Acing the game

For the first time ever, Egypt is taking part in the Winter Olympics. Its gateway: Bridge, which, it so happens, is making its own debut at the winter games. Fatemah Farag looks at what is in the cards for Egypt's national team
The air is thick with cigarette smoke and tense with concentration. This is the Bridge Room at the Gezira Club and here people take cards seriously. But at the very back of the room, two tables stand apart; divided from the rest by an even higher level of intensity and bursts of heated discussion erupting across the tables. Around these particular tables sit the members of Egypt's National Bridge Team, and this is no ordinary evening game. In only a few days an eight-member delegation will be heading to the United States for the 19th round of the Winter Olympics, being held in the Salt Lake City, Utah, between 8 and 24 February.
This is sports history in the making. Traditionally, the Winter Olympics are comprised of six games -- most prominent among these are skiing, ice hockey and skating. Obviously, those nations without snow are left out in the cold, so to speak. Climate difference seems to be the major factor in determining which countries take part in the winter games. While over 200 countries participate in the Summer Olympics (some 10,000 players competed in the 2000 Sydney round), considerably less take part in the Winter Olympics. Approximately 70 countries will participate in this year's winter games.
This year will be different for Egypt, however, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has finally agreed to the request made by the International Bridge Federation to include that most intellectual of card games, bridge, in this year's round. The competition will be introduced on an experimental basis, which is standard procedure before a new game is accredited, meaning that the bridge competition is to be held ahead of the main games, from 2-6 February.
"For a long time we [in Egypt] dreamed of being able to participate in the Winter Olympics," says Abdel-Aziz El-Shafei, captain of the national team. El-Shafei, who has represented Egypt at the Olympic Games numerous times, both as a swimmer and as the head of Egypt's delegation to the summer games, was also awarded the IOCs 1984 annual award. He told Al-Ahram Weekly that the late Fathi El-Touni -- known as the father of modern sports in Egypt -- tried very hard to ensure that Egypt was represented at the Winter Olympics. El-Shafei explained that Egyptian embassies in "cold countries" were instructed to scour the population for Egyptian nationals who excelled at winter sports. "But we found no one," he said frankly. "With the introduction of bridge into the [winter] games, the window of opportunity has finally been opened."
It was up to the International Bridge Federation to choose among its 90-country membership the 10 nations that would represent the game on its debut tour at the Winter Olympics. Countries were selected taking into consideration zone (i.e., continent) representation. Based on this criteria, the following countries will take part: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Italy, Norway, Poland, and the United States. Representing Egypt will be a six-member team comprised of: Abdel-Aziz El-Shafei, Walid El- Ahmadi, Adel El-Kurdy, Sherif Naguib, Tarek Sadek and Samir Bishara. The delegation's head, Mohsen Kamel, and technical director Ashraf Sadek will also accompany the team.
There is a snag: at press time, two team members were still not cleared to travel to the US. El- Kurdy's visa application was turned down on the grounds that his name is similar to one of those included on the US "wanted list." Tarek Sadek was still waiting for his visa because of his age: all males coming from the Arab world who are between the ages of 18 and 45 require 7 weeks for their visa requests to be approved.
Travel hurdles aside, the recognition of the Egyptian team as the leader of its "zone" is an honour. As El-Shafei points out: "At least 12 African countries have national bridge teams and in the Middle East, both Lebanon and Syria have very strong teams," he said. Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Tunisia, Jordan, and Palestine, all have teams as well, and bridge was accredited as an official game at the All-Arab Games in 1999.
Ashraf Sadek, the team's technical director, is only a few months back from Paris, where Egypt participated in the Bridge World Cup. "Only 18 countries reached the finals that were held in October," he said proudly. "And in the end we came out ninth."
Watching him train later in the day, it started to become clear what kind of effort bridge actually takes. He pulls at his cigar while his eyes stay solidly on the cards in his hands. It goes on for hours. For an outsider like myself, it is clear that something complex and full of dynamism is going on. Exactly what that is, however, is not perceptible to the bridge ignoramus. This is an insider's game.
