to about 35,000.
commitment, enthusiasm and
sacrifice. Being an Executive
or committee member cannot
be considered simply an honour: Obviously it is such, but it
must be repaid with assiduous
dedication and willingness to
work as part of a team.
Without these requirements, a
committee will go nowhere.
5. EBL work must concern:
(a) giving EBL a modern,
flexible and functional statute
based on the principles of
openness and democracy. It
should also reflect the IOC
spirit, now that we rightfully
belong to this great family.
(b) creating structures and
techniques that can support
the NCBOs in their organizational and development efforts.
It is also vital to make the
most of the experience of
those who have been successful, and make it available to
those who have not had the
possibility or capability to
overcome difficult obstacles.
(c) set the stage for developing bridge among young people. Schools represent our real
challenge in the new millennium. We need to publicize our
winning image, which is a
social, cultural and educational
(this should not be undervalued) one. Families, the media
and sponsors, always see
favourably educational initiatives involving young people.
(d) increasing the popularity
of bridge among seniors, especially since elderly people
have already outnumbered the
youth. Today, life for the elderly can be stimulating and competitive. The elderly are prepared to embrace new activities which make them feel part
of a lively group.
(e) increasing the popularity
of female bridge, as the female
population now outnumbers
the male and today’s female is
completely emancipated.
(f) reviewing the structure of
the European Championships,
taking into account the requirements of all Federation members (whatever their level). We
should offer them a competitive outlet and a stimulation to
participate. We should also
offer to our players various
participatory options according to their technical level, age
and sex. This could create new
enthusiasm and aspiration,
and could help eliminate a
sense of inferiority. Players
who have no chance whatsoever of winning, eventually get
fed up being the sacrificial victim and distance themselves
from competitions and perhaps even from bridge itself.
(g) always guaranteeing the
best service relative to logistics, costs, playing conditions
and tournaments, as far as the
competition location, staff,
duration and level of service is
concerned.
6. Once this environment
has been achieved, the League
should turn towards developing its own image in a correct
professional way towards the
media and especially sponsors. It should be emphasized
that while being aware of the
difficulty of attracting sponsors, this is the only way of
obtaining external funding. It
would certainly be dangerous
to delude ourselves and entertain unattainable expectations.
Of course nothing should be
left unattempted and all possible ways should be tried.
Above all, we must work very
hard. The collaboration and
solidarity of all officers and
bridge players are necessary.
Everyone must be convinced
that our choices are correct
and intended only to the benefit of bridge. To be able to
grow together we need to give
and to be given a hand.
Gianarrigo Rona
GIANARRIGO
RONA
ITALY RETAINS OPEN
BRITAIN & FRANCE KEEP LADIES & SENIO
alta provided a spectacM
ular setting for the 1999
GENERALI European Bridge
Championships. A leisurely
playing schedule afforded both
players and spectators alike
the opportunity to explore the
historic island or simply relax
in the idyllic surroundings and
glorious sunshine.
Record participation
The number of competitors
and countries that took part
demonstrated the increasing
popularity of the game. The
GENERALI Ladies Pairs
Championships was contested by 129 pairs, a number
only exceeded once before,
whilst the 37 teams contesting the GENERALI European
Open Teams Championship
and the 29 competing for the
GENERALI European Seniors
Team Championship were
both new records. The GENERALI European Ladies Team
Championship attracted one
of the finest fields ever with
many World and European
Champions contained in the
21 teams taking part.
Spectators were able to follow the Championships in
many ways. Those who were
in Malta could watch at the
table or follow the play in the
Vugraph theatre where they
had the benefit of commentary from a team of experts.
Every morning they could
catch up on events by picking
up a copy of the Daily News.
Those who were further
afield could still keep abreast
of what was happening. The
Championships Internet site
was constantly updated and
the Daily News could be read
and downloaded long before it
appeared ‘on the streets’. You
can now find all the information relating to the tournament
at www.bridge.gr
It was possible to follow the
play in the matches featured
on Vugraph by going to the
site maintained by the Italian
Bridge Federation. To all intents and purposes this was a
‘live’ presentation – the first
time this had been achieved.
How things change...
As bridge gears itself up for
participation in the Olympic
Games it was clear how seriously the sport is taken with
teams arriving not only with
captains and coaches but also
with physiotherapists and
sports psychologists.
