                Marlboro Bermuda and Venice Cup
                       Beijing, China
                  October 8th - 21st, 1995
              Issue 1, Sunday October 8th, 1995
            Editor: Henry Francis and Brian Senior
**********************************************************
            Marlboro Championships Open Tomorrow

     Tonight is fun -- the banquet celebrating the opening
of the Marlboro World Championships. Tomorrow it gets
serious -- the opening matches of both the Marlboro Bermuda
Bowl and the Marlboro Venice Cup will get under way at 10
tomorrow morning.
     The matches on Vugraph will feature the two defending
champions and the host team.  The second-round battle
between host China and Brazil at 2 p.m. will be on Vugraph.
The Netherlands, Bermuda Bowl victors in Santiago, Chile,
in 1993, will be shown in the opening match (10 a.m.)
against United States I. One of the United States teams won
the Venice Cup in 1993, so United States I vs. Germany will
be the Vugraph show for the third match (5:30 p.m.).
     The matches involving the defending champions both are
especially interesting. The Dutch defenders are facing
perhaps the strongest opponent in their bracket in USA I.
The team captained by Jimmy Cayne came through a most
difficult trials in Las Vegas to become America s No. !
team. And the match between USA I and Germany is a replay
of the 1993 Venice Cup final -- Germany was the silver
medalist in that event.
     The 16 teams in each event have been divided into two
groups. Each group will play a double round-robin, with the
top four teams in each group qualifying for the quarter-
finals. Both events will be run as knockouts starting with
the quarter-finals.
*********************************************************

           President Damiani Declares Games Open

     We have been working for many months on the pre-
paration of this Marlboro World Bridge Championship, and I
am glad to say that international cooperation in this
particular case is not just words; it has become a reality
which means better knowledge and understanding.  We are
delighted to be here in China and we are sure that you, the
players, have already found the best conditions for play.
     For that, our first thanks go to the Chinese Bridge
Association, its Honorary Members, its President Mr. Rong
Gaotong and all members of the organizing Committee.
     But nothing would have been possible without the
enormous contribution made by Philip Morris Asia,
represented here tonight by Joseph Tcheng, the Area
Director.
     Thanks to both of them and the World Bridge Federation
team we are able to provide the best technology for your
needs, pleasure and comfort.
     I have no doubt that this Marlboro Bermuda Bowl and
Marlboro Venice Cup will be remembered by all of you,
winners or not, as a great and memorable tournament.
     I am sure that you will make new friends in this part
of the world and that Bridge for Peace will once more be a
true and proven motto even during the fair competition that
you are going to participate in.
     And now I have pleasure in declaring the 1995 Marlboro
World Bridge Championships open.
***********************************************************
                Cooperation Is A Way Of Life

      International cooperation is not just words -- it's a
way of life.  That statement, made by World Bridge
Federation President Jose Damiani at yesterday s press
conference, just about sums up the way bridge operates at
the international level.
     And there s no question about it -- the WBF is making
international cooperation a major part of its agenda.  We
have official recognition as a sport from the International
Olympic Committee, and we re working toward an agreement
with UNESCO, said Damiani.  The WBF is helping with a major
teaching program going on in Chinese schools. We are
working to bring teaching programs into other nations as
well. And we are making major moves internationally in
Junior bridge.
     The first speaker was Rong Gaotong, president of the
China Bridge Association and of the organizing committee
for these Championships.  We have here a grand gathering of
bridge people. This will do much to enhance unity and
friendship. And China is showing that it is capable of
handling a world championship for a sport of intelligence.
     The staging of the Marlboro World Bridge Championships
here in Beijing is a cause for celebration, said Joseph
Tcheng, area director for Philip Morris Asia Inc., sponsor
of this tournament.  It signifies not only the increasing
level of sophistication --and expertise --of players in
China, but also the extent to which bridge has become a
truly international competitive pursuit.
     The selection of Beijing as the venue for the 1995
tournament is a considerable honor, and we at Philip Morris
are proud to be providing our support as sponsor.
     One of the questions directed to the panel concerned
the numbers of people playing bridge in China and
elsewhere. China has only about 50,000 registered players,
but far more than a million Chinese play bridge. Damiani
added that the best guess is that 40 million people play
bridge world-wide, but only about 700,000 are registered in
bridge organizations.  Maybe as many as one and a half
million play tournament bridge,  said Damiani,  but you
don't have to a member to play in most countries.
     Coverage of the Marlboro Championships will be carried
throughout China by television.
     Damiani listed reasons why bridge is recognized by the
IOC as a sport.  The organization of bridge is comparable
to the organization in all other sports,  he said.  And
bridge has the same sportive attitude. And although bridge
is a mind sport, you have to be in exceptional physical
shape to play effectively in a world championship.
***********************************************************

                     Best Declarer Play

     This is the hand which won the bulletin prize for best
declarer play at the European Championships in Vilamoura.
It was originally reported by Patrick Jourdain and comes
from the Poland v Lebanon match.
              Board 1. Love All. Dealer North.

