The Wernher Open Pairs national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
Typically starting on the Tuesday of the NABC, the Wernher Open Pairs is a four session matchpoint pairs event, with two qualifying sessions and two final sessions. The event is open to any player, but due to its current conflicting schedule with the more prestigious Spingold Knockout Teams, it is generally considered to be the weakest open national event on the calendar.
The Wernher Open pairs is a four-session event with two qualifying sessions and two final sessions. It was contested at the Summer NABC until 1962. It moved to the Spring NABC in 1963 where it remained for 40 years.
In 2004, it returned to the Summer NABC lineup. From 1969 through 1971, it was contested as a three-session championship. In 1992 the event became Open Pairs II.
The winners have their names inscribed on the Wernher trophy, named after Sir Derrick J. Wernher, a leading personality in American bridge in the Thirties. Wernher -- a resident of both London and Deal NJ -- was president of the American Bridge League in 1933, chairman of its Master Plan committee and a member of the board of directors of the American Whist League.
During 56 years as the national or North American championship Men's Pairs, two champions successfully defended the title playing together: Doug Drury–Eric Murray in 1955, Phil Feldesman–Ira Rubin in 1962. Indeed, they were the only pairs to win the event twice.
| Year | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1934 | David Burnstine, Oswald Jacoby | Morrie Elis, George Kennedy |
| 1935 | Edward Cook, Fred French | Charles Goren, Louis H. Watson |
| 1936 | Richard Ecker, Fred Kaplan | Bertram Lebhar Jr., Samuel Katz |
| 1937 | Edward Cook, John Kunkle | Philip Abramsohn, Morrie Elis |
| 1938 | B. Jay Becker, Charles Goren | Morrie Elis, Waldemar von Zedtwitz |
| 1939 | John R. Crawford, Oswald Jacoby | Henry Chanin, Morrie Elis |
| 1940 | Merwyn Maier, Robert McPherran | Morrie Elis, Harry Fishbein |
| 1941 | Joseph Low, Simon Rossant | Joseph Davis, Sidney Silodor |
| 1942 | Robert von Engel, Aaron Goodman | Murray Gross, William Lipton |
| 1943 | Charles Goren, Charles Solomon | Richard Ecker, Fred Kaplan |
| 1944 | Sigmund Dornbusch, Herman Goldberg | Ambrose Casner, Ralph Hirschberg |
| 1945 | Sylvester Gintell, Lee Hazen | George Rapée, Sam Stayman |
| 1946 | Mitchell Barnes, Waldemar von Zedtwitz | Lewis Bernard, Frank Weisbach |
| 1947 | Sol Mogal, Tobias Stone | Morrie Elis, Morris Portugal |
| 1948 | Fred Hirsch, Samuel Katz | Lewis Bernard, Harold Feldstein |
| 1949 | Charles Goren, Oswald Jacoby | Bobby Nail, J. G. Ripstra |
| 1950 | Phillip Briggs, Richard Revell | George Rapée, Sidney Silodor |
| 1951 | Milton Ellenby, Emmanuel Hochfeld | Clifford Bishop, Alexander Nusinoff |
| 1952 | Arthur Grau, William Rosen | Harold Harkavy, Tobias Stone |
| 1953 | Harold Harkavy, Bill Root | John R. Crawford, Waldemar von Zedtwitz |
| 1954 | Doug Drury, Eric Murray | Milton Ellenby, Douglas Steen |
| 1955 | Doug Drury, Eric Murray | Ira Rubin, Victor Mitchell |
| 1956 | Paul Allinger, Jim Jacoby | Robert Jordan, Robert Sitnek |
| 1957 | David Carter, John Hubbell | John Gerber, Paul Hodge |
| 1958 | William Grieve, Ira Rubin | Norman Kay, Sidney Silodor |
| 1959 | Harry Fishbein, John Gerber | Erik Paulsen, Mike Shuman |
| 1960 | Jack Blair, William Christian | David Carter, Paul Hodge |
| 1961 | Phil Feldesman, Ira Rubin | Paul Allinger, Lew Mathe |
| 1962 | Phil Feldesman, Ira Rubin | Eddie Kantar, Marshall Miles |
| 1963 | Sami Kehela, Wolf Lebovic | Sonny Moyse, Tommy Sanders |
| 1964 | Ed Weiner, G. Gard Hays | Darryl Pedersen, Don Nemiro |
| 1965 | Lawrence Rosler, Jeff Rubens | Norman Kay, Eric Murray |
| 1966 | Barry Crane, Peter Rank | Mark Blumenthal, Mike Moss |
| 1967 | Richard Lawrence, Art Price | Eddie Kantar, Sidney Lazard |
| 1968 | Kyle Larsen, Edmond Lazarus | Bill Passell, David Strasberg |
| 1969 | Michael Martino, Frank Vine | Gerald Hallee, Paul Soloway |
| 1970 | Richard Kaye, Richard Walsh | Edgar Kaplan, Norman Kay |
