Types of Tournaments: 

·    North American Bridge Championship.   (NABC or “the Nationals”) – any of three  major national championships run each year by the ACBL. These are held in the spring, summer, and fall and are rotated around the United States and Canada.  They usually run 11 days and include many special events. Gold, red, and black points are awarded.

·         Regionals – Points may be gold, red, or black. Sanctioned by the ACBL to each of the 25 Districts. A regional tournament usually runs from four to seven days. Since they attract hundreds or even thousands of people from many states, they are usually held in a hotel or convention center. Offers games for all levels of players.

·    Sectionals – sanctioned by the ACBL to each of the 300+ units. Sectionals usually run from three to five days. Silver masterpoints are awarded. Unit 193 has been running five per year:

4      Owensboro - Sweetheart Swiss in February, near Valentine's Day.

4      Evansville - Silver Sectional, in early summer (May to July)

4      Madisonville – Coalfield Classic, in early September

4      Owensboro - Western Kentucky Tournament, in October 

4     Jasper - held in late November or early December

Special Games Held at Local Clubs

Want to earn master points more quickly?  Club games pay 0.10 per pair sitting your way or overall. For example, if there are 10 tables, first place will pay 1.0 masterpoint.  In a 5-table Howell, where you play four other pairs, first place your way pays 0.5. Sectional tournaments and some special games pay triple that! It can be well worth you while to attend these special events. 

·        ACBL Charity – Awards are approximately 70% of a sectional tournament. ACBL overall wins 20 bonus pts; District overall wins 10 pts.  The extra fee is donated to the ACBL charity.

·        ACBL-wide Senior Pairs. Senior Sectional rating. The same hands are played at all sites. Hand Records with analysis. Held in February.

·         Club Appreciation Game – Masterpoint awards are calculated at 85% of sectional rating. Run at local clubs during October.

·        Club Championship – Points awarded are approximately 70% of a sectional game. Clubs may run four per year per weekly game.

·        Club Charity (Local Charity) - Pays approximately 70% of a sectional tournament.  Extra fee is donated to a local charity.

·      Instant Matchpoint Game – Sectionally rated (half red, half black) with One Gold Point to those topping the field either direction at their local club. Game will be scored locally as well as across the Americas. Annual ACBL-wide game held at clubs each September.  Players are given their matchpoint score on each board immediately after playing each deal.

  Within 24 hours after game time, you can go to the ACBL website and see how you did, get the results on each hand and analyses. For those who don’t have a computer, Charlie Oxley will print out this information and post it at the Evansville club. 

·        International Fund Games  - Sectionally Rated if predealt hands with hand records are used; otherwise points awarded are 85% of those given at a sectional. ACBL offers one of these games at each of the NABCs and ACBL-wide at clubs in January, May, and July to raise funds to defray the expense of North American participation in international (WBF) competi-tion. Plus each weekly sanctioned club game may hold an annual one-session IFG club championship 

·        Junior Fund Games. Junior Fund Games held in February are sectionally rated. Other JFGs award 70% of sectional rating. These games benefit the ACBL Junior Fund which supports playing and social activities for players between the ages of 16 and 25. It is designed to develop a corps of dedicated younger players and ensure a future for bridge

·        Membership Game - Point awarded are based on sectional rating. Open games receive full sectional rating, invitational or restricted games receive 80% of sectional rating, and newcomer games receive 50% of sectional rating. Only Life Masters and paid-up ACBL members are eligible to play in membership games. Must be a one-session event and usually is an open pairs contest. Offered once per year.

·        NAOP Qualifying Game.  Sectionally Rated.  Whether you come in or not, if you score 50% or better, you qualify go on to the next level – Unit, District, or Nationals.   Multiple games take place at clubs in June, July, and August.

·        NAOP Unit Final.  Sectionally rated with fractional gold points in each flight. Invitational – only players who scored 50% or better in NAOP Qualifying Game may play. Qualifiers at the Unit level may move onto the District Final. Qualifiers at the District level are invited to play in the NAOP at the Nationals in Spring the following year. Strats: Non-Life Master, 0-2000, and Open.

Note!  1st Place in District Finals gets airfare and hotel paid at Nationals. -  2nd Place in District Finals gets supersaver airfare paid to the Nationals

·        Pro-Am Games – Sectional rating if held during Bridge Week in January. Otherwise, they pay 80% of the masterpoints awarded for open events. Pairs consist of one “Pro” player (experienced player) with an established number of points (e.g., over 300) partnering one “Am” player (novice) with fewer points. Frequently run at clubs as part of a Mentoring Program.

