Claudio Nunes (born 23 March 1968) is an Italian professional bridge player.
He is a five-time world champion, a World Grand Master of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), and the WBF second-ranked player as of April 2011. He is one of 10 players who have won the Triple Crown of Bridge.
Nunes was born in Rome. His regular partner for many years is Fulvio Fantoni, the first-ranked World Grand Master (April 2011). Fantoni-Nunes are generally regarded as one of the top pairs worldwide. They play "Fantunes", for their surnames, an innovative bidding system characterised by natural but forcing one-level opening bids in all four suits. The pair was implicated in a cheating scandal in 2015 resulting in sanctions against them.
Emigration to Monaco
Starting in 2011, Fantoni and Nunes were full-time members of a team led and paid by the Swiss real-estate tycoon Pierre Zimmermann, under contract expiring 2016. From 2012 all six members would be citizens of Monaco and the team would represent Monaco internationally. The team finished third in the 2010 world championship, not yet full-time, and competed in the 2011 European Bridge League open championship (neither is a national teams event).
Cheating scandal
In September 2015, Fantoni and Nunes were publicly accused of cheating by orienting a played card to show a missing high honour (Ace, King, Queen) in the led suit at the European Bridge Championship in 2014. On March 19, 2016, the FIGB banned the pair for three years. On July 18, 2016, the European Bridge League (EBL) banned each from play for five years and as a partnership for life. On July 26, 2016, the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) expelled them from their league and stripped them of all related masterpoints, titles, ranks and privileges.
The players' appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport resulted in a judgment in their favor in January 2018.
Only the ACBL sanction remains in place; all others have been overturned or expired.
Major tournament wins
Awards
Mott-Smith Trophy (1) 2004
Wins
Bermuda Bowl (1) 2005
World Transnational Open Teams Championship (1) 2007
World Open Pairs Championship (1) 2002
World Olympiad Teams Championship (2) 2004, 2008
European Teams Championship for Open Teams: 2004, 2006, 2012
European Champions' Cup for Open Teams: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009
North American Bridge Championships (10) Wernher Open Pairs (1) 2004 Blue Ribbon Pairs (1) 2006 Jacoby Open Swiss Teams (1) 2003 Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (1) 2004 Reisinger (3) 2007, 2012, 2013 Roth Open Swiss Teams (1) 2005 Spingold (2) 2011, 2012
Runners-up
Bermuda Bowl (3) 2003, 2009, 2013
Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 2004
Buffett Cup (2) 2010, 2012
North American Bridge Championships (6) Jacoby Open Swiss Teams (1) 2004 Vanderbilt (1) 2014 Reisinger (1) 2011 Spingold (3) 2006, 2010, 2014
Bridge accomplishments
Awards
Mott-Smith Trophy (1) 2004
Wins
Bermuda Bowl (1) 2005
World Transnational Open Teams Championship (1) 2007
World Open Pairs Championship (1) 2002
World Olympiad Teams Championship (2) 2004, 2008
North American Bridge Championships (10) Wernher Open Pairs (1) 2004 Blue Ribbon Pairs (1) 2006 Jacoby Open Swiss Teams (1) 2003 Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (1) 2004 Reisinger (3) 2007, 2012, 2013 Roth Open Swiss Teams (1) 2005 Spingold (2) 2011, 2012
Runners-up
Bermuda Bowl (3) 2003, 2009, 2013
Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 2004
Buffett Cup (2) 2010, 2012
North American Bridge Championships (6) Jacoby Open Swiss Teams (1) 2004 Vanderbilt (1) 2014 Reisinger (1) 2011 Spingold (3) 2006, 2010, 2014
References
External links
Biography at Infobridge.it (Italian with crude English-language version)