History of the Bermuda Bowl: Bridge’s World Championship

The Bermuda Bowl is bridge’s heavyweight title bout—the world championship that every player dreams of winning. But it started with something much humbler: a challenge match between America and Europe that nobody was quite sure anyone would care about.

The Birth of a Championship (1950)

In 1950, Norman Bach—an American bridge entrepreneur with more vision than sense—had an idea. European bridge players claimed they could compete with the Americans. The Americans, frankly, weren’t so sure. Why not settle it with cards?

Bach convinced the Hamilton Hotel in Bermuda to host the match. He probably oversold the tourism potential, but Bermuda got a world championship named after it, so everybody won something. The first match pitted the United States against Great Britain, with Sweden invited as the European representative when Britain proved… let’s say “inconsistent” in the preliminaries.

The Americans won handily, 4,220 points to 3,640. But here’s what mattered: people cared. Bridge players across the world followed the results. The gauntlet had been thrown, and Europe wanted a rematch.

Becoming a Tradition (1951-1960s)

The Bermuda Bowl became a biennial event—or tried to. In the 1950s, “biennial” meant “whenever we can arrange it and find sponsors.” Sometimes the event was in Bermuda, sometimes in New York, sometimes wherever someone would host it.

The 1955 match in New York produced the first real controversy. Britain finally made it back and brought their A-game. They lost anyway, but not before filing protests about American bidding methods they considered “encrypted.” The Americans pointed out that encrypting information from your opponents is literally the point of bidding, but the seed was planted: what constitutes a “fair” bidding system?

Italy crashed the party in 1957 with the Blue Team—Eugenio Chiaradia, Pietro Forquet, Guglielmo Siniscalco, and others playing what they called the “Roman Club” system. They didn’t win in ‘57, but they were coming. Oh boy, were they coming.

The Italian Dynasty (1957-1975)

From 1957 to 1975, Italian teams won thirteen consecutive Bermuda Bowls. Let that sink in. Thirteen. Different American teams tried and failed. The Aces came close. France gave it a shot. Everyone lost to Italy.

The Blue Team—by then featuring legends like Benito Garozzo, Giorgio Belladonna, and Pietro Forquet—didn’t just win. They destroyed opponents with sophisticated bidding systems and card play that seemed telepathic. The Roman Club gave way to the Neapolitan Club, then to Precision Club variations that left opponents confused and frustrated.

Were they too good? Some players whispered about signals. The 1975 match against North America came down to the final board, with whispers of scandal hanging over the event. Italy won by a handful of IMPs, then shocked everyone by retiring the Blue Team intact. They’d proven their point. Or avoided closer scrutiny. Depends who you ask.

The scandal that never quite materialized would return to haunt bridge years later, but in 1975, Italian dominance ended not with a loss but with a mic drop.

America Strikes Back (1976-1980s)

The 1977 Bermuda Bowl in Manila saw North America finally win again. The Dallas Aces and their successors had learned from Italy—adopting sophisticated systems, professional training, and team discipline. But winning wasn’t enough. They wanted to prove they could dominate.

They didn’t dominate. Instead, the late ’70s and ’80s became what bridge should be: competitive. USA, Italy, Poland, Brazil, and France all had legitimate shots. Pakistan stunned everyone in 1981 with Zia Mahmood’s fearless declarer play and Nishat Abedi’s rock-solid defense.

The 1983 championship in Stockholm produced one of the great matches. USA versus Italy, decades of rivalry, and it came down to the final session. Bobby Wolff, Bob Hamman, and the American squad edged Italy by 9 IMPs. It felt like redemption, even though Italy had already lost their crown years earlier.

Going Global (1990s-2000s)

The Bermuda Bowl finally became truly global in the 1990s. Brazil won in 1989 with Gabriel Chagas and Marcelo Branco showing that South America could compete with anyone. Norway’s Boye Brogeland and Geir Helgemo brought Nordic precision. Poland’s Balicki and Zmudzinski showed that Eastern European bridge had emerged from the Cold War ready to compete.

The 2000 championship in Bermuda—returning to its namesake island—saw Italy win again with a new generation. But this wasn’t the Blue Team. This was Lorenzo Lauria, Alfredo Versace, Norberto Bocchi, and Giorgio Duboin. Different players, same sophistication, same winning.

The 2003 Monaco championship will be remembered for the wrong reasons. Norway beat Italy in the final, but the match was marred by accusations of illegal signals. The Fantoni-Nunes case wouldn’t break until 2015, but the seeds of suspicion were planted.

Modern Era and Continuing Controversy (2010s-Present)

The 2010s brought sophisticated statistical analysis to bridge. Computers could now analyze hundreds of boards for suspicious patterns. In 2015, several top pairs were suspended for alleged signaling schemes. The bridge world fractured—some demanded harsh punishments, others worried about witch hunts.

The 2015 Bermuda Bowl in Chennai saw USA win, but the victory was overshadowed by the Fisher-Schwartz case. High-profile American players were accused of illegal signaling. They were suspended, protested their innocence, and bridge spent years arguing about burden of proof, statistical evidence, and whether pattern analysis could definitively prove cheating.

Through it all, the Bermuda Bowl continued. Monaco won in 2017, showing that small federations with great players could compete. USA won in 2019 in Wuhan, shortly before the pandemic shut down international bridge.

The Championship Today

The Bermuda Bowl now rotates globally, hosted by the World Bridge Federation every two years (when pandemics cooperate). It’s expanded from a simple USA vs. Europe match to a multi-zone tournament with teams from eight regions competing.

The format has evolved too. Round-robin preliminary stages lead to knockout matches. Every session is live-streamed. BBO VuGraph operators provide commentary to thousands of online spectators. The best players still dream of winning it, and the bridge public still follows every deal.

Legacy and Records

The Bermuda Bowl has crowned 35 champions since 1950. Italy leads with 18 victories (though most came during the Blue Team era). USA has 19, including recent victories showing American bridge remains strong. Every other championship has been won by someone new: Pakistan, Brazil, Norway, Monaco, France, Netherlands.

The greatest players in bridge history—Belladonna, Garozzo, Hamman, Wolff, Helgemo, Meckstroth, Rodwell—all have multiple Bermuda Bowl victories. Winning once is remarkable. Winning twice means you’re among the elite. Winning more than that? You’re a legend.

Some championships are remembered for brilliant play: Zia’s fearless dummy plays, Helgemo’s impossible contracts made. Others are remembered for controversy: the Italian signals, the American scandals, the statistical witch hunts.

But every two years, the world’s best players gather to shuffle up and deal. They play for a trophy that weighs maybe five pounds and is worth maybe a few thousand dollars. What they’re really playing for is the right to say they’re the best in the world.

In bridge, that’s worth everything.

The Bermuda Bowl is contested every two years under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation. The next championship is scheduled for [current championship date]. Past results, hand records, and complete history are available through WBF archives.