North American Pairs


The North American Pairs is a set of annual North American championships for contested over two days at the spring American Contract Bridge League North American Bridge Championships. The events are restricted to pairs that have qualified through local, regional and district levels within their ACBL Districts.
Three fields or "Flights" compete on the same schedule:
Each competition is a four-session matchpoint pairs tournament with two qualifying sessions on the first day and two final sessions on the second.

History

Flight A

Play for the Baldwin North American Pairs 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.
At inauguration, the open pairs contest was named the Grand National Pairs with 61,000 starting pairs participating in the initial local stage in August 1978 - the ultimate winners arising from the 1979 Spring NABC. The contest was renamed the North American Pairs in deference to the participation of all country members of the ACBL.
Winners have their names inscribed on the Baldwin Trophy and also receive certificates of recognition. The trophy is presented in memory of Col. Russell J. Baldwin, a U.S. Army officer 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. 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 was primarily responsible for the first Duplicate Code issued in 1935. Baldwin was active as a tournament director from 1927 until 1941. After service in World War II, he was ACBL business manager from 1946 until 1951. He was recalled to military service at the outbreak of the Korean War 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.

Flight B

Known as the Golder North American Pairs - Flight B, the first stage of the event is also conducted at the local club level with qualifiers advancing to unit competition. Those qualifiers then advance to the district finals where three pairs – more, depending upon attendance – qualify for the North American final. The inaugural event was held at the 1992 Spring NABC.
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 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. His widow Peggy Golder, later Solomon, was an ACBL Hall of Fame player.

Flight C

Players in the North American Pairs - Flight C, compete for the President's Cup. The inaugural event was held at the 1987 Spring NABC.
The trophy was presented in 1942 by Morgan Howard, ACBL president that year. For many years it was awarded to the winners of the President's Pairs, a standalone event at the Summer NABC. As in the other two flights, Flight C competition begins each summer at the local club level and qualifiers advance to unit and district competitions with three pairs from each district – more, depending upon attendance – qualifying for the North American final.

Winners

YearDistrictWinnersRunners-up
197925Arthur Moore, Eric RobinsonSteve Landen, Larry Mori
1980Bob Feller, Jeffrey HallLarry N. Cohen, Ron Gerard
1981Helen Blakey, Robert BlakeyMark Feldman, Chip Martel
1982Bill Nutting, Ivan ScopeRichard Pavlicek, Cliff Russell
1983Jim Felts, John GriscomRon Gerard, Stephen Sanborn
198425Steve Sion, Harold StengelMarty Bergen, Larry N. Cohen
19856Peter Boyd, Steve RobinsonPeter Pender, Hugh Ross
1986Drew Cannell, Ganesan SekharCraig Cordes, Tom Daniel
1987Jan Janitschke, Dick ReedJudi Cody, Ron Sukoneck
198821Chip Martel, Jan MartelMark Cohen, Stasha Cohen
198911David Caslan, Dennis ClerkinDan Morse, Bobby Nail
1990Sidney Lazard, Jack LaNoueMark Stein, Boris Baran
19911Boris Baran, Mark Stein, Steve Landen, Pratap Rajadhyaksha
1992Jim Krekorian, Rick Zucker2/3. Robert Crafton, Howard Weiner
2/3. Joe Jabon, Harry Steiner
1993James Griffin, Kenneth SchutzeIftikhar Baqai, Mitch Dunitz
1994James Griffin, Kenneth SchutzeRalph Cohen, Reece Rogers
1995David Berkowitz, Lisa BerkowitzGary Cohler, Jerry Goldfein
1996Marshall Tuly, James CunninghamGary Cohler, Jerry Goldfein
1997 Aidan Ballantyne, Gordon McOrmond JoAnna Stansby, Lew Stansby
19986Bill Cole, Ron SukoneckJames Cunningham, Marshall Tuly
1999James Griffin, Kenneth SchutzeTom Kniest, Karen Walker
2000Kevin Collins, Patty TuckerVictor King, John Stiefel
200125Doug Doub, Frank MerblumEd Davis, Jill Meyers
200221JoAnna Stansby, Lew StansbyJoseph Godefrin, Ed Schulte
2003Steve Landen, Michael ZerbiniDoug Doub, Franklin Merblum
2004Henry Lortz, Wayne OhlrichGlenn Milgrim, Chris Willenken
200513Nikolay Demirev, David YangDan Jacob, Bryan Maksymetz
2006Gordon Campbell, Piotr KlimowiczHenry Lortz, Wayne Ohlrich
20076Dave Abelow, Dick WegmanGlenn Milgrim, Chris Willenken
200813Xiaodong Shi, David YangChuck Said, David Siebert
2009Jim Krekorian, John RengstorffBob Heitzman, Jonathan Weinstein
201025Doug Doub, Frank MerblumMichael Polowan, Jared Lilienstein
201124Shane Blanchard, Joe GrueKevin Bathurst, Joel Wooldridge
20122Jordan Cohen, Barry SenenskyBill Pollack, Rozanne Pollack
20139Kevin Dwyer, Gavin WolpertJim Munday, Richard Oshlag
201410Bryan Howard, Terry SpectorDoug Doub, Frank Merblum
201525Mark Aquino, Shome MukherjeeJim Munday, Richard Oshlag
20166Peter Boyd, Steve RobinsonBart Bramley, Ira Hessel
20176Peter Boyd, Steve RobinsonMichael Gill, Noble Shore
201825Adam Grossack, Zachary GrossackJoel Wooldridge, Kent Mignocchi
20199Matthew Weingarten, Jeff EdelsteinJim Munday, Larry Sealy

