Saturday, July 27
Zimmermann meets Blass npc in Spingold final
The No. 1 seed led by Pierre Zimmermann will face the original No. 3 seed with Josef Blass as non-playing captain in the final of the Spingold KO Teams.
Zimmermann and partner Franck Multon, both of Monaco, are playing with Tor Helness, also of Monaco, and Poles Piotr Gawrys, Michal Klukowski, and Krzysztof Martens.
For Blass are Jacek Pszczola of Chapel Hill NC, Poles Jacek Kalita and Michal Nowosadzki, and the Dutch duo of Sjoert Brink and Bas Drijver.
In the semifinal round, Zimmermann defeated the all-French team led by Eric Gautret, 110-86 after trailing slightly in the first half.
In the other semifinal bracket, Blass defeated Warren Spector and company 108-88.
Mini-Spin 6000 final: Harris vs. Bhargava
The teams captained by Martin Harris and Arti Bhargava meet today in the final of the 0-6000 Mini-Spingold KO Teams.
With Harris of Chicago are Miriam Harris-Botzum and John Botzum of Orefield PA and Greg Michaels of Cleveland.
Playing with Bhargava of Mill Valley CA are Igni Agnarsson of South Burlington VT, Marl Leonard of Long Beach CA and Gudjon Sigurjonsson of Reykjavik, Iceland.
In the semifinal round, Harris defeated Kerry Cotterell’s team, 121-78 in three quarters of play.
Cotterell, of Freeland WA, played with Richard Underwood of Vorheesville NY, Katherine Pollock of East Amherst NY and Joel Schiff of Calabasas CA.
In the other semifinal bracket, Bhargava dominated Monica Angus and company 97–17 in two quarters.
Angus led an all–British Columbia squad of Alex Hong, Kai Zhou, Sidney Yang and Guoxu Zhang.
Wilson leads Roth Open Swiss
The squad led by Alison Wilson of NYC topped the semifinal round of the Roth Open Swiss Teams. Wilson, playing with Kent Mignocchi, Swedes Ida Groenkvist and Mikael Groenkvist and Dutch players Magdalena Ticha and Richard Ritmeijer, scored 197 victory points (with carryover) in yesterday’s action.
In second with 178-plus victory points is the team captained by Marty Fleisher, and narrowly in third is the team led by Stan Tulin with 178 victory points.
Grubman leads 10K Mixed Swiss
The squad led by Ava Grubman led the qualifying round of the 0-10,000 Mixed Swiss Teams, and they start today’s two-session final with a carryover of 30 victory points (20-VP scale).
Grubman is playing with Elliott Grubman, both of Brooklyn NY, Margot Hennings of Annandale VA and A.J. Stephani of Cincinnati.
In second with 23.03 VPs is Claire Alpert’s squad, and third with 20.23 VPs is Nikolaos Delimpaltadakis and company.
Friday, July 26
Nason meets Lampe in Mini-Spin 2500 final
The squads led by Scott Nason and Jordan Lampe will face off today in the final of the 0-2500 Mini-Spingold KO Teams.
Nason is playing with fellow Dallas resident Jeff Dater, with Nancy Heck and Alexander Wiles of Los Angeles.
Lampe leads the all-NYC lineup that includes Jacqueline Chang, Christopher Moh and Siqing Yu.
In the semifinal round, Nason defeated Robin Elliott’s Colorado-based squad 187-102. Elliott played with Sally Ann Rhea, Gregory Newcomb and Daphne Davenport.
In the other semifinal bracket, Lampe eliminated Richard Franklin’s team 166-139. Franklin, of New Canaan CT, played with David Venetianer of Chadds Ford PA, Eric Gettleman of Ellicot City MD and Paul Holmes of Wadsworth OH.
Four squads left in Mini-Spin 6000
The matches in today’s semifinal round of the 0-6000 Mini-Spingold KO Teams are Kerry Cotterell vs. Martin Harris, and Arti Bhargava vs. Monica Angus.
Cotterell won their quarterfinal match against Hank Youngerman’s squad by a single IMP to advance to the semifinal, 113-112, while Harris defeated Craig Henderson in the quarterfinal 143-114.
Bhargava manhandled Om Chokriwala’s team in the quarterfinal round, 114-32, but Angus had to survive a six-board playoff against George Klemic’s team to advance. Angus won 128-112.
