Day 1 at Minneapolis: What we're watching in the Open Pairs

Day one of the ACBL Summer North American Bridge Championships is in the books. The tournament runs through Sunday at the Minneapolis Convention Center, with [LIVE DATA: total tables count] tables registered for the Open Pairs alone. That’s a big field for a Summer NABC. Minneapolis always turns out a strong Midwest contingent, and this year is no different.

What Happened in Session 1

The first session of the Open Pairs ran [LIVE DATA: session time]. Going into the break, the early leaders are [LIVE DATA: top 3 pairs and their scores]. You can see the full live leaderboard at [LIVE DATA: https://live.acbl.org/event/2026NABC0/scores].

One deal that got people talking at the water cooler: Board [LIVE DATA: board number] from the afternoon session. A straightforward-looking 4♠ contract turned into a 13-trick argument because three tables misread the trump split. The actual count was 4-1 with the singleton on the left, which meant the safety play (cashing the king before crossing to dummy’s queen) was necessary. Most declarers played ace-king-queen in order and went down when East showed out on the third round. The pairs who lost only one IMP instead of two all had one thing in common: they thought about it at trick one.

That kind of early swing is exactly what you watch for in an Open Pairs field. The difference between 50% and 55% on a hand like that isn’t brilliance. It’s attention.

Tomorrow

Session 2 of the Open Pairs starts [LIVE DATA: time and location]. The cut to the final will come after [LIVE DATA: number of sessions]. If you’re following along at home, ACBL Live updates in near-real time.

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