A large delegation of overseas players is on hand for Israel’s oldest and still largest major tournament, the 49th annual Israel Bridge Festival that begins on Saturday at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds. Visitors include top teams from Poland, Bulgaria, France, Switzerland, Finland and the United States.
The guests will face tough competition this year from the Israeli internationals who have had their country’s best year ever on the world bridge scene: European and World Mind Games champions Ilan and Ophir Herbst, Alon Birman-Dror Padon and Ron Schwartz-Lotan Fisher (Fisher-Schwartz were also on the Richie Schwartz team that won last year’s Riesinger and Spingold championships in the United States); Inon Liran–Ehud (Udi) Friedlander, winners of the Pairs at the World Bridge Championships in Sanya, China; and sisters Noga and Dana Tal, winners of the Women’s Cavendish Pairs in Monaco.
Competition begins on Saturday with a two-session IMP Pairs, followed by a Mixed Pairs on Sunday and Monday’s Board-A-Match teams. The focus of the tournament (and the largest fields), however, begins Tuesday through Thursday with the preliminary and finals of the Open Teams and of the Open Pairs.
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Hanan Sher