The d'Orsi Senior Bowl, or Senior Bowl or d'Orsi Bowl, is a biennial world championship contract bridge tournament for national of "Seniors", players age 60 and older.Seniors in world bridge are people who turn age 60 or greater during the calendar year: for 2011, people born 1951 or earlier. Through 2005 the minimum age was 55. It was increased to age 60 by holding the defining year at 1950 for six years; thus all Seniors remained eligible during the transition. Senior Bridge . WBF. Retrieved 2011-12-04. It is contested every odd-number year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Bermuda Bowl (Open), Venice Cup (Women) and Wuhan Cup (Mixed). Entries formally represent WBF Zones as well as nations so it is also known as the "World Zonal Senior Team Championship", one of three "World Zonal Team Championships".World Championships . World Bridge Federation (WBF). Retrieved 2011-12-04.40th World Teams, Information. It became an official world championship event in 2001 following a successful exhibition in 2000.

The d'Orsi Senior Bowl is also the trophy awarded to the winning team. It was donated at the 2009 tournament in Brazil by former WBF President Ernesto d'Orsi,At the time, the Brazilian d'Orsi had been Chairman of both the WBF Competition & Tournament Committee and its Rules & Regulations Committee since 1995; Chairman of the WBF Master Points Committee since 2002; and President of CSB (Zone 3, South America) since 2008. • . Retrieved 2011-12-08. and the tournament was renamed at that time.40th World Teams, top page.

The most recent event took place in 2023 in Marrakesh, Morocco.. 46th World Bridge Team Championships, WBF. Retrieved 2023-09-07.

Structure

The zonal quotas and structures are now identical for the Open, Women, and Seniors flights of Zonal Teams, and the three tournaments are concurrent. There are 22 teams —1 from the host country, 6 from Europe, and so on— each four to six players and a captain who may be one of the players.There may be others in the party, including some listed in the WBF database, such as a coach (for example, ). They are not official team members. They compete as with scoring by (IMP).

For one week everyone plays round-robin matches of 16 deals, three daily matches (21 in all) with IMP margins converted to (VP). Teams who draw get 15 points each, up to 25 for the winner and down to 0 for the loser.

The eight round-robin leaders continue in long knockout matches, 96 deals in two days (except 128 in three days for the Open final), with as much as 16 IMP from the short matches between the same teams. The World Transnational Open Teams Championship begins after most teams are eliminated from the three major events; players on all but the four semifinalist teams in each flight are welcome to enter the Transnational.

2000 exhibition

For the 50th anniversary of the Bermuda Bowl in January 2000, the World Teams returned to Bermuda for Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup tournaments completing the 1998–1999 cycle. A short exhibition for Seniors was added to the program, as was the (third) World Computer Bridge Championships.2000 World Teams, Event.The first and second computer bridge championships were conducted at the 1997 and 1998 Summer North American Bridge Championships. 2000 World Teams, Event: World Computer Bridge Championships.

Six invited teams contested the exhibition for Seniors: four national teams, one from North America, and "World Champions" comprising one pair each from Austria, Bulgaria, and Israel.2000 World Teams, Event: Senior Teams. The two Austrians and two Israelis had played on both winners of the (transnational) World Senior Teams Championship, 1994 and 1998, with one of the two Bulgarians as a teammate in 1998.

The six played a double round-robin, ten matches of 20 deals, during the first five days of the main events, followed by two days of playoff matches. Thus all participants were able to enter the Transnational Open Teams contested during the second week of the main events.2000 World Teams, Results (linked schedule).

Poland defeated France in the 60-deal final by 229 to 73 IMP. France scored slightly better in the first of three sessions but the second and third were routs by Poland.2000 World Teams, Results: Seniors final.