To turn to the results, it was
GREAT BRITAIN, represented by
Sandra Landy & Abbey
Walker, Pat Davies & Nicola
Smith and Liz McGowan &
Heather Dhondy who won the
Ladies series in a breathtaking
finale on the very last board
by a single IMP and half a
Victory Point. It was the only
time they had led the event!
They became the permanent
holders of the wonderful trophy offered by Nils Jensen,
President Emeritus of the EBL
and his wife Bibi.
ITALY captured the Open
Series for the third time in a
row. The winning team was
Dario Attanasio & Guiseppe
Failla, Giorgio Duboin &
Norberto Bocchi, Dano de
Falco & Guido Ferraro.
FRANCE1 headed the Seniors
in the guise of Claude
Delmouly, Maurice Aujaleu,
Pierre Adad, Marc Schneider
and Jean-Marc Roudinesco.
Remarkably two weeks before
the Championships JeanMarc was fighting for his life
against leukemia.
Amazing as it sounds, the
countries who had won two
years earlier in Montecatini
had retained all three titles!
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
OPEN SERIES
ITALY
SWEDEN
NORWAY
BULGARIA
FRANCE
POLAND
SPAIN
ISRAEL
RUSSIA
NETHERLANDS
BELGIUM
GREAT BRITAIN
AUSTRIA
GREECE
HUNGARY
PORTUGAL
IRELAND
GERMANY
LEBANON
DENMARK
ICELAND
CROATIA
ROMANIA
FINLAND
TURKEY
SLOVENIA
MONACO
CZECH REP.
ESTONIA
SWITZERLAND
LITHUANIA
YUGOSLAVIA
LIECHTENSTEIN
LUXEMBOURG
SAN MARINO
CYPRUS
MALTA
702
667
665
661
659
646
639
635
631
631
619
617
613
584
577
575
573
568.5
565
557
547
544.5
536
534
531.5
522
512
510.5
510
495
468
435.5
428
410
393
363.5
284
MALTA ’99
ORS TITLES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
LADIES SERIES
GREAT BRITAIN 384
AUSTRIA
383.5
FRANCE
382.5
NETHERLANDS 379.5
GERMANY
365
DENMARK
353
POLAND
336.5
NORWAY
327
FINLAND
324
ISRAEL
323
CZECH REP.
314.5
ITALY
306
TURKEY
305
BELGIUM
303.5
RUSSIA
289
SWEDEN
287.5
ICELAND
279
CROATIA
273
HUNGARY
250
SPAIN
244
GREECE
222
At the closing ceremony
one of the highlights was the
presentation of the silver
medals to the Seniors team
including Omar Sharif. The
music ‘Lara’s Theme’ from Dr
Zhivago brought the audience
to their feet and a lump to the
throat and tears to the eyes.
FRANCE won the GENERALI
Trophy awarded to the most
successful country in the
major European competitions.
Distinctions
The EBL bestowed a number of medals and awards
The team of José Damiani with
Omar Sharif, came second in
the Seniors series.
during the European Championships.
The President of the Fédération Française de Bridge
Bernard Liochon was presented with a gold medal in
recognition of the support of
the French Bridge Federation
to the EBL.
For their work in connection
with the organization of the
44th GENERALI European
Bridge Championships Margaret Parnis-England received the silver medal of the
EBL and Mario Dix was presented with the bronze medal.
The future
In Malta, the EBL recognized
England, Scotland and Wales
as separate Federations thereby marking the last appearance of Great Britain in the
European Championships.
In the rapidly expanding
world of Seniors Bridge it was
announced that next year
there will be a Seniors
‘Bermuda Bowl’ at the 50th
anniversary Championships in
Bermuda in January, and a
world event to be held in conjunction with the Maastricht
2000 Bridge Olympiad.
Before then everyone could
reflect on an outstanding and
innovative Championship and
look forward to the 2001 edition of the GENERALI European Bridge Championships.
Mark Horton
SENIORS SERIES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
FRANCE 1
PRESIDENT
FRANCE 2
POLAND 1
SWEDEN 1
ITALY 1
CZECH REPUBLIC
POLAND 2
ISRAEL
POLAND 3
GERMANY.
