The North American Pairs (NAP) national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League

American Contract Bridge League

The American Contract Bridge League is the largest contract bridge organization in North America. It promotes the game of bridge in the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, and Canada, and is a member of the World Bridge Federation...

 (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship

North American Bridge Championships

North American Bridge Championships are three annual bridge conventions sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League . 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...

 (NABC).

The North American Pairs is a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event with two qualifying and two final sessions. The event is restricted to those who have qualified in their local ACBL district.

Flights A typically starts on the Wednesday before the main NABC events. Flights B and C typically start on the second Saturday.

History

The Baldwin North American Pairs, Flight A, is a grassroots event. Play begins each Summer at the local level and concludes at the North American Bridge Championships in the following Spring.

Qualifiers at the club level advance to unit competition and those qualifiers advance to district finals. Three pairs from each district --- more, depending upon attendance --- qualify for the North American final.

Winners have their names inscribed on the Baldwin Memorial Trophy and also receive certificates of recognition. The trophy is presented in memory of Col. Russell J. Baldwin (1889–1969), U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 officer

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

 and expert on tournament procedure who was ACBL Honorary Member of the Year in 1943. Baldwin was active as an organizer from the earliest days of contract bridge

Contract bridge

Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...

. He became a director of the American Bridge League and its treasurer shortly after its founding in 1927. He was a member of the ACBL Laws Commission and primarily responsible for the first Duplicate Code (Laws specifically for duplicate bridge) issued in 1935. Baldwin was active as a tournament director from 1927 until 1941. After service in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he was ACBL business manager from 1946 until 1951. He was recalled to military service at the outbreak of the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 and retired from the U.S. Army in 1957. He rejoined ACBL in 1958 and was in charge of tournament scheduling until his retirement in 1963.

The Golder North American Pairs, Flight B, is a grassroots event limited to players with 0-2000 masterpoints

Masterpoints

Masterpoints or master points are points awarded by national and other bridge organisations for success in bridge tournaments run under their auspices. Organisations which issue these points include the American Contract Bridge League , the American Bridge Association, the English Bridge Union ,...

.

The first stage is conducted at the local club level and qualifiers advance to unit competition. Those qualifiers then advance to the district finals where three pairs -- more, depending upon attendance -- qualify for the North American final.

Winners have their names inscribed on the Golder Cup and will also receive a certificate of recognition. The trophy is presented in memory of Benjamin M. Golder (1894–1946) of Philadelphia, who died the day before the close of his term as 1946 ACBL president. He was named ACBL Honorary Member of the Year for 1947.

Players in the North American Open Pairs Flight C, a grassroots event limited to players who have not yet become Life Masters and have fewer than 500 masterpoints, compete for the President's Cup.

The trophy was presented in 1942 by Morgan Howard, ACBL president that year. The trophy was previously awarded to the winners of the President's Pairs event, held at the Summer NABC. As in the other two flights, the competition begins each summer at the local club level and qualifiers then advance to unit competition. Those qualifiers then advance to the district finals and three pairs from each district -- more, depending upon attendance -- qualify for the North American final.

Winners

Winners of North American Pairs Flight A

Year	dist	Winners	Runners-Up
1979	25	Arthur Moore, Eric Robinson	Steve Landen, Larry Mori
1980		Bob Feller, Jeffrey Hall	Larry N. Cohen, Ron Gerard
1981		Helen Blakey, Robert Blakey	Mark Feldman, Chip Martel
1982		Bill Nutting, Ivan Scope	Richard Pavlicek Richard Pavlicek Richard Pavlicek is an American bridge player, author and columnist.-Career:Pavlicek began to play bridge in 1964 at the age of 18 while stationed in Stuttgart, West Germany, with the U.S. Army. Upon returning to Florida in 1966 he started to play in bridge tournaments in his spare time. Since... , Cliff Russell
1983		Jim Felts, John Griscom	Ron Gerard, Stephen Sanborn
1984	25	Steve Sion, Harold Stengel	Marty Bergen Marty Bergen Marty A. Bergen is an American bridge player and writer. A 10-time national champion and American Contract Bridge League Grand Life Master he retired from active competition in 1993... , Larry N. Cohen
1985	6	Peter Boyd, Steve Robinson	Peter Pender, Hugh Ross
1986		Drew Cannell, Ganesan Sekhar	Craig Cordes, Tom Daniel
1987		Jan Janitschke, Dick Reed	Judi Cody, Ron Sukoneck
1988	21	Chip Martel, Jan Martel	Mark Cohen, Stasha Cohen
1989	11	David Caslan, Dennis Clerkin	Dan Morse, Bobby Nail
1990		Sidney Lazard, Jack LaNoue	Mark Stein, Boris Baran
1991	1	Boris Baran, Mark Stein,	Steve Landen, Pratap Rajadhyaksha
1992		Jim Krekorian, Rick Zucker	2/3. Robert Crafton, Howard Weiner 2/3. Joe Jabon, Harry Steiner
1993		James Griffin, Kenneth Schutze	Iftikhar Baqai, Mitch Dunitz
1994		James Griffin, Kenneth Schutze	Ralph Cohen, Reece Rogers
1995		David Berkowitz, Lisa Berkowitz	Gary Cohler, Jerry Goldfein
1996		Marshall Tuly, James Cunningham	Gary Cohler, Jerry Goldfein
1997		Aidan Ballantyne, Gordon McOrmond	JoAnna Stansby, Lew Stansby
1998	6	Bill Cole, Ron Sukoneck	James Cunningham, Marshall Tuly
1999		James Griffin, Kenneth Schutze	Tom Kniest, Karen Walker
2000		Kevin Collins, Patty Tucker,	Victor King, John Stiefel
2001	25	Doug Doub, Frank Merblum	Ed Davis, Jill Meyers
2002	21	JoAnna Stansby, Lew Stansby	Joseph Godefrin, Ed Schulte
2003		Steve Landen, Michael Zerbini	Doug Doub, Franklin Merblum
2004		Henry Lortz, Wayne Ohlrich	Glenn Milgrim, Chris Willenken
2005		Nikolay Demirev, David Yang	Dan Jacob, Bryan Maksymetz
2006		Gordon Campbell, Piotr Klimowicz	Henry Lortz, Wayne Ohlrich
2007		Dave Abelow, Dick Wegman	Glenn Milgrim, Chris Willenken
2008		Xiaodong Shi, David Yang	Chuck Said, David Siebert
2009		Jim Krekorian, John Rengstorff	Bob Heitzman, Jonathan Weinstein
2010	25	Doug Doub, Frank Merblum	Nikolay Demirev, David Yang
2011		Shane Blanchard, Joe Grue	Kevin Bathurst, Joel Wooldridge