| 1971 | Giorgio Belladonna, Benito Garozzo | Robert Kerr, Jay McKee |
| 1972 | Steve Robinson, Kit Woolsey | Paul Heitner, Marshall Miles |
| 1973 | Jack Kennedy, David Hadden | Steve Robinson, Kit Woolsey |
| 1974 | George Slemmons, George Steiner | Steve Robinson, Kit Woolsey |
| 1975 | Harlow Lewis, Art Waldemann | Larry Kozlove, John Sheridan |
| 1976 | Gerald Caravelli, Larry T. Cohen | Jack Kennedy, Bobby Wolff |
| 1977 | Joseph Fox, Garey Hayden | David Lehman, Dick Melson |
| 1978 | Larry Kozlove, John Sheridan | Roy Fox, Paul Swanson |
| 1979 | Roy Fox, Paul Swanson | Perry Johnson, Michael Zerbini |
| 1980 | Neil Silverman, Peter Weichsel | Warren Rosner, Stephen Sanborn |
| 1981 | Warren Rosner, Allan Stauber | Billy Eisenberg, Neil Silverman |
| 1982 | David Berkowitz, Harold Lilie | James Barlow, Chuck Carroll |
| 1983 | Marty Bergen, Allan Stauber | Mike Passell, Ron Andersen |
| 1984 | Mike Lawrence, Peter Weichsel | Joel Friedberg, Ethan Stein |
| 1985 | Ed Manfield, Kit Woolsey | Bob Hamman, George Mittelman |
| 1986 | Bob Hamman, Paul Swanson | Bobby Levin, Fred Hamilton |
| 1987 | Darryl Pedersen, George Steiner | Zia Mahmood, Chris Compton |
| 1988 | Arthur Hoffman, Stephen Shane | Ken Kranyak, Harry Stratton |
| 1989 | Mike Moss, Charles Coon | Robert Beiles, Sidney Lorvan |
| Year | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Steve Sion, Steve Landen | Neil Silverman, Mike Smolen |
| 1991 | Ken Cohen, Bob Thomas | JoAnna Stansby, Lew Stansby |
| 1992 | Jeff Meckstroth, Perry Johnson | Tony Glynne, James Elliott |
| 1993 | Gaylor Kasle, Bobby Levin | Eddie Wold, Dennis Sorensen |
| 1994 | Thomas Peters, John Zilic | Steve Beatty, Curtis Cheek |
| 1995 | Fred Stewart, Steve Weinstein | Martin Caley, Peter Schwartz |
| 1996 | David Berkowitz, Larry N. Cohen | Jackie Buroker, Dick Yarington |
| 1997 | Lloyd Arvedon, Allan Falk | Bart Bramley, Sidney Lazard |
| 1998 | Björn Fallenius, Mike Moss | Evan Bailey, Joseph Kivel |
| 1999 | Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell | Bobby Levin, Steve Weinstein |
| 2000 | Stephen Landen, Pratap Rajadhyaksha | Kenneth Kranyak, Harry Stratton |
| 2001 | Chris Willenken, Ron Smith | Joseph Kivel, Chris Larsen |
| 2002 | Curtis Cheek, Eric Greco | Geoff Hampson, Renee Mancuso |
| 2003 | Geoff Hampson, Eric Greco | Ken Cohen, Dan Gerstman |
| 2004 | Fulvio Fantoni, Claudio Nunes | Kit Woolsey, Fred Stewart |
| 2005 | Nagy Kamel, Nader Hanna | Samuel Marks, Emory Whitaker |
| 2006 | Jianrong Lin, Julie Zhu | Cameron Doner, Bob Etter |
| 2007 | Joan Jackson, Petra Hamman | Daniel Korbel, Jonathan Steinberg |
| 2008 | K. R. Venkataraman, Sunit Chokshi | Don Piafsky, Barry Piafsky |
| 2009 | Nikolay Demirev, Nicolas L'Ecuyer | Alan Kleist, Tim Crank |
| 2010 | Richard Burton, Beatrice Kemp | Tom Carmichael, Jeff Roman |
| 2011 | Meyer Kotkin, Howard Cohen | Robb Gordon, Richard Margolis |
| 2012 | Robert Lebi, David Lindop | Pamela Miller, James Rasmussen |
| 2013 | Valentin Kovachev, Lynne Rosenbaum | Larry Sealy, Jim Foster |
| 2014 | Marc Nathan, Jose Robles | Giuseppe Failla, Dario Attanasio |
| 2015 | Ai-Tai Lo, William Pettis | Mark Itabashi, Peter Gelfand |
| 2016 | Federic Pollack, Kamel Fergani | Brian Glubok, David Treitel |
| 2017 | Joel Wooldridge, John Hurd | Piotr Nawrocki, Piotr Wiankowski |
| 2018 | Juan Carlos Ventin, Joaquin Pacareu | Rick Binder, Alan Watson |
| 2019 | Mark Bendure, Robert Bitterman | Kamel Fergani, Frederic Pollack |
| 2020 | Cancelled (Covid) | |
| 2021 | Cancelled (Covid) | |
| 2022 | Andrew Cavalier, Christian Jolly | Jian Wang, Jian-Ping Chen |
| Year | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Norman Kay, Sidney Silodor | Jack Denny, Richard Harrison |
| 1959 | James Pestaner, John Swanson | Don Oakie, Meyer Schleifer |
| 1960 | Frank Hoadley, Julius Rosenblum | Harold Creed, Samuel Gould |
| 1961 | Morton Rubinow, Tobias Stone | Erik Paulsen, Alex Tschekaloff |
| 1962 | Ivan Erdos, Phil Feldesman | Norman Kay, Sidney Silodor |
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