1. Slovakia – Candidate for Hosting the 2013 European Small Federations Trophy Vilnius, September 2009 Slovak Bridge Association Official Presentation to EBL’s Small Federations Committee

2. Slovak Republic  Slovakia is a landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about 49,000 m 2. Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the West, Poland to the North, Ukraine to the East and Hungary to the South.  The largest city is Bratislava, its capital.  Slovakia is a member state of the European Union (from May 2004), NATO, UN, OECD, WTO, UNESCO and other international organizations.  The present-day Slovakia became an independent country on January 1, 1993 after the dissolution of its federation with the Czech Republic.  Slovakia joined the EURO zone on January 1st, 2009.

3. History of Bridge in Slovakia  bridge in Slovakia goes back to the era between the world wars  bridge was introduced by players from the Czech part of the Czechoslovak Republic as well as by players from Hungary, we had close contacts with clubs from Hungary, Austria and Czech Republic  after WW2 bridge was removed to the periphery of interest of the society, at least two generations of top-level players are virtually missing in our country  situation is slowly improving since 1989. After the split of Czechoslovakia the number of our people playing bridge, though irregularly, was about 100  in 2004 Slovakia became a member of EBL and WBF  quite recently Slovak teams started taking part at European Championships (Jesolo, Pau, San Remo), last year our open and U-28 teams traveled to the 1 st WMSG in Beijing; however, the results so far are moderate

4. Bridge in Slovakia - Today  overall number of SBA members is 212; 43 of them are younger than 18 years  bridge life in Slovakia is organised by clubs; there are 11 (more or less) active clubs all over the country  SBA annually organises the Slovak Bridge League (long-term team championship) and the Slovak Open Championship held in High Tatra mountains  other big international events are the Grand Prix of Košice and Grand Prix of Bratislava, both organized by local clubs

5. History of Bridge in Slovakia  On the diplomatic field Slovakia was quite successful – we organised the Junior and School World Championship in Piestany in 2006  The event is famous since it was the first time an open event was won by a female pair – the charming pair from Sweden  The world championship was followed by a junior camp with a number of attractions

6. Košice – Introduction of City

7.  Košice is the second largest city in Slovakia.  It is the main centre of the self-governing region concentrating the most attractive tourist destinations of Slovakia.  Košice is situated in the Eastern part of the country, just 20 kilometres from the Hungarian border, 90 kilometres from Ukraine and 80 kilometres from the Polish border.  The advantages of this location create preconditions for excellent commercial connectivity. This is significantly enhanced by the existing railway junction and international airport.

8. Košice – City Worth Seeing  The centre of Košice maintained its character from the Middle Ages and is considered to be the most beautiful historical inner city in Slovakia.  Košice was the first town in the world to receive its own coat-of-arms - back in the 1369.  The city also has got the following unique facets:  town with the most Eastern Gothic cathedral in Europe - the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth  the Košice zoo covers the greatest area of all Central European zoos - 288 hectares  the centre of town is the largest memorial reservation in Slovakia  the narrow-gauge children’s railway in the Čermel valley is the oldest in Slovakia and currently it is the only one in regular routine operation  the botanical garden is the largest in Slovakia, covering some 30 hectares; its collection of over 1000 species of cactuses guarantees a place at the forefront among world botanical gardens

9. Cathedral of St. Elisabeth

10. St. Michael’s Chapel

11. Main Street

12. Jakab’s Palace

13. Memorial of the International Peace Marathon Košice International Peace Marathon is the second oldest marathon race in the world – athletes run here each year since 1924

14. Košice – Home of the Biggest Bridge Club in Slovakia the history of bridge in Košice goes back to early 30s of the previous century first Team Championship of former ČSR in 1934 was won by bridge players from Košice between 1938 and 1944 bridge in Košice was strongly influenced by Budapest; European champions of the era, like Cohen, Darvas, Ottlik and others were frequent visitors to bridge competitions in Košice in years 1948 to 1968 two clubs existed in Košice; especially the university club was very successful between 1970 and 1985 – rapid progress of organised bridge in Košice between 1989 and 1998 – decline of bridge in Košice from 2001 – gradual renaissance of contract bridge in 2004 – new organisation structure was formed within the Košice Bridge Club (KBK) initiating better overall conditions and a new wave of progress of organized bridge in the city

15. Grand Prix of Košice organised since 2005, always during the first weekend in May biggest open tournament in contract bridge in Slovakia participation of pairs and teams from CZ, HU, PL, SF, RO brief statistics: YearTeamsPairs 2005 12 27 2006 12 38 2007 19 48 2008 23 59 2009 22 52

16. Grand Prix of Košice

19. Candidature is Supported by Košice self-governing region Magistrate of the City of Košice Košice – Interface 2013 – European Cultural Capital We plan to address a request for support also to: Ministry of Education of Slovak Republic Confederation of Sport Associations in Slovakia

20. Organization Committee Peter Belčák – President of SBA – Head of the Organization committee Alojz Zlacký – General Secretary of SBA Vojtech Belčák – Member of the SBA Board and Chairman of the Košice Bridge Club the organization committee will be complemented by representatives of local state and self-government authorities

21. Potential Venues Doubletree by Hilton Košice

22. Potential Venues Hotel Yasmin Košice

23. Accommodation DOUBLETREE BY HILTON KOŠICE **** - 170 rooms HOTEL YASMIN KOŠICE **** - 166 rooms HOTEL - BRISTOL KOŠICE **** HOTEL RESTAURANT DÁLIA *** BEST WESTERN TELEDOM HOTEL *** GOLDEN ROYAL *** HOTEL AMBASSAROR *** HOTEL ALESSANDRIA *** PENZION MARATON ***

24. the international airport in Košice operates regular flights to London, Vienna and Prague as well as several daily flights to and from Bratislava; direct railway connections to Prague, Warsaw, Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava (IC, EC); very good road connections (partially on motorways) with the road networks of neighbour countries (CZ, PL, H, A, UA) by 2013 both North-South and West-East highway connections of Košice to neighbour countries will be finished Transport Possibilities

25. Key Assets Košice as an exiting mixture of multicultural history and vibrant presence rich cultural and sporting activities organised within the Interface 2013 – European Cultural Capital framework devoted local bridge fans experience with bridge festivals – on behalf of the organisers I would like to invite you to the next Grand Prix held in 2010 – you and players from your countries are more than welcome to Košice next spring

26. Conclusion We hope the presentation has helped to convince our committee that Košice, Slovakia is a good candidate for hosting the 2013 Small Federations Trophy