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The North American Pairs (NAP) is a set of annual U.S. national championships for at contract bridge. At the final stage, three fields or "Flights" compete on the same schedule over two days at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championships (NABC). Each competition is a four-session matchpoint pairs tournament with two qualifying sessions on the first day, two final sessions on the second. These grass-root events are restricted to pairs that have qualified in local and regional stages, semifinally in their ACBL Districts. : Flight A, open to all players, is formally the Baldwin North American Pairs. : Flight B, restricted to players with 0 to 2500 masterpoints, is formally the Golder North American Pairs. : Flight C, restricted to players who have not yet become Life Masters and have fewer than 500 masterpoints, is formally the President's Cup North American Pairs. ==History== Play for the Baldwin North American Pairs (Flight A) begins each summer at the local level and concludes at the North American Bridge Championships in the following Spring. 61,000 pairs participated during August 1978, the local stage of the inaugural 1978–79 rendition.〔"Grand National Pairs". 〕 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), a U.S. Army officer 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. 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 was 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, he was ACBL business manager from 1946 until 1951. He was recalled to military service at the outbreak of the Korean War 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 first stage of the Golder North American Pairs event (Flight B) is also conducted at the local club level with qualifiers advancing 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. His widow Peggy Golder, later Solomon, a Hall of Fame player. Players in the North American Open Pairs (Flight C), compete for the President's Cup. The trophy was presented in 1942 by Morgan Howard, ACBL president that year. For many years it was awarded to the winners of the President's Pairs, a standalone event at the Summer NABC. As in the other two flights, Flight C competition now 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== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「North American Pairs」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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