Table of Contents Page Opening ceremony impressive, Now it's time to do battle 1 Round 1: Turkey v Bulgaria - Open Oroup B 2 Cover An Honour With An Honour? 3 The Right Jack 4 Round 1: France v Chinese Taipei – Seniors 5
Mehmet Ali Sahin, deputy Prime Minister, José Damiani and Ata Aydin, president of the Turkish Bridge Federation

The pageantry of the opening ceremonies of the 12th World Bridge Olympiad is over and competitors have settled in for the marathon that is the round-robin.

A record 73 countries are represented in the three series now under way: the Open and Women’s in the Olympiad and the Senior Bowl.

At Saturday night’s opening ceremonies, WBF President Jose Damiani told a huge crowd that “it is clearly symbolic to be here in Istanbul, Turkey, where we are in the gateway between different civilizations, astride two different continents. . .”

The WBF president did not forget the sponsors of the record-setting Olympiad, namely Mustafa Koc, chairman of the Koc Group, which includes the Koc Bank and Aygaz. Other sponsors are Turkcell and Generali.

Damiani also welcomed four countries participating in the World Bridge Olympiad for the first time – Korea in the Women’s series and Bosnia, Georgia and Costa Rica in the Open.

After local volunteers had passed through the auditorium of the Grand Cevahir Hotel bearing flags of each of the nations represented, various dignitaries took turns welcoming the bridge players of the world to Istanbul.

Among them was Turkish Bridge Federation President Ata Aydin, who told the crowd that “bridge unites us all.” He added: “I consider the organization of this event in our country as a milestone towards the worldwide popularity of bridge. And I believe that, with the sport of bridge, we will successfully show to the world the true meaning of getting united.”

Mehmet Ali Sahin, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister, expressed hope that the bridge tournament “will lead to the establishment of new bridges of peace and friendship.” At that, he officially declared the 12th World Bridge Olympiad open.