Meet the Stars

Polish Team Profiles

He was born in 1958, and like so many bridge stars was a talented chess player who has now become a professional bridge player. He was chief editor and publisher of the Polish bridge magazine "Forum" for a couple of years. Czeray Balicki's list of international championship medals is impressive. He started with a bronze in the World Pairs Championship in Geneva in 1990. That was followed by silver in the 1991 Bermuda Bowl in Yokohama 1991, and again in the Rosenblum in Albuquerque in 1994. He finally got his hands on a World title by taking the Gold medal in the 2nd Transnational World Teams in Bermuda 2000. He is a regular on the North American scene and captured the 1997 Spingold and 2001 Vanderbilt trophies, while losing the 1998 Spingold final to Nick Nickell's team by only 1 IMP. He has been no less successful in Europe, with two gold medals in the European Teams Championships, in Turku in 1989 and Menton in 1993. His European set is completed by a silver medal in Montecatini in 1997 and a bronze in Killarney in 1991. He won the prestigious Macallan Pairs in London in 1994 and finished third in the same event a year later.

He was born on the first of March 1957, is an automotive engineer and businessman from Lublin. Married with two daughters, he plays for a bridge club in Leszno - Unia Winkhaus. Michal Kwiecien's biggest bridge successes include first place in the World Open Pairs Championship at Lille in 1998, second place in the European Open Teams Championship at Montecatini in 1997, third place in the World Transnational Open Teams at Hammamet in 1997, all of them with Jacek Pszczola. He also won gold in the European Junior Teams Championship at Salsomaggiore in 1982 with his former partner Marek Wojcicki. He has been playing with Jacek Pszczola since 1993, and the pair finished at the top of a world-class field in the 2001 Cavendish Calcutta in Las Vegas. In Maastricht in 2000 Michal was chosen by random selection for a doping test. He says he was so anxious that he was not able to provide a sample for four hours, despite drinking several litres of water. He described it as the most stressful moment of the Olympiad for him.

He sometimes referred to by Western journalists as 'Pepsi Cola' is one of the younger generation of Polish bridge wizards, having been born on the tenth of January, 1967. Married with one son and living in Lublin, Jacek Pszczola graduated as a mining machine engineer, and now works in the oil industry. He represents the Unia Winkhaus Bridge club in Leszno. When he is not playing bridge you will find him on the basketball court. A former Polish Junior Champion, he won the World Open Pairs Championship at Lille in 1998, finished second in the European Open Teams Championship at Montecatini in 1997, and took third place in the World Transnational Open Teams at Hammamet in the same year. He also won the prestigious Polish bridge event, Festival Solidarnosci, in Slupsk, 1995. Jacek has partnered Michal Kwiecen for seven years and together they topped a star-studded field in Las Vegas in the 2001 Cavendish Calcutta.

He is the regular partner of the player we featured first, Cezary Balicki. Born in 1956, he comes from a musical family. His father was a famous Polish composer and conductor. Adam Zmudzinski is himself a talented pianist and lists classical music as his hobby, alongside motor sports. His grandfather taught him to play bridge when he was five years old. He is attracted by the dynamic possibilities within the game and considers the most difficult aspect to be making good decisions. His partner must have excellent technical skills and good manners. Adam's list of bridge medals is impressive. He started with a bronze medal in the World Pairs Championship in Geneva in 1990. That was followed by silver in the 1991 Bermuda Bowl in Yokohama 1991 and silver again in the Rosenblum in Albuquerque in 1994. He finally got his hands on a World title by taking the gold medal; in the 2nd Transnational World Teams in Bermuda 2000.

Marek Wojcicki was born in 1957. A chemical engineer, he now manager of a manufacturing company, as well as being a bridge journalist and author. He is married, with a daughter 19, and a son 17. His main hobby is volleyball. He has being playing bridge since 1970, in competitions since 1973. His main achievements include a Junior European title in 1982, numerous national titles and several big International wins most recently in the Spring Foursomes in England in 2001.

Jacek Poletylo was born in 1951. He graduated as M.Sc. of physics, and is now chairman of a manufacturing company. He is married, with a son Maciej 24. His hobbies are basketball and good food. He has been playing bridge since 1970. His main achievements - three times champion of Poland, winner of the Easter Guardian Pairs in London, Philip Morris Pairs in Monte Carlo, teams tournaments - Spring Foursomes in England in 2001. He represented Lichtenstein in the Bridge Olympiad in Salsomaggiore in 1992.

Canadian Men Team Profiles

SILVER, "Joey" Joseph of Montreal, Canada. (b.1941). Joey was born and lives in Montreal Quebec. He is a criminal attorney who acts for the defence. Joey started playing bridge when he was 17 at summer camp and fell in love with it. Since then, bridge has been his number one priority. Joey has represented Canada in 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998 coming second in the Bermuda Bowl in 1995. Gitelman and Silver play no conventions and were able to fill in the WBF convention card in 30 minutes.

GITELMAN, Fred Alan was born and lives in Toronto with his partner Sheri Winestock but is unfortunately planning to move to Florida soon. Fred is celebrating his 37th birthday today. He has a strong background in both computer science and bridge. Fred has won silver medals many times. He was second in the World Juniors in 1991, second in the Bermuda Bowl in 1995, second in the Spingold in 2000 and also won the Silver Medal in the 1997 Maccabiah Games. However, Fred changed the trend when he won the Reisinger in 2001. Fred plays bridge with both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. He credits a lot of his success as a bridge player to his friend and partner Joey Silver.