Year, Site, Entries Medalists 2000 (exhibition) January 8–14

Southampton, Bermuda  

6 teams 1.  Poland Aleksander Jezioro, Julian Klukowski, Janusz Nowak, Stefan Szenberg, Andrzej Wilkosz   2. France Pierre Adad, Maurice Aujaleu, Claude Delmouly, Jean-Marc Roudinesco 3. China Gu XUEHAI, Li Jin, Lu YULIN, Tang HOUZU, Lu ZHENTING

Standings in the round-robin stage were identical to the final standings. Only Poland and France scored better than average (150 Victory Points, equivalent to ten ties) followed by China, North America, World Champions, and Australia.

In two one-day semifinals Poland beat North America 190–74 and France beat China 145–83,2000 World Teams, Results: Seniors semifinals. while World Champions won a fifth-place match against Australia 130–53.2000 World Teams, Results: Seniors playoff for 5th/6th. On the final day Poland beat France in 60 deals and China won third place in 40 deals against North America, 133 to 80.2000 World Teams, Results: Seniors playoff for 3rd/4th.

Official world championship flights for Seniors were added to both the quadrennial World Team Olympiad beginning 2000 (ten months later) and to the biennial World Team Championships beginning 2001 (twenty months later).

Results

The first Senior Bowl trophy debuted in 2001 and the eponymous tournament for senior teams joined the official "World Team Championships" program beside the Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup for open and women teams.World Team Championships (To Date table). WBF. From eight teams in 2001 the field quickly expanded to match the other flights in size with 22 teams each by 2005.

United States teams won the first four Senior Bowls while the other United States team twice finished third. Three Americans in different combinations won three apiece: Roger Bates, Grant Baze, and Garey Hayden. Indonesia has won three medals and European teams have won eight, with England and France winning the last two Bowls.

Year, Site, Entries Medalists 200135th World Team Championships: Results & Participants, 2001. WBF.World Bridge Championships contemporary coverage, 2001. WBF. Oct 21–Nov 3

Paris, France

8 teams 1. USA 2Annual rankings published by the WBF show double representation for the US in all Senior Bowl tournaments. Select "Venue" links at "World Team Championships to Date" . Retrieved 2011-08-17. Grant Baze, Gene Freed, Garey Hayden, Joe Kivel, Chris Larsen, John Onstott 2. PolandWit Klapper, Jerzy Russyan, Stefan Szenberg, Włodzimierz Wala, Andrzej Wilkosz 3. FrancePierre Adad, Maurice Aujaleu, Claude Delmouly, François Leenhardt, Christian Mari, Marc Schneider 200336th World Team Championships: Results & Participants, 2003. WBF.World Bridge Championships contemporary coverage, 2003. WBF. November 2–15

Monte Carlo, Monaco

15 teams 1. USA 1 Roger Bates, Grant Baze, Garey Hayden, Gaylor Kasle, Steve Robinson, Kit Woolsey 2. FrancePierre Adad, Maurice Aujaleu, Guy Lasserre, François Leenhardt, Christian Mari, Philippe Poizat 3. USA 2 Dennis Dawson, Arnold Fisher, Zeke Jabbour, Clement Jackson, John Mohan, John Sutherlin 200537th World Team Championships: Results & Participants, 2005. WBF.World Team Championships contemporary coverage, 2005. WBF. Oct 22–Nov 5

Estoril, Portugal

22 teams 1. USA 1 Roger Bates, Garey Hayden, Rose Meltzer, Alan Sontag, Lew Stansby, Peter Weichsel 2. IndonesiaArwin Budirahardja, Henky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, Munawar Sawiruddin, Amiruddin Yusuf 3. DenmarkJens Auken, Flemming Dahl, Peter Lund, Kirsten Steen Møller, Steen Møller, Georg Norris 200738th World Team Championships: Results & Participants, 2007. WBF.38th World Team Championships contemporary coverage, 2007. WBF. Sep 29–Oct 13

