Ron Tacchi reports from the Fall 2023 NABC Atlanta.

Reisinger Trophy

Photos source: ACBL

Teams have been contesting the Reisinger Trophy (formerly the Chicago Trophy) since its inception in 1929. Regarded as one of the toughest team contests, it uses point-a-board scoring, otherwise known as Board-a-Match (BAM).

Every deal is scored as a win, loss or tie. If your score of +140 is compared against one of  +130 you win the board and score 1 point. If both sides collect +140 you tie the deal and score half a point.

Two qualifying rounds are followed by two semifinal rounds, reducing the field to a 10 team final over 54 deals.

Aldo Gerli, Padova (Italy), Alessandro Gandoglia, Rome (Italy), Norberto Bocchi, Barcelona (Spain) and Leonardo Fruscoloni, Brooklyn (NY) scored 31.17 in the final of this year’s Reisinger Trophy and found it was just enough to edge out Nick Nickell, Water Mill (NY), Ralph Katz, Burr Ridge (IL), Geoff Hampson, Las Vegas (NV), Eric Greco, Frisco (T)X, Robert Levin, Henderson (NV) and Steve Weinstein, Cedar Grove (NJ) who finished with 30.64. They had even less in hand over third-placed Mike Rippey, Orinda (CA), Piotr Marcinowski, Wroclaw (Poland), Jakub & Patryk Patreuha, Boleslawiec (Poland), Kamil Nowak, Kielce (Poland) and Grzegorz Narkiewicz, Chapel Hill (NC) on 30.48.

This spectacular deal was the highlight of the semifinals:

Open Room

Here is what happened in the Open Room when Platnik played Rosenthal:

What fun!

South led the ♣4 (well done!) and declarer ruffed in dummy drew trumps, cashed the ♥A, came to hand with a Spade and tabled the ♥J.

Would he get the Heart right? Yes! A splendid +2470 – but it was only good for a tie!

The first board of the final session was a tester:

Board 1 Dealer North. None Vul.

It is easy to predict the first two bids, East opens 1♠ and West responds 2♣. Then East faces a familiar problem, to rebid Spades or introduce the Diamonds. If you don’t bid Diamonds now any chance of reaching 6♦ will almost certainly vanish. At least one pair played in 5 Diamonds but lost two tricks, one to the ♠K another to a Spade ruff. Another tried 3 No-Trump by West, lost the first four tricks in Clubs and then failed to divine the Spade position to go two down.

If you play in Spades, you will take 12 tricks if you start by playing a Spade to the ten (tied at +480 in Nickell v Gerli).

If you reach 6♦ you might play Spades in the same way, hoping that the opponents are not in 6♠.

Later in the final session, Round 5 pitted Gerli against Fleisher:

Open Room

North cashed the ♥AK and declarer claimed the rest, +650.

Closed Room

South led the ♦3 and that meant a win for Gerli – who scored a hat trick on the round.

That was a significant contribution towards the eventual victory of the essentially Italian team. It was third victory for Norberto Bocchi, who also won in 2000 and 2019.

Winning the Reisinger ensured that Aldo Gerli won the Goren Trophy for the most masterpoints secured in the Fall Nationals. His total of 456.99 came from winning the Reisinger and the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs along with finishing fourth in the Mitchell Open BAM and scoring points in the Soloway.

NABC Mixed Teams

Photos source: ACBL

The Mixed Swiss was won by John McAllister, Sophia Baldysz, Charlottesville (VA), Matthew Brown, Pokeno (New Zealand) and Lilly Justman, Austin (TX), their total of 130.41 leaving them clear of Bruce Lang, Palm Beach Gardens (FL), Corey Krantz, Boynton Beach (FL), Kathrine Bertheau, Taby (Sweden), Christina Lund Madsen (Denmark) and Simon Ekenberg, Kalmar (Sweden), who scored 117.13, just ahead of Loretta Rivers, Monroe (LA), Mike & Allison L. Cappelletti, Delray Beach (FL), Sylvia Shi, San Francisco (CA) and Eddie Wold, Houston (TX) who totalled 116.6.

Keohane Teams

The Keohane North American Swiss Teams went to Leonardo Cima, Rome (Italy), Giorgio Duboin, Torino (Italy), Franck Multon (Monaco), Marc Bompis, Bourg-La-Reine (France), Francisco Bernal, Miami (FL) and Miguel Villas-Boas, Salvador (Brazil) who scored 117.72, finishing just ahead of Fredrik Nystrom, Johan Upmark, Leif Bremark, Frederic Wrang, all Stockholm (Sweden), Simon Hult, Wastervik (Sweden) and Antonio Palma, Evora (Portugal) with 115.89. Jill Meyers, Santa Monica (CA), Mark Feldman, Austin (TX), Ron Gerard, White Plains (NY), Ross Grabel, Palm Desert (CA), Kerri Sanborn, Delray Beach (FL) and Mitch Dunitz, Sherman Oaks (CA) were just behind them with 115.63.

Sweden’s Ola Rimstedt is Player of the Year (based on unofficial results) with 690.96 Platinum points, leaving him 25 points ahead of France’s Thomas Bessis. Rimstedt’s successes in 2023 include winning the Mitchell Open BAM in Atlanta, the von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs in the summer Nationals in Chicago and second place in the Kay Platinum Pairs in New Orleans. A sixth-place finish in the Keohane North American Swiss Teams helped him over the line.

Read more news from the NABC Atlanta here.