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HOORAY FOR CANADA!

CANADA AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Monte Carlo, Monaco, November 2 - 15

by Nader Hanna : The World Bridge Championships were held in beautiful, and expensive, Monte Carlo from the 2nd to the 15th of November. In the 36th BERMUDA BOWL, an open event, twenty-two teams competed, including Canada - Kamel Fergani, Nicolas L’Ecuyer, Darren Wolpert, Jurek Czyzowicz, Gavin Wolpert, Vincent Demuy and Nader Hanna, NPC. At 20 and 21 years of age respectively, Vincent Demuy and Gavin Wolpert were the youngest participants in this year’s Bermuda Bowl. Despite their young age, Demuy and Wolpert were one of the most effective pairs in the competition finishing 7th in the Butler rankings with an impressive +0.69 IMP/Board average.

The format was a complete round robin of 16- board matches with the top 8 teams moving on to the knockout phase of the competition. Starting with round 3, the Canadian team was consistently among the top 8 teams, occupying the third position, behind Italy and USA I, as late as round 15. Canada’s successes included wins over USA 1 by 34 IMPS (23 – 7 VPs), USA II by 43 IMPS (25 –4 VPs) and Australia by 53 IMPS (25 – 3 VPs). The 11th round match, featured on vu-graph, between Canada and Norway was a particularly well-played match ending with Canada winning by an IMP score of 13 – 6.

Sitting in 8th place at the beginning of Round 18, they were 4 places ahead of USA II in 12th spot. In the final three matches, geater drama cannot be found in bridge history (except perhaps on the final board of the Bermuda Bowl, see below). USA II lost their next match to India while Canada scored a huge win against eventual Champions USA I yet somehow, USA still managed to end up in 9th spot just behind Canada who could do no better than hold on to their 8th place. Only the top 8 teams would advance to the quarterfinals.

Canada won their penultimate round against Spain, but USA II also won a huge victory against China and now sat only 13 VPS behind Canada. In the final round, USA II played against New Zealand and surged to a 36-0 lead against the Kiwis through the first 13 boards. Little by little they were closing in on Canada, who had scored only 1IMP in their own match vs Poland. On boards 14 and 15, however, Canada gained 17 IMPs and seemed a lock for the 8th qualifying spot. The VuGraph audience could see that the final board of the set was a routine 3NT that everyone would bid, so if USA II was going to make its move, it had to be on board 15. And move they did, managing a 9 IMP swing and their 44-1 win was just enough to push them past Canada with 339 VPs to 338. A single VP.

In the VENICE CUP, the Canadian Women’s Team ( Brenda Bryant, Francine Cimon, Barb Clinton, Joan Eaton, Dianna Gordon, Beverly Kraft, John Carruthers captain) also played well, holding a firm qualifying spot throughout the Round Robin. They finished 7th and were matched up against USA II (Cheri Bjerkan, Stasha Cohen, Renee Mancuso, Becky Rogers, Sue Weinstein, Pam Wittes, and former Canadian Sheri Winestock, NPC) for the Quarter Final match. Although winning three of the six stanzas, Canada lost by a final tally of 234 to 175, a 59 imp margin.

WOMENS TEAM : Brenda BRYANT : Francine CIMON : Barb CLINTON : Joan EATON : Dianna GORDON : Beverly KRAFT : John CARRUTHERS captain

OPEN TEAM : Jurek CZYZOWICZ : Vincent DEMUY : Kamel FERGANI : Nicolas L'ECUYER : Darren WOLPERT : Gavin WOLPERT : Nader HANNA, captain