World Open Pairs Championship
# World Open Pairs Championship

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.

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 | Medalists |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1962 Cannes, France | | 1. | Pierre Jaïs | Roger Trézel |
| 1962 Cannes, France | | 2. | Terence Reese | Boris Schapiro |
| 1962 Cannes, France | | 3. | René Bacherich | Pierre Ghestem |
| 1966 Amsterdam, Netherlands | | 1. | Hans Kreijns | Bob Slavenburg |
| 1966 Amsterdam, Netherlands | | 2. | John Fisher | Jim Jacoby |
| 1966 Amsterdam, Netherlands | | 3. | B. Jay Becker | Dorothy Hayden |
| 1970 Stockholm, Sweden | | 1. | Fritz Babsch | Peter Manhardt |
| 1970 Stockholm, Sweden | | 2. | Benito Garozzo | Federico Mayer |
| 1970 Stockholm, Sweden | | 3. | William Saulino | Italo Zanasi |
| 1974 Las Palmas, Spain | | 1. | Bob Hamman | Bobby Wolff |
| 1974 Las Palmas, Spain | | 2. | Adriano Abate | Leandro Burgay |
| 1974 Las Palmas, Spain | | 3. | Federico De Paula | Italo Zanasi |
| 1978 New Orleans, USA | | 1. | Marcelo Branco | Gabino Cintra |
| 1978 New Orleans, USA | | 2. | Eric Kokish | Peter Nagy |
| 1978 New Orleans, USA | | 3. | Roger Bates | John Mohan |
| 1982 Biarritz, France | | 1. | Chip Martel | Lew Stansby |
| 1982 Biarritz, France | | 2. | Anton Maas | Max Rebattu |
| 1982 Biarritz, France | | 3. | Gabriel Chagas | Roberto Mello |
| 1986 Miami Beach, USA | | 1. | Jeff Meckstroth | Eric Rodwell |
| 1986 Miami Beach, USA | | 2. | Heinrich Berger | Wolfgang Meinl |
| 1986 Miami Beach, USA | | 3. | Steve Burgess | Paul Marston |
| 1990 Geneva, Switzerland | | 1. | Marcelo Branco | Gabriel Chagas |
| 1990 Geneva, Switzerland | | 2. | Ralph Katz | Peter Nagy |
| 1990 Geneva, Switzerland | | 3. | Cezary Balicki | Adam Żmudziński |
| 1994 Albuquerque, USA | | 1. | Marcin Leśniewski | Marek Szymanowski |
| 1994 Albuquerque, USA | | 2. | Bob Hamman | Michael Rosenberg |
| 1994 Albuquerque, USA | | 3. | Eric Kirchhoff | Anton Maas |
| 1998 Lille, France | | 1. | Michał Kwiecień | Jacek Pszczoła |
| 1998 Lille, France | | 2. | David Berkowitz | Larry N. Cohen |
| 1998 Lille, France | | 3. | Peter Fredin | Magnus Lindkvist |
| 2002 Montreal, Canada | 327 | 1. | Fulvio Fantoni | Claudio Nunes |
| 2002 Montreal, Canada | | 2. | Zia Mahmood | Michael Rosenberg |
| 2002 Montreal, Canada | | 3. | Diego Brenner | Gabriel Chagas |
| 2006 Verona, Italy | 392 | 1. | FU Zhong | ZHAO Jie (Jack Zhao) |
| 2006 Verona, Italy | | 2. | Bobby Levin | Steve Weinstein |
| 2006 Verona, Italy | | 3. | Fulvio Fantoni | Claudio Nunes |
| 2010 Philadelphia, USA | 313 | 1. | Bobby Levin | Steve Weinstein |
| 2010 Philadelphia, USA | | 2. | Björn Fallenius | Peter Fredin |
| 2010 Philadelphia, USA | | 3. | Josef Piekarek | Alexander Smirnov |
| 2014 Sanya, China | 200 | 1. | Ehud Friedlander | Inon Liran |
| 2014 Sanya, China | | 2. | Jacek Kalita | Michał Nowosadzki |
| 2014 Sanya, China | | 3. | Thomas Bessis | Cédric Lorenzini |