·       STaC Game (Sectional Tournament at Clubs). Earn Silver Points. ACBL provides hand records. Compete against multiple clubs in our District. Players who scratch at their club may receive bonus points based on overall results. Results from each club are sent to the District which promises to have results posted on the internet the next day. More details are available on the District web site: district11bridge.com. Strats: Future Masters: A=200-300; B=50-200; C=0-50. Open Pairs: A= 1500+, B-300-1500; C=0-300

·       Team Games. Annual, sectionally-rated round robin or knockout team-of-four events. These events must be three or more sessions to qualify as “extended.”

·        Unit-Wide Championship - A game with unit championship rating is held simultaneously at three or more locations within the unit boundaries with a minimum of five tables at each site. Hand records are used and the event is ranked overall.

·        World-Wide Bridge Contest.- Sectionally-rated masterpoint awards are half black, half red. Will be scored locally as well as across the world. Top two pairs from each district will receive bonus masterpoint awards Held in June. Predealt hands – analysis booklet available after the game.

Team Games

A team consists of two pairs. One pair plays North-South for a designated number of boards and the other plays East-West for the same boards at a different table. Then the scores are compared

·    Knockout Teams. This is a team event in which one team plays an entire session against one other team. The winning team from each match advances to play the next round and the defeated team is eliminated.

·    Swiss Teams. Each team will play approximately 7 to 9 board matches against a number of other teams during the event. Matches are arranged by pairing teams with approximately equal records.

Stratifications

·    Flighted. Event where contestants play only against opponents within the same point range. For example, if Flight C is 0-200 masterpoints, no player with more than 200 masterpoints may be included in the group. A player may always play up in flighted events (enter Flight A or Flight B) if the player wishes. The higher the flight, the more difficult the competition and the more masterpoints are awarded to the winners.

·    Stratified. Type of game movement where all players are assigned to a group (strat) based on their current masterpoint holdings. Each contestant plays against players of all point ranges. Masterpoints are awarded to leaders of each strat. If a Strat C player scored better than one of the leaders in Strat B (a higher ranked strat), the C player will be awarded the points for Strat B.

·    Stratiflighted. An event which is a combination of flighted and stratified. The upper level strat has no masterpoint restriction and is played as a separate game. The other players are subdivided into two or three strats with specific lower and upper masterpoint limits. Participants may enter either the unrestricted (“play alone”) group or the stratified group with a masterpoint restriction for which they are eligible. 

Special Events at the Nationals

·        Grand National Teams (GNT).  A major team championship conducted with district and sometimes unit qualifying rounds that lead to a final round held in conjunction with the Summer NACB. The type of qualification rounds varies from district to district.  The ACBL does not offer any subsidies to the Grand National Team district finalists. Some districts and units offer financial support to their district team representatives.

·        National American Open Pairs Event. Winners at the club NAOP Qualifying game qualify to play in Unit Finals. Winners of the Unit Finals qualify to play in District Finals. Winners in the District Finals qualify to play in the NAOP game at the Spring Nationals.  

4      1^st Place in District Finals wins airfare and hotel paid to attend the Nationals. 

4      2^nd Place in District Finals wins hotel paid at the Nationals

At the Nationals, these games are flighted, with masterpoint determination made as of June 1 of the year of the contest.

4      Flight A is unlimited and open to all members

4      Flight B is for players with under 2000 masterpoints

4      Flight C is for non-Life Masters with fewer than 500 masterpoints.

·        Ribbon Events - See NABC or "Nationals" below

·        North American Bridge Championship.   (NABC or “Nationals”) – any of 3 major national championships run each year by the ACBL. These are held in the spring, summer, and fall and are rotated around the United States and Canada.  They usually run 11 days and include many special events. Gold, red, and black points are awarded.

• Blue Ribbon Pairs - contested once a year at the Fall NABC. To qualify, you must be 1st or 2nd in regionally rated events.

• Red Ribbon Pairs - run at the Summer NABC. To qualify, you must place 1st or 2nd in regionally rated Flight B events. (no more than 2000 points).

• Silver Ribbon Pairs - takes place at the Spring NABC. To qualify, you must have placed 1st or 2nd in regionally rated Senior events.