The GNYBA will host a new event at this year's Winter Regional, a two-day Board-A-Match teams. This falls into a relatively new category of event which the ACBL calls a "Premiere Event."
These events are run alongside the usual pair games and Swiss teams, and are intended to attract those who want to play with and against the best competition possible. We now run three top-flight events at our May Regional, the Greenpoint Pairs, the Goldman Pairs, and the Reisinger. We've been having trouble finding an event of similar caliber for our Winter Regional. I'm hoping that this two-day Board-A-Match will fit the bill. The event will be held over the weekend between Christmas and New Years, with approximately half the teams qualifying for Sunday's final.
Why did we choose Board-A-Match? After all, while this format was popular through the sixties and early seventies it has now been almost completely supplanted by Swiss teams. According to The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge:
"(Board-A-Match's) popularity diminished over the years when it became apparent that the skill involved is so high that the same teams were winning almost all the time.
Is this saying that Board-A-Match is the form of the game requiring the most skill, and that it runs truer to form than any other type of event?"
It seems to me those are two excellent reasons for running such events! I'd like to think that the game is more competitive nowadays and that, especially with New York's concentration of fine players, the competition would be keen. For that matter, if I'm going to lose I'd just as soon lose to the best! Is this an elitist event? Most certainly! I believe that to keep the game successful we must provide something for players at all levels. With the advent of Premiere Events' we no longer need choose between Board-A-Match and Swiss-we can have both!
I'd like to encourage anyone who thinks of himself or herself as top flight player, and anyone who aspires to become a top flight player, to consider playing in this event. With luck we could see this event become the strongest two-day Regional event in the country, with the finals being the toughest day of bridge in the ACBL outside of the Nationals and the International Team Trials!
Adam Wildavsky
GNYBA Chairman of the Board