Monday, March 16th 2015
Schedule, Results, ACBL Live and Bulletins
4th Day: French claim the platinum crown
French claim the platinum crown In a four-way game of musical chairs, it was Parisians Thomas Bessis and Cedric Lorenzini who finished in the winner’s seat when the Norman Kay Platinum Pairs came to a close.
Bessis and Lorenzini, the runners up in last year’s contest, entered the last day of the three-day contest as the leaders. Two above-average sessions
– 54% in the afternoon and 52% in the evening – proved enough to secure the victory. The win is Lorenzini’s first NABC title. It is the first pairs title for Bessis, who won the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams in 2010 and 2012. Andrea Manno and Massimiliano Di Franco from Palermo, Italy, surged to the top with a round to go, but their solid 59% evening performance left them just a half a matchpoint short. The leaders after five sessions, Alexander Kolesnik from Los Angeles CA and Jim Munday from Southaven MS came in third. Robert Blanchard and William Pollack from New York NY finished in fourth place.
Final Standings:
Shi, Jones back on top in Lebhar IMP Pairs
A frustrating and confusing period ended on Sunday for Sylvia Shi and Aaron Jones with the pair celebrating victory in the Lebhar IMP Pairs. When the final scores in the event were posted on Saturday night, Shi and Jones were in first by less than an IMP. The victory didn’t last the night. Runners-up Roger Bates and Dennis Kasle appealed a director’s ruling, but it didn’t go to committee. In appeals screening, it was determined the ruling being appealed was incorrect and the score was changed. The change put Bates and Kasle into first place with a score of 114.72 to 114.18 for Shi and Jones. Things changed for Shi and Jones after an appeal that did not involve them or Bates and Kasle. A committee ruling on a board from the final session changed a score of plus 460 to minus 150, a swing so significant that it affected every pair.
Lebhar IMP PairsLast revidsed Standings:
Bates, Kasle leading in Silver Ribbon Pairs
Silver Ribbon Pairs Dennis Kasle and Roger Bates, runners-up in the Lebhar IMP Pairs, are leading the field of 156 pairs in the Leventritt Silver Ribbon Pairs with two final sessions to play today. Kasle lives in Scottsdale AZ, Bates in Las Vegas. The two start play today with a carryover score of 210.82. The next three pairs are tightly bunched and trailing the leaders by fewer than 10 matchpoints. In second are Kathy and Don Sulgrove of Twinsburg OH, with a carryover of 191.98. In third are Gil Cohen, Ashburn VA, and Marty Nelson, Annapolis MD, with 191.16. In fourth place, with a 191 carryover, are
Richard Higgins and Greg Frank of Hot Springs Village AR. The event is named in honor of Peter Levintritt, ACBL president in 1954 and assistant treasurer. He represented North America in the Bermuda Bowl, placing second in 1957, 1961, 1963 and 1965.
Vanderbilt Knockout begins Today
The premier event of the Spring North American Championships is the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams. The history of the prestigious contest stretches back to 1928 when the man who invented contract bridge, Harold S. Vanderbilt, put the trophy bearing his name into play. The winners list is a who’s who of bridge, a parade of the titans of the game.