It is difficult to determine who the best bridge players of the world are, since there is no reliable ranking such as in tennis, chess, and other competitive sports.
Some claim that relying on tournament results is not a good way to identify the best bridge players either. The reasoning is that tournament results are affected not only by luck, but also by the partner's skills, as well as the team's in case of a team event. Therefore, many players prefer to rely on "soft" factors such as reputation, and subjective opinion of players who claim to pertain to the experts group.
Others claim that subjective information is not a reliable source to rank the world's best bridge players. For example, in the beginning of the century, arguably the most famous bridge player in the world was Alan Truscott, who invented the Truscott convention after 1NT opening. However, these days, it is commonly believed that he was not as good as people used to think, and that others were the best bridge players at the time.
Judging by reputation, the player who would probably win the biggest number of votes as the world's best bridge player is the 69 years old Robert Hamman from the USA. Playing with his partner Bobby wolf he has won numerous tournaments, among which the prestigious Bermuda Bowl.
An analysis of the results of the leading tournaments in the world of bridge over a long time, may reveal who the best bridge players are. There are clear serial winners both in the team events – Bermuda Bowl, Cavendish, Spingold, Reisinger, Vanderbilt, Grand National Teams, and the pairs events – Blue Ribbon, and Life Master pairs.
These are:
USA: Robert Hamman, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Paul Soloway
Italy: Norberto Bocchi, Giorgio Doboin, Fulvio Fantoni, Lorenzo Lauria, Claudio Nunes, Alfredo Versace
Poland: Cezary Balicky, Adam Zmudinski, Marcin Lesniewski, Krystof Martens
Norway: Boye Brogeland, Geir Helgemo, Tor Helness
Brazil: Gabriel Chagas, Marcelo Bronco
France: Paul Chemla, Alain Levy, Christian Mari, Herve Mouiel, Michel Perron
Israel: Eldad Ginossar, Ron Pachtman, David Birman, Amir Levin
Hope you are on your way to becoming one of the world's best bridge players!