NETHERLANDS 1
GREAT BRITAIN 3
AUSTRIA 1
ITALY 2
574
543.5
527
526
517
492
486
482
476
472
467
460.5
459.5
459
457
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
TURKEY
GREAT BRITAIN 2
SWEDEN 2
NETHERLANDS 2
SWEDEN 3
LITHUANIA/POLAND
SPAIN
BELGIUM
GREAT BRITAIN 1
LEBANON
PORTUGAL
IRELAND
AUSTRIA2
YUGOSLAVIA
450
427
412
410
399
395
391
389
358
351
341
324
319
200
Last year the Austrian Bridge
Federation ran a very
successful European Youth
Championships in Vienna. This
was a major achievement for
such a small Federation. Please
tell us something about the
Federation.
The Austrian Bridge Federation has
some 2,200 members. Our head office
Most recently, during my presidency,
have been the successes, at the world
championships in Lille last year, of our
Ladies Team, and of Franz Baratta and
Karl Rohan as members of the Seniors
Team - and, of course, the women’s
gold medal at the 1992 World Team
Olympiad. There have also been
European titles for Maria Erhart, Fritz
Kubak and Jan Fucik in the Mixed,
Interview with the President of the
AUSTRIAN BRIDGE FEDERATION
by Patrick Jourdain
is located in one of the Vienna clubs,
and we have one part-time secretary.
Most of the work for the Federation is
done by members who volunteer their
time.
Gavriel Unger was also one of the
organizers, and did a considerable
amount of work over a very long period
of time to get this show up and running.
Tell us something of the history
of your Federation.
Austria has a very long bridge history.
We were one of the five countries that
joined together in July 1932 in The
Hague to form the International Bridge
League, the first international bridge
organization and forerunner of the WBF.
The very first team championship in
1932 was won by Austria and this was
followed by many successes.
Does the National Press give
bridge decent coverage?
We have bridge columns in most leading newspapers, but bridge events such as the victory of our Ladies Team
last summer - received little publicity.
How do you see the future in
Austrian bridge?
The future of bridge in Austria is closely connected with international developments. If the EBL and WBF succeed
in establishing bridge as a recognized
international sport, then I am extremely
optimistic as to its future here. Without
this support, however, our progress will
certainly be slowed.
The Board is currently comprised of 5
men and 2 women. We were elected in
March 1998 for a two year term of
office.
The Youth Championships were
held in Vienna’s best known
building, the City Hall. How did
this come about?
This truly unique venue was obtained
through the hard work and excellent
connections of our Vice President,
Richard Wehler-Hardt, who was also
one of the tournament organizers. He
managed to obtain 2,500 square
metres of playing and administrative
space plus support services free of
charge. Normally, rental of these facilities alone would have cost over 1.5
million Austrian Schillings (or
€110,000).
How popular is bridge in Austria
generally?
Austria is a country of card players, but
also a country of non-conformists.
Bridge is very popular in our country,
but ‘organized’ bridge has always had
difficulty in gaining a foothold. Other
card games are very popular, but do not
represent serious competition for
bridge.
Perhaps you could finish by
giving us some personal details
about yourself?
I am 63 years old, senior partner in a
law practice in Linz, and have been
President of the Austrian Federation
since 1986. I have been happily married for 38 years - to the same woman
Dr FRANZ KRIFTNER
pairs tournaments and individual, and
the Juniors title won by Axel Wodniansky and Tilman Seidel.
Does the Austrian Government
recognize bridge as a sport?
Previous efforts to have bridge recognized as a sport by Austrian governmental organizations have been unsuccessful. We have great hopes, however, that the EBL and WBF will be able to
achieve an international breakthrough
in this area, and thereby help us convince the bureaucratic authorities in
Austria that bridge is really a sport.
Only the City of Vienna has granted us
this recognition to-date.
- and have two sons and two grandchildren.
I was introduced to bridge by Olivier
Boudrand, a top ranking French player,
who recruited my entire family as
bridge players over 30 years ago. I
have a brother and a nephew who have
played on the Austrian Open team. My
14 year-old grandson has just started
to play, and I have great hopes that he
will continue the family tradition.
Thank you for your time.
