Geir Helgemo
Geir Helgemo (born 14 February 1970) is a Norwegian professional bridge player. Through 2012 he has won three world championships in teams-of-four competition. As of June 2013 he ranks ninth among Open World Grand Masters and his regular partner Tor Helness ranks tenth.
Helgemo was born in Vinstra, Norway. For several years through 1994 he represented Norway on both its junior and open teams. The juniors won the 1990 European Championship and both teams finished second in the 1993 World Championships. From that time Helgemo played with Tor Helness on the open team, which was always strong and won another world silver medal in 2001. Norway finally won the world team championship in 2007, the biennial Bermuda Bowl, with a team of six including Helness–Helgemo as anchor pair.
At the inaugural, 2008 World Mind Sports Games in Beijing, Tor Helness won the Open Individual gold medal and Geir Helgemo won the silver! Norway's open team won the bronze.
Emigration to Monaco
From 2011 Helgemo–Helness are full-time members of a team led and paid by the Swiss real estate tycoon Pierre Zimmermann, under contract expiring 2016. The team finished third in the 2010 world championship, not yet full-time, and it will compete in the European Bridge League open championship this spring. From 2012 all six members will be citizens of Monaco and the team will be a prohibitive favorite to represent Monaco internationally in bridge events.
