World Bridge Federation facts for kids
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| Formation | August 1958 |
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| Type | Sports federation |
| Headquarters | Lausanne, Switzerland |
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Official language
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English, French, |
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President
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Franck Riehm |
The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the main organization for the game of contract bridge around the world. It's like the global sports federation for bridge. The WBF organizes big world championships where teams from different countries compete.
The WBF was started in August 1958 by people from Europe, North America, and South America. It is a "non-profit" group, which means it uses any money it makes to support bridge, not to make a profit for owners. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, who helped create the game of bridge, was the first honorary member. As of 2025, the president is Franck Riehm from France.
The WBF has 123 National Contract Bridge Organizations (NBOs) as members. These NBOs are like national bridge clubs in different countries. About 700,000 people are members of these groups. Many of them play bridge in local, national, and international games. Each national organization agrees to let all its citizens join and to follow good sportsmanship rules.
The WBF has a Congress where each national organization can send one person. This Congress meets every two years. An Executive Council helps run the WBF, and different committees help them.
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Bridge Competitions and Events
The World Bridge Federation organizes many exciting competitions. These events bring together the best bridge players from all over the globe.
Major World Championships
The WBF holds several important championships:
- World Team Championships: These happen every two years. They include:
* The Bermuda Bowl for open teams (anyone can play). * The Venice Cup for women's teams. * The Senior Bowl for older players. * The World Transnational Open Team event.
- World Bridge Games: These games happen every four years, in the same year as the Summer Olympics. They used to be called the World Team Olympiad. They feature national teams for open, women, and senior players, plus a mixed team event.
- World Bridge Series Championships: These also happen every four years. They include:
* The Rosenblum Cup for open knockout teams. * The McConnell Cup for women's knockout teams. * The Rand Cup for senior knockout teams. * Other events like mixed pairs, open pairs, women pairs, and senior pairs.
Other Global Bridge Events
The WBF also oversees many other world-level bridge competitions, such as:
- World Bridge Championships
- World Transnational Open Teams Championship
- World Mind Sports Games (where bridge is one of the mind sports)
- Wuhan Cup
- World Mixed Swiss Teams
- World Open Pairs Championship
- World Women Pairs Championship
- World Senior Pairs Championship
- World Mixed Pairs Championship
- World IMP Pairs Championship
- World Masters Individual Championships
- World Mixed Teams Championship
- World Par Championship
- World Junior Pairs Championship (for players under 21)
- World Junior Teams Championship (for players under 21)
- World U26 Junior Pairs Championship (for players under 26)
- World U26 Junior Teams Championship (for players under 26)
- World University Bridge Championships
Continental Bridge Events
Many bridge events are also held at the continental level, organized by regional bridge leagues:
- Europe: European Bridge League organizes events like the European Team Championships (bridge) and European Open Bridge Championships.
- Asia: Events like the Asia Cup Bridge Championships and Asia Pacific Bridge Championships.
- Africa: African Bridge Championships.
- North America: North American Bridge Championships.
- South America: South American Bridge Championships.
Goals of the World Bridge Federation
The WBF has several important goals:
- To help the sport of bridge grow all over the world.
- To be part of the Olympic Movement and follow the rules of the Olympic Charter. This means promoting sportsmanship and fair play.
- To bring together national bridge groups from different countries.
- To create and run competitions to decide world champions.
- To set standard rules for bridge games.
- To encourage good sportsmanship and fair play in bridge.
- To fight against doping in sports and make sure players stay healthy.
Leadership and Management
The World Bridge Federation is managed by an Executive Council. This council includes people from eight different geographical zones, plus the President.
The Executive Council meets once a year during the World Championships. There is also a smaller Management Committee that handles important business between these meetings. The President serves a four-year term.
Past Presidents of the WBF
Here are some of the past presidents of the World Bridge Federation:
- 1958–1964: Robert de Nexon, France
- 1964–1968: Charles J. Solomon, US
- 1968–1970: Carl C:son Bonde, Sweden
- 1970–1976: Julius Rosenblum
- 1976–1986: Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, Switzerland
- 1986–1991: Denis Howard, Australia
- 1991–1992: Ernesto d'Orsi, Brazil
- 1992–1994: Bobby Wolff, US
- 1994–2010: José Damiani, France
- 2010–2022: Gianarrigo Rona, Italy
- 2023-2025: Jan Kamras, Sweden
- 2025-: Franck Riehm, France
Jan Kamras was elected WBF President in August 2022 and started his term on January 1, 2023. He was also the president of the European Bridge League before this.
History of the WBF
The World Bridge Federation was officially formed on August 18, 1958, in Oslo, Norway. People from Europe, the US, and South America were there. Baron Robert de Nexon from France, a very important person in bridge, was chosen as the first President.
Over the years, different presidents helped the WBF grow. Julius Rosenblum, who became president in 1970, believed that bridge needed a strong global organization. In 1976, Jaime Ortiz-Patiño became president. Under his leadership, the WBF became a modern international organization. He helped set up its structure, rules, and a strong code of ethics.
In 1994, José Damiani was elected president. He made big changes for the WBF and for bridge. In 1999, the International Olympic Committee recognized the WBF as an International Sport Federation. This was a huge step! In 2002, the WBF moved its main office to Lausanne, Switzerland, which is known as the "Olympic City." José Damiani also helped bring in media and sponsors, improved how competitions were run, and strongly supported teaching bridge to young people in schools.
Gianarrigo Rona from Italy became president in November 2010. He had been the First Vice-president and president of the European Bridge League before that.
Bridge Zones and Member Countries
The WBF divides the world into eight main geographical zones to help manage bridge activities. Each zone has its own Zonal Conference that organizes local competitions and helps with WBF events.
As of March 31, 2022, the WBF had 103 member countries across these 8 zones. The WBF has grown a lot and now has 124 National Bridge Organizations (NBOs) with about 1,000,000 members who play in bridge events.
Here are the 8 zones:
- Zone 1: Europe - European Bridge League (EBL) - 46 Countries
- Zone 2: North America - North American Bridge Federation (NABF) - 3 Countries
- Zone 3: South America - Confederación Sudamericana de Bridge (CSB) - 10 Countries
- Zone 4: Asia and Middle East - Bridge Federation of Asia & the Middle East (BFAME) - 10 Countries
- Zone 5: Central America and Caribbean - Central American & Caribbean Bridge Federation (CAC) - 13 Countries
- Zone 6: Asia Pacific - Asia Pacific Bridge Federation (APBF) - 12 Countries
- Zone 7: South Pacific - South Pacific Bridge Federation (SPBF) - 2 Countries
- Zone 8: Africa - African Bridge Federation (ABF) - 8 Countries
See also
In Spanish: Federación Mundial de Bridge para niños
- List of bridge governing bodies
- List of bridge competitions and awards
