The 2009 World Bridge Championships, comprising the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, d'Orsi Senior Bowl and Transnational Open Teams com-pe-ti-tions, will take place in São Paulo, Brazil, 29 August to 12 September 2009.

NEWS:

Monday, August 31 - There's rumour the internet connectivity in Brazil is causing problems for organizers. There are no bulletins yet, but the results are up.

World Blogging Site - the people at bridgeblogging.com have gathered an impressive list of journalists and players blogging from the championships on this page world.bridgeblogging.com

Running Scores - see it all on one page, updated live. Very cool contribution from Swan Games. SWAN's MAGIC

The Bermuda Bowl is the symbol of world supremacy at bridge. It is awarded to the winner of the open teams competition between the rep-re-sen-ta-tives of the WBF geographical zones. Since its inauguration in 1950, the competition has been played 38 times. So far, the United States of America were victorious 17 times, while their European rival, Italy, prevailed 14 times. The other titles were won by France (twice), Great Britain, Brazil, Iceland, The Netherlands and Norway, who are the current title holders.

The Venice Cup is awarded to the winner of the zonal competition for women players. It was established in 1974 and so far, only four countries have won it. The reigning champions, the United States of America, lead the race with 10 titles, while Europe follows with six successes achieved by Great Britain (twice), Germany (twice), The Netherlands and France.

The Senior Bowl is a new competition for senior players (59 years of age or older) as from this year competing for the trophy presented by Ernesto d'Orsi, a former WBF president. Representative teams from all zones are invited to participate. So far, the only winners of the competition so far have been the United States of America. They won the inaugural event, in 2001 in Paris, France; in 2003, in Monte Carlo, Monaco; in 2005, in Estoril, Portugal and in 2007, in Shanghai, China.

The World Transnational Open Teams Championship came into being in 1997 in Hammamet, Tunisia. It is contested by teams nominated by the NBOs without nationality or other restrictions. The first winners were the team led by Leandro Burgay of Italy, while the last event held in Shanghai, China 2007, was won by the Zimmermann team, comprising two French, two Italian and a player from Switzerland.

This text found on the official World Team Championships webpage Click Here