Let’s Help the Seattle NABC!

JC Chupack Tournaments 0 Comment
Let’s Help the Seattle NABC!

The NABC is coming to Seattle in 2027, and your local planning committee needs your help.

With the honor of hosting a NABC also comes responsibilities. As hosts, we need to build and care for a cadre of volunteers, provide welcome packets, coordinate evening entertainment
and provide treats and surprises for players. Your support will provide the foundation for Seattle to provide a fun and memorable NABC that will highlight and grow bridge in our community.

Ways You Can Help

  • Name a Game – Name an event at the Seattle 2027 NABC in honor of a teacher, mentor or
    beloved partner past or present. An individual, a group of people, a club could name an event
    in honor of someone. This is GREAT way to honor those who have made an impact on our
    bridge community! Naming opportunities start at $250 for a single session, $500 for a two-
    session event, $750 for 3 and 4 session events and $1,000 for a day. All funds raised through
    naming games go to your local Seattle NABC Committee, not the ACBL. Interested? Contact
    Lisa Brock at breakthroughc@comcast.net or (206) 963-9148.
  • Ask your employer to sponsor the event – Corporate and business sponsorships are available.
    Great exposure for your company, opportunity to display their banner, have a vendor booth to
    capture leads or sample products and get their materials in the welcome packet. Contact Lisa
    Brock at breakthroughc@comcast.net or (206) 963-9148 for more information.
  • Volunteer – We need many, many volunteers to make this event a success. Interested in
    helping? Please contact Elaine and Amy DeShaw at eldeshaw@comcast.net
  • Make a Donation – All levels of support are welcome and appreciated. Checks can be made
    out to Seattle NABC and mailed to: Seattle NABC C/O Sandi Hart, 109 2nd St S Apt 239, Kirkland, WA 98033.

See you in Kennewick at the Tri-Cities Regional!

JC Chupack Tournaments 0 Comment
See you in Kennewick at the Tri-Cities Regional!

Our next regional will be October 26-November 1 in Kennewick, WA, at the Red Lion Columbia Center.  Hotel rates are $129/night or less if booked prior to October 5. This event runs on a “daylight” schedule with most events at 10:30am and 3:30pm. This is a great location with lots of food and shopping within walking distance of the play site and even more within a short drive. Questions? Contact Blake. Need a partner or teammates?  Contact Ann.

View Schedule & Flyer

Thanks for joining us at Lynnwood!

JC Chupack Tournaments
Thanks for joining us at Lynnwood!

We had 553 tables of play at Lynnwood, down around 10% versus last year, although the schedule also differed.  As for masterpoints, 15398.93 points were earned by 952 total players. Youth player Arthur Gong (Sammamish, WA) won the tournament with 74.16 points. Dan Jacob (Vancouver, BC) took second, followed by (in order) Weishu Wu (Irvine, CA), Jeffrey Ford (Redmond, WA), Eric Sieg (Issaquah, WA), and Kim Eng (Issaquah, WA). Our Non-Life Master winner of the tournament was Ella Su (Redmond, WA).

See how you ranked in Lynnwood.

Photos we collected of event winners follow (note that only winners that we received photos for are included) or you can view bulletins, full results, and other details at McBruce’s site.

Read more: Thanks for joining us at Lynnwood!

Tuesday Open Pairs Winners: JC Chupack & Scott Chupack

Event winners JC and Scott Chupack needed seven rounds in the final session to go from seventh overall to first, and from that point on it was a race with runners up Cindy Chan and Gustav Axen, who got very close at several points but came only a third of a top short. Those two pairs were also 1-2 in Strat B, and the Strat C winners, Kimberly Gilmore and Grant Davis, had a similar story, coming from third at the break to taking the lead for good after six rounds.

Two-session pairs event, scored in matchpoints.  Strat limits (by pair average): A: 4000+ / B: 1500 – 4000 / C: 0 – 1500.  Average masterpoints for players in this event: 3126

Team Ford Wins the Tuesday-Wednesday Mt. Rainier Bracketed Knockout Teams!

