Bridge

Tzvetan Vassilev was elected President of the Bulgarian Bridge Federation at its General Meeting on 15 December 2007. He promised a smooth transition of leadership in the organization. He went on to retain all the best practices of his predecessor Hristo Drumev (two-time bridge world champion — 1998 in Lille and 2002 in Montreal, now Honorary Chairman of the Federation).

 

Tzvetan Vassilev is also a big fan of bridge. In his own words, he grew fond of this intellectual and challenging game while studying in Poland. As a student he played constantly. Today, as president of the Federation, he contributes to the development of this sport with his insight, personal qualities, and consistent approach.

 

Within two years, under Tzvetan Vassilev’s leadership, Bulgarian bridge reached a high point in its history. After becoming Vice Champion at the June 2009 European Bridge Open Championships at Sanremo in Italy, in September the Bulgarian national team won third place and bronze medals at the world championships in São Paulo, Brasil.

 

With this achievement the Bulgarian Men’s team reached the winner’s podium at the World Championships for the first time in the history of Bulgarian Bridge. Our national team features: Julian Stefanov, Victor Aronov, Rumen Trendafilov, Kalin Karaivanov, Georgi Karakolev, Dian Danailov, and Vladimir Isporski as coach.

 

Bridge, and Contract Bridge in particular, is the first card game recognized as a sport. The beginning of competitive bridge in Bulgaria was set in 1933 by Evgeny Romanovich Stolitsa. He was born in Moscow in 1903 and immigrated to Bulgaria with his parents in 1922. He was a musician, a mountaineer, and a passionate bridge player. He has trained several generations of Bulgarian bridge players. Among his best students are Alexander Kanazirski, Hristo Droumev (Ombo), Petjo Dobrinovich, Ognyan Marinov, Jordan Basmenkov, Andrey Raitchev (the Chinese), Georgi Stoyanov (Goose), Ivan Kantardzhiev, Nicola Tcholakov (Kolcho), Boryan Radoev, and Tzanko Raynov.