Women Bridge

Women’s Bridge for Women Who Play Bridge

Bridge has recently been attracting some media interest in relation to mindsport education and gender. BBC Radio Scotland interviewed Professor Samantha Punch from Bridge: A MindSport for All (BAMSA) on 26 February. You can listen to the five minute radio interview here.

BAMSA’s research on gender and bridge has attracted media attention regarding why men outperform women at mindsports. The Conversation is an academic online newspaper which has published this piece and so far has had over 25,000 views.  It discusses the extent to which women-only events are beneficial for a mindsport like bridge or chess because of the gendered inequalities and neurosexism present in the game.

Daily Free Women’s Pairs and Women’s Daylong Reward Launched on Mother’s Day, May 12 2024 on BBO – two new daily games for the women’s bridge community. A free daily 10 board pairs game, starting at 1PM US Eastern (7PM Central European Time). This is a great place to get started and meet other women players in a fun, social game. There’s no cost, and no strings, you just have to show up, have fun and enjoy. Video chat available (optional). Click here for more information

 The 2nd WBF Online Women’s teams take place on January 3-5, 2025, on RealBridge. This follows the successful inaugural WBF Online Women’s teams in February 2024. Read more on the WBF website.

Katherine Wei-Sender, Grand Life Master and winner of four major world women’s bridge titles, passed away peacefully in May in Boca Raton FL. A lovely tribute was printed in the Toronto NABC Daily Bulletin No.2. You can read it here.

Diana Gordon, long-time reigning queen of women’s bridge in Canada, died March 20 after a long and brave struggle with cancer. She was a world champion, many time Canadian champion, and life partner of George Mittelman.  Tributes can be found on Bridge Winners here.

News & Links of Interest

Her Bridge Voice – a new women’s bridge substack is looking for your contributions! View substack here →

Women’s Online Bridge Festivals (WBF and BBO): Website here

European Women’s Bridge Committee has a great Youtube Channel with recordings of live training sessions. Find it here

Women’s Bridge in the European Bridge League which will bring regular updates regarding current and future activities for promoting women to the forefront of International Bridge. View website here

A special edition of the WBF Women’s Newsletter has been published with contributions from and about many of the players and can be viewed here

Lady Milne 2023 – Congratulations to Venetia, Sally, Anne, Nevena, Debbie, Kath and Heather! These six bridge playing women took the lead in the final stages this past weekend, to win the 2023 Lady Milne teams championship for England. Read story on Her Bridge Voice here

Articles on the subject of Women’s Bridge

Bridging Time: How can playing competitive sports or hobbies impact personal relationships? This article explores the experiences of elite bridge players and their negotiations of serious leisure participation and gendered time in the context of intimate relationships. Read full article here →

Women and Equity in the world of bridge – Read article here→

Something missing in the World Bridge Tour – Read article here →

NEWS ARCHIVE

The April 2024 version of the WBF Women’s Newsletter has been published and can be downloaded by clicking here.

Edited by Mary Kelly-Rogers, it has all the information about the WBF Online Women’s Festival to be held on BBO starting on 8th April. Women players worldwide are invited to come and play in the Festival, with new times and more sessions to make it even more attractive, easy to join in and fun to play. Winner is offered free entry to the World  National Women’s Pairs Championship in Buenos Aires, with a partner (affiliated to the same NBO) of her choice.

Information about the online Women’s events can be found on the WBF Women’s site here.

64 teams participated in the first WBF Online Women’s Bridge teams, making it a very enjoyable and successful event. Winners are:

 USA: Susan Zhang(PC), Kerri Sanborn, Sylvia Shi,Jill Meyers

USA: Amy Casanova(PC), Laurie Rowe, Fran White, Christine Denny, Margot Henning

HUNGARY: Orsolya Hegedus(PC), Agnes Zalai, Eszter Tichy, Brigitta Fischer, Villo Szucs, Hanka Lajos, Julia Hegedu

Scores by team here

Join the first ever Transnational European Online Women’s Team Championship, from 7-9 June, 2024 on the RealBridge platform.

Win EBL Master Points, Medals & Monetary Prizes. Updated information in this link: http://Teams.Womenbridge.org

The championship promises not just to be a competition but a celebration of bridge, bringing together the women’s community in a testament to the game’s enduring appeal and adaptability. This event offers a unique opportunity to gain international experience in the global arena. Looking forward to a wonderful event, & may the best team win ~ EBL Women’s Bridge Committee

The World Bridge Federation (WBF) Women’s Committee is excited to announce the inaugural WBF Women’s Teams Online. This event marks a significant milestone in the world of competitive bridge, providing a global platform for women players to showcase their skills without the usual constraints of cost and travel. Read More Here –>

To play in the Festival is an opportunity to network, form partnerships and teams and then compete to the highest level in Bridge. Play against robots or humans in a variety of events. More information here →

Gold – Israel: Adi Asulin, Hila Levi, Adel Petelko, Ziv Tottman, Dana Tal, Noga Tal, Israel Yadlin npc
Silver- Turkiye: Asli Acar, Tuna Elmas, Berrak Erkan, Ozlem Kandolu, irem Ozbay, Hatice Ozgiir
Bronze – China: Huang Yan, Liu Yan, Ran Jing Rong, Yu Xiuting, Zhou Meiling, Zuo Xiaoxue, Wang Yannan npc, Li Xin coach

According to statistician Herman De wael, this is the second World Title for Adi Aslulin and Hila Levi, after the National Women Pairs in 2016. Dana Tal also has a previous World Title, Under-21 teams in 2006. Ozlem Kandolu and Hatice Ozgir win their second consecutive silver medal at a Venice Cup This is the eighth medal for Huang Yan, she was on the Venice Cup-winning team in 2017. Liu Yan (on her fourth world medal) was also on that team.