Sunday, March 31
Vanderbilt KO Teams
Wolfson faces Nickell in Vanderbilt final
The squads captained by Jeff Wolfson and Nick Nickell meet in today’s final of the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams.
Wolfson is playing with Steve Garner, Michael Becker, Michael Kamil, Peter Crouch and Alexander Hydes, while Nickell’s lineup includes Ralph Katz, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Robert Levin and Steve Weinstein.
In the semifinal round, Wolfson defeated Team Lavazza, 139-101. Lavazza’s roster was Dennis Bilde, Norberto Bocchi, Giovanni Donati, Giorgio Duboin, Agustin Madala and Antonio Sementa. Wolfson led each quarter of the match.
In the other semifinal bracket, the Nickell team continued its pattern in this year’s Vanderbilt of thrashing their opponents, prompting an early surrender. Nickell won the first quarter against Levine 41-16, but the second set was a disaster for the Levine team: They scored a single IMP, while Nickell added 54. With the halftime score 98-17, Levine withdrew.
The Levine team was Oren Kriegel, David Grainger, Greg Hinze, Venkatrao Koneru and Pratap Rajadhyaksha.
Jacoby Open Swiss Teams
Wrang sets pace in Jacoby Open Swiss
The squad captained by Sweden’s Frederic Wrang topped the qualifying round of the Jacoby Open Swiss Teams. Wrang is playing with Daniel Zagorin, Antonio Palma and Peter Bertheau. They start today’s two-session final with a carryover of 28.11 Victory Points.
In second with a carryover of 25.61 VPs is Espen Erichsen’s team (Tony Leibowitz, Christian Bakke and Tor Grude).
Third place is occupied by Tim Verbeek (Danny Molenaar, Patricia Cayne, Dano De Falco, Bart Nab and Bob Drijver) with 19.92 VPs.
NABC+ Fast Pairs
Pavlicek, Munday race off to Fast Pairs lead
Richard Pavlicek of Fort Lauderdale FL and Jim Munday of Southaven MS lead the qualifiers in the NABC+ Fast Pairs.
Pavlicek and Munday, a previous winner of this event, had scores of 60.06% and 68.38% on Saturday. They take a carryover of four full boards into today’s final sessions – 152 on a 38 top.
That’s almost a board ahead of the second-place qualifiers, Tom Kniest of Brentwood MO and Ed Schulte of Tampa FL, with 121. Narrowly behind them are New Yorkers Andrew Dyson and Ettore Bianchi with 120.06.
The defending champions from the past two years running, Mark Dahl and Richard Oshlag, are in eighth place.
Seventy-eight pairs qualified for today’s final.
NAP Flight B
District 25 pairs lead NAP B
Two pairs from District 25 lead the qualifiers in the Golder North American Pairs Flight B. Trevor Reeves and Felix Springer of Connecticut scored 61% and 63% in Saturday’s qualifying sessions for a carryover of 82.10 – about three and a quarter boards. That’s three-fourths of a board ahead of Yin Yichen and Chang Liu from the Boston area, who have 62.
In third place from District 14 are Diane and Larry Henson of Minnetonka MN with 53.30.
Fifty-two pairs qualified for today’s final, where a 25 is top.
NAP Flight C
NAP Flight C leaders from District 23
Mark Rappaport and Larisa Rappaport of Beverly Hills CA are in the pole position in the North American Pairs Flight C contest. The District 23 duo will have a carryover of 50 matchpoints (two boards) in today’s two-session final.
In second are the Boston-area duo of Nathalie Tabor and Lisa Muir representing District 25.
Saturday, March 30
Vanderbilt KO Teams
Vandy semis: Wolfson vs. Lavazza, Nickell vs. Levine
In the semifinal round of the Vanderbilt KO Teams, Jeff Wolfson’s squad will face Team Lavazza (Dennis Bilde captain), while Nick Nickell and company will battle Mike Levine’s team in the other bracket.
In the quarterfinal round, Wolfson narrowly defeated Jacek “Pepsi” Pszczola’s team, 150-143, after Pszczola mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally that fell just short. Lavazza handled George Mittelman’s squad, 170-148. Levine had a close match against Andrew Rosenthal’s team – the lead margin rarely exceeded single digits – but prevailed 96-90. Nickell, however, clobbered Warren Spector’s team in their quarterfinal match, winning 134-42 in three quarters of play. Nickell has yet to be seriously challenged in any of its matches thus far.
Friday, March 29
Vanderbilt KO Teams
Close matches and romps in Vandy Rd. of 16
Thursday’s round of 16 in the Vanderbilt KO Teams saw several close contests and several not-so-close ones.
