Orbis Bermuda Bowl

Brazil gained revenge for their defeat by Norway in the semifinal of the 1993 Bermuda Bowl in Santiago when they staged a dramatic comeback in the final session of their semifinal encounter against the Scandinavians. They bounced back from a 30 IMP loss in the penultimate session to win by 12.3 IMPs.

There are instances in many sports of great competitors never winning the ultimate prize. Ken Rosewall never won at Wimbledon, Colin Montgomerie has never won a Major, and for the moment, Zia Mahmood must put on hold his hopes of a World title. USA 2 could not stay with USA I, losing by 91 IMPs. In the last four sessions, USA I conceded only 50 IMPs in 64 boards. The final sees USA I holding a 24 IMP advantage, the maximum carry-over allowed, by virtue of their huge win over Brazil in the Round-Robin. Norway start the bronze medal match with an 8 IMP advantage over USA 2.

Orbis Venice Cup

The United States have appeared in every Venice Cup Final since the competition started in 1974 and they maintained that record when Denmark could make no impression on USA I in the last two sessions. USA I will meet The Netherlands in the final, the Dutch team resisting everything that Austria could do.

When they defeated China in the quarterfinals, the Dutch team celebrated with a trip to a Chinese restaurant. Last night they had Wiener Schnitzel. They are planning a trip to McDonalds on Thursday night! USA I start the final with a lead of 3 IMPs, and in the play-off for third place Denmark have an 8 IMP advantage.

Orbis World Transnational Teams Championship

After ten rounds of the Orbis World Transnational Teams Championship, the leaders are the team from Bulgaria that narrowly failed to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Orbis Bermuda Bowl.

With four rounds to go before the top four teams qualify for the knockout stages, they are 19VP clear of the fifth placed team. The chasing teams are closely grouped, with 11 VP covering the next ten teams. Five of the chasing pack are from the United States of America, and two from Great Britain.

Orbis World Computer Bridge Championship

After a seven-round, ten board per match Round-Robin, the field has been reduced to four 'teams': GIB (US, 100 VPs), WBridge5 (France, 99 VPs), MicroBridge9 (Japan, 91 VPs) and Bridge Buff (Canada, 70 VPs).

The semi-final match-ups will be GIB vs Bridge Buff, with GIB having a 21-IMP carry-over, and WBridge vs MicroBridge9. These will be 38-board matches with a full carry-over.