Bermuda Bowl - Inauguration and Evolution

Inauguration and Evolution

Organized principally by Norman Bach, an accountant and bridge player from Bermuda who played for Britain the Bermuda Bowl was the first world championship event held after World War II and started out as a competition between USA, Europe and Britain in 1950.

The first event was won by USA and after this, the Bermuda Bowl became a yearly challenge match between the USA and the European Champions. The format evolved allowing for progressively more teams and the addition of events for women and seniors. Key milestones were:

1950: The first open team event in Bermuda between the USA, Europe and Britain who played round-robin for raw scores or "total points".

1951: The next several contests were head-on matches between representatives of the American Contract Bridge League (North America) and the European Bridge League.

1958: The tournament permanently included the champion of South America.

1961: Eligibility was expanded to include the defending champions.

1966: The tournament expanded to five with the addition of a representative from Asia.

1971: The field was expanded to include Australia.

1974: The World Bridge Federation inaugurated the Venice Cup tournament for Women Teams.

1979: The defending champions were no longer eligible on that basis alone.

1981: Europe was awarded two places in the tournament. There would be nine teams if every WBF zone sent a champion.

1983: North America joined Europe with double representation, and the host country was automatically included too, so the potential size of the field increased by two. European and North American champions would have two places in the 4-team semifinal round. European and North American runners up would contend with champions of the other zones and the host country for two other semifinal slots.

1985: The Bermuda Bowl for open teams and Venice Cup for women would run side-by-side with the same structure in a venue outside Europe and North America (maintained until 2001).