The players did try to explain. There are four players divided into two teams. Each pair sits opposite each other. In competitions they are separated by a screen so they cannot see each other. So far so good. Then come the hard bits. "This is problem-solving on a high level," explains El- Shafei. "One team will attack and the other will be in a position of defence." All 52 cards of the deck are distributed so each player has 13 cards. Cards are evaluated on the grounds of "strength and distribution" and then "bidding" takes place before the playing begins.
Sadek, the technical director, points out that the key is understanding and communication between the partners. "Like in any sport, let's say double tennis, if you get the best players, but they are not in harmony, they will not make a good team." But they cannot see each other? "Ah!" exclaimed delegation head Kamel, who also heads the Egyptian Bridge Federation, as if we've come to the very point: "But they communicate through the cards, which are passed on the board, and by using a set code known to all players at the table and which is clear to the opposing team as well."
I was loath to express my total incomprehension. For more clues into the mechanics of the game I later uncovered an abundance of online material including the "magazine no bridge player should be without" -- Bridge World Magazine. Also worth a look: the Web site of the Egyptian Bridge Federation (www.egybf.com). Online bridge clubs can also be found on the Internet.
At the end of the day, however, Kamel points out that bridge is a game that "requires a high level of education and an aptitude for mathematical problem-solving. You need to read specialised books to advance your game and these are mostly written in English. That is why the game draws a very specific kind of player," he said.
It also takes practice -- lots of it. According to Sadek, "It's three times a week for at least six hours at a time. It takes a hell of a lot of time." But the time is needed to be "fit." "In competition, games can go on from 10.00a.m. to 10.00p.m., with only short breaks in the middle," explains Sadek. "It's stressful. If you're not well- trained, you'll get tired, and then you will lose your concentration. Once you do that, you start making mistakes."
A round in the jargon of bridge is called a "board." Short games consist of 20 boards, while final games go up to 96 boards. At the upcoming games the team looks forward to games on the shorter end of the spectrum. It will all start out with a round robin, followed by 36 or 48 boards, and the final, at 64 boards.
It is no wonder El-Shafei is eager to set the record straight: bridge is also a physical sport. "While everyone thinks of bridge as simply a mind game, it requires that you be in good physical shape to be able to withstand the pressure." And as he crushes his cigar in the ashtray before him Sadek adds, "Yeah. And no smoking allowed during the competitions."
But for the bridge player, there is no end to the pleasure that can be derived from the hours of sitting at the table. In his 50 years of playing the game, El-Shafei told the Weekly that he has never gotten the same hand twice, which is why the game is always fresh, both for those watching and playing. "I read a statistic that said that if you played for 200 years, 24 hours a day you would still not get the same hand, exactly," he added with evident delight.
Not everyone, of course, plays bridge to compete. Go to the bridge room at the Gezira Club on any morning and you will find many women whiling their time away at the tables.
Some 20 clubs are registered with the Egyptian Bridge Federation today, accounting for some 700 players. "Of course, there are many players -- many of those who just play socially -- who are not registered, and we estimate them at around 1,000," the organisation's head, Kamel, told the Weekly. He noted that efforts are being made to expand the number of bridge players in Egypt. "We give free lessons and there have been serious discussions about the need to reach out to [sports] clubs that have not yet organised bridge clubs. Every February we hold an international event -- this year's will take place next week at the Semiramis Hotel in Cairo -- and we are reaching out to the media to spread awareness regarding the game," Kamel added.
The federation's efforts are paying off. This year around 100 men and women below the age of 22 are training with the federation in both Cairo and Alexandria. Veterans of the game explain that it has been an uphill battle to popularise the game. In Egypt, card games are associated in popular culture with gambling, so it comes as no surprise that when I went looking for bridge photos at our archives, I found them stashed into the file marked "gambling."