ÍÌÊË
EUROPEAN PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIPS
FRANCE WINS OPEN
BUT POLAND
DOMINATES SENIORS
WARSAW STAGED RECORD EVENT
OPEN
Chemla - Levy
Bocchi - Duboin
Kowalski - Romanski
Vlajnic - Zipovski
Bompis - De Sainte Marie
Allegrini - Palau
Jassem - Tuszynski
Rossano - Vivaldi
Fredin - Lindkvist
Karaivanov - Trendafilov
Martens - Szymanowski
Lassere - Poizat
he major cities of Europe
Ta particular
are often associated with
building. In Paris
it’s the Eiffel Tower, in London
Big Ben. Warsaw’s Palace of
Culture & Science has similar
status and was the venue for
the Prokom Software 10th
European Open Pairs Championship and 5th European
Seniors Pairs Championship
hosted by the Polish Bridge
Union (PBU) last March.
A massive 399 pairs contested the Open series whilst
97 lined up in the Senior
event, both easily new
records. Thirty-five countries
were represented with pride
of place going to the host
nation who had more than
100 pairs in the lists.
The tournament proved to
be outstanding from every
angle. PBU is a full member of
the Polish Olympic Committee
and the government treats
bridge on the same basis as
other sports. This ensured
that the Championships received regular coverage on
television from various state
and commercial channels.
FRA
ITA
POL
YUG
FRA
FRA
POL
ITA
SWE
BUL
POL
FRA
Warsaw lived up to its reputation as a romantic city and
the various cultural delights
were much appreciated by
players, officials and spectators alike. Those who visited
the magnificent Opera Narodowa witnessed outstanding
performances of Swan Lake,
Carmen, Nabucco and A
Masked Ball.
The significance of the
event was recognized when
the Marshall of the Polish
Parliament, Maciej Plazynski
received the President of the
World Bridge Federation José
Damiani, EBL President Bill
Pencharz, PBU President Jan
Prochowski, PBU Chairman
Andrzej Orlow and the Secretary of the Organizing Committee Krzysztof Piatkowski.
After three qualifying sessions, 128 pairs went into
semi-final A of the Open
Championship. Another three
rounds determined the 40 who
advanced to the final. They
were joined by the leading 4
pairs from semi-final B. The
final was an ‘all play all’ event
that used Barometer scoring.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Lasocki - Kniga-Leosz
Pinkiewicz - Sekowski
Mikolajczyk - Lewandowski
Moszynski - Szyndlowski
Humburg - Mattson
Rand - Katz
Kiwerski - Gruca
Kluk - Wdowiak
Mykietyn - Wilkosz
Lee - Rowlands
Bro - Bro
Roussetsky - Goudkow
France’s Paul Chemla and
Alain Levy were the winners
and recipients of the Giorgio
Belladonna Trophy, adding
this prize to their Olympiad
and Bermuda Bowl crowns.
In a breathtaking finish they
stayed just ahead of two
members of the current European Team Champions, Italy’s
Norberto Bocchi and Giorgio
Duboin. Poland’s Apolinary
Kowalski and Jacek Romanski, both with world titles to
their credit, ensured that the
host country would be on the
podium.
The Seniors played a threesession qualifier followed by
an ‘all play all’ final involving
42 pairs. Polish players dom-
POL
POL
POL
POL
GER
ISR
POL
POL
POL
GBR
SWE
RUS
SENIORS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
inated the event. They took
the first five places! The
medals went to Jerzy KnigaLeosz and Krzysztof Lasocki
who finished well clear of
Zbigniew Pinkiewicz and Antoni Sekowski whilst Henryk
Mjkolajczyk & Jacek Lewandowski were third.
Italy’s Adriano Abate &
Fabrizio Morelli captured the
Open B Final. Italy also provided the consolation winners
- two names to watch out for
in the future - Ruggiero
Guariglia aged 21 and Stelio
Di Bello only 18 years old.
The Seniors Consolation
went to Sigyn Niden & Alf
Sandberg of Sweden.
Mark Horton
MASTER
POINTS
The European Master Points (EMP)
classification reflects a player’s lifetime performance at bridge. Separate
EMP lists are maintained by the EBL,
for each category of players (Men,
Women, Seniors, Juniors).
