History of the World Computer-Bridge Championship

In 1996 the American Contract Bridge League established an official World Computer-Bridge Championship, to be run annually at a international bridge event.  The first annual championship was held in 1997, at the ACBL's Albuquerque summer NABC.  Following championships have been held at ACBL NABCs, World Bridge Federation World Championships, and the first European Bridge Federation Open Championship.

The 1^st Championship, sponsored by Baron Barclay Bridge Supplies, was held in Albuquerque, NM, at the ACBL's 1997 summer North American Bridge Championship.  The inaugural World Computer-Bridge Championship was won by Bridge Baron, with Q-Plus Bridge second. Information and results

The 2^nd Championship, sponsored by Baron Barclay Bridge Supplies and OKbridge, was held in Chicago, IL, at the ACBL's 1998 summer NABC.  The champion was won by GIB, with Q-Plus Bridge second.  Information and results

The 3^rd Championship, sponsored by Orbis Investments, was held in Bermuda at the WBF's 1999 Bermuda Bowl/Venice Cup (January 2000).  GIB repeated as champion, with Wbridge5 second. Information and results

The 4^th Championship, sponsored by Microsoft Network Gaming Zone, was help in Maastricht, the Netherlands, at the WBF's 2000 Bridge Olympiad.  Meadowlark Bridge was crowned champion, defeating Q-Plus Bridge by 2 IMPs in the finals.  ICGAJ, Dec. 2000

The 5^th Championship, sponsored by FunBridge.com, was held in Toronto, ON, at the ACBL's 2001 summer NABC.  The championship was won by Jack, defeating Micro Bridge in the finals.ICGAJ Dec. 2001  GreatBridgeLinks  photos

The 6^th Championship was held in Montreal at the WBF's 2002 World Bridge Championships.  Jack repeated as champion, defeating Wbridge5 by 1 IMP in the finals.  ICGAJ article Jack Retains Title  some good deals  photos

The 7^th Championship, was held in Menton at the 2003 European Bridge League's first Open Championship. Jack was crowned champion for the third year in a row, defeating Bridge Baron in the finals.  The Great BridgeSoftware Promotional   Results photos from Swan  Lead Article in the October issue of BridgeToday.com  ICGAJ article  NY Times Bridge Column photos from Swan  Lead Article in the October issue of BridgeToday.com  ICGAJ article  NY Times Bridge Column  photos from Swan

The 8^th Championship, was held in New York City at the ACBL's 2004 summer NABC.  Jack was crowned for the fourth year in a row, defeating Bridge Baron in the finals for the second year in a row. Info and results  Photos  NABC Daily Bulletin stories  New York Times column  8 entries and their websites  ICGAJ article  Conditions of Contest

The 9^th Championship, was held in Estoril, Portugal, at the WBF's 2005 World Team Championships  The 2005 Championship was dedicated to Alan Truscott, who inspired the creation of the World Computer-Bridge Championships.  Wbridge5 was crowned champion, defeating Jack in the final KO to unseat the 4-time defending world champion.  results  Robots and their websites  ICGAJ  article

The 10^th Championship, was held in Verona, Italy, at the WBF's 2006 12th Open Pairs and 8th Rosenblum Teams - World Bridge Championship  Jack regained the championship, defeated Micro Bridge in the final KO match  results  ICGAJ article  Robots and their websites

The 11^th Championship, was held in Shanghai, China, at the WBF's 2007 Bermuda Bowl/Venice Cup/Senior Bowl  WBridge5 regained the championship, defeated Bridge Baron in the final KO match.  2007 entered Robots  and  Results Photos New York Times bridge column 10/25/07,  ICGAJ article

The 12^th Championship, was held in Las Vegas, at the ACBL's 2008, Wbridge5 repeated as champion, defeated Jack in the final KO match.  entered Robots  Info and Results  ICGAJ article  Photos

The 13^th Championship, was held in Washington, D.C., at the ACBL's 2009 summer NABC Jack was crowned champion, defeated two-time defending champion Wbridge5 in the final KO match.  entered robots  Results  Photos  New York Times bridge columns by Phillip Alder  Sept. 24, 2009  easier reading  Sept. 26, 2009  easier reading  Sept. 27, 2009  ICGAJ article Information and results

The 14^th Championship, was help in Philadelphia, PA., at the WBF's 2010 World Bridge Series Championship. Jack retained the championship, defeating WBridge5 in the final KO match. entered Robots Info and results ICGAJ article NY Times 11/12/10 column

The 15^th Championship was help in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, at the WBF's 2011 40^th World Team Championship.  Shark Bridge was crowned the champion, defeating Q-Plus Bridge in the final KO and breaking the ten year reign of Jack and Wbridge5. Results including play records of KO matches  Entries  ICGAJ article New York Times, Phillip Alder, editor, 11/11/11 11/13/11  11/16/11 

The 16^th Championship was held in Lille, France, at the WBF's 14th World Bridge Games, part of the 2nd World Mind Sport Games  Jack was crowned champion, defeated WBridge5 in the final KO.  Information, Entries and Results along with the play of all semifinal and final matches ACBL Bridge Bulletin November, 2012 issue ICGAJ article

The 17th Championship was held in Bali, Indonesia, at the WBF's 41st World Teams Championships.  In a repeat of last year's final KO, Jack defeated WBridge5 to retain the crown.  Entries Results  Photos  Write-up,  Final KO full play and "some swing boards"

The 18th Championship, sponsored by OurGame, was help at the WBF's 14th Red Bull World Bridge Series, Sanya, China (October 10-25, 2014).  Shark Bridge narrowly defeated Micro Bridge  Entries  Results (including all play records and analysis of selected deals)  Some interesting deals:  ACBL article  Bridge World Bridge World strip squeeze  defense  youtube interview video

The 19th Championship was held in Chicago, at the ACBL's summer NABC.  Jack was crowned champion, defeating Wbridge5 in the final KO, 165-148.  Entries (Robot information and Conditions of Contest) and Results (contains play records of all deals). Bridge World, July 2015  Bridge World, May 2016

The 20th Ourgame World Computer-Bridge Championship was held September 10-15, 2016 at the WBF's 2016 World Bridge Games, Wroclaw, Poland Entries (robot information) Results (round robin scores and play records of semifinals and final KO) For writeups and analysis go to 2016 Robot Championship

The 21^st World Computer-Bridge Championship, August 19-24, 2017 at the WBF's 2017 43rd World Bridge Teams Championships, Lyon, France
tournament results, articles photos and more

Conditions of Contest as of 2004 and forward

Other computer-bridge websites and information of interest

explore the world of bridge on the Internet  Best bridge links webpage: see ROBOT PLAY section

History of Computer-Bridge from BridgeGuys.com
Wbridge5: Bridge-Now.com; G�rd Joyez bridgez robot website

pre-1997 history and list of computer-bridge programs