The Chinese  Taipei Contract Bridge Association (CTCBA)

   The CTCBA was founded more than 4 decades ago on July 3, 1960, as a non-profit organization to conduct bridge tournaments and other activities and to study the game of bridge; and to promote bridge as a proper pastime for the nation, to be enjoyed by all in their leisurely hours.  In 1961, the association started publishing the Chinese Bridge Magazine, a bulletin to be shared by all lovers of
the game and a venue for the dissemination of Bridge knowledge and news.  It has been in publication monthly for 500+ issues.

   The nation had a thriving bridge community since the early 1950s, and has sent teams abroad to contest the annual Championships of the Far Eastern Bridge Federation (this was the forerunner of the Pacific-Asian Bridge Federation, WBF Zone 6, but used to include what is now WBF Zone 2 as well) since 1957.  Our representatives scored the first of eleven victories in the FEBC/PABC in 1969 and
shocked the world with second-place finishes in the 1969 and 1970 Bermuda Bowls (this is the annual Zonal Team Championships run by the WBF, and is the premier teams event in Bridge).  Other strong showings included semi-finalists in the 1987 Bermuda Bowl and the 1980 and 1996 Olympiads, and a 5th place in the 1972 World Bridge Olympiad.  Currently Taiwan is still regarded as easily one of 2
strongest bridge countries in the Zone.

   Our international current participation attendance at the yearly PABF Championship or Congress, and the World Olympiad held every four years.  When our representatives qualify in the PABC, they also proceed to the Bermuda Bowl and Venice Cup (the Zonal Open and Women's Team Championships) and World Junior Championships, held in every odd-number year.  Since 2002, the World University
Bridge Championships has also been recognized as a sport event, officially endorsed and sponsored by the World University Sports Association (this event started in 2000), signifying that bridge has received some official attention as a Mind Sport.  There has also been talks of bridge becoming an exhibition event at Winter Olympics over the years, although so far they remain rumors.   

   Our current President is Mr. Miin Wu, CEO of Macronix, a famous electronics and chip-making company.  Since Mr. Wu took office, the association has taken big and energetic steps to revitalize bridge on the island.  Many other notables of the society play serious bridge in their spare time and have lent us support, to which we are eternally greatful.  The most well-known is likely Morris Chang, chairman of TSMC.  Others are Mr. Hsuan, the CEO of UMC; Mr. Shieh, former chairman of the insurance group AIG; Mr. Tsai, the well-known cartoonist; Mr. Fang, former director of the Industrial Research Institute in Hsinchu; Mr. Wang, the former comptroller general; Dr. Shen, former president of NTHU,and Mr. Yeh, chair of Yeh Brothers Inc. and the patron of Yeh's Cup, now the most prestigious invitational event in the area.

   National Congresses are run annually around premier team events which at the moment are the AIG cup, the UMC cup, the Macronix cup, the Precision Cup, the Tony Chong Memorial Cup, the Bridge Federation Cup, and the Ruen-Yuan Hsu Memorial Cup.  Every year Chinese bridge players are invited across the Strait for bridge tours, with a major stop being the Kao-Hsiung Inter-City Bridge Tournament, co-hosted by the city's bridge association and the sports league.  CTCBA also co-sponsors Collegiate Bridge Teams Championships every year, starting in 2002.  Tournaments run as youth events or High Schooler events are also sponsored.  As a part of a grass-roots strategy, we are writing a set of bridge instruction material and holding bridge classes and lectures.