In addition, the Rating Points (RP)
classification serves as the yardstick
for recent achievements. The calculation of the RPs is based on the EMPs
earned during the last four seasons,
with emphasis on the last season.
l Paul Maris of the Netherlands, the
EBL Master Points Secretary, is available for any matter regarding EMPs.
l The Lists published here are correct as at 30 June 1999.
TOP HOLDERS / WOMEN
VRIEND Bep
NTH 1049
AUKEN Sabine
GER 872
VAN DER PAS Marijke NTH 804
BESSIS Véronique
FRA 770
VON ARNIM Daniela
GER 737
LANDY Sandra
GBR 699
WILLARD Sylvie
FRA 682
D’OVIDIO Catherine
FRA 679
SMITH Nicola
GBR 654
ERHART Maria
AUT 647
SCHIPPERS Elly
NTH 618
CRONIER Bénédicte
FRA 545
DAVIES Pat
GBR 525
BAMBERGER Gabriele AUT 520
BLOUQUIT Claude
FRA 515
NEHMERT Beate
GER 505
BROCK Sally
GBR 500
WEIGKRICHT Terry
AUT 484
CAESAR Karin
GER 464
ARNOLDS Carla
NTH 445
D’ANDREA Marisa
ITA 442
FISCHER Doris
AUT 436
MÖGEL Marianne
GER 436
24 LISE Colette
FRA 431
25 DELOR Elisabeth
FRA 414
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
G: Grand Master
L: Life Master
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
1
2
3
4
5
6
8
9
11
14
16
17
18
19
20
EMP Secretary
Ch.P. Maris
Karveel 46-27
NL-8242 VG Lelystad
The Netherlands
( 31-320-242 573
2 31-30-275 9900
7 m.a.maris-veldhuis
@id.dlo.nl
TOP HOLDERS / SENIORS
DELMOULY Claude
FRA
HUMBURG Hans
GER
KAISER Kees
NTH
WILKOSZ Andrzej
POL
ROUDINESCO Jean-Marc FRA
ADAD Pierre
FRA
AUJALEU Maurice
FRA
JEZIORO Aleksander
POL
SZENBERG Stefano
ITA
POLEC Janusz
POL
BARATTA FRAnz
AUT
ROHAN Karl
AUT
NOWAK Janusz
POL
KOKKES Jaap
NTH
GWIS Krzysztof
POL
MATTSSON Göran
GER
GROMÖLLER Wilhelm
GER
STOBIECKI Wlodzimierz POL
TINTNER Léon
FRA
GAVINO Giacomo
ITA
117
100
92
82
77
75
75
74
73
73
72
72
72
71
71
70
63
62
61
60
• The Seniors ranking list comprises European Master Points awarded in Seniors events,
and in past EUBL events. The following competitions have been taken into account:
EBL Pairs 1991-93-95-97-99; EBL Teams
1995-97-99; WBF Pairs 1990-94-98; WBF
Teams 1994-98; EUBL Pairs & Teams 199193-96-98.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
50
TOP HOLDERS / MEN
CHEMLA Paul
FRA 1461
PERRON Michel
FRA 1143
MOUÏEL Hervé
FRA 1042
LÉVY Alain
FRA 1036
GAWRYS Piotr
POL 1017
MAAS Anton
NTH 999
AUKEN Jens
DEN 993
BALICKI Cezary
POL 976
ZMUDZINSKI Adam
POL 943
MARTENS Krzysztof
POL 920
MARI Christian
FRA 912
LEBEL Michel
FRA 810
KOWALSKI Apolinary POL 771
SUNDELIN Per-Olof
SWE 750
ROMANSKI Jacek
POL 748
HELNESS Tor
NOR 743
TERRANEO Franz
AUT 742
LESNIEWSKI Marcin
POL 740
LAURIA Lorenzo
ITA 739
GULLBERG Tommy
SWE 734
KOCH-PALMUND D
DEN 725
FUCIK Jan
AUT 718
SZYMANOWSKI Marek POL 696
LASOCKI Krzysztof
POL 692
BOCCHI Norberto
ITA 686
GÖTHE Hans
SWE 665
HELGEMO Geir
NOR 657
BLAKSET Lars
DEN 647
MORATH Anders
SWE 644
VERSACE Alfredo
ITA 639
BERGER Heinrich
AUT 632
FALLENIUS Björn
SWE 626
WESTRA Berry
NTH 625
DUBOIN Giorgio
ITA 624
FEICHTINGER Kurt
AUT 616
SOULET Philippe
FRA 614
TUSZYNSKI Piotr
POL 608
HÄUSLER Helmut
GER 604
BURATTI Andrea
ITA 599
SZWARC Henri
FRA 596
BALDURSSON Jón
ICE 593
FORRESTER Tony
GBR 586
BIRMAN David
ISR 578
PRZYBORA Tomasz
POL 572
QUANTIN J-C
FRA 571
SPLETTSTÖSSER Peter GER 568
FLODQVIST Sven-Olov SWE 561
DE FALCO Dano
ITA 557
LEUFKENS Enri
NTH 557
SCHALTZ Peter
DEN 551
G
G
G
G
G
G
L
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
L
G
G
G
G
L
G
G
G
G
G
L
L
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
G
L
G
G
G
G
L
G
G
L
G
G
G
L
INTERVIEW
WITH THE
What about your bridge
career together?
