The World Women Pairs Championship is a bridge

Contract bridge

Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...

 championship held every four years as part of the World Bridge Championships

World Bridge Championships

The World Bridge Championships consists of several sets of championships organized under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation.-World Bridge Series Championships:...

. It is restricted to women pairs only.

Results

World meets commonly run for 15 days on a schedule whose details vary.

In 2006 the Women Pairs played Saturday to Friday, the 8th to 14th days of the meet, with five qualifying sessions, five semifinal sessions, and four final sessions. At the start of qualifying, sixteen teams remained in the knockout stage of the marquee teams competition for women, for the McConnell Cup

McConnell Cup

McConnell Cup is a team event for woman held every four years as part of the World Bridge Series Championships. The event was inaugurated in 1994 and is named in honor of Ruth McConnell, former treasurer for the World Bridge Federation and former president of the American Contract Bridge League...

. During qualifying sessions for the pairs, the McConnell teams were reduced from sixteen to four, and players from the twelve "knocked out" teams were eligible to enter pairs competition at the semifinal stage. There were 109 pairs in the qualifier, 63 in the semifinal, and 36 in the final.
United States have won nine of 13 tournaments, Great Britain two, Netherlands one. Fritzi Gordon and Rixi Markus of Great Britain (native Austrians) are the only two-time champion pair; Americans Karen McCallum and Kerri Shuman/Sanborn also have two wins each.
| rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1962

Cannes, France


> | > | The WBF currently lists only the winners and runners up, neither third place nor the size of the field.
|3.> | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1966

Amsterdam, Netherlands 


> | > |
|3.> | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1970

Stockholm, Sweden


> | > |
|3.> | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1974

Las Palmas, Spain


> | > | > | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1978

New Orleans, USA


> | > | > | colspan=5| After 1980 it was determined that the world championships in even years would continue to be played in Europe and North America. > | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1982

Biarritz, France


> | > | > | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1986

Miami Beach, USA


> | > | > | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1990

Geneva, Switzerland


> | > | > | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1994

Albuquerque, USA


> | > | > | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|1998

Lille, France


> | > | > | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|2002

Montreal, Canada


> | > | > | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|2006

Verona, Italy


> | > | > | colspan=5|> | rowspan=3 bgcolor="beige" valign="Top"|2010

Philadelphia, USA


> | > | >

Year, Site	Entries		Medalists
	1.	Fritzi Gordon Fritzi Gordon Fritzi Gordon was one half of the most famous and tempestuous female partnership in bridge. She was the second woman to attain the rank of World Grand Master, her partner Rixi Markus being the first. She won four world titles, seven European championships and numerous other tournament victories...	Rixi Markus Rixi Markus Rixi Markus MBE was an Austrian and British international contract bridge player. She won five world titles, and was the first woman to become a World Grand Master within the World Bridge Federation...
2.	Fanny Parienté	Marianne Serf
Dorothy Hayden Dorothy Hayden Truscott Dorothy Hayden Truscott was the top-ranked woman in bridge for many years and authored or co-authored books on the game.-Career:...	Helen Portugal
	1.	Joan Durran	Jane Juan
2.	Nancy Gruver	Sue Sachs
Mary Jane Farell	Peggy Solomon
	1.	Mary Jane Farell	Marilyn Johnson
2.	Fritzi Gordon Fritzi Gordon Fritzi Gordon was one half of the most famous and tempestuous female partnership in bridge. She was the second woman to attain the rank of World Grand Master, her partner Rixi Markus being the first. She won four world titles, seven European championships and numerous other tournament victories...	Rixi Markus Rixi Markus Rixi Markus MBE was an Austrian and British international contract bridge player. She won five world titles, and was the first woman to become a World Grand Master within the World Bridge Federation...
Britt Blom	Gunborg Silborn
For 1974 to 1998 the WBF currently lists at least three leaders (3 in 1974; 36 in 1998) without the size of the field. Some of those listings may enumerate the finalists.	1.	Fritzi Gordon Fritzi Gordon Fritzi Gordon was one half of the most famous and tempestuous female partnership in bridge. She was the second woman to attain the rank of World Grand Master, her partner Rixi Markus being the first. She won four world titles, seven European championships and numerous other tournament victories...	Rixi Markus Rixi Markus Rixi Markus MBE was an Austrian and British international contract bridge player. She won five world titles, and was the first woman to become a World Grand Master within the World Bridge Federation...
2.	Gerda Goslar	Rita Jacobson
3.	Emma Jean Hawes	Dorothy Hayden Truscott Dorothy Hayden Truscott Dorothy Hayden Truscott was the top-ranked woman in bridge for many years and authored or co-authored books on the game.-Career:...
	1.	Judi Radin	Kathie Wei
2.	Betty Ann Kennedy	Carol Sanders
3.	Claude Blouquit	Élisabeth Delor
	1.	Betty Ann Kennedy	Carol Sanders
2.	Lynn Deas	Beth Palmer
3.	Sally Horton	Sandra Landy
	1.	Amalya Kearse Amalya Lyle Kearse Amalya Lyle Kearse is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and a world-class bridge player.-Legal career:...	Jacqui Mitchell
2.	Bettina Kalkerup	Charlotte Palmund
3.	Sally Horton	Sandra Landy
	1.	Karen McCallum	Kerri Shuman
2.	Judi Radin	Kathie Wei
3.	Carla Arnolds	Bep Vriend Bep Vriend Brechiena Vriend is a Dutch contract bridge player. As of April 2011, she ranks number 8th among Women World Grand Masters....
	1.	Carla Arnolds	Bep Vriend Bep Vriend Brechiena Vriend is a Dutch contract bridge player. As of April 2011, she ranks number 8th among Women World Grand Masters....
2.	Véronique Bessis	Catherine Saul
3.	Lynn Deas	Beth Palmer
	1.	Jill Meyers	Shawn Quinn
2.	Daniela von Arnim	Sabine Auken
3.	Véronique Bessis	Catherine D'Ovidio
97	1.	Karen McCallum	Debbie Rosenberg
2.	Blandine de Hérédia	Anne-Frédérique Lévy
3.	Irina Levitina Irina Levitina Irina Solomonovna Levitina is a Russian-American chess and bridge player. In chess, she has been a World Championship Candidate and gained the title Woman Grandmaster. In contract bridge she has been five times the World Champion.-Chess career:In 1973, she tied for 2nd-5th in Menorca...	Kerri Sanborn
109	1.	Irina Levitina Irina Levitina Irina Solomonovna Levitina is a Russian-American chess and bridge player. In chess, she has been a World Championship Candidate and gained the title Woman Grandmaster. In contract bridge she has been five times the World Champion.-Chess career:In 1973, she tied for 2nd-5th in Menorca...	Kerri Sanborn
2.	WANG Hongli	WANG Wei Fei
3.	Sabine Auken	Janice Seamon-Molson
81	1.	Lynn Deas	Beth Palmer
2.	Susan Culham	Kismet Fung
3.	Carla Arnolds	Bep Vriend Bep Vriend Brechiena Vriend is a Dutch contract bridge player. As of April 2011, she ranks number 8th among Women World Grand Masters....

External links

• Women program top page at the World Bridge Federation
  World Bridge Federation
  The World Bridge Federation is the world governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competition, most of which is conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle...
  
  
• World Women Pairs Championship To Date (table) at the World Bridge Federation