Pictured above are team members Ray Miller, Seattle WA; Jeffrey Ford, Redmond WA; Polly Dunn – Patrick Dunn, Edmonds WA.

Team Tipton Wins Bracket 3 of the Tuesday-Wednesday Mt. Rainier Bracketed Knockout Teams!

Pictured above are team members Arjun Chaunal, Issaquah WA; Karen Rise, Leavenworth WA; Nick Tipton, Lynnwood WA; Marilyn Olson, Wenatchee WA.

Team Guo wins the Wednesday Cascades Bracketed Round-Robin Teams!

Pictured above are team members Zhenzhong Guo, Issaquah WA; Weishu Wu, Irvine CA; Zheng Han, Lynnwood WA; Nathan Gong, Sammamish WA.

Team Abernethy (a “border-crossing” team) wins the Puget Sound Regional Swiss Teams Championship!

Pictured above are Baixiang Liu, New Westminster, BC; T Brian Zaugg, Burien WA; Shawn Abernethy, Seattle WA; Amy Gao, New Westminster BC.

More Like WINneapolis for D19

JC Chupack Tournaments
More Like WINneapolis for D19

District 19 won big at the summer NABC in Minneapolis, held July 9-19. 85 players scored over 2000 total masterpoints at the event, with a whopping 50 players placing in nationally rated events, including 9 players placing in the Youth NABC events.  Congratulations to everyone who brought home victories!

In the Youth NABC, Arjun Chaunal (Issaquah, WA) placed 5th in the Thursday AM Youth Pairs and 1st in the Thursday Aft Youth Swiss. Alexandra Deschenes (Bellevue, WA), Avery Liang (Bellevue, WA), Lanhao Zhao (Sammamish, WA), and Alex Zhu (Bellevue, WA) formed a team that took 5th in the Thursday Aft Youth Swiss. Arjun continued their success by winning the Baron Barclay National Youth Open Pairs and was joined by Nathan Kasperkiewicz (Redmond, WA) placing 6th in the event and partnership Leyi Chen (Bellevue, WA) and Jessica Yao (Bellevue, WA) placing 8th. Derek Deschenes (Bellevue, WA) scored a win in the Saturday Aft Youth Open Swiss Teams.  Wrapping up the Youth NABC, Nathan took 2nd with his team in the National Youth Open Swiss Teams, followed closely by Arjun in 3rd and partnership Lanhao and Alex in 5th.

In the GNTs, D19’s Flight A team consisting of John Aslin (Seattle, WA), John Krah (Seattle, WA), Aaron Mohrman (Seattle, WA), and David Taylor (Seattle, WA) made it to day 2 but unfortunately was then eliminated by the D14 team.  

In the von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs, Victor Chubukov (Seattle, W) took 21st. Partnership Tom Carmichael (Marysville, WA) and Dan Jacob (Vancouver, BC) took 27th. Tracy Brines (Richland, WA) placed 34th.  Partnership Michael Christensen (Seattle, WA) and T Brian Zaugg (Burien, WA) took 57th. Michael Gamble (Shawnigan Lake, BC) took 62nd. Partnership Kim Eng (Issaquah, WA) and Eric Sieg (Issaquah, WA) took 77th.

Xiaojing Deng (Richmond, BC) and Xiaoming Shen (Richmond, BC) placed 22nd in the NABC+ Open Pairs.

In the David Bruce 0-6000 Life Master Pairs, Brian Koblenz (Leavenworth, WA) finished 4th. 

John Schermer (Seattle, WA) finished 17/32 in the Spingold Knockout Teams.

Michael Gamble (Shawnigan Lake, BC) took first in the Truscott/USPC Senior Swiss, and Dan Jacob (Vancouver, BC) took 10th.

Jenni Carmichael (Marysville, WA) finished 5th in the Freeman Mixed Board-a-Match.

