David is one of the leading bridge professionals in the UK, with numerous successes in domestic and international tournaments. Over the last 20 years, he has represented England and Britain at both Junior and Open levels of competition.
David began playing Bridge as a teenager, and during his Junior career, he represented Great Britain in three European Championships, and several Channel Trophy, Peggy Bayer and Junior Camrose events.
As he approached the end of his time as a Junior, David began teaching and playing Bridge for a living. During this time, he has represented England at the World Team Olympiad (2004), the European Team Championships in 2012 (where England achieve a 4th place finish) and 2014 (where they won a bronze medal), and the 2013 and 2015 Bermuda Bowl (at the latter finising 4th after two extremely narrow defeats in the semi-final and bronze medal play-off).
David’s achievements as a player include winning a whole range of domestic events – the Gold Cup (five times), Crockfords (twice), the Spring Foursomes (twice) and the Lederer Memorial Trophy (three times).
However, David also plays in many major tournaments around the World, and his International achievements include a bronze medal in the European Open Teams (2005), and a 6th place finish in the 2006 World Open Pairs (the highest placing by an English pair in over 30 years). More recently, David has won the NEC cup in Japan (2011), and was a runner-up in the Vanderbilt (2011), one of the most prestigious team events in USA. David is a frequent visitor to the North American Bridge Championships, and has recorded several top ten finishes in major US pairs events including winning the Silodor Open Pairs (2013).
In addition to representing England as a player, David has also coached the England Open Team at the World Teams Olympiad (2000) and the European Teams Championship (2001).
The other side of David’s professional life revolves around teaching Bridge. David is an accomplished teacher, and has taught thousands of students over the last ten years. He has recently extended his teaching material by developing a ‘betterbridge’ series of tutorial bridge apps for the iphone and ipad, and creating his own website, www.davidbakhshi.com.
Last updated: May 2016
Major International Appearances
European Championships: 2012 2014 and 2016
Bermuda Bowl: 2013 and 2015
World Olympiad: 2004 and 2016
European Junior Championships: 1994 1996 and 1998
European Champions’ Cup: 2004 2005 2014 and 2015
Camrose Trophy Selections: 2004 2007 2009 2013 2014 2015 and 2016
Junior Camrose Selections: 1996 1997 and 1999
Peggy Bayer Trophy Selections: 1991 1992 1993 and 1994
Gold Cup Winner: 2002, 2004, 2007 2009 and 2014
Crockfords winner: 2005 and 2008
Premier League Winner: 2013 and 2014
Spring Foursomes Winner: 2009 and 2016
Brighton Pairs, Harold Poster Cup Winner: 2004 and 2005
Brighton Four Stars Teams Winner: 2006 and 2013
Autumn Congress Two Stars Pairs Winner: 2010 and 2011
National Teams Congress winner: 2010
Easter Congress Guardian Trophy winner : 2000
Player of the Year Championship: 2014/15 - 2nd=; 2015/16 - 6th=