United States Bridge Championships - Open

The United States Bridge Championships (USBC) is a yearly competition held to select either one or two teams that will represent the United States at international competition for the game of contract bridge. The general conditions of contest used by the United States Bridge Federation can be found here. There are multiple events in the USBC including Open, Women, Seniors, and Mixed divisions. This page contains information about the Open division in which anyone of any age or gender can compete.

History and vocabulary

The United States Bridge Championships started in 2000 with the founding of the United States Bridge Federation. All the scoring in the trials is done in IMPs (International Matchpoints) which is the standard for team events. Most of the USBCs involve a Round Robin where each team plays each other in order to determine a ranking, then a knockout. Some teams based on their placement in North American Bridge Championships get first or even second round byes. Each team that wins the tournament travels with an NPC (Non-Playing Captain). Some teams additionally have a Coach that travels with them as well to international competition.

Summary of past USBCs

Below is a table of teams that have won the Open USBCs and how they fared in international competition. In every odd number year, the winners of the USBC Open division get to compete in the Bermuda Bowl that has existed since 1950. The events in the even number years vary between the World Bridge Games and a Transnational Event. The USBF sends 2 teams to every Bermuda Bowl and 1 team to every World Bridge Games event.

2017 Open USBC
The 2017 Open USBC was held from April 28-May 10 in Schaumburg, Illinois. Nickell (Nick Nickell, Ralph Katz, Bobby Levin, Steve Weinstein, Jeff Meckstroth, and Eric Rodwell)[1] team won the 120 board final against Diamond (John Diamond, Brain Platnick, Eric Greco, Geoff Hampson, Kevin Bathurst, and Justin Lall) [2].

2016 Open USBC
The 2016 Open USBC was held to select the USA team for the 2016 World Bridge Games held in Wroclaw, Poland. This USBC was held in Denver Colorado from May 6 - May 15. The eventual champions were team Diamond (John Diamond, Brian Platnick, Eric Greco, Geoof Hampson, Kevin Bathurst, and Justin Lall) who would go on to place 5th-8th in Poland.

2015 Open USBC
The 2015 Open USBC was held in order to determine USA2 for the Chennai, India Bermuda Bowl. It was held from May 8 - May 17 in Schaumburg, Illinois. The eventual winner after the 10 days of competition was team Fireman (Paul Fireman, Gavin Wolpert, Vince Demuy, John Kranyak, John Hurd, and Joel Wooldridge). They would then go on to win the bronze medal in Chennai.

2014 Open USBC
The 2014 Open USBC was held in Phoenix, AZ from May 9 - May 18 in order to determine USA1 for Chennai. Nickell (Nick Nickell, Ralph Katz, Steve Weinstein, Bobby Levin, Jeff Meckstroth, and Eric Rodwell) beat Diamond (John Diamond, Brian Platnick, Eric Greco, Geoff Hampson, Kevin Bathurst, and Brad Moss) by 8 imps over 120 boards. Nickell rallied by a score of 43-8 in the final 15 boards to claim the victory.[3]

2013 Open USBC
The 2013 Open USBC was held at Buena Vista Place in Orlando, Florida from June 1 - June 10th. The purpose of these trials was to determine USA2 for the 2013 Bermuda Bowl. The eventual winners Fleisher (Marty Fleisher, Chris Willenken, Michael Rosenberg, Zia Mahmood, Chip Martel, and Michael Kamil) bested Nickell (Nick Nickell, Ralph Katz, Steve Weinstein, Bobby Levin, Eric Rodwell, and Jeff Meckstroth) 194-146.

2012 Open USBC
The 2012 Open USBC was held in Schaumburg, Illinois in order to qualify for the World Mind Sports Games in Lille, France. The tournament was held from April 27th - May 6th. Team Nickell (Nick Nickell, Ralph Katz, Bob Hamman, Zia Mahmood, Jeff Meckstroth, and Eric Rodwell) beat Diamond (John Diamond, Brad Moss, Fred Gitelman, Geoff Hampson, and Brian Platnick) in the final.

