The Lebhar IMP Pairs national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Lebhar IMP Pairs is a four-session IMP pairs event with two qualifying and two final sessions. The event typically starts on the second Thursday of the NABC. The event is open.
History The Lebhar IMP Pairs is a four-session event --- two qualifying sessions followed by two final sessions. The winners have their names inscribed on the Lebhar Trophy. Scoring is by International Match Points (IMPs).
The trophy was donated by Bertram Lebhar Jr. in 1948 in memory of his wife, Evelyn. The trophy was previously given to winners of the Mixed Teams but re-designated for the IMP Pairs by the ACBL Board of Directors. Lebhar (1907–1972), under the name of Bert Lee, earned a national reputation as a sportscaster and later as a bridge player and administrator. In private life, he owned radio and television stations in Florida. Lebhar was one of the founders of the Greater New York Bridge Association and was elected its first president in 1948. Lebhar was also a player: he won the Spingold in 1940 and the Master Mixed Teams in 1946. His team was his wife Evelyn along with Samuel Katz and Alicia Kemper.
Winners
+Winners of Lebhar IMP Pairs Year Winners Runners-up 1987 Robb Gordon, Linda Danas Peter Weichsel, Richard Katz 1988 Gene Freed, Mike Passell Corinne Gellman, Jim Kirkham 1989 Richard Schwartz, Fred Hamilton Bud Reinhold, Michael Seamon 1990 Ralph Cohen, Renee Mancuso Richard Schwartz, Drew Casen 1991 Harvey Brody, Ralph Buchalter Ron Freldman, Marty Shallon 1992 Vera Gama, Marcelo Branco David Midkiff, Tom Oppenheimer 1993 Bob Klein, David Ruderman Win Allegaert, Gary Gottlieb 1994 Tom Fox, Walter Schafer Jr. Howard Chandross, Lee Rautenberg 1995 Steve Sion, Harold Lilie Brad Moss, Elizabeth Reich 1996 Mike Albert, Marilyn Hemenway Steve Beatty, Adam Wildavsky 1997 Tom Carmichael, Joel Wooldridge Dick Bruno, Kenji Miyakuni 1998 Jim Robison, Gene Freed Jeanne Rahmey, Gary Cohler 1999 George Jacobs, Ralph Katz Rob Crawford, Spike Lay 2000 Ashley Bach, Stephen Burgess Steve Beatty, George Steiner 2001 Peter Boyd, Steve Robinson Neil Chambers, Norb Kremer 2002 Ai-Tai Lo, Alan Schwartz William Ehlers, Rich DeMartino 2003 Steve Weinstein, Bobby Levin Mitch Dunitz, Iftikhar Baqai 2004 Jiang Gu, Nikolay Demirev Peter Boyd, Steve Robinson 2005 Blair Seidler, Kevin Wilson Jón Baldursson, Þorlákur Jónsson 2006 Fred Gitelman, Geoff Hampson Michael Rosenberg, Ralph Katz 2007 Boye Brogeland, Ishmael Delmonte Jonathan Weinstein, Robert Heitzman Jr. 2008 Doug Doub, Adam Wildavsky Marc Nathan, Dan Gerstman 2009 Nikolay Demirev, Nicolas L'Ecuyer Greg Hinze, Nagy Kamel 2010 Pablo Lambardi, Pablo Ravenna Jón Baldursson, Þorlákur Jónsson 2011 Runar Lillevik, Oyvind Ludvigsen Jón Baldursson, Þorlákur Jónsson 2012 Hailong Ao, Jian-Jian Wang Alexander Ladyzhensky, Irina Ladyzhensky 2013 Kent Mignocchi, Joel Wooldridge Lewis Gamerman, Robert McCaw 2014 Radu Nistor, Iulian Rotaru Hans Christian Graverson, Henrik Casperson 2015 Sylvia Shi, Aaron Jones Roger Bates, Dennis Kasle 2016 Kevin Dwyer, Stan Tulin Curtis Cheek, Arthur Crystal 2017 Chen Zhao. Jing Liu Barry Bragin, Fred King 2018 Mark Jones, Clay Hall Marty Seligman, Eric Rodwell 2019 Gregory Bright, Bob Zellar Leo Weniger, Ronald Mak 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 2021 cancelled due to COVID-192022 Tim Van De Paverd, Luc Tijssen Guy Mendes De Leon, Thibo Sprinkhuizen2023Hugh Brown Jr, Emory WhitakerMarusa Gold, Signe Buus Thomsen2024Erli Zhou, Jianming DaiGiuseppe Delle Cave, Ettore Bianchi
Sources
List of previous winners, Page 12
2009 winners, Page 1
External links ACBL official website