The ACBL Board of Directors meeting at San Francisco will discuss and vote on a number of items relating to restructuring the board, handling disciplinary proceedings, financial matters, and tournament modifications.
Today we discuss the pros and cons of Item 193-62, which impacts every player with an unspent Red Ribbon qualifier. If you’ve played enough Gold Rush or low bracket team games during regionals, you most likely have plenty of ribbon qualifiers.
Item 193-62 proposes to move the Red Ribbon pairs event from the current time at the end of the Summer NABC to the first weekend of the Spring NABC.
Of the 3 annual NABCs, Summer is most popular among younger players, both in age and experience. Limited NABC events include GNT Flights B and C, the Sally Young 0-2500 Pairs, Micro-Spingold 0-2500, and Red Ribbon Pairs. Youth NABC and Collegiate Bowl are also held during the second week. That’s a lot of excellent multi-day intermediate games!
Unfortunately, the heavy concentration of events overlap! A team playing in GNT can only play in the 0-2500 Pairs if they are eliminated in the first two days. Similarly, all mini-Spingold teams in the quarter-finals are not be able to enter Red Ribbon. Strong players from Youth NABC and Collegiate Bowl must miss both events! For two years in a row, District 24 players won the 0-2500 Spingold (pictured above), opting out of Red Ribbon. Many others planned their playing itineraries knowing they could only choose one.
Spring NABC, on the other hand, is considered the serious NABC. It hosts the prestigious Norman Kay Platinum Pairs, and has no limited events designed for Flight B players other than NAP (Flights B and C). Each of 25 ACBL districts send four pairs in EACH of Flights B and C, a total of 400 potential eligible players for 0-2500 events. With NAP on the last weekend of the tournament, is Gold Rush or Silidor Open Pairs the better practice? That’s a good segue into Item 193-63.
Item 193-63 proposes to add a new 4-session, Swiss Team 0-3000 event in the middle of Spring NABC.
Every NABC consists of several nationally rated NABC events, most lasting 2-3 days each, that award NABC titles to the winner. In parallel, there are standalone, generic events: the daily Gold Rush pairs, Open Pairs, and team events. They operate more like a regional. Winning does not confer a title, but you get 2 minutes of fame in the next day’s daily bulletin and a trinket if you remember to swing by the prize desk.
The key question is whether NABCs should hold more nationally rated events for intermediate players. Will it entice players on the fence to come to NABC? Does it dilute the prestige of an NABC title? Should we keep the serious Spring NABC and the more newcomer friendly Summer NABC? What effects will it have on the parallel regional events? We shall discuss in depth next time!