5th Cuban International Bridge Festival

November 19th to 25th, 2005

Havana & Varadero, Cuba

My arrival at the Havana Airport with a Duplimate machine plus boards & cards is always an adventure, and this time was no different. Every customs agent has to have a look, and then I try to explain for what they are being used.

As in previous years, the Frankie Frontaura Show began with the Open Team event at the Hotel Habana Riviera. The night before this main event got underway, Antoine Delcourt & Roger LeClerc from Martinique repeated as winners in the one-session IMP Pairs, heading an 18 pair field. Second place went to Tadayoshi & Takako Nakatani from Japan.

For the first three days, twelve teams participated in the Swiss Qualifying at the Hotel Habana Riviera with the international sextet of FRONTAURA (Frankie Frontaura, Argentina; Enma Castro Ruz, Cuba; Dan Crofts - David Stevenson, England; Corinne Vardon - Denis Frebault, France) leading the pack with 8 wins and 178 VP's. They played nine rounds of 10 board matches (Match Results), with all teams playing the same boards. The Butler Pair Ranking had the Norwegian pair, Helmuth Thomas & Helge Thorsen, leading the pack.

At the end of the first day's play, FRONTAURA had a comfortable lead with 65 VP's. Lying 2nd at 55 VP's was DENMARTINIQUE (the GD & the 3 P's - Lisbeth Grove, Denmark; Jean Yves Dabreteau - Roger Leclerc - Antoine Delcourt, Martinique). Holding down 3rd spot with 54 VP's was NORWAY-1 (Gunnar Gunderson, Torhild Hanssen, Helmuth Thomas, Helge Thorsen). Rounding out the top 4 spots was NORWAY-2 (Helge Maesel, Siri Sandnes, Aase & Ola Biribakken) at 52 VP's. The leaders were being challenged by FITZPATRICK at 50 VP's & CHILE at 46 VP's, and CUBA-1 was not out of it at 44 VP's.

Upon conclusion of the second day, FRONTAURA was still the team to beat with 127 VP's, while NORWAY-1 had moved into 2nd spot with 114 VP's. NORWAY-2 had moved into 3rd at 105 VP's, while the ladies from CHILE (Josefa Garcia, Teresa Elton, Monica Novoa, Michelle Salazar) took the last playoff position with 99 VP's. The GD & the 3 P's were still in contention at 92 VP's, and being pushed by FITZPATRICK at 91 VP's and JAPAN at 89 VP's.

On the third and final day of qualifying, the last match produced some surprising results and changes in the standings. Prior to the final round, FRONTAURA led with 161, NORWAY-1 was 2nd at 151, CHILE a solid 3rd at 141, and NORWAY-2 at 136. FITZPATRICK was still in the hunt at 134, while the GD & the 3 P's hung around at 128.

The last match saw both FITZPATRICK (13-17) and CHILE (11-19) suffer minor losses, while the GD & the 3 P's blitzed (25-4) to sneak into the 4th and final playoff spot.

On Wednesday morning, the Playoffs began with four teams in the Open Semifinals. FRONTAURA chose DENMARTINIQUE as their semifinal opponent and rode their carryover to a 48½ to 33 IMP victory and a spot in the final. The other semifinal was an all Norway affair, with NORWAY-1 making a big second half surge to take a 62 to 33 IMP win over NORWAY-2. The final was a close fought affair with FRONTAURA taking the title, 54 to 44 IMPs over NORWAY-1.

Also on Wednesday, the First Session of the Open Pairs saw nineteen pairs participating at the Hotel Sol Palmeras, with Antoine Delcourt & Roger Leclerc from Martinique leading the field with 67.70%.

Thursday, with the addition of the Open Team finalists, the Second Session of the Open Pairs was played. After Two Sessions of the Open Pairs, the leaders were Aase & Ola Biribakken from Norway with 59.18%. Close on their heels were Argentinian Frankie Frontaura and Fidel Castro's sister, Enma Castro Ruz at 57.77%.

The Third Session of the Open Pairs was played on Friday, and the Open Pairs - Final Overall saw the first round leaders from Martinique, Roger Leclerc & Antoine Delcourt post a narrow victory with 57.57%. In 2nd place overall, Frontaura/Castro scored 57.23%. Meanwhile, Norwegians Gunderson/Hanssen had to settle for 3rd with 57.20%. Not much room for error in the top three spots!

Besides the Masterpoint Winners, you can have a look at the hands played as well.

For those with a touch of Spanish, here are the two articles that were published in the local newspaper, La Granma. Article #1 Article #2

For some photos, check out this link.