Maryland duo leads Red Ribbons
Mary Peters and Thomas Peters of Dayton MD topped the qualifying round in the Bean Red Ribbon Pairs. The duo scored a strong 67.19% in the first qualifying session and 58.62% in the second, and will have more than a three board carryover in today’s final.
In close second place is the San Diego pair of Marjorie O’Malley and Charles O’Malley.
Third place is occupied by Steve Hirsch and Gregory Thorpe of Brea CA.
Rimstedts & Co. lead Roth field
The team captained by Mikael Rimstedt sits atop the Roth Swiss Teams entering the second day of the three-day contest. They have a carryover of 89.09 victory points. Trailing them is all-Moscow Gromov squad with a carryover of 84.65. Bramley starts the day in third.
The field of 175 teams was cut to 92 for semifinal play.
Spingold Semis: Z’mann vs. Gautret, Spector vs. Blass
The semifinal pairings in the Spingold KO Teams feature the top-seeded Zimmermann squad vs. the giant-killing Gautret team (the original 37 seed), while Warren Spector and company (No. 2) meets Josef Blass npc (No. 3).
In the quarterfinal round, Zimmermann cruised against Tim Verbeek’s squad, winning 168-114. Gautret, meanwhile, handled Rose Meltzer’s team 137-89.
In a close match, Spector took out Lavazza in the quarterfinal, 166-157. Blass npc, also had a close QF match, defeating Andrew Rosenthal’s squad 126-113.
Thursday, July 25
Nickell ousted from Spingold
The No. 2 seed in the Spingold Knockout Teams – the perennial powerhouse captained by Nick Nickell – was defeated by the No. 15 seed led by Warren Spector, 122-109.
Hemant Lall and company (No. 8) is also on the sidelines after losing to the No. 9 seed led by Tim Verbeek, 122-90.
The defending champions – Pierre Zimmermann’s No. 1 team – had no trouble against Mike Levine’s No. 16 squad, winning 133-64.
The all-French team led Eric Gautret (No. 9) defeated Bart Bramley’s No. 12 squad, 118-96.
Rose Meltzer (No. 4) crushed Joyce Hill’s No. 13 squad 160-54 in three quarters.
No. 7 Lavazza stayed in control of the match against No. 10 Andrew Gromov, winning 162-118.
After a huge first quarter win, No. 6 Andrew Rosenthal had an easy time against No. 11 Alison Wilson, advancing 188-79.
Blass npc (No. 3) had an even match against No. 14 Daniel Zagorin in the first half of their match, but Blass pulled away in the second half, winning 106-66.
Mini-Spingolds enter QF, SF rounds
The field in the Mini-Spingold 0-6000 KO Teams has ben reduced to the eight quarter-finalist squads.
In the 0-2500 Mini-Spingold, four teams remain. The semifinal matchups: Scott Nason vs. Robin Elliott and Richard Franklin vs. Jordan Lampe.
College bragging rights on the line
A field of 14 college teams was reduced to four yesterday by means of a qualifying Swiss. In this afternoon’s semifinal action, the University of Chicago faces off against Northwestern, while the Georgia Tech Gold squad goes up against the University of California at Berkeley. Tonight, the winners will compete for the Collegiate Bowl title.
Wednesday, July 24
Miles leads Mixed BAM quals
The squad captained by Danny Miles topped the qualifying round of the Freeman Mixed Board-a-Match Teams. The Miles team posted 20 wins in the first session and 18.5 in the second for 38.5 wins total. Miles is playing with Sylvia Shi, Barry Rigal–Laura Dekkers and Jian-Jian Wang–Li Yiting.
In second with 35.5 is Ellen Kent’s team: Ellen Kent–Robert Kent and Sandy McCay–Thomas Turgeon.
Three teams are tried for third with 35.
Baqai–Ravipudi lead Wernher
Californians Iftikhar Baqai and Subba Ravipudi are leading the qualifiers in the Wernher Open Pairs after yesterday’s opening round. They scored 66.76% in the first qualifying session and 56.64% in the second. Their carryover is 264.61.
In second place are Canadians Frederic Pollack and Kamel Fergani with a carryover of 253.77.
Third place is occupied by Eric Sieg and Thomas Devine of Washington state with a carryover of 241.11.
Upsets galore in Spingold Round of 32
Several high seeds exited the Spingold KO Teams in yesterday’s Round of 32.
