Saturday, December 7
Lavazza in front in Reisinger
With an enormous score in the first semifinal session – 22.5 wins – Team Lavazza blasted into the lead in the Reisinger BAM Teams. Lavazza (Norberto Bocchi, Dennis Bilde, Philippe Cronier, Giorgio Duboin, Agustin Madala and Antonio Sementa) scored 15 in the second session. Combined with their carryover from the qualifying round of 13.07, the squad had a semifinal total score of 50.57, giving them an almost-maximum carryover into the final of 4.82.
In second with a carryover of 3.04 is Marty Fleisher’s squad (Joe Grue, Chip Martel, Brad Moss,
Geoff Hampson, and Eric Greco).
Third place currently belongs to Team Bid 72: Jan Van Cleeff, Matthias Felmy, Iain Sime and Marina Wilvliet with a carryover of 1.79 boards.
Berg leads N.A. Swiss
The squad captained by Mary Ann Berg posted the top score in the semifinal round of the Keohane North American Swiss Teams to lead the six-session contest going into today’s final round. Berg, playing with Jason Feldman, Krzysztof Buras, Grzegorz Narkiewicz, Rafal Jagniewski, and Wojciech Gawel finished yesterday with a four-session total of 197.05 victory points, giving them a carryover of 34.10 VPs in the final.
In second with a carryover of 22.57 is Sibraud Van Ooosten’s team (Maximilian Stepper, Lauritz Streck, Florian Alter).
In third is Doug Simson and company (Jeff Aker, Barry Rigal, Glenn Milgrim, and Steve Beatty) with 14.60.
Zmuda leads Mixed Swiss
Justyna Zmuda’s squad topped the qualifying round in the NABC+ Mixed Swiss Teams. Zmuda (Dominik Filipowicz, Loretta Rivers, Mike Cappelletti and Sandra Rimstedt) scored 122.29 victory points and has a carryover of 30.00 VPs in today’s final.
In second with a carryover of 25.53 VP is Irene Baroni’s team: Alessandro Gandoglia, Yasuko
Shrenzel and Daniel Lavee.
Thomas Turgeon’s team is in third place with 21.14 VPs. Turgeon is playing with Sandy McCay, Robert Kent and Ellen Kent.
Friday, December 6
Rosenthal sets pace in Reisinger
Andrew Rosenthal’s squad won 33.5 boards in yesterday’s opening round of the Reisinger BAM Team to lead the 20 semifinalists in today’s action. Rosenthal is playing with Aaron Silverstein, Chris Willenken, Jan Jansma, Boye Brogeland and Christian Bakke.
In second, with 31.5 wins yesterday, is Marty Fleisher and company (Joe Grue, Chip Martel, Brad Moss, Geoff Hampson and Eric Greco).
Four squads are tied for 3rd/6th: Josef Blass npc, Connie Goldberg, Eugene Hung and Team Lavazza.
Street leads N.A. Swiss
The squad captained by Paul Street leads the field after the opening day of the Keohane North American Swiss Teams. The Street team (Nicolas L’Ecuyer, Thomas Bessis, Frederic Volcker, Cedric Lorenzini and Tom Hanlon) scored 118.01 victory points on Thursday.
Phil Clayton’s team scored 107.35 VP in the opening round to begin today’s semifinal sessions in second place. Clayton’s lineup: Andrew Gumperz, Bill Nutting, Ann Nutting, Alexander Kolesnik and Bob Etter.
Third place is occupied by the Chinese squad of Jun Zhang, Yizhuo Zhang, Jiashen Yin, Yanhui Sun, Yichao Chen and Junjie Hu.
Thursday, December 5
Li, Dekkers sprint to lead in 10K Fast Pairs
Li Yiting of Herndon VA and Laura Dekkers of Rotterdam, Netherlands, posted the top result in yesterday’s opening round of the 0-10,000 Fast Pairs. The duo scored 62% in the first qualifying session and a healthy 69% in the second to start today’s two-session final with a carryover of 68 matchpoints, almost a full board ahead of the Virginia-based duo of David Rodney and Rusty Krauss who have a carryover of 52.89.
