1st INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE MEETING

VARADERO, CUBA

HOTEL SOL PALMERAS

September 9-15, 2001

Bridge in Cuba - an interesting concept, considering that playing cards had been banned since the revolution. However, due to the tireless efforts of Frankie Frontaura of Argentina, not only did the event happen but it was also published in the official paper of the Cuban government - the Granma, available on the web at http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu. The article appeared in the September 9th edition and more is expected this week with the results.

With a little fear and trepidation, I packed up the duplicating machine with the boards & cards and boarded the flight for Havana. Upon arrival, things proceeded normally until I met Frankie just before passing through Customs. Here we ran into the inevitable bureaucracy, and despite letters from the Sol Melia and tons of other documentation, we had to leave the boards & cards with Customs and return the next day to retrieve them.

Over the next few days, we toured the city and met with various officials before heading off to Varadero on Friday. The Sol Melia people looked after all of our needs and the games began with a Welcoming Pairs event on Sunday night. This IMP pairs event was won by a former Jamaican resident now living in Canada, Milton Durrant, playing with my fellow TD from Uruguay, Gustavo Chediak.

On Monday, the Round Robin Teams began with a few surprises. There was a limited number of teams due to the concern of people with the US ban on tourism in Cuba while on the other hand, there was a Cuban pair participating. Miguel Espino and Ulises Pina performed very well, finishing fifth in the Butler Ranking of pairs playing in the teams. This was my first effort in producing these statistics and will be a permanent feature in future CACBF championships. In the end, the pre-tournament favourites from England were crowned champions - Paul Hackett and his sons, Jason & Justin, along with Brigitte Mavromichalis and Brian Senior. They finished first in the Round Robin and easily disposed of their Venezuelan/Paraguayan opponents in the final.

With many players leaving Varadero early, the Open Pairs was reduced to two sessions. In the Open Pairs - 1st Session, Colombians Beatriz Angel and Jaime Carrera continued their winning ways (they topped the Butler Ranking in the teams).

The finalists from the teams entered into the Open Pairs - 2nd Session with a 1st session score that placed them between 3rd and 4th place. Brian Senior and newly married Justin Hackett demonstrated that it was all they needed to overtake the leaders as they chalked up a fine 68.75% game to win the Open Pairs - Final Overall. Following close on their heels were Guiseppe (Pino) Marengo from Ecuador and Gustavo Chediak. Third went to Lillian & Ugo Morganti from Venezuela while 1st session winners Angel/Carrera held on for fourth.

Friday night we all got together for prize giving and a fine meal before everyone returned home to promote this wonderful event for next year. SEE YOU ALL THEN !!!!!