The Norman Kay Platinum Pairs national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Norman Kay Platinum Pairs is a six-session open-pairs event with two qualifying, two semi-final, and two final sessions. It is restricted to those players who have earned 50 platinum masterpoints over the three calendar years prior, earned at least 200 platinum points lifetime, or earned the rank of Platinum Life Master or Grand Life Master. [1]
The Platinum Pairs were approved by the ACBL Board of Directors in 2008 to start in 2010. [2] In 2011, the Board of Directors renamed the Platinum Pairs the Norman Kay Platinum Pairs. [3]
Its introduction in 2010 gives the three annual NABC meets each one three-day pairs tournament open to all players without regard to age, sex, nationality, or membership. The Platinum Pairs shares the Spring NABC with the North American Pairs, restricted to ACBL members who qualify in one of its 25 Districts, many of which require qualification in local Units. It also requires past achievement greater than that required by the summer Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs or the fall Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs (but all are within reach for leading players from overseas who attend a few American meets).
In the first six renditions to 2015, Thomas Bessis was runner-up twice and winner once. Bessis and Cedric Lorenzini, both of France, were second in 2014 and first in 2015.
| Year | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Franco Baseggio, Andy Stark | Peter Fredin, Gary Gottlieb |
| 2011 | John Hurd, Joel Wooldridge | Ken Kranyak, Laurie Kranyak |
| 2012 | Bob Hamman, Justin Lall | Thomas Bessis, Ishmael Delmonte |
| 2013 | Marty Fleisher, Michael Kamil | Jeff Meckstroth, JoAnna Stansby |
| 2014 | Richard Coren, Bobby Levin | Thomas Bessis, Cédric Lorenzini |
| 2015 | Thomas Bessis, Cédric Lorenzini | Massimiliano Di Franco, Andrea Manno |
| 2016 | Geoff Hampson, Eric Greco | Joel Wooldridge, Kent Mignocchi |
| 2017 | Justin Lall, Dennis Bilde | Jeff Meckstroth, Thomas Bessis |
| 2018 | Steve Weinstein, Bobby Levin | Vincent Demuy, Dror Padon |
| 2019 | Curtis Cheek, Zia Mahmood | Glenn Milgrim, Barry Rigal |
| 2020 | (Cancelled) | |
| 2021 | (Cancelled) | |
| 2022 | Michael Rosenberg, Zachary Grossack | Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Greco |
| 2023 | John Hurd, Vincent Demuy | Irene Baroni, Ola Rimstedt |
| 2024 | Joel Wooldridge, Kent Mignocchi | Oren Toledano, Ami Zamir |
Edgar Kaplan was an American bridge player and one of the principal contributors to the game. His career spanned six decades and covered every aspect of bridge. He was a teacher, author, editor, administrator, champion player, theorist, expert Vugraph commentator, coach/captain and authority on the laws of the game. He was the editor and publisher of The Bridge World magazine for more than 30 years (1967–1997). With Alfred Sheinwold he developed the Kaplan–Sheinwold bidding system. He was from New York City.
Jeffrey John (Jeff) Meckstroth is an American professional contract bridge player. He is a multiple world champion, winning the Bermuda Bowl on USA teams five times. He is one of only ten players who have won the so-called triple crown of bridge: the Bermuda Bowl, the World Open Pairs and the World Team Olympiad. As of May 16, 2016, he was the fifth-ranking World Grand Master. For decades Meckstroth has been in a regular partnership with Eric Rodwell and together, nicknamed "Meckwell", they are one of the most successful bridge partnerships of all time. They are well known for playing an aggressive and very detailed system that derived from Precision Club.
Norman Kay was an American bridge player. He partnered Sidney Silodor until Silodor's death in 1963. With Edgar Kaplan, Kay formed one of the most successful and longest-lasting partnerships in organized bridge. It spanned more than 40 years, and ended with Kaplan's death in 1997. He was from Narberth, Pennsylvania.
North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). 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 different kinds in many classes of competition. Host cities in the United States and Canada are selected several years in advance.
The Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Wagar Women's Knockout Teams national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Nail Life Master Open Pairs is a North American bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs is a national bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The event is restricted to those that have won a blue ribbon qualification and is generally considered, with the Norman Kay Platinum Pairs, as one of the two hardest pairs event on the ACBL calendar.
The Mini-Blue Ribbon Pairs North American bridge championship is held at the Fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Red Ribbon Pairs national bridge championship is held annually at the Summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). Prior to the 2015 Summer NABC, the Red Ribbon Pairs event was held at the Spring NABC.
David L. Berkowitz is an American professional contract bridge player. He is from Old Tappan, New Jersey.
The National Open Pairs was the first national bridge championship for open pairs and was held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC) as a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event.
Eric R. Murray was a Canadian contract bridge player and co-founder of the Canadian Bridge Federation (CBF). He and his long-time regular partner Sami Kehela were considered two of the best Canadian players in the history of the game. The Eric R. Murray Trophy, named in his honour, is awarded to the open team representing Canada in the quadrennial World Team Olympiad.
Sami R. Kehela, sometimes spelled Sammy Kehela, is a Canadian contract bridge player. A member of the Halls of Fame of both the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) and the Canadian Bridge Federation, he and his long-time partner, the late Eric Murray, are considered two of the best Canadian players in the history of the game.
Joel Powhatan Wooldridge is an American multi-national champion and world junior champion in contract bridge, as well as an expert foosball player. In 1990, Wooldridge surpassed Sam Hirschman's previous record for the youngest individual to achieve Life Master status with the American Contract Bridge League. He achieved this milestone at the age of 11 years, 4 months, and 13 days, breaking the previous record of 11 years, 9 months, and 5 days. Four years later, Joel's record was surpassed by Sam's brother, Dan. Wooldridge currently resides in New York City.
Eric Alan Greco is an American bridge player. He is from Annandale, Virginia.
Chris Compton is an American bridge player.
Thomas Bessis is a French bridge player.
Waleed El Ahmady is an Egyptian bridge player.
Tarek Sadek is an Egyptian bridge player.