Following our enjoyable trip to Washington in 2002, Alex and I decided that we'd like to experience another NABC and the ACBL's first visit to New York in 30 years seemed appropriate.
We arranged flights over the Internet, and a hotel room in the event's hotel through the ACBL also over the Internet and flew out on the Friday of the tournament.
Finding teammates is always tough. We'd prefer to find 2-4 like-minded Brits of a similar ability and disposition and really make an effort to make an impact on one of the major events. This has proved difficult for both our National experiences, probably because we know too few players well enough and the cost and timing of the trips - but if anyone is interested in the future please give me a call!
The event's Partnership Chair, Jon Green, was very helpful and we were able to arrange some US teammates for the Mini Spingold. Al, a spritely soon-to-be octogenarian from LA, possessed a keen bridge brain and was extremely focused on the results; Ed, from many parts of the US, was more relaxed but just as competent.
Al and Ed were available on the Saturday so we played unsuccessfully in one of the Knockout Brackets. On Sunday we tuned up for the main event with a reasonable performance in one of the Swiss team events.
In the Mini we were seeded 20 (out of 44) and played in a four-way on the first day. We lost the first 28 board match by a single IMP - of course opportunities to win that one - and then we left the team with a 25 IMP lead in the second match but unfortunately they were not able to hold on. This was disappointing as our opponents were only narrowly beaten in the semi-final of the event .... and that could have been us!
We took Tuesday off to do some sightseeing and watched some of the Spingold play. Like last time there were very few kibitzers at this stage and you can watch any of the stars.
On Wednesday we played with Ed and Barbara, a friend from Cincinnati, in the full day A/X Swiss teams. We played reasonably throughout the day but a loss in our last match meant that we only finished 9th. The event was won comfortable by Paul Hackett and John Armstrong.
With the Spingold starting at 10am, we also had the opportunity to watch their first set prior to our games (that started at 1pm). I kibbitzed the Hacketts struggling against the #3 seeds, seeing Buratti/Lanzarotti playing particularly well.
Thursday was the IMP Pairs - another major event. We played inconsistently, with little going our way and mistakes seeming to be extra costly so we failed to make the final.
We played again on Friday with Ed and a pickup partner but failed to disturb the medal table.
In between, and on especially on Saturday, we kibbitzed the later stages of the Spingold. Again there were few other watchers at this stage, which meant a good seat was always found. The Nickell-O'Rourke match was great to watch, and the two semi-finals featured some excellent play.
Like David Burn, I was very impressed by the young Canadians, Gavin Wolpert & Vincent Demuy. I watched them play Peter Bertheau & Fredrik Nystrom in the second segment of the semi-final and they were largely responsible for the gains that opened the gap in that match with some excellent bidding and cardplay. They also played extremely well in their first Spingold final - clearly a pair to watch!
We met a few other aliens - Paul Hackett, John Armstrong, the Hacketts, Janet De Botton, Nick Sandquist, Phil King and others.
If you have the time and the money, I'd certainly recommend going along to an NABC - we will be!
This page was last updated on October 4, 2005
© 1999-2005 P S Gipson