Winners of North American Pairs Flight B

Year	dist	Winners	Runners-up
1992		Peter Worley, Kevin Young	Kathie Blumenthal, Patricia Goldfein
1993		Robert Sewell, Paul Janicki	Lawrence Gibbons, Gregory Jecker
1994		Brendan Dempsey, Ian Crowe	Jack Kilby, Ernest Lambertsen
1995		Jay Levy, William Rushmore	Bill Archambo, Richard Bender
1996		Robert Johnson, David Rosenstein	Daniel Levi, Samuel Ehrlichman
1997		Bill Drewett, Kirk Twiss	David Green, Donald Tofte
1998		Adam Beneschan, Brian Gilbert	Mark Burkhammer, Brian Zajac
1999		Andy Kaufman, Greg Burch	Patricia Griffin, Stephen Wood
2000		Hal Hindman, Mark Chen	Tien-Chun Yang, Fang Wu
2001	25	Walter Lee, Jonathan Weinstein	Mike Ralston, Mahesh Rathi
2002		Wieslaw Kalita, Marian Krasowski	Robert Stayman, Frank Sensoli
2003		Jordan Chodorow, Harvey Katz	Frank Sensoli, Michael Alioto
2004		Jim Alison, Dayn Beam	Jacqueline DeRouin, Jan Garthe
2005		Pete Whipple, Jamie Radcliffe	Joon Pahk, Samuel Ieong
2006		Fletcher Thompson, Bruce Todd	B. J. Trelford, Chris Buchanan
2007		Mark Golding, Rob Kitchen	Bijoy Anand, Earl Brown Jr.
2008		Sidney Kanter, Ron Nelken	Ron Fertig, Dayou Zhou
2009		Robert McCaw, Lewis Gamerman	Jon Brandon, Harley Bress
2010		Dian Petrov, Fred Schenker	John Kozero, Gary Robinson
2011		Philippe Galaski, Roger Webb	Brad Bartol, Matt Cory

Winners of North American Pairs Flight C

Year	dist	Winners	Runners-up
1987	x	1/2. Leo Austern, Bernard Pollack 1/2. David Deaderick, Bill Thomas
1988		Brad Moss, Aaron Silverstein	Geoffrey O'Connor, Charles Bilick
1989		Warren King, Jeffrey Brown	Sylvian Descoteauz, Guy Belisle
1990		Philip Leung, Moske Harel	Deborah Hart, Nate Ward
1991		Eric Greco, Philip Greco	Bruce Graff, Steve Castellino
1992		Gail Joelson, Alan Kasner	J. Greg Fowler, Don Herring
1993		Mark Michele, Everett Boyer	Gabrida Rabiega, Leszek Rabiega
1994		Weizhong Bao, Jingdong Guo	Duane Tilden, Grace Jeklin
1995		Edward Lee, Brett Roby	Philip Feng Lu, Xiaodong Zhang
1996		Yue Zuo, Ruoyu Fan	Carlos Bichara, Rita Bichara
1997		Thomas Franklin, Michael Corker	Weiming Hu, Alex Lo
1998		Tien-Chun Yang, Fang Wu	Matt Just, Paul Coulter
1999		James Gunn, Harry Shaffer	Norman Cannon, Judith Hallowell
2000		Meredith Beck, John Johnson	Rachel Chittaro, Edward Nield
2001		Hailong Ao, Jian-Jian Wang	David Pettit, Doris Suojanen
2002		Jacek Leznicki, Jerry Owczarek	Kevin Jones, Daniel Kenney
2003		John Christensen, Robert Wissman	Lester Gottlieb, Richard Avazian
2004		Daniel Wilderman, Ryan Connors	Jacek Leznicki, Jerry Owczarek
2005		Jiang Chen, Nongyu Li	Inger Lise Blount, Jeanette Hughes
2006		Stanislaw Kolesnik, Vladimir Reznik	Mike Develin Mike Develin Michael Lee Develin is an American mathematician known for his work in combinatorics and discrete geometry.-Early life:... , John Barth
2007		Jon King, Dayou Zhou	Chong Zhao, Narayanan Ramabhadran
2008		Abraham Pallas, Dimitri Bourilkov	Kaiyu Qian, Jiawei Luo
2009		Michael Bodell, Elenalani Lam	Alex Lovejoy, Argenta Price
2010		Vladimir Oudalov, Stanley Weiss	Lisa Kuo, Murat Veysoglu
2011		Rajeev Bansal, Michael Hughes	Guillaume de Decker, Ajit Thyagarajan

Sources

List of previous winners and history for Flight A, Page 4
List of previous winners and history for Flights B and C, Pages 9, 10
2009 winners for Flight A, Page 1
2009 winners for Flights B and C, Page 1