2011 Open USBC
The 2011 USBC was held in Las Vegas, Nevada from May 10th-May 17th in order to determine USA2 for the 2011 Bermuda Bowl. The winners would join team Fleisher who won in 2010. Team Bathurst (Kevin Bathurst, Dan Zagorin, Joe Grue, Justin Lall, Joel Wooldridge, and John Hurd) defeated Diamond (John Diamond, Eric Greco, Brad Moss, Brian Platnick, Geoff Hampson, and Fred Gitelman) 288-257.

2010 Open USBC
The 2010 USBC was held in Rosemont, Illinois from June 17- June 27 in order to determine USA1 for the 2011 Bermuda Bowl. Team Fleisher (Marty Fleisher, Michael Kamil, Chip Martel, Lew Stansby, Bobby Levin, and Steve Weinstein) defeated Diamond (John Diamond, Eric Greco, Brad Moss, Brian Platnick, Geoff Hampson, and Fred Gitelman) 260-218 to earn USA1 honors.

2009 Open USBC
The 2009 USBC was held in White Plains, New York from June 5th - June 15th. Two teams would emerge from this USBC in order to represent the United States at the 2009 Bermuda Bowl in Sao Paulo. USA1 went to Robinson (Steve Robinson, Peter Boyd, Fred Stewart, Adam Wildavsky, Doug Doub, and Kit Woolsey) in their victory over Fleisher (Marty Fleisher, Russell Ekeblad, Ron Rubin, Michael Kamil, Peter Weichsel, and Matthew Granovetter). Fleisher then dropped into the USA2 finals. USA2 went to Nickell (Nick Nickell, Dick Freeman, Eric Rodwell, Jeff Meckstroth, Bob Hamman, and Zia Mahmood) when they beat Fleisher.

2007 Open USBC

2005 Open USBC

The 2005 Open USBC was held in order to select the second team that would represent the United States at the 2005 Bermuda Bowl in Estoril, Portugal. This year trials were held in Houston, Texas. This is the first year that Polish star Jacek Pszczola or "Pepsi" is competing for the United States.

The eventual champions of the 2005 trials were Brad Moss, Ron Rubin, Eric Greco, Fred Gitelman, Geoff Hampson, Russ Ekeblad, Steve Landen NPC, Sheri Winestock Coach. They went on win the Bronze Medal in the Bermuda Bowl later that year.[4]

2004 Open USBC
The Nickell team (Nick Nickell, Dick Freeman, Bob Hamman, Paul Soloway, Jeff Meckstroth, and Eric Rodwell) was the winner of this USBC and earned the right to play in the Estoril, Portugal Bermuda Bowl in 2005 as USA1. They would go on to win the Silver medal the following year. They defeated Welland (Roy Welland, Bjorn Fallenius, Zia Mahmood, and Michael Rosenberg) in what was a close match after 90 boards but Nickell gained 91 imps on the last 30 boards.[5]

2003 Open USBC
2002 Open USBC
The Nickell team (Nick Nickell, Dick Freeman, Bob Hamman, Paul Soloway, Jeff Meckstroth, and Eric Rodwell) defeated Schwartz (Richard Schwartz, Michael Becker, Zia Mahmood, Michael Rosenberg, David Berkowitz, and Larry Cohen) to earn the right to compete in the 2003 Bermuda Bowl. Nickell lead by just 7 imps going into the final segment, but was able to pull away to win by 29.[6]

2001 Open USBC
The 2001 Open USBC was held in Memphis. The finals were between Nickell (Nick Nickell, Dick Freeman, Bob Hamman, Paul Soloway, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell) and Ekeblad (Russ Ekeblad, Bob Lipsitz, Ron Rubin, Matt Granovetter, Mark Molson, and Barnett Shenkin). Nickell would go on to win the final.[7]

