No letup for Nickell,
2004 Spingold champs

If anyone thought the Nick Nickell squad might have a letdown after the amazing comeback on Saturday night in the Spingold Knockout Teams semifinal, they don’t know the team that is arguably one of the best in bridge history.

Yes, some members of the Nickell team might have been too wired to sleep well after rallying from 71 IMPs down with 16 boards to play against the George Jacobs team, winning the final set 84-2. But Nickell and company had plenty left against the upstart Warren Spector squad, defeating them 150- 106 in the Spingold final.

The Spingold champions are Nickell, Richard Freeman, Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell, Bob Hamman and Paul Soloway. Hamman was winning his 13th Spingold, the most in the history of the event. Meckstroth and Rodwell now have won it 10 times each.

The runners-up, who started the event seeded No. 28, included Spector, former ACBL King of Bridge who has played very little bridge over the past 28 years; Mark Feldman, Billy Cohen, Ron Smith, and 21-year-old Canadians Gavin Wolpert and Vincent Demuy.

Asked if this victory was the best of his eight Spingold wins, Nickell said, “They’re all very, very good. This one might have been the most surprising.”

Said Meckstroth of the semifinal comeback: “That was amazing.”

Against Spector, who had mowed down one top team after another to get to the championship round, Nickell started strong, winning the first quarter 42-13. They increased the lead to 79-41 at the half. Spector mounted a mild rally with a 30-20 third quarter, but Nickell was not to be denied, winning the final set 51-35.

Zucker, Weiden speed
to win in Fast Pairs

The way Rick Zucker and Peter Weiden see it, the NABC+ Fast Open Pairs is ideal for them – they don’t have time to dwell on their mistakes.

Judging by their huge score in the second final session, they didn’t make many mistakes. They posted a 66.65% game to win by nearly 56 matchpoints (38 top).

Zucker is a professional player who lives in Dobbs Ferry, about 30 miles from New York City. Weiden, of Manhattan, is a psychiatrist doing schizophrenia research.

In the fast game, players have only 11 minutes per rounds, compared to the normal 15. Says Zucker: “You don’t have time to think so much, which causes mistakes.”

The win was Weiden’s first North American title. Zucker previously won the North American Pairs and the North American Swiss Teams.

Rodwell, Meckstroth
top point winners

1   350.00 Eric Rodwell
2   350.00 Jeff Meckstroth
3   288.00 Bob Hamman
4   280.10 Zia Mahmood
5   270.00 Walid Elahmady
6   265.52 Steve Robinson
7   257.27 Paul Soloway
8   253.69 Richard Freeman
9   253.69 Nick Nickell
10  231.88 Ralph Katz
11 216.16 Vincent Demuy
12 216.16 Gavin Wolpert
13 208.80 John Mohan
14 206.15 Billy Cohen
15 205.49 Fulvio Fantoni
16 205.49 Claudio Nunes
17 199.66 Mark Feldman
18 199.66 Warren Spector
19 199.23 Beth Palmer
20 196.98 Michael Rosenberg