The National Open Pairs was the first national

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

championship for open pairs and was held at the fall

American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. It is the largest such organization in North America having the stated mission ''"to promote, grow and sustain th ...

(ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC) as a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event.

History

Inaugurated in 1928 and contested for the Cavendish Trophy, the event lost its national rating after the 1962 NABCs being displaced by the Blue Ribbons Pairs event, renamed the

Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs The Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs (or simply the 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 wo ...

in 1999. The Open Pairs carried on as a secondary eventA secondary event is one held at a national tournament concurrently with a championship event. They are open to players eliminated from the major events and to new players, are usually two sessions long and carry a regional rating. at fall NABCs until 1971 when it was discontinued.

Winners

Two Open Pairs champions successfully defended that title: Willard Karn– P. Hal Sims in 1932 and

Helen Sobel Helen Elizabeth Sobel Smith (''née'' Martin; May 22, 1909 – September 11, 1969) was an American bridge player. She is said to have been the "greatest woman bridge player of all time" and "may well have been the most brilliant card player of ...

–Margaret Wagar in 1948. The last winner of the Open Pairs as a premier event, B. Jay Becker–

Dorothy Hayden Dorothy Hayden Truscott (November 3, 1925 – July 4, 2006) was an American bridge player, winner of four world championships and the top-ranked woman for many years. In the late 1960s, she authored two books on the game and later co-authored two ...

in 1962, also won the first Blue Ribbon Pairs in 1963. No other partnership won the Open Pairs twice. Jane and Lewis M. Jaeger won the Open Pairs as a married couple in 1945; they were also the first married couple to become Life Masters. Since Sobel and Wagar won in 1947 and 1948, no pair of women has won either the Fall National Open Pairs to 1962 or the Blue Ribbon Pairs from 1963. Mary Jane Farell and Marilyn Johnson alone won the equally prestigious Life Master Pairs as partners, in 1978.

Notes

Sources

* * "Search Results: Open Pairs (1928–1962)". ACBL. Visi
"NABC Winners"
select a Discontinued NABC. * "Search Results: Open Pairs (1963–1971)". ACBL. Visit NABC Winners; select a Discontinued NABC. {{WPCBIndex North American Bridge Championships

History

Winners

See also

Notes

Sources