NABC Players at the Summer NABC

Maryland Pair Win NABC 199er Pairs

Calvin Cobb of Chevy Chase MD and Chip King of Bethesda MD posted a score of 342 matchpoints to win the National 199er Pairs. The event — open to players with fewer than 200 masterpoints — was the largest in the history of the contest, attracting 52 tables.

Cobb, an attorney with the local firm of Steptoe and Johnson, and King, a retired businessman with IBM, have played infrequently together, but King asked Cobb to play for a reason. "He needed the gold points," said Cobb — a long time duplicate player — of his partner, who has played for four years. The pair picked up 19.18 gold for the win.

Cobb and King are friends who enjoy several competitive activities including bridge, paddle tennis and their latest avocation — at King's request — golf.

"We usually play games where we compete against each other," said King. "He's an Annapolis grad and I'm a West Point grad, so there's natural competitiveness between us. I can't wait to get him out on the golf course! But bridge is where we get to combine our energies."

Ai-Tai Lo and Alan Schwartz each won their first NABC title yesterday by topping the 182 pair field in the final of the National IMP Pairs.

Lo, of Reston VA, and Schwartz, of Fairfax VA, posted a final score of 93.34 IMPs to edge out William Ehlers of West Orange NJ and District 25 ACBL Board member Richard DeMartino, of Riverside CT, who finished with 89.67.

This is the first nationally rated win for both Lo, a software engineer and Schwartz, a meteorologist. The IMP Pairs is a four session event.