"People do not realise that bridge is in a class of its own as far as card games are concerned," says Kamel. Unlike other card games, which often carry the stigma of gambling or sheer idleness, Kamel said he would be happy to have his son involved in the game, "because I know it takes a lot of time and concentration. I could then rest assured that his energies were absorbed into something that works his mind and doesn't harm him."
It is hoped that including the game as part of the Olympics will help promote it. "Now countries that have bridge teams and those who do not have an incentive to develop teams," suggests El- Shafei. Today, the Ministry of Youth subsidises the federation with an annual LE115,000. The mobile phone company, Click, sponsors the game with another LE100,000, and the rest of their revenue comes from the money made at competitions. Membership fees come in at the very bottom of the list. With an annual fee of a mere LE15, the small number of registered players doesn't generate a lot of revenue.
In spite of the constraints, however, Egypt is competitive in the international arena. "In comparison to many other countries, we are very advanced," says Kamel. "We are supported by the government, while in some Arab countries, because it is a game of cards, those who play have yet to receive similar accreditation." Sadek agrees, saying that the success of Egyptian bridge is "disproportionate to our circumstances." It is a point of both pride and frustration.
Kamel, however, could not help but lament that because of the small number of serious players, practice is sometimes limited. "Who do we play against when we practise? The same people again and again. Abroad, there are thousands of people and you get more effective competition," he said.
Bridge is not new to Egypt. "In the early 20th century, bridge was basically the game of the foreign communities," recounts El-Shafei. "Of course, the Egyptians who were in contact with these communities were usually upper class, hence the class connotations of the game."
King Farouk was known to enjoy a game of bridge at the famous Automobiles Club bridge room, while veterans remember the notorious Scarabee nightclub on Emadeddin Street and the regular games at the Greek Club, off Talaat Harb Square. El-Shafei says that it was in the 1930s that Mohamed Pasha Sultan set up the first Egyptian Association for Bridge Players.
Little is known of the game played during that time. In the 1950s, when the Free Officers took power, the game underwent a process of "Egyptianisation." This is the period when, according to veterans of the game, bridge became more than just a social pastime and developed into a sport. In 1960 the women's bridge team won the gold medal at the "Bridge Olympics," held every four years by the International Bridge Federation. To date, they are the only Egyptian national team to have won a gold medal in a group sport.
Kamel started playing in 1968. "I always liked a good game of cards and was drawn one day to a group of very distinguished-looking men who were playing in a corner," he recounted. "For a whole week I would go and watch and could not figure it out." You don't say. Kamel asked around and was directed to two of Egypt's most famous players, Ali Fouad and Marcel Zananiri.
In the same year, the Bridge Olympics were being held in France. "Those were difficult times for the country," recounts El-Shafei. "All the resources of the state were supposed to be channelled into the war effort and no sports delegations were being sent abroad. Omar [El-Sherif, international actor and El-Shafei's long-time bridge partner] was living abroad at the time and he called me and told me he wanted to join. So I went to the Minister of Youth at the time, Talaat Khairy, and, of course, he did not feel it was appropriate. He had a point. To make a long story short, Omar suggested that he pay for the whole delegation and he did. It was a great gesture on his part and in return the government paid for our plane tickets." That year, the competition began on 5 June -- exactly one year after the attack against Egypt that ended in the Six Day War and Egypt's defeat. "Our going was a way of saying that Egypt still stood strong," says El-Shafei.
It was not so long ago, but Kamel says that then sports were also about ethics and chivalry. "Those were days when you could not cross your legs in front of a senior bridge player, and when you walked into a bridge room, you could hear a pin fall," he says, shaking his head. Today, although the standards of etiquette are still high, they are not quite the same as they used to be.
But the political message that can be made through sports are still part of what the game and competition mean to the Egyptian national bridge team. "Our participation is part of confronting the stereotypes that have been constructed in the West regarding our part of the world," explains El-Shafei. "The basic principles underlying the Olympic games are peace, friendship and understanding between all people. Its constitution prohibits differentiation on the grounds of race, colour, sex or religion."
And these, assure our national bridge team, are important principles for everyone to be reminded of in today's world.
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