Page 12 - ABF Newsletter August 2025

Ishmael
Del’Monte
1972 - 2025
from Liam Milne, ABF
Ishmael Del’monte passed away on 25 July 2025, a devastating loss to the Australian and New Zealand bridge communities.
Known almost universally as “Ish,” he was born on 15 November 1972 in Auckland. He learned bridge as a teenager from his father, Simon (“Curly”), and would often travel to weekend tournaments in New Zealand to watch him play.
In 1992, Ish moved to Australia. Early signs of Ish’s natural talent appeared in 1993 when, at just 20 years old, he won the New Zealand Open Teams. That same year, he also captured both the Gold Coast Pairs and Teams titles. He clearly enjoyed Queensland hospi- tality, returning the following year to successfully defend both titles.
In 1995, Ish represented New Zealand on the Youth team that earned a silver medal at the World Junior Teams Championship in Bali – the only youth-level world medal New Zealand has ever achieved. All of these accolades were earned in his longest partner- ship with close friend Ashley Bach. In the same year, he married his first wife, Kim, with whom he had two children (Julia and Ben).
Recognising that New Zealand was too small a pond for his ambitions, Ish switched his ‘bridge nationality’ to Australia in 1996. His impact was immediate: he qualified for the Australian Open Team in 1999, then
Ishmael with Valerie Cummings, Stephen Lester and Matthew Mullamphy
Photo by Anne Russell
again in 2002 and 2003, each time with a differ- ent partner. In 2003, he helped Australia to one of its best modern-day Bermuda Bowl performances, reaching the quarter-finals.
During his years in Australia, Ish also established two successful bridge clubs in Sydney and Melbourne, both named Kings and Queens. As his international career flourished, he would return home and share hands and stories from abroad in his popular les- sons.
Across roughly twenty years in Australia, Ish amassed an astonishing 46 national titles and won the pres- tigious McCutcheon Trophy for most masterpoints in a year five times. His 1994 total of 651.9 master- points as a 22-year-old remains a record that no one has come close to breaking.
Between 2011 and 2013, Ish reached the pinnacle of his career with three wins and three runner-up finishes in the highly competitive US Nationals. In 2011, Ish’s team narrowly lost the Vanderbilt final by just 4 imps. In the last set, he and his partner bid to 7}, only to discover they were missing the ace of trumps – a hand that quickly became famous world- wide when his opponents in the other room had a similar mix-up and bid to the same contract. A year later, however, he had his redemption, winning the Vanderbilt Trophy decisively by 50 imps in what he considered his greatest career result.
In 2014, Ish married his second wife, Lisa, and relo- cated permanently to the United States.
Page: 12
Australian Bridge Federation Ltd. Newsletter: August 2025