In third with 49.60 are Hua Yang and Yan Song of Plano TX.
Travis, Treiber lead Senior Mixed
Diane Travis of Cincinnati OH and Frank Treiber of Toledo OH topped the qualifying round of the Senior Mixed Pairs on Thursday, scoring 61.54% and 62.13% respectively in the afternoon and evening sessions.
In second are Markland Jones of Phoenix AZ and Patricia Dovell of Gainesville FL, while third place currently belongs to Daniel Rubinfeld of Berkeley CA and Hall of Famer Judi Radin of New York City.
Wednesday, December 4
Blass meets Nickell in today’s Soloway final
The final of the inaugural Soloway KO Teams will feature a battle between two superstar squads: Josef Blass npc and Nick Nickell.
In yesterday’s semifinal round, Blass (Jacek Pszczola, Jacek Kalita, Michal Nowosadzki, Sjoert Brink and Sebastiaan Drijver) defeated Warren Spector’s team (Gavin Wolpert, Vincent Demuy, John Kranyak, John Hurd and Joel Wooldridge) 135-113. Blass jumped out to an early lead in the natch which they never relinquished.
In the other bracket, Nickel (Ralph Katz, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Robert Levin and Steve Weinstein) had an exceptionally close match against Andrew Rosenthal and company (Aaron Silverstein, Chris Willenken, Jan Jansma, Boye Brogeland, and Christian Bakke), but pulled away in the last quarter to advance 93-75.
Hampson, Greco take lead in Blue Ribbon Pairs
Boosted by a 63% game in the first semifinal session, Geoff Hampson and Eric Greco moved to the top of the leader list in the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs as today’s final round begins. Hampson and Greco, who qualified fifth after Tuesday’s opening round, paired their nice first session on Wednesday with a 54.45% game in the evening session to take the lead.
In second are Ron Gerard and Adam Wildavsky of New York, while Australian Peter Gill and partner Iain Sime of Scotland are in third place.
Clayton, Cohn lead Mini-Blue quals
With a pair of 60% games in Wednesday’s semifinal round, Phil Clayton of Frisco TX and Jonathan Cohn of Gillette WY took the lead in the 0-6000 Mini-Blue Ribbon Pairs. The pair moved to first from ninth after Tuesday’s opening round.
In second are Leila Sink of Los Gatos CA and John Hoffman of Mountain View CA. Third place is occupied by the Seattle-based pair of Jeffrey Ford and Aaron Mohrman.
Tuesday, December 3
Soloway SF match-ups:
Spector vs. Blass npc, Rosenthal vs. Nickell
The quarterfinal round of the Soloway KO Teams featured three matches that were initially close and one blowout.
The No.1 seed captained by Warren Spector dominated their match against Juan Carlos Ventin, winning it 146-51 in three quarters of play. Spector won the first quarter by 34 IMPs and then expanded their lead to 67 IMPs at halftime. Things continued to deteriorate for Ventin in the third set, prompting their surrender.
Blass npc and Lauence Lebowitz had a close first half in their match, but Blass pulled away in the third quarter to lead by 38 IMPs. Blass stayed firmly in control in the fourth quarter to advance 166-119.
When Andrew Rosenthal’s squad met Pierre Zimmermann’s team, their match was extremely close through the first three quarters, but Rosenthal took over in the fourth set to win 146-119.
A close match was also in the works when No. 3 Nick Nickell met Peter Crouch and company, with Crouch leading 79-76 after three quarters. But Nickell’s fearsome reputation as fourth-quarter wizards was once again on display, as they posted 50 IMPs in the last set, while Crouch could only manage 16. Nickell goes to the semifinal round, 126-95.
Fergani, Pollack lead Blue Ribbon Pairs
Canadians Kamel Fergani and Frederic Pollack paired 65.48% and 62.32% efforts in the qualifying sessions of the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs to lead the contest going into today’s semifinal round.
In second are Stefan Skorchev of Sofia, Bulgaria, and Baptiste Combescure of Paris, France.
