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A majority of bridge historians mentioned that the game was first played by English soldiers and diplomats in Istanbul during Kirim War in 1850’s. They also argue that the source of the name is Galata Bridge of Istanbul. In 1964 Turkish Bridge Federation was founded in Istanbul and the game became very popular in the following decades. After some bridge festivals in Beirut, Garozzo and Belladonna visited Istanbul on their way to Italy and the game became more popular.
In 1970’s Turkey started to attend international events with National Teams. In 1997 bridge is officially accepted as a sport by The Turkish Ministry of Youth and Sport.
There are more than 12.000 registered bridge players and 280 clubs in Turkey. Also 18 universities have bridge classes and clubs. Turkey is attending all major international events.
There are 3 major annual teams events:
-Winter Teams Championship.
-Open Teams Championship, organised in Antalya in May, attended by some international pros such as Versace and Lauria.
-Turkish Clubs Championship.
Moreover, 2 major pairs events are held in Turkey:
-Turkish Republic Cup, organised at the end of October in Istanbul.
-Open Pairs Championship in Antalya.
Every year the Turkish Bridge Federation holds an international bridge festival in Mersin, which has been going on for more than 25 years. Each year teams and pairs from more than 10 countries take part. Dano de falco, P.O. Sundelin, Paul Hackett, and Victor Aronov are amongst the regular participants.
Turkish teams and pairs achieved great results in the following competitions: Blue Ribbon Pairs Championships, Wold IMP Pairs Championships, European Mixed Pairs Championships, European Senior Teams Championships, European “Open” Women Teams Championships*, World Mind Sports Games Women Teams 4 th place, World Mind Sport games Individual Youth and Pairs Championship.
Turkey is well known in the bridge world and our Federation was congratulated by World Bridge Federation (WBF) and European Bridge League (EBL) on the successful organization of World Youth Championships, European Open Championships.
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*In the picture the 2011 winning European “Open” Women Team: Mine Babac, Lale Gumrukcuoglu, Serap Kuranoglu, Dilek Yavas.
Contributed by Erhan Yamut – Co-produced by Neapolitan Club and BBOTurkiye
November 7, 2012
Erhan YAMUT worked as bridge instructor in the universities in Turkey. He trained national youth team, and performed as npc for the national youth team. Erhan is a more than once national champion and also a national director. He is the author of bridge book “Ince ayar”. He also wrote some bridge notes which are followed by some universities in Turkey. He is still a professional bridge player. His BBO nickname is eyamut.