                          S 97432
                          H 87
                          D A973
                          C 62
                 S Q                S AJT6
                 H A63              H JT94
                 D QJ8642           D K5
                 C A73              C QT4
                           S K85
                           H KQ52
                           D T
                           C KJ985

     At both tables, East played 3NT after South had opened
with a natural club bid. The Lebanese South led a club and
Zmudzinski won in hand and played the DK. North won and the
clubs were cleared and when the diamonds did not break
declarer was a trick short. The club lead, which gave a
trick, had proved effective.
     At the other table, Lasocki led the HK. This had the
effect of removing an entry from dummy, making establishing
the diamonds a problem. Pierre Chidiac won, led a diamond
to the king and a second diamond. South threw a heart and
North won to lead a club for the ten and jack. Chidiac
allowed the CJ to hold so Lasocki exited with queen and
another heart. This removed declarer s entry to his
potential spade tricks.
     Chidiac cashed his heart trick, South pitching a club
and dummy a diamond. Now declarer led a low spade from
hand. If South won, he would have to lead a black card to
give declarer nine tricks so, correctly, Lasocki let
dummy's queen win.
     The lead was now with dummy and declarer could afford
to lose only one more trick. Chidiac cashed the DJ and what
could Lasocki throw? If a club, declarer exits with ace and
another club and he must lead into the spade tenace. So
Lasocki tried a spade. After all, East appeared to have no
entry. But now Chidiac cashed CA and exited with a diamond
to North who had nothing left to return but spades and the
ace dropped South s king!
**********************************************************
                 The British Premier League

     Finally, in 1995, Great Britain joined the 20th
century by following many other European countries in
introducing a national league. The intention had been to
run one eight-team league in the first year but, such was
the interest, that two divisions of eight teams each were
formed and almost all the top players took part.
     Each league consisted of seven 48 board matches,
scored on the normal WBF VP scale. To overcome geographical
problems, the matches were played over three weekends, the
first two of two matches each, the last of three matches.
As it transpired, the draw worked out rather well. These
were the leading positions going into the final weekend:

1. HACKETT (P, J+J Hackett, I.Monachan, A.Forrester,
             A.Robson)                             73   VPs
2. SOWTER  (A.Sowter, D.Kendrick, R.Smolski, S.Ray,
             B.Senior, R.Sheehan)                  72.5 VPs
3. ROSEN   (N.Rosen, P.King, G+S Tredinnick,
             G.Calderwood, R.Shek)                 70.5 VPs

     Then came a gap of 13.5 Vps to three teams tied for
fourth place.  On the final weekend, the leading three
teams all had to meet each other and all had to meet the
bottom placed team, CASEY. While one of the teams bunched
in fourth place could come through, it was likely that the
winners would come from the top three.
     In Round 5, HACKETT came from behind to beat ROSEN 16-
14 while SOWTER defeated CASEY 21-9 after looking like
getting the maximum with one set to go.  Round 6 saw ROSEN
trail all the way against CASEY but win a big last set to
come through 18-12, not really enough.
     Meanwhile, SOWTER led HACKETT by 36 at the half but
Forrester/Robson had a big third set to pull it back to
only five down with a set to play. After the fourth
quarter, both Forrester/ Robson and Senior/Sheehan came out
smiling, which of course meant that little had changed.
SOWTER held on to win by 16-14 which meant they would go
into the last day 6.5 VPs clear of HACKETT and 7 VPs clear
of ROSEN.
     While Senior/Sheehan may have come out of the final
set smiling, they were certainly not doing so after this
earlier board against Forrester/Robson.
              Board 7. Game All. Dealer South.

