The opening ceremony of the 48th Prokom European Bridge Team Championships, held at the headquarters of the Polish Olympic Committee, was outstanding.

The welcoming speech of the President of the Polish Bridge Union, Radoslaw Kielbasinski was followed by the introduction of the distinguished guests, Grzegorz Witkowski, Deputy Director of the office of the Mazowsze Provincial Governement, Artur Pilka, Director of the Sport & Tourism Department of the City Council of Warsaw, Dorota Idzi, Vice President of the Polish Olympic Committee and Marcin Zwara, member of the Board of the Aegon Company, sponsors of the opening ceremony.

Their warmly received speeches were followed by that of the President of the EBL, Gianarrigo Rona, who made the formal declaration that opened the Championships.

That was followed by a warmly received presentation of the 33 teams competing in the Open series.

Then came an event that will live in the memory of those who were fortunate enough to be present, a recital by the world famous Polish pianist, Waldemar Malicki. He combined a virtuoso performance at the keyboard with brilliant humour, in the style of Victor Borge.

After explaining that 98% of Poland's population are national heroes - the other 2% are pianists - he opened his performance with the famous Warsaw Concerto, composed by Richard Addinsell for the 1941 Hollywood movie, Dangerous Moonlight.

That was followed by a terrific interpretation of the Beatles classic Yesterday. Having confided to the audience that nowadays he doesn't need to practice so much - he plays faster - he dazzled with a Brazilian Tango and then produced a stupendous series of variations on the theme of Beethoven's 9th symphony. That involved Bach, the Turkish composer, Wolfgang Mustapha Mozart, Rossini, Chopin, Debussy and Scott Joplin.

He brought his bravura performance to an end with a brilliant arrangement of The Entertainer - which he most certainly was!