The Sternberg Women's Board-a-Match Teams bridge championship is held at the fall
American Contract Bridge League
The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. It is the largest such organization in North America having the stated mission "to promote, grow and sustain the ...
(ACBL)
North American Bridge Championship (NABC) and is a four session board-a-match event, two qualifying sessions and two final sessions. The event typically starts on the first Sunday of the NABC and is restricted to female players.
History
The event was introduced in 1933 and was originally held at the winter NABC (there were only two NABCs - summer and winter).
The original trophy was donated by
George Coffin.
[ Page 78.]
In 1963, it was moved to the spring NABC.
In 1976, the board-a-match format was changed to a
knock-out
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several Contact sports, full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of World Taekwondo Federation#Sparri ...
format.
The board-a-match format was re-introduced in 1986. The event is now held at the fall NABCs.
Dr. Jim Sternberg donated the current trophy in 2001 in memory of his wife, Marsha May Sternberg, who died in 2001 after a six-week battle with cancer.
Winners
Five champion teams defended their titles without any change in team personnel, on seven occasions: 1936, 1944–1946, 1961, 1975, and 2010. The four-time winners from 1943 to 1946 were Emily Folline,
Helen Sobel,
Margaret Wagar,
Sally Young. Folline and Sobel had been runners-up in 1942; Sobel also in 1941.
The 1974–75 champions were the last for the board-a-match tournament as the premier championship for women teams. They won the premier championship again in 1976, its first under knockout conditions. (See
Wagar Women's Knockout Teams
The Wagar Women's Knockout Teams national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championships, North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Wagar Women's Knockout Teams is a knock- ...
, for the Wagar Trophy that is named for one of the four-time board-a-match winners.)
See also
*
Wagar Women's Knockout Teams
The Wagar Women's Knockout Teams national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championships, North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The Wagar Women's Knockout Teams is a knock- ...
References
;Other sources
* "Search Results: Marsha May Sternberg Women's BAM Teams". 1986 to present. ACBL. Visi
"NABC Winners" select a Fall NABC. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
{{WPCBIndex
North American Bridge Championships