Microsoft founder Bill Gates
was eliminated from the World Bridge Championships after just wo days of play on Monday, despite being paired with a
former tournament winner.
As in the last championships in Toronto in 2002, the bridge-mad software tycoon failed to make it through to the final stages of the competition, in which 182 couples will battle for the title. But he appeared to have retained his enthusiasm for the
game, saying he intended to stay in Verona a while longer to watch the world's top players in action.
"It's a beautiful game. I'm staying because there's more I can learn," said Gates, who has filled one of the city's top hotels with his staff and bodyguards. A self-described bridge addict, Gates says the game requires logic and offers mental challenges similar to his day job as head of software giant Microsoft. He revealed that his software experts were working on a sophisticated bridge programme for personal computers.
Gates reportedly plays many games online, even though he admits a computer still cannot play well enough to really test him. Despite his disappointment in Verona, the Microsoft chief insisted that he would recommend his hobby to anyone
because playing it was almost like an education in life.
Since taking up the hobby in the late 1990s, he has surrounded himself with world champions and takes any opportunity to play the game's masters. "Thanks to bridge I have met many interesting people," he said.
Gates took part in the mixed pairs tournament, managing to persuade twice world champion Sharon Osberg to partner him
at the card tables. The championships, which started at the weekend and run until June 24, have attracted some 4,000 players from 70countries.
The event drew several top names from Italian business, including the chairman of insurance giant Generali, Antoine
Bernheim, who made it through into the final phases. In comments to journalists, Gates also spoke enthusiastically about the foundation he has set up to fund research into a range of infectious diseases which are ravaging the developing world.
"I am very proud of the progress we have made with vaccines, thanks to which we have already saved millions of human lives," he said.
