North American Pairs (NAP)
2025-2026
Notes for Club Managers
Club qualification games for the NAP are held in June, July, and August of 2025, twice per month per session per flight. Clubs need not offer all four flights in every session. Clubs MUST use strat limits of Unlimited/3000/NLM 750 for a stratified game, based on the flights competing. Strats are based on the player with the most masterpoints, NOT the pair average. Stratified games use the Open Convention Chart.
In-person club qualifying games may not be held within 25 miles of a District’s Sectional tournament without permission. No online club qualifying games may be held by a club in a Unit which is hosting a Sectional. The District may prohibit club qualifying games during a District’s regional tournament. Club-stage games MAY conflict with online Regional-rated events run by ACBL. Tournaments in Unit 141 this summer include:
- Sectional (STaC): STAC – July 7-13, 2025 (District 4, District 6)
- Nationals: Philadelphia NABC – July 23-August 3, 2025 (Nationals)
- Sectional (I/N): KoP – August 25, 2025 (Unit 141 I/N Sectional)
The table fee for club qualifying games is $5.15 (USD), which is billed directly to clubs via ACBL Live for Clubs. Districts may impose an additional fee, supporting the District Grass Roots Fund, payable directly from clubs to the District. Please reach out to John Nothdurft (noth0583@gmail.com) with game information so that I can list you on our NAP Qualifier calendar.
Player Qualifying
Players qualify for the District Finals by finishing in the top 50% (rounded up and including ties) or scoring at least 50% at a club level qualifier, either in-person or online. Qualification is earned as an individual and not as a partnership, and may be earned with any ACBL or non-ACBL member (robots don’t count). For District Finals and Nationals, all participants must be ACBL members whose dues are current. Any player who qualifies in a flight higher than his own is deemed to have also qualified in his own flight for the next level of competition. Partnerships consisting of players of different flights must enter events in the flights for which the top player is eligible. This year there’s an extra flight added:
- Open Flight is open to any player
- Flight A is open to players <6000 MPs (as of June’s MP cycle, processed May 6)
- Flight B is open to players <3000 MPs (as of June’s MP cycle, processed May 6)
- Flight C are Non-Life Masters <750 MPs (as of June’s MP cycle, processed May 6)
Follow-up Events
District Finals will start in September.
- Open Flight: Sat-Sun, Oct 4-5, 2025 (Harrisburg Bridge Club), Open+ chart
- Flight A: Sun, September 14, 2025 (North Penn Duplicate Bridge Club), Open chart
- Flight B: Sat, October 4, 2025 (3 locations – Harrisburg Bridge Club, Bridge Studio of Delaware, Canandaigua Duplicate Bridge Club), Basic+ chart
- Flight C: Sun, September 14, 2025 (multiple site locations TBD – any club may inquire to hold it), Basic+ chart. Each participating Club will be assessed a $12.25 per table per session sanction fee (with $7.15 going to the ACBL and $5.10 going to District 4 to cover the cost of a coordinating ACBL Tournament Director for the NAP Flight C Finals).
Prizes
- 1st Place in each flight = $1,400/pair from the ACBL for attending Spring Nationals
- 2nd Place in each flight = $600/pair from the ACBL for attending Spring Nationals
- 3rd Place in each flight = $400/pair from the District for attending Spring Nationals
- 4th Place in Flight B & C = $200/pair from the District for attending Spring Nationals
- If any pairs do not plan on attending, the next highest pairs will be invited in their place.
Nationals will be held in St. Louis, MO at the 2026 Spring NABC.
- Open Flight & Flight A = Wed/Thu February 25-26, 2026
- Flights B & C = Sat/Sun March 7-8, 2026
District 4 NAP Coordinator: Louis Glasthal, glasthal@comcast.net
For further Conditions of Contest, please see:
ACBL: https://web2.acbl.org/documentlibrary/play/NAP/CoC.pdf
District 4: https://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/play/coc/nap/04.pdf
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