Career
He was a stalwart on Norway junior and open teams for thirty years before moving to Monaco. From 1979 to 1981, Helness represented Norway on both its junior and open teams. In 1980 the juniors were European champions (there was yet no world championship) and the open team reached the World Team Olympiad semifinal.
The team finished third in the 2010 world championship, not yet full-time, and it will compete in the European Bridge League open championship this spring.
From 2012 all six members will be subjects of the Prince of Monaco and the team will be a prohibitive favorite to represent Monaco internationally in bridge events. Major wins Other notable wins Cap Volmac World Top Invitational Pairs (2) 1994, 1996 Macallan Invitational Pairs (2) 1998, 1999 Generali World Masters Individual (1) 2008 Cavendish Invitational Teams (1) 2010.