The Bermuda Bowl is considered The World Cup of Bridge and is held every two years during odd years. When last held in Bermuda in 1975, the Bermuda Bowl attracted significant attention throughout the World. In the years since then, the championship has grown tremendously. From a modest six teams in 1975, a total of 20 teams, which will have qualified in zonal competitions, will compete in January 2000 in Bermuda for the most coveted prize in bridge.

Founded by Bermuda resident Norman Bach, the Bermuda Bowl was the first ever International Bridge Teams Championship. The handsome Bermuda Challenge Cup, a gift of the Bermuda Government to the winners of that first championship, soon became known as the Bermuda Bowl and is now awarded to the winners of the World Bridge Federation Team Championship.

The Bermuda Bowl, which is the oldest WBF Championship, was first held in 1950 in Bermuda, eight years before the World Bridge Federation itself was formed. It was contested by USA, Europe and Britain over a four day period. The Bermuda Bowl then developed into a regular challenge match between the USA and the winners of the European Championship, a more logical arrangement than the first three-cornered contest.

In 1958, the World Bridge Federation was formed and began to arrange its member countries in geographical Zones, the basis for Bermuda Bowl eligibility. The contest began taking on its present world wide character.

The format of the Bermuda Bowl was changed in 1967. Where previously the placings had been decided by a simple round robin, with two points for a win and one for a tie, now there was to be a round robin in which each team met each other in three separate matches, with 20 victory points at stake in each match; followed by a two-team final over 128 boards. The change proved successful and the old format was never restored.

In the 1970s, the tensions increasingly common in top-level competition had begun to worry the administrators. As Julius Rosenblum wrote in World Bridge News in 1974, "Over the years, I have attended WBF tournaments in many different capacities. At almost every tournament, innuendoes about unethical conduct have come to my attention. Sometimes there have been direct accusations. Many officials have the feeling that it is better to sweep these matters under the rug than to expose them to the light of the day, to the glare of publicity. I do not agree. We can deal with innuendo's and accusations openly without any damage to the game of bridge."

With this stance Rosenblum, as President of the WBF, was in effect backing Jaime Ortiz-Patino, then a Vice-President, who, in a move strongly opposed by some members of the Executive Council, had proposed the use of table screens in World Championship play. In 1974, the WBF Executive Council decided by six votes to three with two abstentions to use screens and bidding boxes in the next Bermuda Bowl.

In 1975, the first use of screens was made, but it did not include under-table barriers to foot movement. Few would have thought this likely to prove a serious omission! Nevertheless, three days after the contest began the Appeals Committee, through its Chairman, Julius Rosenblum, announced that it had resolved to reprimand severely a pair for unnatural foot movements. Foot barriers were then introduced.

In 1977, changes were made to the WBF Constitution and By-laws, establishing the important principle that WBF competitions would thenceforth be by invitation only. A Credentials Committee, with members from various zones, would have power to issue or withhold invitations. Controversial at the time, these changes are now widely seen to have been beneficial. Other bodies have since adopted similar procedures.

1985 saw a further innovation: the Venice Cup was conducted at the same time, with the same format, eligibility and boards. Thus a record total of twenty teams were eligible - ten in each series.

Over the years, there have been many changes in the format of the Bermuda Bowl. The latest philosophy holds that each one of the seven geographical Zones should participate as of right, and that plural representation should be accorded to Zones 1 and 2, which have many more players than the others. However, the seeding of a team from each of these Zones had not proved to be universally popular, so the WBF Executive Council approved a new format for use in Yokohama, Japan, in 1991. Under this format (which applies equally to the Venice Cup) Zone 1 may enter four teams, Zone 2 three teams, Zones 3-6 two teams and Zone 7 (which has only three NCBOs) one team. The 16 teams were split into two groups of eight with the top four teams from each group to qualify for the quarterfinals after a double round robin.

For Bermuda Bowl past results click here.