The World Open Pairs Championship is a contract bridge competition initiated in 1962 and held as part of the World Bridge Series Championships every four years. Open to all pairs without any quota restrictions on nationality, the championship is widely regarded as the most prestigious pairs competition in contract bridge. In its present form, the competition lasts eight days.
Results
World meets commonly run for 15 days on a schedule whose details vary.
In 2006 the Open Pairs played Saturday to Saturday, the 8th to 15th days of the meet, with five qualifying, five semifinal, and five final sessions. At the start of qualifying, 32 teams remained in the knockout stage of the marquee teams competition for the Rosenblum Cup. During qualifying sessions for the pairs, the Rosenblum teams were reduced from 32 to 8. There were some provisions for late entry to the pairs by players knocked out of the teams at a late stage. There were 392 pairs in the qualifier, 193 in the semifinal, and 72 in the final.Results (linked schedule), 12th World Bridge Championships, 2006. WBF.
United States pairs have won four of 14 tournaments through 2014, Brazil two, Poland two, and six other nations one each. (The tournament is "open" in several respects including the registered nationalities of partners but no transnational pair has won any of the 42 medals.) Marcelo Branco of Brazil is the only two-time champion.
Year, Site Entries Medalists 1962 Results & Participants, 1st World Open Pairs Championship, 1962. WBF. Cannes, France
1. Pierre Jaïs Roger Trézel 2. Terence Reese Boris Schapiro 3. René Bacherich Pierre Ghestem 1966 Results & Participants , 2nd World Open Pairs Championship, 1966. WBF. Amsterdam, Netherlands
1. Hans Kreijns Bob Slavenburg 2. John Fisher Jim Jacoby 3. B. Jay Becker Dorothy Hayden 1970 Results & Participants, 3rd World Open Pairs Championship, 1970. WBF. Stockholm, Sweden
1. Fritz Babsch Peter Manhardt 2. Benito Garozzo Federico Mayer 3. William Saulino Italo Zanasi 1974 Results & Participants, 4th World Open Pairs Championship, 1974. WBF. Las Palmas, Spain
1. Bob Hamman Bobby Wolff 2. Adriano Abate Leandro Burgay 3. Federico De Paula Italo Zanasi 1978 Results & Participants, 5th World Open Pairs Championship, 1978. WBF. New Orleans, USA
1. Marcelo Branco Gabino Cintra 2. Eric Kokish Peter Nagy 3. Roger Bates John Mohan 1982 Results & Participants, 6th World Open Pairs Championship, 1982. WBF. Biarritz, France
1. Chip Martel Lew Stansby 2. Anton Maas Max Rebattu 3. Gabriel Chagas Roberto Mello 1986 Results & Participants , 7th World Open Pairs Championship, 1986. WBF. Miami Beach, USA
1. Jeff Meckstroth Eric Rodwell 2. Heinrich Berger Wolfgang Meinl 3. Steve Burgess Paul Marston 1990 Results & Participants , 8th World Open Pairs Championship, 1990. WBF. Geneva, Switzerland
1. Marcelo Branco Gabriel Chagas 2. Ralph Katz Peter Nagy 3. Cezary Balicki Adam Żmudziński 1994 Results & Participants , 9th World Open Pairs Championship, 1994. WBF. Albuquerque, USA
1. Marcin Leśniewski Marek Szymanowski 2. Bob Hamman Michael Rosenberg 3. Eric Kirchhoff Anton Maas 1998 Results & Participants , 10th World Open Pairs Championship, 1998. WBF.1998 World Bridge Championships contemporary coverage, 1998. WBF. Lille, France
1. Michał Kwiecień Jacek Pszczoła 2. David Berkowitz Larry N. Cohen 3. Peter Fredin Magnus Lindkvist 2002 Results & Participants (Open series) , 11th World Championship, 2002. WBF.World Bridge Championships contemporary coverage, 2002. WBF. Montreal, Canada
327 1. Fulvio Fantoni Claudio Nunes 2. Zia Mahmood Michael Rosenberg 3. Diego Brenner Gabriel Chagas 2006 Results & Participants , Open Pairs, 2006. WBF.12th World Bridge Championships contemporary coverage, 2006. WBF. Verona, Italy
392 1. FU Zhong ZHAO Jie (Jack Zhao) 2. Bobby Levin Steve Weinstein 3. Fulvio Fantoni Claudio Nunes 2010 Results & Participants , Open Pairs, 2010. WBF.13th World Bridge Series contemporary coverage, 2010. WBF. Philadelphia, USA
313 1. Bobby Levin Steve Weinstein 2. Björn Fallenius Peter Fredin 3. Josef Piekarek Alexander Smirnov 2014 "The results from the Red Bull World Bridge Series" . WBF. October 2014. Retrieved 2015-02-12. Sanya, China
200 1. Ehud Friedlander Inon Liran 2. Jacek Kalita Michał Nowosadzki 3. Thomas Bessis Cédric Lorenzini
See also World Mixed Pairs Championship World Women Pairs Championship
Notes
References
External links World Open Pairs Championships 1962–present (table) at the World Bridge Federation.