                            S AQ543
                            H T87
                            D 6
                            C AKT8
                 S KJ762              S --
                 H QJ9543             H K6
                 D T                  D QJ942
                 C 2                  C 976543
                            S T98
                            H A2
                            D AK8753
                            C QJ

            WEST      NORTH     EAST       SOUTH
         Forrester    Senior    Robson    Sheehan
                                             1D
             3H        3S        5H         Pass
            Pass       6C       Pass         6S
          All Pass

     Had North/South chosen to double 5H, they would still
be taking tricks today, but it was tough to visualize the
actual layout. Sheehan felt that he had a reasonable hand
for his opening with some spade tolerance, so made a
forcing pass, and now Senior just assumed he was facing
heart shortage. Somebody clearly did too much and Senior
was three down;  300.
     How big a disaster would that be? At the other table,
Monachan opened 1NT as South and eventually played 4S after
West had passed throughout but East had shown a minor two-
suiter. Smolski (West) led the HQ and Monachan won the ace,
cashed a club, and played the S10. Smolski covered and
Monachan finessed, getting the bad news. Now he tried to
come back to hand with a second club but Smolski ruffed and
led a heart to Ray s king. Back came another club. If
declarer ruffed, West would discard and later make two more
trump tricks; if declarer discarded, West would ruff and
lead the HJ, again creating a third heart trick. One down
meant only 5 IMPs to HACKETT.
     Fortunes ebbed and flowed in the final round. HACKETT
jumped out to a 20 IMP lead against CASEY while ROSEN led
SOWTER by 15, but SOWTER promptly came back to lead by 6
IMPs at the half while HACKETT only added another 2 IMPs to
their lead. But HACKETT regained pole position in set three
when they extended their lead to 44 while SOWTER lost all
the ground gained in the previous set and again trailed by
15 IMPs. If the merry-go-round were to stop now, HACKETT
would win the league by 0.5 VP.
     First to finish the final set were HACKETT and CASEY.
Nicola Smith and Pat Davies had had a good set against
Forrester/Robson and CASEY pulled back 11 IMPs, leaving
HACKETT with a 19-11 win.  SOWTER could afford to drop 5
IMPs and still come out on top, while ROSEN had a chance if
they could tack on another 21.
     Senior/Sheehan didn't have any particularly bad
boards, just none where there seemed any chance to gain and
came out feeling gloomy. As it turned out, this was the
critical decision. Vulnerable against not you hold: S T53 H
AK D A9753 C T93 and hear 1S from partner, only promising
four, 3H weak on your right.
     King had a co-operative double available, more penalty
than takeout, while Senior s was basically takeout. King
chose to bid 3NT and found he had only eight tricks
opposite "S A9862 H 73 D T C AQ864". Senior doubled and
converted Sheehan's 4C response to 4S. With both black
suits breaking and the CK onside, that was +620 and 12
crucial IMPs.
    SOWTER drew the last set,  leaving ROSEN victors by 17-
13 VPs. But, more importantly, SOWTER had retaken the lead
at just the right moment to win the first British Premier
League by 0.5 VP from HACKETT with ROSEN a further 2.5 VPs
behind in third. Fourth, after a good final weekend, were
LIGGINS( G.Liggins, A.Dyson, S.Lodge, P.Crouch).
    Their win means that the SOWTER team will represent
Britain in the European Union Championships in Ostend next
April. Meanwhile, the second season of the Premier League
begins in December.
*********************************************************
                      Team Rosters
                   31st Bermuda Bowl
                     Group W  Z=Zone

Argentina     Z3, Pablo Lambardi (pc), Martin Monsegur,
                  Carlos Lucena, Guillermo Mooney, Ernesto
                  Muzzio, Marcelo Villegas

Australia     Z7, Peter Smith (npc), Hugh Grosvenor, Phil
                  Gue, John Roberts, Matthew Thomson,
                  George Kozakos, Paul Marston

France        Z1, Jean-Paul Meyer (npc), Paul Chemla,
                  Michel Perron, Robert Reiplinger,
                  Philippe Soulet, Michel Lebel,
                  Philippe Cronier

Indonesia     Z6, Yasin Widjadja (npc), Henky Lasut, Eddy
                  Manoppo, Denny Sakul, Franky Karwur,
                  S. Panelewen, G. Watulingas

Netherlands   Z1, Jaap Trouwborst (npc), Enri Leufkens,
                  Berry Westra, Jan Westerhof, Piet Jansen,
                  Anton Maas, Erik Kirchhoff

South Africa  Z4, Maurice Joffe (npc), Tim Cope, Henry
                  Mansell, Chris Convery, Craig Gower, Leon
                  Boolkin, Bernard Donde

USA I         Z2, Jimmy Cayne (pc), Chuck Burger, Mark
                  Lair, Mike Passell, Paul Soloway,
                  Bobby Goldman

Venezuela     Z5, Christian Blohm (npc), Steve Hamaoui,
                  Claudio Caponi, Paolo Pasquini, Alejandro
                  Bianchedi, Mario Onorati, Franco Gusso

