District 11 Grand National Team Finals

The Cincinnati Bridge Association (Unit 124) is a member of District 11 of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). Members of Unit 124 compete to represent District 11 in the subsequent Summer NABC Tournament. District representatives must meet residency requirements as outlined in the National Conditions of Contest as published by the ACBL (2012-13) for the National Competition.

Results
D11 2013 GNT, D11 2012 GNT, D11 2011 GNT, D11 2010 GNT, D11 2009 GNT, D11 2008 GNT, D11 2007 GNT, D11 2006 GNT, D11 2005 GNT

The flights are as follows:

FLIGHT	MASTERPOINT LIMITS	Flight eligibility will be established by ACBL’s September masterpoint cycle. This information will be produced on August 6 in the year before the District FInals in Horn Lake, MS. Masterpoints won after this cycle will not impact flight eligibility for these events.
Open Championship Flight	Unlimited
Flight A	Under 5000 Masterpoints
Flight B	Under 2000 Masterpoints
Flight C	Non-Life Master under 500 Masterpoints

GNT (Grand National Teams) How it Works… in District 11
The GNT is an ACBL Wide “grass roots” competition that starts at the District level for Teams of 4,5, or 6 members in 4 separate categories that will qualify to determine a National Champion in each of these categories, the Finals being held at the Summer Nationals each year.

Each of the 25 Districts in ACBL will send Teams from each of the 4 Flights to compete in the National Finals at the Summer Nationals. In District 11 (Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia), the selection process for the winner in each Flight will be determined in a weekend competition. Teams of 4, 5, or 6 members will face off against Teams in their own Flight to determine a winner in each Flight to represent the District at the NABC Summer Nationals that year.

District 11 subsidizes expenses for the District 11 winners in each flight for the National competition, $500.00 to each team provided the Team’s home Unit matches the amount. When the home Unit commits to matching this amount, the qualifying Team(s) are thus guaranteed $1,000.00 for expenses to the GNT National Finals.

The specific Conditions of Contest for the District 11 Finals in Dayton are contained in the 4th Quarter Midwest Monitor (October Issue). Team selection in each Flight will be determined by a knockout (KO) format after a preliminary Round Robin, or Swiss competition. The preliminary round will be held Saturday, and the KOs will be held Sunday. The winning Team in each Flight will advance to the National Final event in the Summer NABC for that year.

National Competition
In the NABC final for all flights, teams will play a one day Swiss event to qualify into a seeded KO bracket. Each Swiss event will be 8 7-board matches. The 20 VP scale will be used. There may be playbacks at the bottom of the field.
The bracket seeding will be:
Swiss winner #1 seed
Swiss runner-up #2 seed
Swiss finishers 3rd and 4th will draw into seed positions 3 & 4
Swiss finishers 5th – 8th will draw into seed positions 5 – 8
Seed #16 will be selected by seed #1
Seed #15 will be selected by seed #2
Seed #14 will be selected by seed #3
Seed #13 will be selected by seed #4
The remaining 4 teams will draw into seed positions 9 – 12
Ensuing knock-out matches will be 64 boards in length in the Championship flight; 56 boards in length in all other flights. These events will be governed by the Knockout General Conditions of Contest.

GNT History
The event began in 1973 as a grass-roots event. The initial stages are contested over the course of several months in the 25 geographically defined ACBL Districts where conditions differ; some now hold a single weekend tournament. The GNT is a North American knockout teams contest. In 1985, the event was subdivided into three separate events: Flights A, B and C. Another change came in 2001 when the GNT Championship Flight (for players with more than 5000 masterpoints) was created. Flight A is now a 0-5000 event. The winners of the Championship Flight will have their names engraved on the Morehead Trophy, donated by The New York Times in memory of its longtime bridge editor Albert H. Morehead. The winners of Flight A will have their names engraved on the Goldman Trophy, named in honor of the late Bobby Goldman.