Nine players placed in the Wernher Open Pairs. Victor Chubukov (Seattle, WA) took 21st. Partnership Tom Carmichael (Marysville, WA) and James Holzhauer (Seattle, WA) took 22nd. Partnership Michael Christensen (Seattle, WA) and Ray Miller (Seattle, WA) took 32nd. Close behind, Steve Beatty (Mill Creek, WA) took 35th. Douglas Kuschner took 38th. Partnership Kim Eng (Issaquah, WA) and Eric Sieg (Issaquah, WA) took 59th.

In the 10K NABC Pairs, Barry Balof (Walla Walla, WA) and Claire Valente (Walla Walla, WA) won the event. Shelley Burns (North Vancouver, BC) placed 10th. Shelley also went on to place 3rd in the 10K Mixed Swiss.

Finishing up the event, John Krah placed 5th in the Bean Red Ribbon Pairs, and, in the Roth Open Swiss, John Schermer (Seattle, WA) placed 8th.

A full list of the masterpoint winners from D19 follows.

Read more

Spring and Fall NABCs – A New Model and FAQ

JC Chupack Governance, Tournaments
Spring and Fall NABCs – A New Model and FAQ

Editor’s Note – The following content was provided to us via Tim White, our representative to the ACBL Board.  Note that the Seattle Fall NABC in 2027 precedes these proposed changes; it will not be impacted by this structure/model.

Welcome to the New NABC!

Transforming the Tournament Experience Starting Fall 2028

Starting with the Fall 2028 NABC in Austin, TX, we are reimagining our Spring and Fall NABC schedules around two continuous, structured tracks: the Championship Track and the Signature
Track. This new format ensures every player—from rising contenders to world champions—has a clear path to compete for and win an official NABC title.

Updated hotel and venue criteria expand our options for great host cities—bringing favorite locations and exciting new destinations within reach! By prioritizing exceptional playing space
right inside host hotels, we ensure everyone enjoys top-tier playing conditions paired with seamless “stay upstairs, play downstairs” convenience.

Two Tracks to a National Title

  • The Championship Track: The ultimate arena for world champions, top experts, and
    ambitious challengers. Compete at the highest level for our most prestigious NABC
    titles in traditional qualifying and knockout formats.
  • The Signature Track: Built for balanced, peer-level competition, this track uses
    bracketed fields so you can compete directly against others at your level. Whether you
    begin here or pivot from the Championship Track, you stay in the chase for an official
    NABC title.

Key Highlights

Read more

Thanks for joining us in Penticton and Anchorage!

JC Chupack Tournaments

D19 had two regionals in June, in Penticton, BC and in Anchorage, AK. Thank you to everyone who put in work to make these regionals happen and to everyone who came out to both events!

We had 2119½ tables of play at Penticton.  We were up from last year’s iteration, though the schedule was also different this year, with more days of events offered. As for masterpoints, a whopping 15398.77 points were earned by 952 total players. We had a three-way tie for the masterpoint winner at Penticton; congratulations to Jacob Morgan (Madison, WI), Kevin Dwyer Rimstedt (Jupiter, FL), and Shan Huang (Jupiter, FL)!  Joan Millens (Kingston, NY) took fourth and Ming Sheng (Los Altos, CA) took fifth. Jennifer Hong of Burnaby, BC was the top NLM earner with 46.23 points total at the tournament. You can see the details on attendance and masterpoint winners on McBruce’s site.

In Anchorage, we had 139 tables of play, down slightly from last year’s 146 tables. 726.31 masterpoints were earned by 67 players at the event. Congratulations to G S Jade Barrett of Elk Point, SD and Donna Lombardini of Alcester, SD for being the overall masterpoint winners of the event.  Francis Wallis (Anchorage, AK) came in third.  Richard Kelly (Newport, WA) finished fourth. Martin Hrachovy (Houston, TX) finished fifth. You can see the details on attendance and masterpoint winners on the ACBL results site.