Shanghai, China

22 teams 1. USA 2 Roger Bates, Grant Baze, Bart Bramley, Rose Meltzer, Alan Sontag, Lew Stansby 2. IndonesiaHenky Lasut, Anindara Lubis, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, Munawar Sawiruddin, Ferdinand Robert Waluyan 3. USA 1 Dan Gerstman, Gaylor Kasle, Dan Morse, Ron Smith, John Sutherlin, Bobby Wolff 200939th World Team Championships: Results & Participants, 2009. WBF.39th World Team Championships contemporary coverage, 2009. WBF. Aug 29–Sep 12

São Paulo, Brazil

22 teams 1. EnglandPaul D Hackett, Gunnar Hallberg, Ross Harper, John Holland, David Price, Colin Simpson 2. PolandJulian Klukowski, Apolinary Kowalski, Krzysztof Lasocki, Victor Markowicz, Jacek Romanski, Jerzy Russyan 3. IndonesiaArianto Karna Djajanegara, Michael Bambang Hartono, Henky Lasut, Eddy Manoppo, Denny Sacul, Munawar Sawiruddin   201140th World Team Championships: Results & Participants, 2011. WBF. Retrieved 2011-12-01.40th World Teams. October 15–29

Veldhoven, Netherlands  

22 teams 1. France Patrick Grenthe, Guy Lasserre, François Leenhardt, Patrice Piganeau, Philippe Poizat, Philippe Vanhoutte 2. USA 2 Peter Boyd, Neil Chambers, Gaylor Kasle, Larry Kozlove, Steve Robinson, John Schermer 3. Poland Julian Klukowski, Apolinary Kowalski, Krzysztof Lasocki, Victor Markowicz, Jacek Romanski, Jerzy Russyan France won the 2011 d'Orsi Bowl by 165 to 160 in a two-day final match against USA 2,6th d'Orsi Senior Bowl Knockout: Final, 2011. WBF. the second of two qualifiers from the United States. USA 2 6+ 8 11 20 45+ 79 17 19 160+ France  0  45 21 23 89  13 30 33 165 The Americans started with 6.33 IMP carryover from the 16-deal round-robin match, meaning France must score at least 7 IMP better on the 96 s of the final. France yielded almost nothing during the first three segments, to lead overnight by 89 to 45+ including carryover. The Americans posted a huge fourth set, 79 IMP on 16 deals to regain the lead, but France again yielded almost nothing in the last two segments, and only 75 IMP on 80 deals in the five good segments.

The final lead change occurred on the 87th deal (#23) where France played 5 and made it while USA played at a 4 opening bid. France never led by so much as 11 IMP, which is attainable at once, and the final margin less than 5 IMP commonly scored at once. So the outcome "went to the end", even for spectators (who know the score, as players don't).Players at the table know the score precisely only at the beginning of a segment, when lineups may be changed too. Neither communication with active players nor their replacement is permitted during a segment and inactive players are likely to be among the spectators at the end of a close match.2011 final segment scorecard, 40th World Teams.

There were 22 national teams in the field, who represented the eight WBF zones as follows.40th World Teams, Participants. The regular quota for Europe is six teams, seven at Veldhoven because the host country qualifies automatically."Participation in the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup & D'Orsi Senior Bowl" (May 2011), General Conditions of Contest for all World Championships ... , Appendix 7. WBF. Retrieved 2011-12-12. Europe: Poland, Denmark, Italy, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Netherlands —ranks 1 to 6 and 12 in the European championshipResults & Participants, 50th European Team Championships, 2010. European Bridge League. North America: Canada, USA 1, USA 2 South America: Argentina, Brazil Asia & Middle East: India, Pakistan C. America & Carib.: Guadeloupe Pacific Asia: China Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan South Pacific: Australia, New Zealand Africa: Egypt, Réunion The first stage was a full round-robin scheduled in advance.Schedule of Play / d'Orsi Seniors Bowl. 2011. WBF. Given the single round-robin structure, the particular schedule should make little difference to the outcome of the first stage. Every team played 21 short matches of 16(?) deals at three per day.