Pierre Ghestem

Mr. Pierre Ghestem was born in 1929 (although some published documents suggest that he was born in 1922) in Lille, France and he became an avid bridge player. He was a World Bridge Federation Grand Master. He was also a former World Checker Champion and a former French Chess Champion. He won the World Team Olympiad in 1960. He was the European Champion in 1953, in 1955, in 1962, and placed second in 1956 and 1961. He was in the European Championship in 1965 and won the French Open Teams in 1962 and 1964. He came in third at the Pamp Pairs in 1990. His national wins include Open Teams many times. Mr. Pierre Ghestem was the creator of the complex Monaco System and the Ghestem System, and devised the Relay System, (see Relay Bids), still used today.

Mr. Pierre Ghestem invented the Monaco system, which was the original relay system, and used with Mr. Rene Bacherich in several world championship tournaments. The main purpose of the relays (and some transfers) is to make the stronger hand be declarer. The system used by Mr. Rene Bacherich and Mr. Pierre Ghestem was a very artificial relay system, called Monaco, and has had few adherents.

1956 in Paris, France, the French team, represented by Mr. Rene Bacherich, Mr. Pierre Ghestem, Mr. Pierre Jais, Mr. Roger Lattes, Mr. Bertrand Romanet, Mr. Roger Trezel and Mr. Robert de Nexon, as the non-playing captain, won the Bermuda Bowl. He represented France again in the Bermuda Bowl in 1954, 1956, 1961, and 1963.

		Bermuda Bowl
1954		Team: Jacques Amouraben, Rene Bacherich, Jean Besse (Svizzera), Pierre Ghestem, Marcel Kornblum, Karl Schneider (Austria)
1956		Team: Rene Bacherich, Pierre Ghestem, Pierre Jais, Roger Lattes, Bertrand Romanet, Roger Trezel, Baron Robert de Nexon (c.)
1961		Team: Rene Bacherich, Deruy, Pierre Ghestem, Le Dentú, Trézel, Baron Robert de Nexon (c.)
1963		Team: Rene Bacherich, Gerard Desrousseaux, Pierre Ghestem, Jacques Stetten, Dr.Georges Theron, Leon Tinter, Baron Robert de Nexon (c.)

History of Team Olympiad The successful players in this first World Team Olympiad were, in the Open: Rene Bacherich, Gerard Bourchtoff, Claude Delmouly, Pierre Ghestem, Pierre Jais and Roger Trezel, with Baron de Nexon as npc. In the Women's: Helen Camara, Aida Choucry, Samiha Fathy, Loula Gordon, Josephine Morcos and Suzanne Naguib, with Sergio de Polo as npc.

Lille 1998 - World Bridge Championships The Par Contest Competitors in the Par Contest are faced with a computer and a series of problems in declarer's play, designed by Swiss master Pietro Bernasconi. The last Par Contest was held at the World Bridge Championships in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1990, and was won by Benito Garozzo. Other participants included Bob Hamman, Zia Mahmood, and Chip Martel. This year, for the first time in any world bridge championship, a computer program has been invited to participate. GIB (Goren In a Box) is the work of Dr. Matt Ginsberg, of the Computational Intelligence Research Laboratory at the University of Oregon. GIB was the winner of the 1998 Baron-Barclay/OKbridge World Computer Bridge Championship in Chicago. Participant - Mr. Pierre Ghestem

 

Several bridge players of Pierre Ghestem included Pierre Jaïs, Trézel, Rene Bacherich, Delmouly and Bourchtoff, bridge players who have represented France for many years.

Mr. Pierre Ghestem played as a senior in the 1995 European championships at Vilamoura in southern Portugal.

x Obituary Notice: April 11, 2000. Mr. Pierre Ghestem, after whom the two-suited overcalls are named, has died at the age of 78. Born in 1922, lived in Lille, France. He won a world title in draughts soon after the War, and was then the French chess champion, before taking up bridge and forming a partnership with Rene Bacherich, which won the European Champion in 1953, 1955, and 1962, the Bermuda Bowl in 1956 and the Olympiad in 1960. More recently Mr. Pierre Ghestem took third place in the Geneva Par Contest in 1990. x

 

He was also a World Bridge Federation Grand Master, also winning the European Championship in 1965, and he won French Open Teams in 1962 and 1964. National wins include Open Teams many times.

 

 

We are more than happy to update and add any accomplishments not mentioned here.

 

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