No 18 July 1995 - June 1996 Editor: Panos Gerontopoulos GERMANY WINS WORLD WOMENS TITLE VETERAN USA TEAM REGAINS OPEN TITLE AS EUROPE FAILS TO MAKE IT TO THE FINAL FRANCE TAKES BRONZE MEDAL IN BOTH SERIES After two consecutive victories in 1991 and 1993, Europe lost the world open title to the United States, but regained the womens title thanks to the German team. IN THIS ISSUE NEW EBL PRESIDENT n Editorial . 2 n 1995 World Championships: A.BOEKHORST DIES Germany brings Venice Cup to n The 1996 World Bridge Team Europe, while USA returns Ber- SHORTLY AFTER Olympiad will be held in Rhodes, muda Bowl to America . 8-9 ELECTION Greece, in October . 2 n Interview with Paul Chemla of n 1995 PHILIP MORRIS Europe- France - Europes top Master an Mixed Championships will Points holder. 10 take place in Monte Carlo, March André Boekhorst who was unan- 18-23 . 3 imously elected EBL President n Poland sweeps medals in 1995 PHILIP MORRIS European n EBL team in Japan. 3 in Vilamoura died three days Open and Senior Pairs Champion- later. Bill Pencharz is acting in n Letter from the Acting Presi- ships . 11 his place until the new election, dent . 4 which is scheduled for March. n British and Israelis win PHILIP n Radical changes in EBL MORRIS Simultaneous. 11 administration . 5 n 1995 European Champion- n Panos Gerontopoulos is 1995 ships: Italy captures open title, ITALY: EUROPEAN OPEN CHAMPION Bridge Personality of the Year . 5 while France wins Ladies series and Poland dominates inaugural Italy won the Open series at the 1995 European Champion- n President André Boekhorst senior event . 12-13 ships, held in Vilamoura, Portugal. The Ladies title went to dies . 6 n Master Points . 14 France, while the 1st European Senior Teams was dominated n Obituaries for Giorgio Bella- by Poland. The new Ladies Pairs champions are Sabine Auken donna and Marian Frenkiel . 7 n Competition Calendar . 15 and Daniela von Arnim, anchor pair of the German team. EBL Review did not appear last summer, and this double issue comes to cover a most sensa- tional year in European bridge. In administration, the EBL underwent the most radical changes in its history. José Damiani and Karl Rohan retired in June after many success- ful years in office. As fate had it, André Boekhorst was to pass away just three days after his unanimous election to the highest office of the League. On the other 100 YEARS LATER!... hand, four new Executive Almost 100 years after the revival of the Olympic Games, members were elected in WBF President José Damiani and Nikos Karamanlis, Vilamoura, and at least one more will join in President of the Hellenic Bridge Federation, signed the Monaco, next March. contract for the organization of the 10th World Bridge Team Olympiad to be held in the country where the The situation is challeng- Olympic spirit was established 25 centuries ago. ing for everybody. Watching the ceremony in Vilamoura are members of the Members and adminis- trators alike, we have to WBF Executive Council, and the President of the make sure that despite Portuguese Bridge Federation. any difficulties we shall The Olympiad will be held at the Rodos Palace Hotel, on preserve and further the legendary island of Rhodes, in the south-eastern cor- improve the present wel- ner of Greece, 19 October-2 November 1996. fare of European bridge. The 1996 EBL Promotion (from the Vilamoura Daily Bulletin) Week was our late Presidents last effort. We will succeed if we make its objectives a pri- EBL TEAM IN TOKYO INVITATIONAL mary consideration. At the invitation of the Japan The European team started well In competition, in 1995 Contract Bridge League, a European defeating New Zealand and the we enjoyed a splendid team travelled to Tokyo and took Japanese teams, and managed to championship in part in the NEC invitational tourna- win the round robin despite losing Vilamoura and saw ment, November 18-26. the other matches. However, in the Italys spectacular return semifinal, they lost to Chinese The European team consisted of to the top. At world level, Taipei by a small margin (practical- Europe failed to make it three pairs selected in Vilamoura ly the negative carry-over from the to the Bermuda Bowl through Butler scoring the results round robin), and also to Indonesia final, but took the Venice in the open series. Of those avail- in the playoff for third place. Cup for the first time able, Feichtinger-Terraneo (Austria), Chinese Taipei beat Canada in the since 1985. Finally, the Olanski-Zmudzinski (Poland) and final to win the tournament. British Juniors won the young Herbst brothers (Israel) performed best. The Europeans were adequately another gold for Europe. consoled in the Festival that fol- Ten teams competed in the tourna- lowed. Feichtinger-Terraneo won the ment. Five were from Japan, while Open Pairs (the Poles came 3rd and the rest came from Canada, the Israelis 9th out of 70 competi- Chinese Taipei, Europe, Indonesia tors), while the combination of the and New Zealand. The format was a Austrian and Polish pairs produced round robin of 20-board matches, the winning squad in the Teams followed by semifinals and a final. tournament (24 competitors). 