In the close matches, Marty Seligman and company (No. 5) got the boot from George Mittelman’s squad (No. 12), 126-112. Team Lavazza (No. 4, Dennis Bilde captain) held on against Daniel Zagorin (No. 13), 141-123. Warren Spector’s team took the measure of Dano De Falco’s squad 133-115, and Mike Levine’s lineup stayed in control against Jim Mahaffey, 142-132.
The closest match of the round took place between the No. 3 seed led by Andrew Rosenthal and the No. 14 seed captained by Richard Coren. After two late-night appeals, Rosenthal (who had had won the match by 3 IMPs at the end of regulation) prevailed with an appeals-adjusted score of 99-97.
In the more lopsided contests, Jeff Wolfson’s squad took out giant-killer Richard Pavlicek’s team 164-100. The No. 2 seed led by Nick Nickell cruised against Krekorian npc (No. 15, John Onstott), 149-86. No. 8 “Pepsi” Pszczola sent No. 9 Stan Tulin to the sidelines, 166-116.
Smith LM Women’s Pairs
Zhu, Kent lead Women’s Pairs
Chicago-area players Judy Zhu and Ellen Kent lead the qualifiers in the Smith Life Master Women’s Pairs. In Thursday’s opening round, Zhu and Kent posted a 64% in the first session and a 63% in the second to take a carryover of 85.39 matchpoints into today’s final round (top = 25).
In second with a carryover of 64.87 matchpoints are Floridians Janice Seamon-Molson and Riki Tulin.
Florida is well-represented on the women’s leader board. Gen Geiger and Gigi Simpson, a mother-daughter pair from Sarasota FL are third with 61.32, and Miami players Tina Tessaro and Irina Kislitsyna are fourth with 58.45.
Silodor Open Pairs
Rosenberg, Grossack in front in Silodor
Michael Rosenberg and Adam Grossack are leading the Silodor Open Pairs after Thursday’s qualifying sessions. They scored 64.77% in the first session and 60.92% in the second for a carryover of 315.25 – three and a half boards on a 90 top.
They have a half-board lead on the second-place qualifiers, Mark Dahl of Richmond VA and Richard Oshlag of Memphis TN, whose carryover is 269.43. Narrowly in third place with a carryover of 264.95 are Russell Samuel of Coram NY and Patricia Griffin of Sausalito CA.
In fourth are Adam Parrish and Greg Humphreys with 245.55, and in fifth with 243.97 are Eric Greco and David Gold. Jacob Freeman, 18, and Finn Kolesnik, 14, qualified in sixth place.
A field of 182 pairs advanced to today’s final sessions.
Thursday, March 28
Vanderbilt KO Teams
Vandy top seed toppled
The team led by Richard Pavlicek defeated the top-seeded Marty Fleisher team on Wednesday, 149–111. Playing with Pavlicek are Jim Munday, Frank Merblum and Doug Doub. Fleisher played with Joe Grue, Chip Martel, Brad Moss, Geoff Hampson and Eric Greco. Today, Pavlicek, originally seeded 33, takes on 16 seed Jeffrey Wolfson,
In other upset news: Jimmy Cayne’s No. 6 squad fell to Jim Mahaffey’s No. 23 team 119–87, while Vinita Gupta, No. 7, was sidelined by the No. 26 seed, Dano De Falco, 153–108. Pierre Zimmerman’s No. 10 team was banished by the 23 seed Warren Spector squad, 161–127.
The No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds – Nickell, Rosenthal and Lavazza – turned in dominating performances to advance easily to the round of eight. No. 5 Martin Seligman pulled out a squeaker against Kasle.
Wednesday, March 27
Vanderbilt KO Teams
The top 10 seeds in the round of 64 of the Vanderbilt KO Teams all advanced comfortably, but the No. 11 seed captained by Hemant Lall lost narrowly to the Indian squad dubbed “Texan Aces,” 120-118.
Also on the sidelines is the No. 16 seed led by Joyce Hill was defeated by the No. 49 seed of Tony Liebowitz, an international foursome, 104-82. Chen Zhao, the No. 18 seed, lost to Kevin Castner’s “Team Lea,” another international foursome, 127-109. The No. 21 seed captained by Paul Lewis was shown the door by the No 44 seed of Alex Kolesnik, 145-96. Paul Street (No, 24) was defeated by David Pelka (No. 41), 136-124.
Rockwell Mixed Pairs
The Seattle-based duo of Kim Eng and Jeffrey Ford topped the qualifying round in the Rockwell Mixed Pairs. Eng and Ford posted a strong 65.80% in the first session and a solid 56.52% in the second to take the lead. Their carryover is 310.47.
Close behind are Raluca Dobrescu and Magnus Olafsson of New York with 306.78, while third place is occupied by Larry Lowell of Knoxville and Barbara Levinson of Cincinnati with 301.44.
