By Hal Montgomery, North American Events Coordinator

Every year, District 20 has two impressive-sounding events: the North American Pairs (NAP) and the Grand National Teams (GNT). These are major national championships organized as grass roots events. Players throughout the district compete to become district champions and earn the right to represent D20 at the national finals. I love these events and I hope that you will come to love them too.

These events are not just for the top players. They are not even primarily for the top players. These events are designed so that players at every level can have a fun contest against their bridge peers. Flight C is for players who are not yet life masters and have fewer than 500 masterpoints. These players make up about 27% of D20 members. Flight B is for players who have between 500 and 2500 masterpoints. These players make up about 63% of our membership. About 90% of our membership can play in flights where they don’t have to play against the top players, where they can play against their peers.

Club qualifying for the NAP starts in June and runs through August. Clubs throughout the district hold F2F and online qualifying games that pay extra points. The points are split between red and black. Please contact your local clubs to find out when they will be holding qualifying games. Club qualifying is a national requirement in the NAP. We hold the district finals in the late fall with the top three finishers in A and the top four finishers in B and C earning the right to play in the national finals at the spring NABC. The district finals pay up to 32 gold points.

The GNT qualifying period starts September 1 with clubs holding qualifying games that pay extra points, some of which are red. In District 20 though we strongly encourage players to play in club qualifying games we do not require club qualification to play in our GNT finals. Starting in the winter we play round robin matches within our flights with the top teams advancing to the knockout stage. First-place teams and second-place teams in B and C are eligible to represent us at the summer nationals. The district finals pay up to 48 Gold points.

District 20 (D20) is a large geographical district spreading across three time zones from Idaho to Hawaii and from southern Washington to Grass Valley, California. GNT participation was suffering because of the difficulty and expense of travel from far-off places. In 2012 we only had a total of 12 teams in all four GNT flights combined. In response, in 2013, D20 pioneered online GNT competition. The online format for our district GNT finals has been successful. In 2023 we had 36 teams.

The district had tried several different formats for the NAP finals and settled on our current online format in 2014. The online format has not been as well received for the NAP finals, but the district feels that it is the fairest and most economical way to run the event. Our format allows players to play from their home locations and not have to travel across mountains, rivers, and oceans. In our NAP finals in November of 2022, we played from 16 monitored sites throughout the district. Our local unit representatives and other officials worked hard to find locations for players to compete from. We played from bridge clubs, homes, libraries, and senior centers throughout our wide-flung district. We had winners from Hawaii, Redding, Shasta, Eugene, Corvallis, Portland, and Vancouver.

The district has set up the finals so you may play in as many flights as you are eligible for. We usually have some players who play in three different GNT flights. We often have players competing in two NAP flights. You can play even if you have no intention of going to the nationals. Treat these events just as if they are additional regionally rated events that you don’t have to travel to play in.

Talk to some of the players who have had the chance to represent our district at the nationals. Find out how they enjoyed their experiences. Give it a try this coming year. Win points competing against your peers across the district. Then try your skill against your peers from across the nation. Have some fun.

For more information about the GNT and NAP please visit the D20 website and read about the history of these events.