Orbis Bermuda Bowl

A delighted Marc Hodler, Vice President of the IOC acknowledges his award from the IBPA as Bridge Personality of the Year.

USAI established a commanding lead over Brazil in the Orbis Bermuda Bowl Final. The American's have established a lead of 81 IMPs.

There is still a long way to go, but the writing is on the wall. Bronze Medals will go to USAII, represented by Zia Mahmood, Chip Martel, Michael Rosenberg, Neil Silverman, Lew Stansby and Jeff Wolfson, and led by NPC Michael Becker.

They outscored Norway 143-115 IMPs in the playoff for third place.

Orbis Venice Cup

Queen Beatrix of the The Netherlands, sent a fax to the NBB requesting that she be kept informed of the team's progress in the final of the Orbis Venice Cup!

Spurred on by the support of the monarch, The Netherlands had the better of the first day Both teams won two sessions, but the Dutch outscored their opponents to lead by 32.5 IMPs.

Both sides were assessed time penalties when the final session of the day finished five minutes late.

The Danish Ladies Team captained by Lotte Skaanning-Norris, comprising Trine Bilde-Kofoed, Dorte Cilleborg, Kirsten Steen Møller, Mette Drøgemüller, Bettina Kalkerup, will be on the rostrum tomorrow, Charlotte Koch-Palmund having already returned to Denmark. They easily defeated Austria in the bronze medal match, winning by 202-62 IMPs.

Orbis World Transnational Teams Championship

When the last round started several teams were in contention for a place in the semifinals of the Orbis World Transnational Teams Championship.

The four teams to make it were Mihov (Bulgaria), Meltzer (USA/Poland), Hackett (Great Britain/USA) and Milner (USA/Canada).

In the semifinals, over 32 boards, Mihov plays Milner, leaving Meltzer to face Hackett. The conditions of contest mean that even if they lose, the team from Bulgaria is guaranteed a medal.

Orbis World Computer Bridge Championship

In the semifinal match between Wbridge5 (France) and MicroBridge9 (Japan), the French machine came out on top, beating its Japanese rival by a score of 133-107 IMPs.

In the other semifinal match, GIB defeated its Canadian opponent Bridge Buff 118-79 IMPs. In tomorrow's final GIB and WBridge5 will play an additional 54 boards to decide the issue.