Third place is occupied by Richard Pavlicek of Fort Lauderdale FL and Jim Munday of Southaven MS.
Polish duo leads Mini-Blues
Kacper Kopka and Krzysztof Cichy of Poland topped Tuesday’s qualifying round in the Mini-Blue Ribbon Pairs, limited to players with 6000 masterpoints. The leaders scored 63.89% in the first session and 69.31% in the second session.
In second are Steven Forsythe and Sandra Forsythe of Centerville OH, while Leila Sink, of Los Gatos CA, and John Hoffman, of Mountain View CA, are in third place.
Chinese duo lead Women’s Pairs
Bo Fu and Hanxiao Li of Shanghai lead the Whitehead Women’s Pairs after Tuesday’s qualifying sessions. They were consistent, scoring 63.78% in the afternoon and 63.97% in the evening to take a carryover of 77.51, a little more than three boards on a 25 top, into today’s final.
Li Yiting of Herndon VA and Laura Dekkers of the Netherlands are in second with a carryover of 65.71. In third are Emily Harrell of Birmingham AL and Christina Madsen of Denmark.
Monday, December 2
Lopsided results in Soloway Rd. of 16
Most of the matches in yesterday’s round in Soloway KO Teams featured blowouts, an unusual outcome in a top-level event.
The top-seeded Warren Spector team had a fairly even match against Daniel Korbel (No. 16) and company through the first three quarters of play, but Spector treated Korbel to a 55-9 pummeling in the last set to win the match by 42 IMPs.
Team Lavazza, the No. 2 seed, trailed No. 15 Andrew Rosenthal for the entire match, and Rosenthal stayed in control to win 121-100, the closest match of the round.
The No. 3 seed led by Nick Nickell stayed just out of reach of Hemant Lall’s squad, the No. 14 seed, through the first three quarters, but as is their habit, Nickell poured it on in the last set to win by 53 IMPs.
John Onstott (No. 4) was manhandled by Blass npc (No. 13), as Blass won by 83 IMPs.
The No. 5 seed led by Edward Xu was shown the door by the No. 12 seed captained by Laurence Lebowitz, 130-59 in just three quarters of play.
No. 11 Peter Crouch sent No. 6 Chen Zhao to the sidelines, as they won their match by 60 IMPs.
No. 10 Pierre Zimmermann defeated No. 7 Paul Street by 48 IMPs, and Juan Carlos Ventin (No. 9) took the measure of Jimmy Cayne and crew, 113-70.
Schreiber, Feldman lead 10K IMP quals
Californians William Schreiber and Ron Feldman had the best score in Monday’s opening round of the 0-10,000 IMP Pairs, and they lead the list of qualifiers in today’s two session final. Schreiber and Feldman have a carryover of 17.00 IMPs.
In second with 15.04 IMPs are Pablo Lambardi of Buenos Aires Argentina, and C. Valerie Gamio of Palos Verdes Peninsula CA.
Third place is occupied by Craig Kavin of Newbury Park CA and Susan Miller of Boca Raton FL with a score of 14.55 IMPs.
Sunday, December 1
Exciting start to Soloway KO phase
The round of 32 in the Soloway Knockout Teams was marked by a significant number of upsets and close calls for high seeds in the contest.
No. 1 seed Warren Spector and No. 2 seed Team Lavazza cruised in their respective matches, but the No. 3 seed Nick Nickell led by a tiny margin going into the final quarter of their match against Danny Molenaar and company before Nickell gained control in the last set to advance to today’s round of 16.
Seeds Nos. 4-9 all lost their matches yesterday, while No. 10 Pierre Zimmermann had no trouble advancing, 207-90 against Cheryl Mandala’s squad.
Peter Crouch’s No. 11 seed overcame a lopsided first segment against Guy Mendes De Leon’s team, losing it 58-7 before retaliating in the second quarter to cut De Leon’s lead to just 4 IMPs in the second set. Crouch advanced, however, 149-120.
The No. 13 seed led by Eldad Ginossar and the the No. 16 seed led by Nick Demirev lost convincingly in their respective KO matches, meaning that half of the higher seeds were ejected from the event yesterday.