The No. 4 seed captained by Marty Fleisher is out of the event after losing 151–144 to Rose Meltzer’s team, the No. 29 seed.
The No. 5 seed led by Steve Robinson was pummeled 136–45 by the No. 28 seed, the all-French squad captained by Eric Gautret, in three quarters of play.
Jimmy Cayne’s No. 10 seed was roughly ousted from the Spingold 204–95 by Andrew Gromov (No. 23).
George Mittelman (No. 12) was shown the door by Bart Bramley (No. 21) 144–115, and Jim Mahaffey’s No. 13 seed got the boot from Joyce Hill (No. 20), 110–81.
Nick Nickell (No. 2) survived a scare against Eric Leong (No. 34), advancing 144–135 after trailing late in the match.
No. 3 Blass also trailed their opponents late in the match, but won to advance. Blass defeated Bruce Rogoff’s team 139–127.
Team Lavazza (No. 7) fought to a 120–120 tie against Paul Lewis and company (No. 26), but Lavazza prevailed in overtime, winning 152–131.
Tuesday, July 23
Wolfson, Tulin exit Spingold
Although most of the top seeds cruised in yesterday’s round of 64 in the Spingold Knockout Teams, there were several notable upsets.
Jeff Wolfson and company, the No. 9 seed and the defending Vanderbilt champions, lost to the No. 56 seed led by Walter Lee by the surprising margin of 153–61. Lee is playing with Alex Perlin, Li-Chung Chen and Daniel Sonner. Wolfson’s roster was Steve Garner, Mike Becker, Michael Kamil, Alexander Hydes and Peter Crouch.
Also on the sidelines is the No. 11 seed captained by Stan Tulin. They lost to the No. 54 team with Alison Wilson at the helm, 91-85. Wilson’s lineup includes Kent Mignocchi, Magdalena Ticha, Richard Ritmeijer, Ida Groenkvist and Mikael Groenkvist. Tulin was playing with David Bakhshi, Louk Verhees, Cornelis Van Prooijen, Alon Birman and Dror Padon.
Other upsets from the round of 64: Paul Street (No. 22) was defeated by Team Amalia with captain Kevin Castner (No. 43) 175-129; Adam Wildavsky (No. 25) was ousted by Connie Goldberg (No. 40), 124-104; and Romain Zaleski (No. 30) lost to Bruce Rogoff (No. 35), 121-116.
Several come-from-behind wins made the round of 64 exciting to watch. Bart Bramley and company (No. 21) survived a scare against the all-Chinese”Flip-Flop” squad captained by Fu Zhong. Down 127-104 after three quarters, Bramley rallied in the last set to win 157-132.
Jimmy Cayne (No. 10) was losing to Kevin Rosenberg’s Junior quintet 100-71 after three quarters, but came roaring back at the end to win 120-103.
Monday, July 22
Kaminski leads Senior Swiss
The squad captained by Amos Kaminski posted the best score in the qualifying round of the Truscott/U.S. Playing Card Senior Swiss Teams. An Israeli team, Kaminski and company scored 116.38 victory points in yesterday’s action, just ahead of the District 7 squad led by Michael Kovacich who scored 111.03 VPs.
In third with 110.88 VP is the California-based squad led by Robert Munson.
Seventy-four teams qualified to play in today’s two-session final.
Goldman, Zmuda lead Wagar
Sharon Goldman of New York and Justyna Zmuda of Poland set the pace in the Wagar Women’s Pairs, scoring 60.9% and 66.9% in Monday’s qualifying sessions. Their three-and-a-quarter-board carryover is one-third of a board ahead of Bronia Jenkins of Vero Beach FL and Benedicte Cronier of France. In third are Kate Hill and Lynn Blumenthal of Santa Rosa CA.
Sixty-four pairs qualified for today’s final.
Spingold field reduced to 64
A large number of squads entered this year’s Spingold Knockout Teams – 98 – and yesterday’s opening round reduced the field to 64 for head-to-head match-ups the rest of the week.
The top seeds advanced largely unscathed. The highest-seeded team to be eliminated in the opening round was the No. 35 seed captained by Jeffrey Juster. Also out is the No. 42 seed, the all-Brazilian team led by Lucia Maria Doria.