0-10,000 KO Teams
The squads captained by Charles Nemes and Louis Glasthal will meet in today’s final of the 0-10,000 Knockout Teams.
Nemes of Longboat Key FL is playing with Michael Gibson of Sarasota FL, Rick Schoenfield of Westchester IL and David Bogolub of Deerfield IL. Glasthal of Berwyn PA is playing with Michael Massimilla of Syosset NY, and Robert Lass and Tom Fogarty of Chicago.
In the semifinal round, Nemes defeated the squad captained by James Fox 53-33, while Glasthal beat Barry Purrington’s team 74-65.
Monday, March 25
Lebhar IMP Pairs
A monster 105-IMP evening rocketed Jeff Roman of Bend OR and Ralph Buchalter of South Orange NJ into the lead of the Lebhar IMP pairs going into the final day. Their evening score, added to their 31.74-IMP first qualifying session, translates into a carryover of 26 IMPs.
In second are Carlos Munoz of White Plains NY and Tony Petronella of Boca Raton FL, who bring 20.50 IMPs into day two of the event.
In third are Stephen McConnell of Eveanston IL and Mark Kessler of Springfield IL.
The event drew 360 pairs; 182 pairs qualified for the second and final day.
Sunday, March 24
Platinum Pairs
Boosted by a big score in yesterday’s second semifinal session, the French duo of Thomas Bessis and Frederic Volcker have taken the lead in the Kay Platinum Pairs as today’s two-session final gets underway. Bessis and Volcker scored 57.57% in the first semifinal session on Saturday, but added a hefty 68.39% score in the second session to move into first place with a carryover of 10.93 matchpoints (13 is top in the final).
In second with a carryover of 10.81 is the Canadian pair of Dan Jacob and Robert Lebi, while Marty Fleisher of New York City and Brad Moss of Denver are in third with 10.03.
Saturday, March 23
Silver Ribbon Pairs
Michael Schreiber and Dewitt (Hal) Montgomery topped the qualifying round in the Leventritt Silver Ribbon Pairs on Friday. Schreiber, of Memphis, and Montgomery, of Portland OR, scored 59.68% in the first qualifying session and followed up with a 65.50% in the second. They begin today’s two-session final with a carryover of 222.60 matchpoints (64 is top).
In second are Barry Bragin of Fort Pierce FL and Mark Laken of Glyndon MD. Their session scores – 63.91% and 59.79% – give them a carryover of 210.03.
In third with a carryover of 201.92 are Dave Westfall of Spokane WA (who won the event in 2016) and Rick Roeder of La Mesa CA.
0-10,000 Swiss Teams
The squad captained by Maximo Crusizio of Argentina leads the 0-10,000 Swiss Teams after the opening round. Crusizio, playing with fellow Argentine Rodrigo Garcia Da Rosa, Stephen Cox of Eugene OR and Marshall Lewis of Bloomington IN, scored 113 Victory Points in the two-session qualifying game.
In second place is the team led by Jonathan Fleischmann of Bloomfield MI. Fleischmann and company scored 111 Victory Points in the qualifying round.
Kay Platinum Pairs
After Friday’s qualifying round, John Diamond and Brian Platnick sit atop the field in the Kay Platinum Pairs. The duo put together consistent sessions of 61.87% and 60.27% to establish a slim lead going into the second day of the three-day event.
Less than one percentage point off the pace are Jonathan Steinberg and Alex Hudson. Sitting in third are Eric Greco and Joe Grue.
Monday, March 18
Robot Individual, Day 2
With one more session to go, William Bleish of Lenexa KS leads the NABC Robot Individual. His overall score is 70.46%. In second is Sunday’s Flight B winner, Jeff Eisenberger from Chesterfield MO, with 69.62%. B. Haznedar from Houston TX maintains his hold on first in Flight C with an overall score of 65.06%. The event concludes today.
On the second day of play, Bleish was the top dog, posting a score of 73.19%. Just .08 off the pace in second was Ken Cohen from Philadelphia PA with 73.11%.
The Flight B winner on day two was Felix Schwartz from Rockaway Park NY, who scored 70.48%. Junhui Zhu of Burnaby BC topped the C Flight, with a score of 69.69%.
Here are the overall standings after two days of play.
Sunday, March 17
Robot Individual, Day 1
Leo LaSota of Glen Burnie MD posted the top score on the opening day (Saturday, March 16) of the 2019 Spring NABC Robot Individual. LaSota leads the field of 1920 participants with a 73.37% score.
In second place with 71.97% is Alex Perlin of Metuchen NJ.
In Flight B, the leader after Day 1 is Jeff Eisenberger of Chesterfield MO with a 70.43% performance (fourth overall), while B. Haznedar of Houston TX is first in Flight C with 68.30% (10th overall).
Day One Results