---------------------------------------------------------
                            Group E

Brazil        Z3, Paulo Brum de Barros (npc), Christiano
                  Fonseca, Gabriel Chagas, Roberto de
                  Mello, Marcelo Branco

Canada        Z2, Irving Litvack (npc), Fed Gitelman,
                  George Mittelman, Eric Kokish, Joey
                  Silver, Mark Molson, Boris Baran

China         Z6, Kaijian Pan (npc), Zhong Fu, Xiaojing
                  Wang, Rongchang Chen, Zijian Shao, Ji
                  Hong Hu, Hongjun Xu

Colombia      Z5, Giorgio Helmsdorff (npc), Jaime Carrera,
                  Jorge Andres Barrera, Jorge Barrera,
                  Anton Cahn-Speyer, J.M. Nunez,
                  A. Robledo

Egypt         Z4, Abdel Aziz El-Shafie (npc), Walid
                  El-Ahmady, Ashraf Sadek, Samih Khalil,
                  Hassan Adel Aly, Samir Salib Beshara,
                  Michel Doche

Italy         Z1, Carlo Mosca (npc), Andrea Buratti,
                  Massimo Lanzarotti, Lorenzo Lauria,
                  Maurizio Pataccini, Antonio Sementa,
                  Alfredo Versace

Sweden        Z1, Tommy Gullberg (npc), Anders Morath, Sven
                  Ake Bjerregard, Johan Bennet, Anders
                  Wirgren, Mats Nilsland, Bjorn Fallenius

USA II        Z2, Edgar Kaplan (npc), Nick Nickell, Richard
                  Freeman, Bob Hamman, Bobby Wolff, Jeff
                  Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell

*******************************************************

                          10th Venice Cup
                             Group W

Brazil        Z3, Ernesto d'Orsi (npc), Agota Mandelot,
                  Elisabeth Murtinho, Lia Cintra, Lucia
                  Gil, Heloisa Nogueira, Sylvia de Mello

Canada        Z2, Michael Roche (npc), Gloria Silverman,
                  Roisin O'Hara, Joan Eaton, Barbara
                  Clinton, Mary Paul, Katie Thorpe

China         Z6, Houzou Tang (npc), Ming Sun, Yi Lan
                  Zhang, Yi Quian Liu, Hong Li Wang,
                  Ling Gu, Li Ping Wang

Colombia      Z5, G. Helmsdorff (npc), Flor Macias, Clara
                  Benedetti, Ana de Soto, B. Angel, S.
                  Barrera, V. Cahn-Speyer

Germany       Z1, Klaus Reps (npc), Sabine Zenkel Auken,
                  Marianne Moegel, Karin Caesar, Beate
                  Nehmert, Andrea Rauschield, Daniela
                  von Arnim

Israel        Z1, Zvi Ben Tovim (npc), Migri Tzur Albu,
                  Ruth Porat Levy, Hanita Melech, Nurit
                  Naveh, Neta Saxon, Ora Dan

South Africa  Z4, Di Adrain (npc), Merle Modlin, Petra
                  Mansell, Ruth Kaplan, Ghita Livingstone,
                  Bella Axelrod, Ursula Hammerschlag

USA I         Z2, Steve Sandborn (npc), Karen McCallum,
                  Kitty Munson, Rozanne Pollack, Carol
                  Simon, Sue Picus, Kerri Sandborn

-------------------------------------------------------

                             Group E

Australia     Z7, Julia Hoffman (npc), Lydia Beech,
                  Margaret Bourke, Alida Clark, Sue Lusk,
                  Felicity Beale, Diana Smart

Argentina     Z3, Marta Tiscornia (pc), Marta Matienzo,
                  Matilde Espiasse, Ana Castro, Engelica
                  Hernandez, Ana Blum

France        Z1, Max Coppolani (npc), Veronique Bessis,
                  Catherine Saul, Sylvie Willard, Benedicte
                  Cronier, Claude Blouquit, Colette Lise

Great Britain Z1, Tony Priday (npc), Sandra Landy, Sandra
                  Penfold, E. McGowan, Heather Dhondy,
                  Walker Abbey

India         Z4, Vinay Desai (npc), Rita Choksi, Kamala
                  Sattanathan, Jeroo Mango, Marianne
                  Karmakan, Yvette Singapuri

Japan         Z6, Akio Kurokawa (npc), Etsuko Miyaishi,
                  Kyoko Shimamura, Kazuko Banno, Mizuko
                  Tan, Shoko Fukuda, Zenko Shimada