YearDistrictWinnersRunners-up
1992Peter Worley, Kevin Young Kathie Blumenthal, Patricia Goldfein
1993Robert Sewell, Paul JanickiLawrence Gibbons, Gregory Jecker
1994Brendan Dempsey, Ian CroweJack Kilby, Ernest Lambertsen
1995Jay Levy, William RushmoreBill Archambo, Richard Bender
1996Robert Johnson, David RosensteinDaniel Levi, Samuel Ehrlichman
1997Bill Drewett, Kirk TwissDavid Green, Donald Tofte
1998Adam Beneschan, Brian GilbertMark Burkhammer, Brian Zajac
1999Andy Kaufman, Greg BurchPatricia Griffin, Stephen Wood
20006Hal Hindman, Mark ChenTien-Chun Yang, Fang Wu
200125Walter Lee, Jonathan WeinsteinMike Ralston, Mahesh Rathi
2002Wieslaw Kalita, Marian KrasowskiRobert Stayman, Frank Sensoli
200323Jordan Chodorow, Harvey KatzFrank Sensoli, Michael Alioto
2004Jim Alison, Dayn BeamJacqueline DeRouin, Jan Garthe
2005Pete Whipple, Jamie RadcliffeJoon Pahk, Samuel Ieong
20066Fletcher Thompson, Bruce ToddB. J. Trelford, Chris Buchanan
2007Mark Golding, Rob KitchenBijoy Anand, Earl Brown Jr.
20083Sidney Kanter, Ron NelkenRon Fertig, Dayou Zhou
200925Robert McCaw, Lewis GamermanJon Brandon, Harley Bress
2010Dian Petrov, Fred SchenkerJohn Kozero, Gary Robinson
2011Philippe Galaski, Roger WebbBrad Bartol, Matt Cory
201214Joseph Rice, Bjorgvin KristinssonJay Anderson, Michael Moulding
201316Daniel Jackson, Bill McCartyWeishu Wu, Xiao-Yan Gong
20142Aleksandar Vujic, Miroslav KovacevicWieslaw Kalita, Romuald Mindak
20157Andrew Jeng, Richard JengKamal Gupta, Malik Magdon-Ismail
201611Ryan Schultz, A.J. StephaniMike Ma, Steve Moese
201723Murat Veysoglu, Kevin LaneBob Enenstein, Alan Wood
2018Jeff Dater, Scott Nason
201925Yin Yichen, Chang LiuMark Golding, Robert Kitchen