Frank T. "Nick" Nickell (born 1947) is an American

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 ...

player. He graduated from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

, and lived in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, as of 1994. Nickell was inducted into the

ACBL Hall of Fame This list is a compilation of contract bridge players, writers, administrators and personalities who have been recognized for their skills, achievements or contributions to the game as identified by various specific sources. People recognized by ...

in 2008. At the time he lived in New York City and led the private equity investment firm

Kelso & Company Kelso & Company is an American private equity firm focusing on leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and growth capital transactions. Kelso invests in a variety of sectors, including communication, manufacturing and restaurants. Kelso is based i ...

. Nickell has created one of the most dominant bridge teams of all time, winning four world championships and multiple

North American Bridge Championships 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 da ...

. He formed a successful partnership with Richard Freeman until Freeman's death and has since partnered with

Ralph Katz Ralph Katz (born 1957) is an American bridge player. Katz is from Burr Ridge, Illinois and graduated from University of Steubenville. In 2018 he was a first-ballot selection for the ACBL Hall of Fame. Domestically, he has won 23 North American B ...

. He has won both team events and pair events. Nickell is an ACBL Grand Life Master.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 2008"Induction by Year"
''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-21.

Awards

Fishbein Trophy The Fishbein Trophy is awarded to the player who wins the greatest number of masterpoints at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History The Fishbein Trophy was donated by the ACBL in memo ...

(1) 1995

Wins

Bermuda Bowl The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national . It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Venice Cup (women), the d'Orsi Senior Bowl and the Wuh ...

(4) 1995, 1999, 2003, 2009 *

(24) **

von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs The Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). Usually called simply the "Life Master Pairs" or "LM Pairs", this is a six-ses ...

(2) 2003, 2022 **

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 ...

(1) 1991 ** Vanderbilt (4) 2000, 2003, 2014, 2017 **

Reisinger The Reisinger national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Reisinger is a board-a-match event. History The event is contested for the Reisinger Trophy ( ...

(7) 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 **

Spingold The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Spingold is a knock-out team event that attracts the top contract bridge players in the world. T ...

(9) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007 **

Senior Knockout Teams The Baze Senior Knockout Teams national bridge championship 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. ...

(1) 2016 * United States Bridge Championships (9) ** Open Team Trials (9) 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017

Runners-up

(2) 1997, 2005 *

(15) **

Grand National Teams The Grand National Teams (GNT) North American bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Grand National Teams is a team knockout event. The event is broken into ...

(1) 1983 ** Vanderbilt (4) 1996, 2002, 2018, 2019 **

Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams The Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championships, North American Bridge Championship (NABC). It is an open four session board-a-match event ...

(3) 1998, 1999, 2012 **

(2) 2011, 2012 **

Roth Open Swiss Teams The Roth Open Swiss Teams is a national bridge championship Swiss Teams event held at the summer American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexic ...

(2) 2015, 2018 **

(2) 2017, 2018 **

(1) 2014 * United States Bridge Championships (1) ** Open Team Trials (1) 1997

References

External links

* *
ACBL NABC Winners -Nick Nickell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickell, Nick 1947 births American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players University of North Carolina alumni People from Raleigh, North Carolina Sportspeople from New York City Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people)