Twins: We competed in the
British Junior Trials at the age of
12, and played in the British
Junior Home Internationals four
years running and won them all.
Our first world championship, at
the age of 16, was the World
Pairs in Miami. We represented
Britain at the Junior Europeans in
1992 but just missed qualifying
for the World Junior teams. Two
years later we took the title.
TWINS
• 1986
Pairs Olympiad,
Miami Beach
• 1994
European Junior
team champions,
Arnhem
World Pairs final,
Albuquerque
• 1995
World Junior Team
Champions, Bali
Let’s start with the elder.
Tell us, Paul about your
early family life.
Paul: My father was a squadron
leader in the RAF and he was
killed before I was born. I was
educated at Marlborough College. I was a scratch golfer, and
at the age of 19, national champion at Eton fives (a sport like
squash). After I left Marlborough
I went to Trinity College, Dublin,
where I read Social Studies.
When did you start
bridge?
Paul: I wanted to be a professional golfer, but I had started
playing bridge, and found I
enjoyed playing bridge at the
famous ACOL Bridge Club. Soon
I was playing more bridge than
anything else, and took a job at
the Manchester Bridge Club.
My first notable bridge partner, in
the early 1970’s, was Martin
Hoffman with whom I won the
PHILIP MORRIS Pairs. I also
played professionally in tournaments such as Deauville, and
Juan-les-Pins.
What about your
marriage, and the arrival
of the twins?
Paul: I met Olivia in Manchester
and we were married in 1969.
HACKET T
FAMILY
Olivia: The boys were born in
1970. Jason is 10 minutes older
than Justin.
Are you a bridge player,
Olivia?
Olivia: It was only when I became
interested in Paul that I learned
something about bridge. I hardly
played at all until the twins started to play. Since then I have travelled a lot with them and play in
social events. But mainly I just
support the other three.
Paul, tell us about the
time up to your success
in the Europeans.
Paul: At the end of the 70s, I
formed a partnership with John
Collings and won the British
Trials with Steve Lodge & Tony
Sowter. We were joined by Rob
Sheehan & the late Irving Rose
for the 1981 Europeans. Earlier
that year Collings and I had won
a silver medal at the Common
Market Pairs.
Poland won the Europeans, but
second place gave us qualification for the Bermuda Bowl.
Collings and I broke up the next
year and it was not until 15 years
later that I was back in the team,
this time with my sons. In 1995
Tony Waterlow and I won the silver medal at the European Pairs.
Meanwhile, it was the
twins that began to make
the headlines in bridge.
The twins: We started bridge at
the age of 10.
What were your other
interests at school?
Jason: I represented my school
at cricket and chess, and then
went to the University to read
Russian and French. My only job
has been bridge.
Justin: I wanted to become a
professional footballer but went
to the University to read French
and History. I thought of going
into banking but soon I found
bridge had become a full-time
job.
In Albuquerque, we qualified for
the World Pairs final, the youngest ever to do so. In 1995 we
were in the team when Britain
won the World Juniors by a big
margin. In 1996 our team, with
Dad in it, was selected for the
Rhodes Olympiad. For the first
time Britain had a team with three
members of the same family.
Last year the three of us also
won the NEC Cup in Japan.
Tell us about the life of a
bridge pro.