Fresh off their victory in the Grand National Teams Championship Flight, Sheri Winestock and Fred Gitelman entered the Spingold at the helm of the No. 43 seed, but they also had an early exit from the event. Their squad included Jeopardy! celebrity James Holzhauer who is here in Las Vegas not only to play, but also to take part in promotional events for the Collegiate Bridge Bowl and Youth NABC.
Saturday, July 20
GNT Finals
In today’s final of the Grand National Teams Championship Flight, the Las Vegas–based District 17 squad captained by Sheri Winestock will battle the NYC-based District 24 team led by Joe Grue.
Playing with Winestock are Fred Gitelman, Daniel Korbel, Roger Lee and Geoff Hampson (all of Las Vegas) and Haig Tchamitch of Paradise Valley AZ.
Grue is playing with Gillian Miniter, John Hurd, Joel Wooldridge and Kent Mignocchi, all from the New York City area.
In the semifinal round, Winestock defeated the D25 team lead by Pat McDevitt 120-99 after trailing in the first half. In the other semifinal bracket, Grue had no problem disposing of Gupta (D22), winning 187-95.
In the Flight A final, Davis Bennett’s team from D22 (Southern California) takes on David Treitel’s squad from D9 (Florida).
With Bennett are J.J. Johnsen, Fran White and Rick Kerbel. Playing with Treitel are Saul Gross, Juan Castillo, James Scott, Edward Shusler and Bruce Lang.
In the Flight B final, Kenny Pan’s D22 team meets Thomas Rush’s D16 squad (Texas).
For D22 are Pan, Xiao-Yan Gong, Harvey Jaffe and Dustin Stout. For D16 are Rush, Wes Peirce, Pawel Hanus, Bill McCArty, Suvabrata Biswas and Ari Sippola.
The Flight C final is an all-D21 contest (San Francisco Bay area) between the squads led by Qucheng Gong and Michael Xu.
Gong’s teammates are Jakob Karstens, Andrew Sinclair and Chris Chen. Xu’s lineup includes Brandon Ge, Jonathan Yue, Wesley May and Aravind Alwan.
Moss–Demuy lead LM Pairs
After yesterday’s semifinal round of the von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs, Brad Moss of Denver and Vincent Demuy of Palm Beach Gardens FL lead the field of 104 pairs who remain in the event.
After scoring 55.57% in the afternoon session on Saturday, Moss and Demuy posted a strong 66.97% in the evening session to move into the lead. Their carryover in today’s final is 131.76.
In second place are Steve Garner and Jeff Wolfson of Chicago with a carryover of 118.25.
Third place is occupied by Jakob Kristinsson of Delray Beach FL and Sveinn Eiriksson of Iceland with 112.40.
Californians lead Bruce
James Weeks and Neil Stern of the Palm Springs area lead the Bruce LM–6000 Pairs after Saturday’s semifinal sessions. Their carryover of nearly two boards is two-fifths of a board ahead of fellow Californians Henri Fahri and Norman Schwartz. A third California pair, Ron Karr and Daniel Raider, is in third place.
Weeks and Stern had been in third place after Friday’s qualifying sessions. A 61% game Saturday afternoon propelled them into the lead, and a 58% in the evening protected that position.
Thirty-six pairs qualified for today’s final where a 17 is top.
Maryland pair leads Young
Thomas Peters and Ernie Schuler of Maryland lead the Young 0–2500 Pairs going into the third and final day. Their four-board carryover is nearly half a board ahead of Rick Jasper and John Wachsman of San Jose CA. The New Jersey duo of Jacek Leznicki and Piotr Olszewski are sitting in third place, another half-board behind.
Peters and Schuler had qualified in fourth place Friday and then took the lead with a 63% Saturday afternoon, backing it up with a 57% in the evening.
Today’s final consists of 28 pairs and a top is 13.
Dinkin–Shuster lead 10K quals
Sam Dinkin and Michael Shuster posted the top score in yesterday’s opening round of the NABC 0–10,000 Pairs. Dinkin, of Austin TX, and Shuster, of Collegeville PA, scored 65.21% in the first qualifying session and 58.84% in the second. Their carryover in today’s final is 168.66.
In close second with a carryover of 167.18 are Robert Kuhnreich and Elliot Sternlicht of New York City.
In third place with 140.90 are Robert Shore of Los Angeles CA and Joseph Viola of Altadena CA.
