North American Pairs
Encyclopedia
The North American Pairs (NAP) national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League
American Contract Bridge League
The American Contract Bridge League is the largest contract bridge organization in North America. It promotes the game of bridge in the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, and Canada, and is a member of the World Bridge Federation...

 (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship
North American Bridge Championships
North American Bridge Championships are three annual bridge conventions sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League . The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven days. They comprise both championship and side contests of...

 (NABC).

The North American Pairs is a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event with two qualifying and two final sessions. The event is restricted to those who have qualified in their local ACBL district.

Flights A typically starts on the Wednesday before the main NABC events. Flights B and C typically start on the second Saturday.

History

The Baldwin North American Pairs, Flight A, is a grassroots event. Play begins each Summer at the local level and concludes at the North American Bridge Championships in the following Spring.

Qualifiers at the club level advance to unit competition and those qualifiers advance to district finals. Three pairs from each district --- more, depending upon attendance --- qualify for the North American final.

Winners have their names inscribed on the Baldwin Memorial Trophy and also receive certificates of recognition. The trophy is presented in memory of Col. Russell J. Baldwin (1889–1969), U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 and expert on tournament procedure who was ACBL Honorary Member of the Year in 1943. Baldwin was active as an organizer from the earliest days of contract bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...

. He became a director of the American Bridge League and its treasurer shortly after its founding in 1927. He was a member of the ACBL Laws Commission and primarily responsible for the first Duplicate Code (Laws specifically for duplicate bridge) issued in 1935. Baldwin was active as a tournament director from 1927 until 1941. After service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he was ACBL business manager from 1946 until 1951. He was recalled to military service at the outbreak of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 and retired from the U.S. Army in 1957. He rejoined ACBL in 1958 and was in charge of tournament scheduling until his retirement in 1963.

The Golder North American Pairs, Flight B, is a grassroots event limited to players with 0-2000 masterpoints
Masterpoints
Masterpoints or master points are points awarded by national and other bridge organisations for success in bridge tournaments run under their auspices. Organisations which issue these points include the American Contract Bridge League , the American Bridge Association, the English Bridge Union ,...

.

The first stage is conducted at the local club level and qualifiers advance to unit competition. Those qualifiers then advance to the district finals where three pairs -- more, depending upon attendance -- qualify for the North American final.

Winners have their names inscribed on the Golder Cup and will also receive a certificate of recognition. The trophy is presented in memory of Benjamin M. Golder (1894–1946) of Philadelphia, who died the day before the close of his term as 1946 ACBL president. He was named ACBL Honorary Member of the Year for 1947.

Players in the North American Open Pairs Flight C, a grassroots event limited to players who have not yet become Life Masters and have fewer than 500 masterpoints, compete for the President's Cup.

The trophy was presented in 1942 by Morgan Howard, ACBL president that year. The trophy was previously awarded to the winners of the President's Pairs event, held at the Summer NABC. As in the other two flights, the competition begins each summer at the local club level and qualifiers then advance to unit competition. Those qualifiers then advance to the district finals and three pairs from each district -- more, depending upon attendance -- qualify for the North American final.

Winners

Winners of North American Pairs Flight A
Year dist Winners Runners-Up
1979
25 Arthur Moore, Eric Robinson
Steve Landen, Larry Mori
1980
Bob Feller, Jeffrey Hall
Larry N. Cohen, Ron Gerard
1981
Helen Blakey, Robert Blakey
Mark Feldman, Chip Martel
1982
Bill Nutting, Ivan Scope
Richard Pavlicek
Richard Pavlicek
Richard Pavlicek is an American bridge player, author and columnist.-Career:Pavlicek began to play bridge in 1964 at the age of 18 while stationed in Stuttgart, West Germany, with the U.S. Army. Upon returning to Florida in 1966 he started to play in bridge tournaments in his spare time. Since...

, Cliff Russell
1983
Jim Felts, John Griscom
Ron Gerard, Stephen Sanborn
1984
25 Steve Sion, Harold Stengel
Marty Bergen
Marty Bergen
Marty A. Bergen is an American bridge player and writer. A 10-time national champion and American Contract Bridge League Grand Life Master he retired from active competition in 1993...

, Larry N. Cohen
1985
6 Peter Boyd, Steve Robinson
Peter Pender, Hugh Ross
1986
Drew Cannell, Ganesan Sekhar
Craig Cordes, Tom Daniel
1987
Jan Janitschke, Dick Reed
Judi Cody, Ron Sukoneck
1988
21 Chip Martel, Jan Martel
Mark Cohen, Stasha Cohen
1989
11 David Caslan, Dennis Clerkin
Dan Morse, Bobby Nail
1990
Sidney Lazard, Jack LaNoue
Mark Stein, Boris Baran
1991
1 Boris Baran, Mark Stein,
  Steve Landen, Pratap Rajadhyaksha  
1992
Jim Krekorian, Rick Zucker
2/3. Robert Crafton, Howard Weiner
2/3. Joe Jabon, Harry Steiner
1993
James Griffin, Kenneth Schutze
Iftikhar Baqai, Mitch Dunitz
1994
James Griffin, Kenneth Schutze
Ralph Cohen, Reece Rogers
1995
David Berkowitz, Lisa Berkowitz
Gary Cohler, Jerry Goldfein
1996
Marshall Tuly, James Cunningham
Gary Cohler, Jerry Goldfein
1997
  Aidan Ballantyne, Gordon McOrmond  
JoAnna Stansby, Lew Stansby
1998
6 Bill Cole, Ron Sukoneck
James Cunningham, Marshall Tuly
1999
James Griffin, Kenneth Schutze
Tom Kniest, Karen Walker
2000
Kevin Collins, Patty Tucker,
Victor King, John Stiefel
2001
25 Doug Doub, Frank Merblum
Ed Davis, Jill Meyers
2002
21 JoAnna Stansby, Lew Stansby
Joseph Godefrin, Ed Schulte
2003
Steve Landen, Michael Zerbini
Doug Doub, Franklin Merblum
2004
Henry Lortz, Wayne Ohlrich
Glenn Milgrim, Chris Willenken
2005
Nikolay Demirev, David Yang
Dan Jacob, Bryan Maksymetz
2006
Gordon Campbell, Piotr Klimowicz
Henry Lortz, Wayne Ohlrich
2007
Dave Abelow, Dick Wegman
Glenn Milgrim, Chris Willenken
2008
Xiaodong Shi, David Yang
Chuck Said, David Siebert
2009
Jim Krekorian, John Rengstorff
Bob Heitzman, Jonathan Weinstein
2010
25 Doug Doub, Frank Merblum
Nikolay Demirev, David Yang
2011
Shane Blanchard, Joe Grue
Kevin Bathurst, Joel Wooldridge


