Romania is a small country that has rarely made the highlights of major Bridge championships. And yet at the World Team Championships in Wuhan this Cinderella team managed to reach the semifinals and eventually secured the bronze medal in the Mixed Teams Championship.

We interviewed team members and today we have the pleasure of introducing you Marina Stegaroiu and Marius Ionita. You can say hi to them on BBO under the usernames pisoy and kuky2.

Marina Stegaroiu (pisoy on BBO)

I started playing bridge in 1990 at the insistence of my friend Mircea Pascu (he is still playing now), mostly as a cards holder, because they did not have a 4th. We were playing against another couple who they were nice and at the same time terribly annoying… because they wanted to play non stop. This startled me, so I started to ask, to read and eventually fell in love with this wonderful game. 

My debut in the competitive life was in 1990 at the Locomotiva club. We were a group of beginners, talented, at least that’s what our coach, Mihai Mincu said at the time. The group included: Bobo (Bogdan Marina, currently my husband), Serban Tomescu, Vio, Dan Voinescu, Tavi Dutu. After a year I married Bobo and I may say I hit the jackpot. He has helped me to reach the level I’m at today, both in terms of bridge knowledge and psychic endurance, which matters enormously in heavy competitions, as was the experience in Wuhan.

After we qualified for the World Championship the joy was immense and we all realized that it was the first time our country was represented at such a prestigious competition. Maybe this motivated us and really made us to want to be on the podium.

We were pleasantly surprised we to hear we were considered favourites for the the medal. Honestly, I was surprised and thought that the people in question were just saying this to encourage us. But perhaps they were right. I can tell you that we all believed in ourselves and that we approached the championship with courage and confidence, knowing that it will be long and difficult.

In the quarter-finals we were selected by USA2, a team against which Mihaela was not happy to play. The main reason being that she had many friends on that team, most of them super players. It was tough – we won 5 of the 6 segments and we reached the semifinal where we met the powerful team of Russia, maybe the only one we were afraid of. After the first day the score was favorable to us, we were driving by 36 IMPs. On the 2nd day the nightmare started … many mistakes were made, mainly due to the tension and the stakes. In the last half I went to the table decided to recover the 7 IMPs we were trailing behind, and help the team move forward. 

I started to tell you how grateful I am to Bobo (dromikete) for managing to train me over the last 16 years to endure the psychical pressure of long, tough competitions… I had to resist under pressure when our team was on vugraph, in the spotlights, knowing that each move and each card was analyzed and commented on by so many kibitzers. 

We suffered a lot when I and my partner Ionita (kuky2) gave away the winning IMP. That one IMP would have made us all happy and would have brought us a shinier medal. But we promise that we will make up for that. Team Romania can do better!

It’s been wonderful to win the bronze, and I want to thank to my partner, my teammates and all our friends who helped us get there. A carousel of emotions when I got on the podium … I admit that I would have liked to hear our anthem … maybe next time.

I want to tell you one more thing, that our dear friend Victor Marculetiu (wwaca on BBO) has been with us all the competition. He told us right from the beginning: “Put the number 3 in the middle of the flag, kids!” I’m happy we made him happy just days before he passed away.  May he rest in peace!

Marius Robert Ionita (kuky2 on BBO)

When I was a kid, I played competitive chess, and during chess tournaments we played all sorts of other games. That’s how I first heard about bridge, and after I learned it, all the other games faded by comparison.

I started playing competitive 15 years ago, and I’ve been constantly improving my bridge skills ever since.

To make a comparison with chess, which is also a mind game, at bridge it is very interesting that you often have to make quick decisions knowing almost nothing about your opponents.

After we qualified (with some emotions) in Lisbon, and knowing that in China too the first 8 teams will go further, we hoped to be able to be among them. But once we got to Wuhan and saw the level of play we were sure we would play in the knockout stages.

When we were were in 5th place I was almost certain that we would play Russia in the quarterfinals. But we were chosen by USA and we had a good match against them.

Unfortunately the semifinal with Russia ended badly, but I am convinced that if we managed to beat the Russians we would have won the championship, they were the best team in my opinion.

It was very exciting to step on the podium, and I hope this is just the beginning of a row of beautiful victories. I would like to hear the anthem of Romania next time.

For the future we want to prepare ourselves better, and play better, but we also want to have support from those who have the ability to help us: the Ministry of Sports, the Bridge Federation and other official organisations …

I have an interesting defense problem that I want to share with you:

North opens 1 Club, East overcalls 1 Heart and West bids 4 Hearts. South leads a club and here is dummy’s hand:

How do you defend?

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