USA II        Z2  Phillip Alder (npc), Mildred Breed,
                  Amalya Kearse, Jacqui Mitchell, Jo Morse,
                  Joyce Lilie, Tobi Deutsch

Venezuela     Z5, Fida Hirshaut (pc), Ivy Smith, Alexandra
                  Pointkowski, M. Pacheco, A. Myakuni,
                  E. Solar
********************************************************
                 Beijing Schedule

October  8th, Opening Ceremony 8pm
October  9th - 12th Round Robin 2 x 7 x 20 boards
                    10am, 2pm, 5:30pm
October 13th   10am  2pm
October 14th - 15th  Quarter-finals
October 16th - 17th  Semi-finals
October 18th - 20th  Finals

Venice  Cup ends October 19th
Bermuda Cup ends October 20th
October 20th, Victory Banquet 8:30pm

Each group will take part in a double round robin,
with the top four in each advancing to the KO phase.

********************************************************
               Malboro  Bermuda Bowl
         Group W                  Group E

Round 1
Indonesia    V  France       |  Sweden    V  Colombia
South Africa V  Venezuela    |  Canada    V  Egypt
Netherlands  V USA I         |  Brazil    V  USA II
Australia    V Argentina     |  China     V  Italy
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 2
South Africa V  Indonesia    |  Canada    V  Sweden
Venezuela    V  France       |  Egypt     V  Colombia
Netherlands  V  Australia    |  China     V  Brazil
Argentina    V  USA I        |  Italy     V  USA II
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 3
Indonesia    V  Venezuela    |  Sweden    V  Egypt
South Africa V  France       |  Canada    V  Colombia
Netherlands  V  Indonesia    |  Brazil    V  Italy
Australia    V  USA I        |  USA II    V  China
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 4
Netherlands  V  Indonesia    |  Sweden    V  Brazil
USA I        V  France       |  USA II    V  Colombia
South Africa V  Argentina    |  Italy     V  Canada
Australia    V  Venezuela    |  China     V  Egypt
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 5
Indonesia    V  USA I        |  Sweden    V  USA II
Netherlands  V  France       |  Brazil    V  Colombia
South Africa V  Australia    |  China     V  Canada
Venezuela    V  Argentina    |  Egypt     V  Italy
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 6
Australia    V  Indonesia    |  China     V  Sweden
Argentina    V  France       |  Italy     V  Colombia
Netherlands  V  South Africa |  Brazil    V  Canada
Venezuela    V  USA I        |  USA II    V  Egypt
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 7
Indonesia    V  Argentina    |  Sweden    V  Italy
France       V  Australia    |  China     V  Colombia
South Africa V  USA I        |  Canada    V  USA II
Netherlands  V  Venezuela    |  Egypt     V  Brazil
**********************************************************

                       Malboro Venice Cup

          Group W                     Group E
Round 1
Germany      V  Colombia     |  Japan     V  Great Britain
Israel       V  USA I        |  USA II    V  Australia
Canada       V  China        |  France    V  Venezuela
South Africa V  Brazil       |  India     V  Argentina
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 2
Israel       V  Germany      |  USA II    V  Great Britain
USA I        V  Colombia     |  Japan     V  Australia
Brazil       V  Canada       |  India     V  Venezuela
South Africa V  China        |  France    V  Argentina
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 3
Germany      V  USA I        |  Australia V  Great Britain
Colombia     V  Israel       |  Japan     V  USA II
South Africa V  Canada       |  Venezuela V  Argentina
China        V  Brazil       |  France    V  India
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 4
Canada       V  Germany      |  Venezuela V  Great Britain
China        V  Colombia     |  France    V  Japan
South Africa V  Israel       |  Argentina V  USA II
Brazil       V  USA I        |  India     V  Australia
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 5
Germany      V  China        |  France    V  Great Britain
Colombia     V  Canada       |  Japan     V  Venezuela
Israel       V  Brazil       |  USA II    V  India
South Africa V  USA II       |  Australia V  Argentina
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 6
Brazil       V  Germany      |  India     V  Great Britain
South Africa V  Colombia     |  Argentina V  Japan
Canada       V  Israel       |  USA II    V  Venezuela
China        V  USA I        |  France    V  Australia
----------------------------------------------------------
Round 7
South Africa V  Germany      |  Argentina V  Great Britain
Brazil       V  Colombia     |  Japan     V  India
Israel       V  China        |  USA II    V  France
USA I        V  Canada       |  Australia V  Venezuela
**********************************************************
