
If you've never attended a North American Bridge Championship (aka "the Nationals") - then you should consider doing so. Whether you are an elite champion, a solid player or a newbie - there are events with your peers in which to compete, tons of hospitality and stars to kibitz. A number of Minnesotans headed south to Chicago the last couple of weeks, competing against players from literally all over the world.
Paul Meerschaert was one of those players. Most fortuitously for your blog master, Paul wrote a great write up of some excellent achievements and near misses by Minnesotans in the Windy City. As I've had a heavy schedule lately myself and always appreciate Paul's perspective, his report below is most welcome.
A few notes, though. First, Paul downplays his achievements - as always! He's a tough competitor and no one should take him for granted at the table. I also might note that his Spingold team, succumbing to the Tulin team in the round of 64 by a mere 2 IMPS, is quite the performance. Tulin went on to soundly thrash the Nickell team the next day; enough said!
Also, a newcomer to the Minnesota area, Zizhou Wang, made it to the Round of 16 in the Spingold, losing by a modest margin to, once again, the Tulin team. Very impressive!
If you had an accomplishment in Chicago that we should be sharing, please let us know! Email Peg at [email protected]. We want to let the world know!
Now - on to Paul's great round up of people, placings and hands from Chicago. Well done, all!