4th EUROPEAN MIXED CHAMPIONSHIPS Monaco 18-23 March 1996 The 4th PHILIP MORRIS European Mixed Wednedsay 20 March with a cocktail offered by Championships consists of two events: the Société des Bains de Mer. On Saturday 23 Mixed Teams and the Mixed Pairs. March, Monacos Ministry of Tourism will offer The Mixed Teams will be played using a Swiss the prize giving cocktail buffet. format in 15 10-board matches. After 12 The entry fees are SFr 800 per team and SFr rounds, four teams will qualify to the semifinals; 250 per pair, and prize money SFr 95,000, the rest will continue the Swiss for 3 more including special prizes for senior competitors. rounds to determine rankings from 5th place Registration is through the NCBOs only. onwards. Tournament play will take place at Monte The tournament will start on Monday 18 March. Carlos Sporting dhiver. There is 4 matches will be played on the first day, 5 on a great variety of hotels Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday and 3 on Thursday available, ranging from which is also the day of the semifinals and final. 1-star to the worlds The Mixed Pairs will be played over 4 ses- best. sions: one on Thursday 21 March, two on Friday and one on Saturday. There is a free evening on CASH PRIZES SFr 95,000 PHILIP MORRIS he 42nd GENERALI Euro- ty. The bridge players of Europe T pean Bridge Champion- owe them a great deal and on ships, held in Vilamoura, their behalf I say to both José Portugal, between the 17th June and Karl: Thank you, thank you and 1st July, was a dramatic and very much. It will be a hard act to hugely successful Tournament. It follow! marked the end of an era. And The Championships were a fit- there was also great tragedy. ting tribute to José Damianis Marian Frenkiel died suddenly tenure as President. They were on the night of the 23rd June magnificently organized and whilst visiting the Champion- played in beautiful conditions at ships. The previous afternoon he the Vilamoura Marinotel. Every- LETTER FROM THE ACTING PRESIDENT had played with me in the thing about the Tournament was Journalists Pairs - he had invited faultless - from the air condi- me to play and it had been my tioned playing rooms to the honour and pleasure to accept. colourful ViewGraph and the Although he obviously was not tabloid Daily Bulletin. well, I do not think he made a I would like to thank everybody mistake in 27 boards. Marian who contributed to the success was on the first successful of the GENERALI European Polish international team and Bridge Championships, and I won the Rosenblum in 1978. He hope no one minds if I only sin- was a member of the EBL gle out for individual praise the Executive Committee until his retirement in 1989. My heartfelt Portuguese Bridge Federation sympathies go out to his widow, and its President José de Oli- their non-playing captain Klaus level of about 380,000 to half a sons, grand children and all his veira, whose energetic contribu- Reps. million. The EBL Executive Com- tions and splendid hospitality many friends. One should never forget our mittee is committed to achieving made all the difference to the this goal and believes it is Two days later, on the 25th June, Tournament. young players, and in this André Boekhorst died peacefully respect I would like to congratu- achievable within the next few in Utrecht. The EBL was repre- My congratulations go to all the late Great Britain and Norway for years. competitors at Vilamoura; but sented at his funeral by myself, winning the 1995 World Junior Before his final illness André especially, of course, to the win- Anna Maria Torlontano and Team and Pair Championships Boekhorst had arranged for a Panos Gerontopoulos. It was a ners: the Italian Open Team, the respectively. Denmark did well to French Ladies Team, the Polish Bridge Promotion Week to take moving affair, with the crematori- take the bronze medal in both place in Milan at about the time um festooned with flowers and Senior Team and Sabine Auken events. this edition of EBL Review goes packed with his devoted friends and Daniela von Arnim of Ger- One of the innovations intro- to press - between the 13th and from the Dutch Bridge Federation many who won the Ladies Pairs.