Blue Team (bridge)

The Blue Team (Italian: "Squadra azzurra") was the team that represented Italy in international bridge tournaments, winning sixteen world titles from 1957 through 1975 [ [http://www.msoworld.com/mindzine/news/bridge/history/eventhistory/bermudabowl.html History of Bermuda Bowls, Mind Sports Organization] ] [ [http://www.worldbridge.org/competitions/worldchampionships/TeamChampionships.asp?qmenuid=20 World Bridge Federation list of World Championships] ] . For the most part, the core of the team was made of pairs Giorgio Belladonna – Walter Avarelli, Benito Garozzo – Pietro Forquet and Camillo Pabis Ticci – Massimo D'Alelio, with Eugenio Chiaradia and Guglielmo Siniscalco playing in early years, and Dano De Falco, Arturo Franco, Vito Pittalà in late years. The spiritual father and long-time coach (non-playing captain) of the team was Carl'Alberto Perroux.

History

The name of the team was apparently derived from Italian team trials in 1956, when the provisionally named "Blue Team" beat the "Red Team". Before that time, Perroux had already started preparations with the aim of winning European championships and ultimately the Bermuda Bowl, dominated by American teams at the time.

The team coached by Perroux managed to win European championships in 1951, 1956 and 1957, but fell short to the US in the 1951 Bermuda Bowl on home ground in Naples. Nonetheless, Perroux did not lose confidence, but continued preparations for what would become the most successful team in bridge history.

The breakthrough ultimately came in 1957, when Italian team beat the U.S. in the Bermuda Bowl final in New York. The team featured Massimo d'Alelio, Walter Avarelli, Giorgio Belladonna, Eugenio Chiaradia, Pietro Forquet, and Guglielmo Siniscalco. That was only a start though – the reign of the Blue Team was to continue for 12 of the following 13 years, broken only by an indifferent result in the 1960 Olympiad.

A large part of the Blue Team's success lay in new and inventive bidding systems, which were often deemed quite strange, especially by conservative US circles. Losing teams sometimes even complained that the Italians had an unfair advantage using bids that were partly incomprehensible to Americans. Belladonna of Rome and his partners played Roman club, a "short club" system, while Neapolitans Forquet and Chiaradia played Neapolitan club, a strong club system. Both systems featured canapé-style openings, and often light opening bids and interventions. When young, inventive and cocky Garozzo joined the team in 1960, he further developed the Neapolitan system into the Blue Club, which gained worldwide popularity in later years.

The string of Blue Team wins lasted until 1969, when the members announced their retirement. The American Dallas Aces team finally regained world titles for the USA in the 1970 and 1971 Bermuda Bowls, when the Blue Team was absent. The Blue Team re-formed and captured the 1972 Olympiad and the 1973 and 1974 Bermuda Bowls, each time defeating the Americans. The original Aces disbanded in 1974, and the Italians again beat the USA team in 1975. In 1976, the Bermuda Bowl was won by the USA and the Olympiad by Brazil, marking the end of the Blue Team's dominance.

Toward the end of their string of victories the Italians changed their lineup; Forquet, Pabis-Ticci and D'Alelio withdrew, while Garozzo and Belladonna paired off, playing a version of C. C. Wei's Precision Club, modified by Garozzo and called "Super Precision". The team was no longer officially called "Blue Team", but they still managed to win. The victory of 1975 was clouded by allegations of cheating by Facchini-Zucchelli, known as the "foot-tapping scandal".

Controversies

The string of Blue Team victories was also followed by some cheating allegations (but mostly against "lesser" team members, and none against Belladonna, Garozzo and Forquet). One of those was related to a 1968 Bermuda Bowl hand when Camillo Pabis-Ticci led the ace of clubs from the hand [http://www.johnninaswanson.com/reviews.html Ron Garber, South California Bridge News] (replicated on John Swanson's home page)] : BridgeHandInline|J84|9 |A10763|A986 after the auction 1♠ by RHO – 2♥ by LHO; 2♠ – 3♠; 4♠. He "accidentally" found a singleton club in his partner's hand and was allowed to give him another club ruff.

However, the best-known controversy occurred in 1975, when the Bermuda Bowl was held at its home site of Bermuda; it was described in detail in Bob Hamman's autobiography "At the Table". Journalist Bruce Keidan reported Facchini and Zucchelli were found touching each other's shoes under the table in an apparent attempt to relay information about their hands. Cheating is of course illegal and normally grounds for expulsion from any bridge organization. Keidan's discovery, which was confirmed by several witnesses, was eventually presented to the presiding authorities of the event, who "severely reprimanded" Facchini and Zucchelli for their activity but allowed the players to continue competing in the event. Ironically, although the Italians were allowed to stay, the Bermuda Bowl authorities placed blocks underneath the tables to prevent any further foot contact. [ [http://www.bridgebum.com/bermuda_incident.html Bermuda Incident, Bridgebum.com] ] [ [http://www.johnninaswanson.com/footsy.html John Swanson, The Italian Foot Soldiers] ]

A little-known incident occurred in 1962. at the Bermuda Bowl held in St. Vincent [ [http://web2.acbl.org/halloffame/gerber.htm ACBL Hall of Fame: John Gerber] ] . An anonymous letter written in Italian was delivered to American coach John Gerber. He secured a translator, but after the first paragraph was read to him, he asked the translator to stop; to deliver the letter to Italy’s captain, Carl’Alberto Perroux and to explain that Gerber had listened only to the first paragraph. The writer had accused the Blue Team of cheating. Perroux, after reading the letter to his team, suggested that the match be played with screens running across the tables (this was 12 years before present-day screens were employed) – but Gerber would have none of it. The goodwill engendered by this exchange inspired Perroux and his team to present their championship trophies to Gerber and the American team in what was described as the greatest act of sportsmanship in bridge history.

World Titles

Bermuda Bowls

* 1957, New York (Massimo D'Alelio, Walter Avarelli, Giorgio Belladonna, Eugenio Chiaradia, Pietro Forquet, Guglielmo Siniscalco, Carl'Alberto Perroux (npc)) beat the USA by 10,150 points.
* 1958, Como, Italy
* 1959, New York City, USA
* 1961, Buenos Aires, Argentina,
* 1962, New York City, USA
* 1963, St. Vincent, Italy
* 1965, Buenos Aires
* 1966, St. Vincent, Italy
* 1967, Miami Beach, USA
* 1969, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* 1973, Guaruja, Brazil
* 1974, Venice, Italy
* 1975, Southampton, Bermuda

World Team Olympiads

* 1964, New York, USA
* 1968, Deauville, France
* 1972, Miami Beach, USA

References

External links