Bessis, Lorenzini win Blue Ribbon Pairs
Thomas Bessis and Cedric Lorenzini
Thomas Bessis and Cedric Lorenzini, who are both from France, have won the prestigious Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs, one of the toughest three-day pair events on the NABC schedule. In second was a Junior pair, Ami Zamir and Oren Toledano, both from Israel.
Bessis and Lorenzini qualified in fifth place for today’s final two sessions with a carryover of 24.60. Their first final session score of 60.89% moved them into first – 15.3 matchpoints ahead of second place (17 top). “After we finished getting three zeros against Finn (Kolesnik) and Ishmael (Del’Monte), we settled down and played well,” said Bessis.
Ami Zamir and Oren Toledano
Zamir and Toledano were in 13th place with one session to go. They improved dramatically with a 60.89% final session to claim the number two spot. It’s the first time attending an NABC for both of them.
Bessis has won two Vanderbilts, in 2010 and 2012 and the Norman Kay Platinum Pairs in 2015, which he won with Lorenzini. He has eight second-place finishes. Lorenzini also won the von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs in 2015 and has one second-place finish.