Albert H. Morehead (1909-1996) was born in Flintstone GA and educated at Baylor and Harvard. Ely Culbertson hired him in 1932 because of his outstanding ability as a player and analyst and made him technical editor of The Bridge World in 1933. He proved so invaluable that in 1934 he was made general manager of all Culbertson enterprises. He was only 25 when he played on the Culbertson team that defeated the British in the second international match for the Schwab Cup. Morehead was the first bridge editor of The New York Times with a Sunday column from 1935 and a daily column from 1959. He resigned from the Times late in 1963 to devote full time to writing, editing and publishing of the dictionaries, encyclopedias and thesauruses that made him one of the foremost American lexicographers. During those years, Morehead found time for tremendous service to organized bridge. He was an officer of the United States Bridge Association when that organization amalgamated with the American Bridge League in 1937. He became a governor of the newly formed ACBL and served as president in 1943 and chairman of the board from 1943 to 1945. He was named ACBL Honorary Member in 1946. Morehead was a member of the National Laws Commission and was in charge of production of the International Laws of Contract Bridge. He was also the author of the constitution of the World Bridge Federation --- the first formal definition of the scope, structure, powers and duties of that organization. Morehead was named to the ACBL Bridge Hall of Fame in 1996.

Bobby Goldman (1938-1999), who became a member of the ACBL Bridge Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, enjoyed a stellar career as a player, author and theorist. His tournament record is impressive. He earned four world titles (the Bermuda Bowl in 1970, 1971 and 1979 and the World Mixed Teams in 1972) and 19 North American championships: the Life Master Men’s Pairs (1964); the Life Master Pairs (1968); the Open B‑A‑M Teams. (1968, 1989 and 1991); the Spingold Knockout Teams (1969, 1978, 1983, 1986 and 1988); the Reisinger B‑A‑M Teams (1970, 1976 and 1980); the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams (1971, 1973, 1978, 1997 and 1998). Goldman also had 13 second‑place finishes in NABC events.

At the time of his induction into the Hall of Fame, Goldman was an ACBL Grand Life Master with more than 25,700 masterpoints, and ranked ninth on the all‑time list of masterpoint holders. He was also a WBF World Grand Master. Goldman authored several books on the game, including Aces Scientific and Winners and Losers at the Bridge Table. His contributions to bidding theory include Super Gerber, Kickback, Exclusion Blackwood and Goldman after Stayman. He was one of the principal architects of the Aces Scientific System. Goldman served as ACBL recorder from 1986-1988 and was a longtime member of the Competitions and Conventions Committee. His views on the game helped shape the modern‑day Alert procedure, the ACBL convention chart, ethics and the appeals process. Goldman was honored by the ACBL by being named the 1999 Honorary Member, presented for long and meritorious service to bridge. Goldman’s early career was distinguished by his association with the now‑famous Aces, the professional, Texas‑based team created by businessman Ira Corn for the purpose of winning world bridge championships. Goldman was a member of the successful squad until 1974.

Flight B winners will have their names engraved on the Sheinwold Trophy while the names of Flight C winners will be engraved on the Mac Nab Trophy.

Alfred Sheinwold (1912-1997) was one of the greatest bridge writers in the history of the game. He was inducted into the Bridge Hall of Fame in 1996. His syndicated bridge column was considered by many to be the best. He had a knack for getting his point across to even the least experienced players. He managed this by making sure that every column had only one main point, marking it easier for his readers to focus. “You could read a Sheinwold column and know in an instant that nobody else could have written it,” said Frank Stewart, co-author of the column. “He enlightened and entertained players through seven decades and earned millions of fans.” Sheinwold was an editor of The Bridge World from 1934 to 1963 and editor of The Bridge Bulletin from 1953 to 1958. He was also the author of perhaps the most successful bridge book ever written, 5 Weeks to Winning Bridge, a book that sold in the millions. Sheinwold served as chairman of the ACBL Laws Commission from 1964 to 1975, as chairman of the appeals committees at NABCs and as chairman of the ACBL Board of Governors from 1970 to 1973. He was named ACBL Honorary Member of the Year in 1983.

Robin Mac Nab (1915-1985) served as a member of the ACBL Board of Directors from 1956 to 1981. He was ACBL president in 1965. He was a past president of the Western Conference, a member of the ACBL Laws Commission and a member of the executive council of the World Bridge Federation. Mac Nab, a graduate of Cornell University, was a member of the U.S. Olympic track and field squad in 1936.