The NABC Summer Nationals – Introduction

BRIAN GLUBOK

Brian is a highly accomplished American bridge player hailing from New York City. Glubok, an alumnus of Amherst College, has consistently excelled in North American Bridge Championships, securing numerous titles, including wins in the Jacoby Open Swiss Teams, Reisinger, and Spingold events. In addition to his domestic success, Glubok came close to victory in the World Mixed Pairs Championship in 2010, finishing as the runner-up.

Brian will be writing for IMP about the Summer NABC in Minneapolis. This is the first of the series.

For details about the Summer NABC in Minneapolis, look here.

Bridge players love big tournaments and they especially love the summer nationals – American players (and foreign players too) call our NABC’s “nationals” – the name is too perfect, too apt. And bridge players from all over the world look forward to the US Summer Nationals in the medium-sized US city of Minneapolis.

With the exception of two cancellations during Covid Lockdown (2020 and 2021), these summer nationals have been held annually for close to a century now, at least 90 years. The number of secondary events has increased steadily throughout that period, but these are the main two (three, four) events contested:

1) Life Master Pairs – while the requirements for “Life Master Status” have declined steadily since the designation was first created, this is still considered an elite pair game. Foreign players are permitted to enter if they have a comparable high designation from their own national bridge organization – American players must have attained this designation (typically reached after 7 to 10 years of competing at organized bridge). The format for this event has remained the same for many years, with very few exceptions: Six sessions, three days, two cuts – a typical initial field of around 200 tables, reduced to 100 tables after the first day, and to fifty tables for the Final on Sunday.

Of the major US Pair Championships (Blue Ribbons, LM’s, Platinum Pairs) this one is the easiest – but it’s far from easy.

A very young pair won last year in Philadelphia – Michigan’s Owen Lien, a popular 30-something pro, playing with the super-young bridge prodigy, Harrison Luba, around 22 at the time of this writing. 

2) The Spingold Team Championship – Named for a New York / Hollywood movie producer, Nate Spingold donated the trophy which is awarded to the winner of this venerable championship. In this era there are typically around 80 to 100 teams entered. On the first day (the Monday of the tournament) the field is reduced to, usually, 64 teams – after that single elimination play continues through the weekend. 

Word around the quad is that the Nickell Team will be reconstituted, with Kevin Rosenberg to partner Steve Weinstein, and the Polish stars, Klukowski and Kalita, to join Nickell and Ralph Katz. Clearly one of the pre-tournament favorites, along with Gavin Wolpert’s Shourie Team, Pierre Zimmerman’s superstars, and last year’s winners, Marty Fleisher’s all-star collection (Martel, Bessis, Versace, others).

3) The Roth Swiss – this three day event, on the second weekend, has grown from an afterthought to a popular championship – for players who maintain their focus and desire through the second weekend – the eighth or tenth day of a long and arduous congress – this is a great opportunity to finish top ten or even win.

4) Grand National Teams – this event needs an asterisk – you can only qualify by playing in your host (North American) district, and winning there – then, starting on the Wednesday before the beginning of the broader tournament, twenty-something District Champions play one day of Swiss and four days of KO to select a champion.

Last Year’s WInners: I don’t immediately recall, perhaps one of us will look that up. Fun event, but – if you reach the round of 8 you won’t be able to play the LM Pairs, so – that’s a bit of a deterrent. But the GNT’s represents the best chance for many players to win a major team championships – there are always several good teams, but, since all players on each team must be residents of the same district, there are rarely any great ones.

Perhaps a second draft of this dispatch will feature some hands from last summer’s NABC, in Philadelphia – I’ll close out this article by lauding the league for the many appealing special features they now offer at nationals – a Game Night, A Trivia Night, Junior Celebrations – plenty of activities and events available for those who like that sort of thing. 

And, of course, the most popular pastime of all – mingling in the bar at night after the second session.

If you’re going, we’ll – see you there!

  Signed,

  IMP’s Man in America:

  Glubok