International placement of USBC winners

Year	International Event	Team	Place
2017	Bermuda Bowl: Lyon,France	Nick Nickell, Ralph Katz, Bobby Levin, Steve Weinstein, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Jill Levin NPC, Coach Eric Kokish[8]	5th-8th [9]
		Martin Fleisher, Joe Grue, Chip Martel, Brad Moss, Jacek Pszczola, Michael Rosenberg, Jan Martel NPC[10]	Gold [11]
2016	World Bridge Games: Wroclaw, Poland	John Diamond, Brian Platnick, Eric Greco, Geoff Hampson, Kevin Bathurst, Justin Lall, Oren Kriegel NPC[12]	9th-16th[13]
2015	Bermuda Bowl: Chennai,India	Vincent Demuy, Paul Fireman, John Hurd, John Kranyak, Gavin Wolpert, Joel Woolridge, Shane Blanchard NPC[14]	Bronze [15]
		Nick Nickell, Ralph Katz, Bobby Levin, Steve Weinstein, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Donna Compton NPC, Eric Kokish Coach[16]	5th-8th[17]
2013	Bermuda Bowl: Bali, Indonesia	Kevin Bathurst, Kevin Dwyer, John Kranyak, Bobby Levin, Steve Weinstein, Gavin Wolpert, Shane Blanchard NPC	4th[18]
		Martin Fleisher, Mike Kamil, Zia Mahmood, Chip Martel, Michael Rosenberg, Chris Willenken, Jan Martel NPC	Eliminated in Round Robin[19]
2012	World Bridge Games: Lille, France	Nick Nickell, Ralph Katz, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Bob Hamman, Zia Mahmood	5th-8th
2011	Bermuda Bowl: Veldhoven, Netherlands [20]	Martin Fleisher, Mike Kamil, Lew Stansby, Chip Martel, Michael Rosenberg, Chris Willenken, Jan Martel NPC	4th
		Kevin Bathurst, Joe Grue, John Hurd, Justin Lall, Joel Woolridge, Curtis Cheek NPC, Daniel Zagorin Coach	Silver
2009	Bermuda Bowl: Sao Paulo, Brazil	Peter Boyd, Doug Doub, Kit Woolsey, Adam Wildavsky, Steve Robinson, Fred Stewart, Howard Weinstein NPC[21]	Eliminated in Round Robin [22]
		Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Nick Nickell, Bob Hamman, Ralph Katz, Zia Mahmood, Donna Compton NPC, Eric Kokish Coach[23]	Gold [24]
2008	World Bridge Games: Beijing, China	Nick Nickell, Richard Freeman, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Chris Compton, Bob Hamman	9th-16th
2007	Bermuda Bowl: Shanghai, China	Zia Mahmood, Michael Rosenberg, Steve Garner, Howard Weinstein, George Jacobs, Ralph Katz, Jan Martel NPC, Chip Martel Coach[25]	Silver [26]
		Bob Hamman, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Richard Freeman, Nick Nickell, Hemant Lall, Sidney Lazard NPC, Eric Kokish Coach[27]	Eliminated in Round Robin [28]
2005	Bermuda Bowl: Estoril, Portugal	Paul Soloway, Jeff Meckstroth, Nick Nickell, Bob Hamman, Richard Freeman, Sidney Lazard NPC, Eric Kokish Coach[29]	Silver [30]
		Brad Moss, Ron Rubin, Eric Greco, Fred Gitelman, Geoff Hampson, Russ Ekeblad, Steve Landen NPC, Sheri Winestock Coach[31]	Bronze [32]
2004	World Team Olympiad	Michael Rosenberg, Bobby Levin, Roy Welland, Steve Weinstein, Bjorn Fallenius, Zia Mahmood, Sheri Winestock NPC, Fred Gitelman Coach [33]	9th-16th[34]
2003	Bermuda Bowl: Monte Carlo	Paul Soloway, Jeff Meckstroth, Nick Nickell, Bob Hamman, Eric Rodwell, Richard Freeman, Sidney Lazard NPC[35]	Gold [36]
		Doug Doub, Steve Landen, Adam Wildavsky, Pratap Rajadhyaksha, Dan Morse, Bobby Wolff, Ralph Cohen NPC, Geoff Hampson Coach[37]	Bronze [38]
2001	Bermuda Bowl: Paris, France	Paul Soloway, Jeff Meckstroth, Nick Nickell, Bob Hamman, Eric Rodwell, Richard Freeman, Donald Krauss NPC[39]	5th-8th[40]
		Peter Weichsel, Chip Martel, Rose Meltzer, Kyle Larsen, Lew Stansby, Alan Sontag, Jan Martel NPC, Fred Gitelman Coach, Sheri Winestock Coach[41]	Gold [42]

