History

The festival

The organisers are the Bulgarian Bridge Federation and the Stara Zagora bridge club, under the patronage of the Municipality of Stara Zagora. The pairs and teams are open to all, with no qualification. For years it has been run by Toni Rusev, chairman of the Stara Zagora club and, in 2016–2018, of the federation. In 2016 he said the municipality had supported bridge for 15 years, the only one in the country to do so on that scale.

Every edition since 2009 has been at Hotel Vereya, where the players both play and stay. In many years the federation’s general assembly met there during the festival. In several years matches from the Balkan Championship and the main teams event were broadcast on Bridge Base Online.

The Balkan Championship and the Intercity Cup

Before the festival there are two days of a Balkan team championship over seven rounds. It is one competition under two names, each with its own numbering: the Balkan Championship and the Balkan Intercity Cup, which began in 2008 as the Balkan Capitals Cup. It was played as the Cup in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014 and has been the Balkan Championship since 2015 (except 2020, when there was none). Since 2019 it has been open to club teams and guests from further away.

The Balkan Championship was also played in Stara Zagora in 2007, before the 26th festival: 8 teams – Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Bodrum of Turkey and a Stara Zagora team – in a seven-round round robin. Bodrum won with 114 VP ahead of Bulgaria (105) and Romania (99), with Stara Zagora fourth on 98.

The first Balkan Capitals Cup was played on 24 and 25 September 2008, before the 27th festival: 8 teams from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Greece and Turkey in a round robin. Shato Rosenovo won with 127 VP, one ahead of Cornell (Romania), with Belgrade third on 120 and the Stara Zagora team fourth.

In 2016–2018 a Balkan Youth Team Championship and a Regional Youth Festival were played alongside it. Guests have included the President of the European Bridge League, Yves Aubry (2016 and 2017), and the League’s Treasurer, Joseph Harsanyi (2017).

The trophies

The teams is played for the “Vito” cup, and the pairs was played for the “Ritam 4” cup until 2012 and has been named after Kosyo Dimov since 2013. Ritam 4 TB is a Stara Zagora company that sponsored the festival for many years, together with Toni Rusev, Biznes Poshta and Hotel Vereya. The teams is 11 rounds of 8 boards, with prizes in sections A to E.