Twins: We started at the age of
20, with Dad doing the arranging.
We spend almost every weekend
playing bridge. Dad plays the
most, probably six days a week,
with Jason five, and Justin four.
Half our engagements are outside Britain. Our schedule for the
next six months includes Hong
Kong, Singapore, Quebec, Barbados, Boston, India, Japan and
Australia.
What tip do you have for
the readers of the EBL
Review?
Paul: Don’t talk bridge when nonbridge players are in the group.
Patrick Jourdain
PAUL HACKETT
• 1941
Born in Peshawar,
India
• 1969
Married Olivia in
Manchester
• 1970
Twins, Jason & Justin,
born
• 1981
European Teams,
Birmingham, silver
medal
• 1995
European Pairs, Rome,
silver medal
• 1996
Rhodes Olympiad with
twins
JULY
SEPTEMBER
12-20 3rd World Junior Camp
/ Nymburk, Czech Republic
17-19 Isle of Man Congress /
Isle of Man, Great Britain
25-26 Linz Pairs Tournament
/ Vienna, Austria
12-25 36th World Bridge
Festival / Deauville, France
17-19 Wesenbergh Cup /
Rakvere, Estonia
25-26 Otono Tournament /
Alicante, Spain
COMPETITION
CALENDAR
• This is an abridged list of the tournaments scheduled to take place in
Europe in the second half of 1999.
More information is contained in the
comprehensive publication 1999 EBL
Competition Calendar.
17- 25 International Baltic
Congress / Sopot, Poland
22- 27 33rd Venice International Bridge Festival / Venice,
Italy
AUGUST
1-7
31st
International
Bridge Week / Loiben, Austria
OCTOBER
9-10 7th
International
Festival of Troyes / Troyes,
France
15-17 EBU Autumn Congress / Bournemouth, Great
Britain
Bellaria (Rimini), Italy
18 - 24 March 2000
20-24 2nd
International
Olympic Committee Grand
Prix / Lausanne, Switzerland
6th EUROPEAN MIXED
CHAMPIONSHIPS
9-12 10th
International
Bridge Festival ‘Minsk Cup’ /
Minsk, Belarus
Mark your diary...
9-11 3rd World Junior
Pairs Championship / Nymburk,
Czech Republic
22-24 Ciutat de Denia 7th
International FIAT Teams /
Denia, Spain
9-15 6th European University Championship / Weimar,
Germany
NOVEMBER
9-18 7th World Junior
Team Championship / Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, USA
12-21 International Solidarity
Festival / Slupsk, Poland
13-22 EBU Brighton Summer
Congress / Brighton, Great
Britain
19-27 49th La Baule International Bridge Festival / La Baule,
France
Publicizing your events
The European Bridge League provides the best media for advertising
your tournaments.
The EBL Competition Calendar, published annually, contains concise information for some 100 tournaments organized across
Europe. 3,000 copies are distributed, free of charge, to all NCBOs
and the Press, reaching hundreds of bridge clubs and thousands of
individuals interested in international events.
EBL Review, is published twice a year and provides global information about what is happening in the world of bridge. It has a circulation of 8,000 and is also distributed free of charge to all NCBOs,
administrators, teachers and the Press.
14-21 5th Red Sea International Bridge Festival / Eilat,
Israel
17-21 21st
International
Bridge Festival Brasov / Polana
Brasov, Romania
15-21 2nd
International
Bridge Festival of Madeira/
Madeira, Portugal
18-21 28th Winter Lake
Balaton Bridge Festival /
Keszthely, Hungary
DECEMBER
6-8
Trophy Citta’ di Milano
/ Bruzzano, Italy
13-19 Winter Cup / Bucharest, Romania
10-12 Gold Cup Congress /
London, Great Britain
27-30 EBU Year End Congress / London, Great Britain
EBL Review
EBL Review, published biannually, is the official medium of
the European Bridge League.
It is distributed free of charge
to all National Contract Bridge
Organizations, Bridge Clubs,
Tournament Directors, Journalists, Bridge Teachers and Officials of the 41 EBL member
countries.
All correspondence should be
addressed to:
EBL Review
P. Gerontopoulos, Editor
154 Patission Street,
GR-112 57 Athens,
Greece.
2 30-1-861 3740
7 review@bridge.gr