Stansby leads Open BAM
The team captained by Lew Stansby got off to a strong start in the Mitchell Open BAM. They lead after Sunday’s qualifying sessions with a carryover of five boards, more than a board ahead of the Sam Lev team in second place.
Stansby is playing with JoAnna Stansby, Crispin Barrere and Mark Perlmutter. Sam Lev is playing with Daniel Lev, Gary Cohler, David Berkowitz, Berend Van Den Bos and Joris van Lenkveld.
In third is the squad of Kevin Castner, Christophe Grosset, Phillip King and Olivier Giard.
Fifty-six teams qualified for today’s final.
Assemi, Slinger set pace in Super Senior Pairs
Farid Assemi and James Slinger posted the top score in Sunday’s qualifying round of the Super Senior Pairs, limited to players 70 and older. Assemi of Fresno CA and Slinger of Corralitos CA scored 65.86% in the first session and 57.64% in the second to lead today’s field of qualifiers with a carryover of 121.10 matchpoints.
In second with a carryover of 109.32 are Lawrence Lau of Westport CT and Faye Marino of Greenwich CT. Sitting third are Ellie Hanlon and Mary Savko of Tequesta FL with 99.20.
Saturday, Nov. 30
Soloway KO phase begins today
With the qualifying Swiss phase of the Soloway KO Teams completed, the top 32 teams begin head-to-head knockout matches in the event today.
Using a formula in which 75% of each team’s victory point score from the Swiss qualifier was added to 25% of their respective seeding points, Warren Spector’s squad is the No. 1 seed for the KO phase, followed by Team Lavazza (No. 2) and Nick Nickell (No. 3).
Piken leads 10K Swiss
The squad captained by Ed Piken topped Saturday’s qualifying round in the 0-10,000 Swiss Teams to lead the field going into today’s two-session final. Piken of Palos Verdes Peninsula CA is playing with Eric Genheimer of Edmond OK, Steve Cohen of Las Vegas NV, and Ron Feldman of Redondo Beach CA. They scored 111.21 victory points on Saturday to earn a carryover of 25.42 VPs in the final.
In second with a carryover of 19.44 VPs is the team led by Marcus Ballinger of Burlingame CA. His teammates are Eugene Sor of Richmond CA and Mindy Foos and Michael Fleisher of Campbell CA.
In third is the team of Suzanne Campbell (captain) and William Campbell of Marina CA, Daniel Hoekstra of Portland OR, and Dan Parish of Sun City AZ with 19.36 VPs.
Friday, Nov. 29
Kasle leads Soloway KO
After the first day of the qualifying round in the Soloway KO Teams, the squad captained by Gaylor Kasle is in first place with 127.25 victory points. Kasle of Boca Raton FL is playing with Josh Donn of Las Vegas NV and Polish teammates Piotr Tuczynski, Wlodzimierz Starkowski, Michal Kwiecien, and Bartosz Chmurski.
In second with 107.94 VPs is Stan Tulin and company (David Bakhshi, Dror Padon, Alon Birman, Louk Verhees and Cornelis Van Prooijen), while third place is occupied by Warren Spector’s team (Gavin Wolpert, Vincent Demuy, John Kranyak, John Hurd, and Joel Wooldridge) with 106.69 VPs.
Today features the second half of the qualifying round. Of the 94 teams that entered the event, 32 will advance to the knockout phase which begins Sunday.
Tuncok, Yilmaz lead LM quals
Cenk Tuncok of Amesbury MA and Gokhan Yilmaz of Istanbul, Turkey, posted the best score in Friday’s qualifying round of the Nail Life Master Pairs. Tuncok and Yilmaz posted a 56.49% score in the first qualifying session and a 64.50% game in the second session to lead the field of 130 qualifiers with a carryover of 165.46 matchpoints for today’s two-session final.
In second with a carryover of 159.79 are John Fout of Fairfield CA and Stephanie Culbertson of New York City. In third with 149.48 are Michael Kamil of Austin TX and David Treitel of Miami FL.