THIRD TRANSATLANTIC CHALLENGE MATCH
The third match for the prestigious Warren Buffett Cup is eagerly awaited in Wales on September 13th to the 16th.
THE 2008 MATCH
Twelve of Europe’s top bridge players started play on September 15th 2008 against a team of twelve top professionals from North America for the prestigious cup. The event, first competed for in 2006, is held every two years in the same week as the golfing Ryder Cup, on which the competition has been modelled.
The event consists of a series of head-to head matches, with players in the two teams competing in a variety of different combinations – as teams of four, as pairs, and as individuals. The winners of each head-to-head match collect points for their team and the team with the highest overall points score is declared the winner of the trophy.
The Americans were again led by Bob Hamman, for many years the world’s undisputed No 1 player. The European team was also strong, although missing on this occasion representatives from Italy, due to a clash of dates with a national event. As in the Ryder Cup, none of the players are paid to participate in the event, which has quickly established itself as the Blue Riband of the professional bridge world.
The trophy awarded to the winning team is named after Warren Buffett, a keen amateur bridge player, who is widely regarded as the world’s most successful professional investor. An investor who subscribed $10,000 in his original investment partnership in 1957 would today have a shareholding in Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway worth more than $400 million. He said: “This competition is unique and I am delighted to support it”.
The matches are shown live at the venue on viewgraph, with a team of expert commentators. Most of the matches are shown live online at www.bridgebaseonline.com so spectators can watch the matches as they take place. Patrick Jourdain, an experienced British international and bridge author, produced the 2008 daily bulletins with an Internet edition.
For further information, please contact the Team Captains:
Europe: Paul Hackett (paul.h@ukonline.co.uk)
North America: Donna Compton (cdmra@mindspring.com).