Friday, July 19
Bramley-Woolsey set pace in von Zedtwitz
Scoring 61.57% and 68.51% respectively in the first and second sessions of the von Zedtwitz LM Pairs, Bart Bramley of Dallas and Kit Woolsey of Kensington CA topped the opening round of the contest. Their carryover for today’s semifinal round is 1096.58.
In second with a carryover of 1058.60 is Howard Weinstein of Rancho Mirage CA and Bob Hamman of Dallas.
Third with 1054.54 is Italy’s Irene Baroni and Vasileios Vroustis of Greece.
Ohio couple leads Bruce LM
Bob Stitt and Stefanie Stitt of Dayton OH posted the best score in the opening round of the Bruce Life Master Pairs, limited to players with fewer than 6000 masterpoints.
The Stitts scored 66.20% in the afternoon session and 57.32% in the second set to lead the field of qualifiers going into today’s semifinal round.
In second is the California duo of Marc Renson and Bob Sanner. They were first after the afternoon session, scoring 68.85%, but dropped to second following a 53.58% game in the evening session.
In third is another California-based pair: James Weeks and Neil Stern.
Georgia pair leads Young
The Atlanta-based duo of Santhosh Karnik and Zhuangdi Xu set the pace in the opening round of the Young 0-2500 Pairs. The pair capped a modest 54% game in the afternoon session with a powerful 67.64% set in the evening.
In second is the NYC couple of Valerie Deneroff and Martin Deneroff, while third place is occupied by Tanaaz Timblo and Jayendu Patel of Vista CA.
GNT Update
In the Championship Flight of the Grand National Teams, the Vegas-based squad captained by Sheri Winestock (District 17) will face the Boston-centric team (D25) led by Pat McDevitt in the semifinal round. In the other semifinal bracket, Shailesh Gupta’s squad from D22 (Southern California) will play the D24 team (New York City) captained by Joe Grue.
In the quarterfinal round, D17 squeezed out Ira Hessel and company (Texas: D16) 89-73. The D25 team advanced when they handled the LA-based squad led by John Jones (D23) 151-94.
Gupta stayed in control of their QF match against Jim Munday’s team (D10, Midsouth) 148-125, while D24 won a close contest against the powerful D9 squad (Florida) captained by Warren Spector, 144-132.
In Flight A of the GNT, Davis Bennett (D22) faces Colin Lafferty (D2), and Joann Court’s D15 team will battle David Treitel’s D9 lineup.
In Flight B, Kevin Marnell of D20 plays Kenny Pan’s D22 team, while Thomas Rush and company from D16 takes on Jordan Lampe of D24 in the other bracket.
In Flight C, Qucheng Gong of D21 faces Roger Thomas of D20, and Tim Lee (D23) meets Michael Xu (D21).
Thursday, July 18
GNTs enter QF Round
All four flights of the Grand National Teams will play their quarterfinal matches today.
In the Championship Flight, the local team led by Sheri Winestock (District 17) will battle the Texas-based team captained by Ira Hessel (D16). Pat McDevitt’s New England squad (D25) will battle the Los Angeles team led by John Jones (D23). Warren Spector and company (Florida, D9) faces the NYC team (D24) captained by Joe Grue, and Jim Munday’s Midsouth team (D10) will square off against the Southern California team (D22) led by Shailesh Gupta.
Although Winestock and Spector cruised in yesterday’s Round of 16, winning their matches in just three quarters of play, there were several come-from behind wins for other quarterfinalists. Grue survived against D7’s B. Wayne Stuart, advancing 119-115. Gupta got past Cam Doner’s squad (D19) to win 145-142. Hessel also came from behind in their match against D21’s Mark Ralph, winning 107-96.
Pollack leads Robot tourney
Fred Pollack of Laval QC is leading the Summer NABC Robot Individual after the first two sessions Saturday and Sunday with a score of 73.10%.
That’s a considerable distance ahead of Martin Henneberger of Coquitlam BC, who is second with 69.17%. D. Collins of Saratoga NY is third with 68.23%.
First in B is John Mayne of Modesto CA, who led the first day with 73.10%. Mayne’s second day score of 61.57% dropped him to fifth overall with 67.34%. Sean McNally of Minneapolis MN is first in C and ninth overall with a 66.00%.
Pollack had back-to-back monster games the first two days of the tournament, placing second on Saturday with a 72.82% and first on Sunday with 73.37%.
More than 1900 players entered the three-day event, which concludes today.
