The Blue Team: When Italy Won 13 World Championships
By Danny Taylor
Before there was Precision. Before Roman Keycard Blackwood. Before relay systems and multi-way bids, there was the Blue Team, and they were untouchable.
The Most Dominant Run in Bridge History
From 1957 to 1975, the Italian Blue Team won 13 consecutive Bermuda Bowl championships (world team championships). Thirteen. In a row.
No other team in bridge history has come close to that level of dominance.
Not the Aces. Not the modern Netherlands teams. Not anyone.
The Blue Team didn’t just win. They demolished opponents with a combination of system sophistication, partnership chemistry, and unshakable confidence.
The System That Changed Everything
The Blue Team’s secret weapon wasn’t just talent, it was their bidding system.
They played Blue Team Club, a complex relay system where one partner described their hand step-by-step while the other asked questions. It was efficient, precise, and nearly impossible to defend against if you didn’t know what they were showing.
Key features:
- Strong 1♣ (like Precision, but earlier)
- Relay responses that narrowed down shape and strength
- Canape style (bid your second-longest suit first, then show your real suit)
- Roman Blackwood (ask for aces with 4NT, but kings and queens mattered too)
The system was legal, brilliant, and intimidating.
The Legends on the Team
The Blue Team roster reads like a bridge Hall of Fame:
- Giorgio Belladonna, Arguably the greatest bridge player of all time
- Benito Garozzo, Innovator, theorist, still teaching today
- Pietro Forquet, Steady, reliable, unflappable
- Massimo D’Alelio, Captain and anchor
These weren’t just good players. They were innovators who developed conventions still used today (Roman Keycard, anyone?).
Why They Finally Lost
In 1975, the United States (playing Precision) finally beat Italy in the Bermuda Bowl.
It wasn’t because the Blue Team got worse. It was because the rest of the world caught up.
Their system innovations, strong club, relay bidding, control-showing cue bids, became mainstream. The playing field leveled.
The Blue Team didn’t disappear after 1975. They just became mortal.
The Legacy Today
Every time you play Roman Keycard Blackwood, you’re using a Blue Team innovation.
Every time you relay to find out partner’s shape, you’re borrowing from their playbook.
And every time you hear someone talk about “Italian-style” aggressive bidding or eating pasta before a match for good luck, you’re touching a piece of Blue Team history.
The Bottom Line
No team has dominated world bridge like the Blue Team. No team probably ever will.
Thirteen straight world championships. Eighteen years of excellence.
That’s not a winning streak. That’s a dynasty.
Your turn: If you could play one session with any Blue Team legend, who would it be? And would you survive the experience?
Related: Precision Club: When China Dominated World Bridge · The Hold-Up Play That Won a World Championship
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