The United States Bridge Championships is a yearly competition held to select either one or two teams that will represent the United States at international competition for the game of contract bridge. The general conditions of contest used by the United States Bridge Federation can be found . There are multiple events in the USBC including Open, Women, Seniors, and Mixed divisions. This page contains information about the Open division in which anyone of any age or gender can compete.
History and vocabulary
The United States Bridge Championships started in 2000 with the founding of the United States Bridge Federation. All the scoring in the trials is done in IMPs which is the standard for team events. Most of the USBCs involve a Round Robin where each team plays each other in order to determine a ranking, then a knockout. Some teams based on their placement in North American Bridge Championships get first or even second round byes. Each team that wins the tournament travels with an NPC. Some teams additionally have a Coach that travels with them as well to international competition.
Summary of past USBCs
Below is a table of teams that have won the Open USBCs and how they fared in international competition. In every odd number year, the winners of the USBC Open division get to compete in the Bermuda Bowl that has existed since 1950. The events in the even number years vary between the World Bridge Games and a Transnational Event. The USBF sends 2 teams to every Bermuda Bowl and 1 team to every World Bridge Games event. 2017 Open USBC The 2017 Open USBC was held from April 28-May 10 in Schaumburg, Illinois. Nickell team won the 120 board final against Diamond . 2016 Open USBC The 2016 Open USBC was held to select the USA team for the 2016 World Bridge Games held in Wroclaw, Poland. This USBC was held in Denver Colorado from May 6 - May 15. The eventual champions were team Diamond who would go on to place 5th-8th in Poland. 2015 Open USBC The 2015 Open USBC was held in order to determine USA2 for the Chennai, India Bermuda Bowl. It was held from May 8 - May 17 in Schaumburg, Illinois. The eventual winner after the 10 days of competition was team Fireman. They would then go on to win the bronze medal in Chennai. 2014 Open USBC The 2014 Open USBC was held in Phoenix, AZ from May 9 - May 18 in order to determine USA1 for Chennai. Nickell beat Diamond by 8 imps over 120 boards. Nickell rallied by a score of 43-8 in the final 15 boards to claim the victory. 2013 Open USBC The 2013 Open USBC was held at Buena Vista Place in Orlando, Florida from June 1 - June 10th. The purpose of these trials was to determine USA2 for the 2013 Bermuda Bowl. The eventual winners Fleisher bested Nickell 194-146. 2012 Open USBC The 2012 Open USBC was held in Schaumburg, Illinois in order to qualify for the World Mind Sports Games in Lille, France. The tournament was held from April 27th - May 6th. Team Nickell beat Diamond in the final. 2011 Open USBC The 2011 USBC was held in Las Vegas, Nevada from May 10th-May 17th in order to determine USA2 for the 2011 Bermuda Bowl. The winners would join team Fleisher who won in 2010. Team Bathurst defeated Diamond 288-257. 2010 Open USBC The 2010 USBC was held in Rosemont, Illinois from June 17- June 27 in order to determine USA1 for the 2011 Bermuda Bowl. Team Fleisher defeated Diamond 260-218 to earn USA1 honors. 2009 Open USBC The 2009 USBC was held in White Plains, New York from June 5th - June 15th. Two teams would emerge from this USBC in order to represent the United States at the 2009 Bermuda Bowl in Sao Paulo. USA1 went to Robinson in their victory over Fleisher. Fleisher then dropped into the USA2 finals. USA2 went to Nickell when they beat Fleisher. 2007 Open USBC 2005 Open USBC The 2005 Open USBC was held in order to select the second team that would represent the United States at the 2005 Bermuda Bowl in Estoril, Portugal. This year trials were held in Houston, Texas. This is the first year that Polish star Jacek Pszczola or "Pepsi" is competing for the United States. The eventual champions of the 2005 trials were Brad Moss, Ron Rubin, Eric Greco, Fred Gitelman, Geoff Hampson, Russ Ekeblad, Steve Landen NPC, Sheri Winestock Coach. They went on win the Bronze Medal in the Bermuda Bowl later that year. 2004 Open USBC The Nickell team was the winner of this USBC and earned the right to play in the Estoril, Portugal Bermuda Bowl in 2005 as USA1. They would go on to win the Silver medal the following year. They defeated Welland in what was a close match after 90 boards but Nickell gained 91 imps on the last 30 boards. 2003 Open USBC 2002 Open USBC The Nickell team defeated Schwartz to earn the right to compete in the 2003 Bermuda Bowl. Nickell lead by just 7 imps going into the final segment, but was able to pull away to win by 29. 2001 Open USBC The 2001 Open USBC was held in Memphis. The finals were between Nickell and Ekeblad. Nickell would go on to win the final.