Winners of North American Pairs Flight B
Year dist Winners Runners-up
1992
Peter Worley, Kevin Young
  Kathie Blumenthal, Patricia Goldfein  
1993
Robert Sewell, Paul Janicki
Lawrence Gibbons, Gregory Jecker
1994
Brendan Dempsey, Ian Crowe
Jack Kilby, Ernest Lambertsen
1995
Jay Levy, William Rushmore
Bill Archambo, Richard Bender
1996
  Robert Johnson, David Rosenstein  
Daniel Levi, Samuel Ehrlichman
1997
Bill Drewett, Kirk Twiss
David Green, Donald Tofte
1998
Adam Beneschan, Brian Gilbert
Mark Burkhammer, Brian Zajac
1999
Andy Kaufman, Greg Burch
Patricia Griffin, Stephen Wood
2000
Hal Hindman, Mark Chen
Tien-Chun Yang, Fang Wu
2001
25 Walter Lee, Jonathan Weinstein
Mike Ralston, Mahesh Rathi
2002
Wieslaw Kalita, Marian Krasowski
Robert Stayman, Frank Sensoli
2003
Jordan Chodorow, Harvey Katz
Frank Sensoli, Michael Alioto
2004
Jim Alison, Dayn Beam
Jacqueline DeRouin, Jan Garthe
2005
Pete Whipple, Jamie Radcliffe
Joon Pahk, Samuel Ieong
2006
Fletcher Thompson, Bruce Todd
B. J. Trelford, Chris Buchanan
2007
Mark Golding, Rob Kitchen
Bijoy Anand, Earl Brown Jr.
2008
Sidney Kanter, Ron Nelken
Ron Fertig, Dayou Zhou
2009
Robert McCaw, Lewis Gamerman
Jon Brandon, Harley Bress
2010
Dian Petrov, Fred Schenker
John Kozero, Gary Robinson
2011
Philippe Galaski, Roger Webb
Brad Bartol, Matt Cory


Winners of North American Pairs Flight C
Year dist Winners Runners-up
1987
x 1/2. Leo Austern, Bernard Pollack
1/2. David Deaderick, Bill Thomas
1988
Brad Moss, Aaron Silverstein
Geoffrey O'Connor, Charles Bilick
1989
Warren King, Jeffrey Brown
Sylvian Descoteauz, Guy Belisle
1990
Philip Leung, Moske Harel
Deborah Hart, Nate Ward
1991
Eric Greco, Philip Greco
Bruce Graff, Steve Castellino
1992
Gail Joelson, Alan Kasner
J. Greg Fowler, Don Herring
1993
Mark Michele, Everett Boyer
Gabrida Rabiega, Leszek Rabiega
1994
Weizhong Bao, Jingdong Guo
Duane Tilden, Grace Jeklin
1995
Edward Lee, Brett Roby
Philip Feng Lu, Xiaodong Zhang
1996
Yue Zuo, Ruoyu Fan
Carlos Bichara, Rita Bichara
1997
Thomas Franklin, Michael Corker
Weiming Hu, Alex Lo
1998
Tien-Chun Yang, Fang Wu
Matt Just, Paul Coulter
1999
James Gunn, Harry Shaffer
Norman Cannon, Judith Hallowell
2000
Meredith Beck, John Johnson
Rachel Chittaro, Edward Nield
2001
Hailong Ao, Jian-Jian Wang
David Pettit, Doris Suojanen
2002
Jacek Leznicki, Jerry Owczarek
Kevin Jones, Daniel Kenney
2003
John Christensen, Robert Wissman
Lester Gottlieb, Richard Avazian
2004
Daniel Wilderman, Ryan Connors
Jacek Leznicki, Jerry Owczarek
2005
Jiang Chen, Nongyu Li
Inger Lise Blount, Jeanette Hughes
2006
  Stanislaw Kolesnik, Vladimir Reznik  
Mike Develin
Mike Develin
Michael Lee Develin is an American mathematician known for his work in combinatorics and discrete geometry.-Early life:...

, John Barth
2007
Jon King, Dayou Zhou
  Chong Zhao, Narayanan Ramabhadran  
2008
Abraham Pallas, Dimitri Bourilkov
Kaiyu Qian, Jiawei Luo
2009
Michael Bodell, Elenalani Lam
Alex Lovejoy, Argenta Price
2010
Vladimir Oudalov, Stanley Weiss
Lisa Kuo, Murat Veysoglu
2011
Rajeev Bansal, Michael Hughes
Guillaume de Decker, Ajit Thyagarajan



Sources

List of previous winners and history for Flight A, Page 4
List of previous winners and history for Flights B and C, Pages 9, 10
2009 winners for Flight A, Page 1
2009 winners for Flights B and C, Page 1
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