It was close all the way, but the team captained by Cheri Bjerkan gained a major swing four boards from the end to win the Wagar Women's Knockout Teams. Bjerkan (Stasha Cohen, Pam Wittes, Renee Mancuso, Beth Palmer, Lynn Deas) defeated Kent Massie, npc (Kathie Wei-Sender, BettyAnn Kennedy, Jill Levin, Sue Picus, Janice Seamon-Molson, Tobi Sokolow), 140-126.

Bjerkan had a 32 IMP lead at the halfway point, but Wei-Sender cut the margin to 13 in a strong third quarter. Wei-Sender actually led briefly in the final quarter, but the 13 IMPs Bjerkan earned on Board 61 settled the match.

Every member of the winning team but one has won at least one world championship. The sixth player, Mancuso, has come close - she has a world silver medal.

Leo LaSota, of College Park MD, and Alan Kleist, of Cheverly MD, won the four session NABC Fast Pairs, leading the event wire to wire. The contest requires players to finish their two board rounds in less than 11 minutes.

LaSota, a 22 year old graduate student in economics at George Mason University, and Kleist, a stock trader, each earned their first NABC victory, posting a total of 1308.67 matchpoints in the final, a board and a half ahead of the rest of the field.