References

1. United States Bridge Federation 2017 Open USBC Nickell Team
2. United States Bridge Federation 2017 Open USBC Diamond Team
3. Alder, Phillip New York Times "A Late Rebound at USA-1 Trials in Phoenix" 25 May, 2014. Retrieved on February 27, 2014"
4. Alder, Phillip. "U.S. Championships Open in Houston With a 'New Face'" New York Times 14 May, 2005. Retrieved on February 21, 2018
5. Truscott, Alan. "Bridge; A Traditionally Winning team Does It again, After a Squeaker" New York Times 17 June, 2004. Retrieved on February 21, 2018
6. Truscott, Alan "Bridge; Addled or Wily in a Retirement Residence?" New York Times 20 June, 2002. Retrieved on February 21, 2018
7. Truscott, Alan "Bridge; American Teams Compete for a Chance to Play in Bali" New York Times 11 June 2001. Retrieved on February 21, 2018
8. World Bridge Federation USA1 Roster Bermuda Bowl, 2017
9. World Bridge Federation USA1 Bermuda Bowl Quarterfinal Elimination to Bulgaria, 2017
10. World Bridge Federation USA2 Roster Bermuda Bowl,2017
11. World Bridge Federation USA2 Gold Medal Bermuda Bowl, 2017
12. World Bridge Federation USA Roster World Bridge Games,2016
13. World Bridge Federation USA Round of 16 loss to Spain, 2016
14. World Bridge Federation USA2 Roster Bermuda Bowl, 2015
15. World Bridge Federation USA2 Bronze Medal Bermuda Bowl, 2015
16. World Bridge Federation USA1 Roster Bermuda Bowl, 2015
17. World Bridge Federation USA1 Quarterfinal loss to England, Bermuda Bowl, 2015
18. Alder, Phillip "American Team Wins Venice Cup In Indonesia" New York Times 28 September 2013. Retrieved on February 21, 2018
19. World Bridge Federation USA2 loss in Round Robin standings, Bermuda Bowl, 2013
20. Alder, Phillip "Dutch Hosts are Winners of Bermuda Bowl" New York Times 30 October, 2001. Retrieved February 26, 2018
21. World Bridge Federation USA1 Roster for 2009 Bermuda Bowl
22. World Bridge Federation USA1 Eliminated in Round Robin Standings, Bermuda Bowl, 2009
23. World Bridge Federation USA2 Roster, Bermuda Bowl, 2009
24. World Bridge Federation USA2 Gold Medal Match vs Italy, Bermuda Bowl, 2009
25. World Bridge Federation USA1 Roster for 2007 Bermuda Bowl
26. World Bridge Federation USA1 earns Silver medal in loss to Norway, Bermuda Bowl, 2007
27. World Bridge Federation USA2 Roster for 2007 Bermuda Bowl
28. World Bridge Federation USA2 Eliminated in Round Robin Rankings,Bermuda Bowl, 2007
29. World Bridge Federation USA1 Roster for 2005 Bermuda Bowl, 2005
30. World Bridge Federation USA1 earns Silver in loss to Italy, Bermuda Bowl, 2005
31. World Bridge Federation USA2 Roster for 2005 Bermuda Bowl, 2005
32. World Bridge Federation USA2 earns Bronze in victory over Sweden, Bermuda Bowl, 2005
33. World Bridge Federation 2004 World Team Olympiad Open Roster
34. [http://db.worldbridge.org/Repository/tourn/Istanbul.04/Asp/knockoutphase.asp?qphase=F16&qtournid=472 Round of 16 Results
35. World Bridge Federation USA1 Roster for 2003 Bermuda Bowl, 2003
36. World Bridge Federation USA1 wins Gold in 1 imp victory over Italy, Bermuda Bowl, 2003
37. World Bridge FederationUSA2 Roster for 2003 Bermuda Bowl, 2003
38. World Bridge FederationUSA2 win Bronze, 2003
39. World Bridge FederationUSA1 Roster for 2001 Bermuda Bowl, 2001
40. World Bridge Federation USA Loss in Quarterfinal Match, 2001
41. World Bridge Federation USA2 Roster for 2001 Bermuda Bowl, 2001
42. World Bridge Federation Gold Medal Match Bermuda Bowl, 2001

External links

• USBF Tournaments 2017-2014
• USBF Tournaments Before 2014