Gartaganis Nicholas. Nick is married to Judy (who played on the \Canadian women's team here) and lives in Calgary Alberta. He is a competitive intelligence analyst for investment attraction with the Alberta government. He first won the Canadian National Team Championships in 1982 and 19 years later won again in 2001. Although Nick now frequently plays with his wife Judy he has had a regular partnership with Peter Jones for 16 years. How can a husband and wife play so successfully? Judy says that Nick is the one in the partnership that makes sure that they don't go to bed angry - just very late, maybe.

Balcombe Keith, 47 years old, immigrated from England in 1968 and now lives in Oshawa Ontario. He is a materials manager. He has been married for 20 years and is very proud of his 3 grandchildren. Although it took Keith until 2000 to win the Canadian National Team Championships he was runner-up in 1980, 1983 and 1998 and remembers fondly his 1983 loss to Gord Campbell. He and Gord have more than 400 pages of system notes. Keith's favourite non-bridge books are the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Campbell Gordon, 50 years old, lives in Alberta and describes himself as a 'computer person'. Gord immigrated to Canada from England in 1975 and had been the British Junior Chess champion. He played in San Paulo in 1984 on the first Canadian team to take part in a Bermuda Bowl. It should be mentioned that he and Keith managed to compile their 400 pages of system notes in only one year despite being a long distance partnership.

Jones Peter was born in England in 1948. He now lives in Edmonton Alberta with his wife Lloyda. Nick and Peter are a long established partnership and Nick is Peter's favourite partner when Nick is not playing with his wife Judy. Peter is a communications facilitator for RedCor, a construction company. He too loves high stakes rubber bridge and is a firm believer in keeping bridge simple. Peter and Lloyda are so hospitable that their house in Edmonton is known as Chez Jones because of all the out-of-towners who stay there when they are in Edmonton.

USA Women Team Profiles

Mildred Breed - Lives in Bryan, Texas, a college town west of Houston. She first learned bridge at the age of 15. She is a former purchasing agent for a steel fabricator, but now teaches bridge on the Internet. She has two daughters, Monica, in her 30s, and Rhiannon, a teenager. Mildred has won six North American championships and two world titles - the Venice Cup in Hammamet, Tunisia, in 1997 and the Olympiad Women's Teams in Maastricht, Netherlands, in 2000.

Amalya Kearse - Grew up in New Jersey and earned a degree in philosophy from Wellesley College in the Boston area. Earned a law degree from the University of Michigan and worked in a Wall Street law firm. Since 1979, has served as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. A highly successful bridge player, Amalya has written, translated and edited books on bridge, including perhaps the most comprehensive work available on conventions. As a Wellesley senior, she won the traditional hoop rolling race.

Jill Meyers - Formely No. 1 ranked woman by the WBF. Lives in Santa Monica, California, and works as an attorney in the music business. Due to become a media star after interviews on the Today Show air shortly after the IOC Grand Prix ends. Winner of four world championships - two Venice Cups, Mixed Teams and Women's Pairs. She also has a second in the Venice Cup. Her favorite win, however, was in the Blue Ribbon Pairs with John Mohan. Besides that one, she has lots of North American championships.

Sharon Osberg - A bank executive who lives in San Francisco. Has frequently played with financier Warren Buffett, honorary npc for the USA men's team in the IOC Grand Prix. Sharon has won two Venice Cups and has four North American titles to her credit.

Shawn Quinn - Lives in Katy, a suburb of Houston. She currently works as the site manager for winBridge, an online bridge site. She began playing in 1981, "to do something with my mother." She plays a lot with husband Joe when she is not playing on women's teams. Regular partner is Mildred Breed. Since the early Nineties, Shawn has won nearly a dozen North American championships. Won the World Women's Pairs in 1998 and consecutive Olympiad Women's Teams in 1996 and 2000. No. 1 in WBF women's rankings.

Kerri Shuman - Stock trader who lives in New York City. Formerly a bridge professional, now involved in thoroughbred breeding and racing. Won the World Mixed Pairs in 1978 by a huge margin playing with Barry Crane. Winner of the Venice Cup in 1989 and 1993 and the World Women's Pairs in 1990. Was the leading ACBL masterpoint winner in 1974 and has numerous North American titles.

Rose Meltzer - A California resident, she has emerged from virtual obscurity only a few years ago to one of the most recognizable personalities in bridge worldwide. Playing with Kyle Larsen and Peter Weichsel, Rose has won several major team championships in ACBL tournaments. Her crowning achievement occurred in Paris last fall, when her team came from behind against Norway to win the Bermuda Bowl. She thus became the first woman to win that event. Serving as playing captain of her team in the IOC Grand Prix.

Denmark's Juniors

Andreas Marquardsen, or "Don Andreas", aged 24 in December 2001, will qualify as a school teacher in two years' time. According to his partner, he already practises teaching a lot at the bridge table. As if that is not enough, Andreas is the manager of a bridge centre where he also teaches bridge - primarily to young players.

Martin Schaltz, or "Benno" (short for Benjamin), aged just 18 in January 2002, is studying in a higher commercial school. He is one of our greatest bridge talents ever - Martin is expected to win even more Championships than his famous parents, Dorthe and Peter. Just like his partner, Martin teaches bridge to youngsters.

The two of them have been playing together for a couple of years and are already used to being very well placed in open as well as in junior tournaments.