More than 200 teams got down to the business of trying to qualify for the knockout phases of their respective events - 173 squads in the Rosenblum (open) and 39 in the McConnell (women).

Round-robin play will continue today and on Thursday as teams try to finish in the top four in their groups, qualifying them for head-to-head play, beginning Friday for the Rosenblum and Saturday for the McConnell.

The defending Rosenblum champions from Montreal in 2002 this year are playing on different teams - Norberto Bocchi, Giorgio Duboin and Guido Ferraro on the Lavazza squad, and Alfredo Versace and Lorenzo Lauria on the T.C. Parioli - BTA squad.

The 2002 McConnell winners have also dispersed to different teams as Lynn Deas, Beth Palmer and Kerri Sanborn are playing on the Lynn Baker squad, while Irina Levitina and Jill Meyers are on the Hansa Narasimhan team. McConnell competitors have the day off Friday.

Damiani re-elected WBF president

José Damiani was re-elected on Tuesday to a fourth term as president of the World Bridge Federation.

During Damiani's tenure, bridge has made inroads with the International Olympic Committee, which has declared bridge a sport, and the WBF is now engaged in a campaign to interest more young people in the game. Damiani has steadfastly promoted the motto, "Bridge for Peace."

Other WBF elections: Gianariggo Rona, first vice president; John Wignall, second vice president; vice presidents, Panos Gerontopoulos (Zone 1), George Retek (Zone 2), Mazhar Jafri (Zone 4) and Patrick Choy (Zone 6). Also elected were Jean-Louis Derivery, treasurer, and Dan Morse, honorary secretary.