Cope wins Soloway Knockout Teams
Winners of the Soloway Knockout Teams (from left): Simon Cope, Kevin Rosenberg, Ishmael Del’Monte and Finn Kolesnik.
In another thrilling, come-from-behind victory, team Cope (Simon Cope of Hertfordshire United Kingdom, Kevin Rosenberg of Sunnyvale CA; Finn Kolesnik of Austin TX and Ishmael Del’Monte of Baton Rouge LA) defeated the team captained by Paul Street of Delray Beach FL (Nicolas L’Ecuyer of Montreal QC, Andrea Manno of Palermo Italy, Massimiliano Di Franco of Italy; Ron Pachtmann of Kfar Saba Israel and Piotr Pawel Zatorski of Gdansk Poland) 126–120 to win the Soloway Knockout Teams.
Cope picked up 23 IMPs on the last two boards. On the last board, Cope trailed by 5 IMPs. In the closed room, 4H by South made five. In the open room, declarer misguessed the heart queen and went down two for an 11-IMP pickup for Cope.
It is the first NABC+ victory for Rosenberg and Kolesnik. Cope previously won the Silodor Open Pairs in 2018; Del’Monte has four national titles: the Lebhar IMP Pairs in 2007, the Nail Life Master Pairs in 2011 and 2013 and the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams in 2012.
Runners-up in the Soloway Knockout Teams (from left): Piotr Pawel Zatorski, Ron Pachtmann, Paul Street, Massimiliano Di Franco, Nicolas L’Ecuyer and Andrea Manno.