Tor Helness is considered a highly ethical player and always meets his opponents with a smile. You can often hear him laughing, and most people who has ever played the same tournament as Tor can easily recognise his laughter from far away. He is always open to everyone that wants to discuss bridge, from novices to world stars. And he always manages to see the problem from their perspective and give them a good advice they can learn from. He is always surrounded, every tournament he plays, from the local club to international tournaments, because everyone wants to discuss the boards with him. It is this passion about the game of bridge itself, that has kept Tor at the absolute top of the game for four decades. This makes him a great ambassador for our fine sport.
Tor has 34 Norwegian titles, which is three more than his long-time partner Geir Helgemo and ten more than the person in third.
He took his first international title in 1980, with the Norwegian junior team, in the European championship, and has played on the top level with many great results since then. This has resulted in many victories:
- European Junior Teams Championship 1980
- European Transnational Championship – Mixed Pairs 2005
- European Transnational Championship – Mixed Teams 2005
- Open World Championship – Open Teams 2006
- World Teams Championship – Norway Open 2007
- World Bridge Games – Open Individual 2008
- World Teams Championship – Transnationals Teams 2009
- European Teams Championship – Monaco Open 2012
- World Teams Championship – Transnationals Teams 2015
- European Winter Games – Open Teams 2016
- Champions Cup 2016
- World Bridge Series – Open Teams 2018
He has also won Vanderbilt (1), Spingold (3), Reisinger (2), Jacoby Open Swiss Teams (1) and Nail Life Master Pairs (1)
In addition to all his victories, he also has 24 international silver and bronze medals from European and world championships.
