The Fleisher team finished 4th in the 2011 Bermuda Bowl. They're hoping to have a chance to do better in 2013.
System Information
Fleisher-Kamil System Summary Form, ACBL Convention Card, 2011 WBF Card
Martel-Zia System Summary Form, ACBL Convention Card
Rosenberg-Willenken System Summary Form, ACBL Convention Card
About the Players
Marty Fleisher
| {mosimage} | Born in the Big Apple, Marty learned to play bridge at the age of eight by observing his parents and uncle. He and regular partner Mike Kamil won the 2010 Team Trials and 2011 Vanderbilt as well as the 2013 Platinum Pairs. However, he considers his greatest bridge achievement a toss up was getting to the finals of the Grand Nationals in 1976 (at age 17 still the youngest player to reach a National Championship final). But there was a famine of over twenty-eight years until he won a national event (the Swiss Teams at the 2004 Fall Nationals). It is interesting to note it may have been the longest stretch between 1st and 2nd for anyone. Indeed, it took Marty's teammates in the National Swiss (Gavin Wolpert and Vince Demuy) only one National to transcend from bridesmaid to bride! Marty enjoys few leisure moments for hobbies other than bridge as his professional commitments as a manager of life insurance investments and attorney are very time-consuming. |
Michael Kamil
| {mosimage} | A New Jerseyite all his life, Mike credits his love of the game to his first bridge partner, his mother, who professed to him as a young lad that every hand is an adventure. Together they won several New York area Regionals and their capturing the 1980 Las Vegas NABC Flight B Mixed Pair (besting over 1300 pairs) was his biggest thrill.
However, the high point thus far in his bridge career was winning the 1990 Vanderbilt with Gerard, Morse, Sutherlin, Pollack and Sanders. From 1985-2003 Mike was a stock options trader. Mike modestly confessed to a 'modicum of success with each of his partners (including Mike Moss, Mike Becker, Christal Henner-Welland and Marty Fleisher) but only a deep rooted love of bridge could have evoked the words "I love playing regardless of partner's or teammates' abilities." |
Chip Martel
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Chip Martel is a retired Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Davis. A World Grand Master, Chip has won five world championships and placed second three times. He has won over 30 North American championships and U.S. Bridge Championships (“Trials”), most of them in partnership with Lew Stansby. Chip also has an outstanding record with other partners, including wife Jan. With new partner Zia, Chip has won the Life Master Pair events in the Summer (2007) and Fall (2012). Chip is currently chair of the ACBL Laws Commission. A favorite hobby is revising his bidding system (“Chip abhors a bid without a meaning,” friends say) and devising defenses to methods played most commonly outside the United States. |
Zia Mahmood, by Michael Rosenberg
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Zia Mahmood needs a bio less than any other world-class bridge player. His name is probably the best known in the game, and his countless successes have been widely publicized. His triumphs have come with many different partners. It seems that he plays each National Pair game with a different partner, yet his name is always up there on the leaderboard - often on top. And lest you think his main skill is taking advantage of some of the weaker parts of the field, you should note that he has won the prestigious invitational Cap Gemini tournament (which no longer exists, but was the premier pairs event in the world) SIX times, with 4 different partners. Almost nobody can play the game on Zia's level, and just occasionally he reminds his partners of that fact. However, there is some relief for these poor souls. A support group has been formed - ziaanon - and the sharing at the twice-monthly meetings has been enough to prevent permanent scarring on the psyche of those who have had the fortune(?) of sitting opposite Zia. P.S. For more information on Zia, read his book "Bridge My Way" - or, better still, read MY book "Bridge, Zia.... and Me" |
Michael Rosenberg
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Michael was born in 1954 in NYC. His British born parents moved the family to his mother’s native home of Glasgow when Michael was a few months old, and he remained in the UK until 1978, when he moved ‘back’ to NYC in the hopes of playing bridge professionally. Twenty-five years later, he finally became a full time professional player. In the meantime, he traded options, had some kids (Ivana, Jahna, and Kevin), and managed to play a bit of bridge here and there (an underbid perhaps; Zia always accused him of being an underbidder). In 1996 he married his current life partner Debbie Rosenberg, and they moved to Cupertino, California with their son Kevin in 2011. Michael had some considerable success at chess when he was young; he represented Scotland in the World Junior Championship and three times in the World Under-26 Chess Olympiad. But, having plateaued at that game, he quickly took to bridge in high school. He and partner Barnet Shenkin soon became the top pair in Scotland, with numerous accomplishments in major British and European events, including juniors. After moving to the U.S., through much of the ‘80’s, Michael didn’t play much bridge. Suffering from severe withdrawal, in 1989 he started playing regularly in NABC’s, with Zia as his most frequent partner until 2007. Since 1989 he’s missed only one NABC, and has played every US Bridge Championship since the event became open in 1994. Aside from his many successes with Zia, some highlights of Michael’s bridge career include: Winning the World Par Contest 1998 While nobody loves bridge more than Michael, he also enjoys crossword puzzles, movies, mysteries, music, and following sports and politics. In 2013 Michael became involved with the USBF Junior Training program, as both a mentor and an organizer. |
Chris Willenken
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