The National Open Pairs was the first national bridge championship for open pairs and was held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC) as a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event.
Inaugurated in 1928 and contested for the Cavendish Trophy, the event lost its national rating after the 1962 NABCs being displaced by the Blue Ribbons Pairs event, renamed the Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs in 1999. The Open Pairs carried on as a secondary event[1] at fall NABCs until 1971 when it was discontinued.
Two Open Pairs champions successfully defended that title: Willard Karn–P. Hal Sims in 1932 and Helen Sobel–Margaret Wagar in 1948. The last winner of the Open Pairs as a premier event, B. Jay Becker–Dorothy Hayden in 1962, also won the first Blue Ribbon Pairs in 1963. No other partnership won the Open Pairs twice.
Jane and Lewis M. Jaeger won the Open Pairs as a married couple in 1945; they were also the first married couple to become Life Masters.
Since Sobel and Wagar won in 1947 and 1948, no pair of women has won either the Fall National Open Pairs to 1962 or the Blue Ribbon Pairs from 1963. Mary Jane Farell and Marilyn Johnson alone won the equally prestigious Life Master Pairs as partners, in 1978.
| Year | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1928 | Theodore Lightner, Waldemar von Zedtwitz | Ely Culbertson, Josephine Culbertson |
| 1929 | 1/2. William McKenney, Ralph Richards 1/2. Hortense Evans, Mrs. Sidney Lovell | |
| 1930 | Louise W. Bright, P. S. Germain | B. Foster, Ann W. Loftus |
| 1931 | Willard Karn, P. Hal Sims | Olga Hilliard, Louis H. Watson |
| 1932 | Willard Karn, P. Hal Sims | Oswald Jacoby, Louis H. Watson |
| 1933 | Charles A. Hall, Richard M. Wildberg | Sam Fry, Waldemar von Zedtwitz |
| 1934 | Charles Lochridge, Johnny Rau | Harry Fishbein, Herman Goldberg |
| 1935 | Edward Hymes, Oswald Jacoby | Paul D. Parcells, Charles Rilling |
| 1936 | Walter Jacobs, Ralph Kempner | Allyne Paris, John R. Smith |
| 1937 | A. Mitchell Barnes, Waldemar von Zedtwitz | Phil Abramsohn, Harry Fishbein |
| 1938 | Frank E. Bubna, Mollie Funk | Sonny Moyse, Helen Sobel |
| 1939 | Walter Jacobs, Albert Weiss | Phil Abramsohn, Morrie Elis |
| 1940 | Charles Goren, Helen Sobel | Henry Chanin, Harry Fishbein |
| 1941 | Sidney Silodor, Sally Young | Phil Abramsohn, Harry Fishbein |
| 1942 | Alvin Roth, Tobias Stone | Harry Fishbein, Waldemar von Zedtwitz |
| 1943 | Ruth Goldberg, Edith Seligman | Ned Drucker, Milton Moss |
| 1944 | Ambrose Casner, Ralph Hirschberg | Aaron Frank, Arthur S. Goldsmith |
| 1945 | Jane Jaeger, Lewis M. Jaeger | Bill Levin, Leo Roet |
| 1946 | B. Jay Becker, Sidney Silodor | David C. Carter, Frances Carter |
| 1947 | Helen Sobel, Margaret Wagar | Sam Fry, Ruth Sherman |
| 1948 | Helen Sobel, Margaret Wagar | Peter Leventritt, Edson Wood |
| 1949 | Gardner E. Goldsmith, Charles Whitebrook | B. Jay Becker, Simon Becker |
| 1950 | Mark Kelliher, Jack Kushner | Leo Roet, Edson Wood |
| 1951 | Arthur Glatt, Albert Weiss | Richard Kahn, Peter Leventritt |
| 1952 | Israel Cohen, Vic D. Zeve | Paula Bacher, Leo Roet |
| 1953 | Byron Greenberg, Harold Rockaway | David C. Carter, Curtis Smith |
| 1954 | George Heath, Paul Hodge | F. Ayres Bombeck, David C. Carter |
| 1955 | Milton Q. Ellenby, Emmanuel Hochfeld | Barbara Brier, Waldemar von Zedtwitz |
| 1956 | Ben Fain, Paul Hodge | Norman Kay, Charles J. Solomon |
| 1957 | Lew Mathe, Edward O. Taylor | Paul Allinger, Sidney Lazard |
| 1958 | John Fisher, Emma Jean Hawes | Al Roth, Tobias Stone |
| 1959 | Morton Rubinow, Sam Stayman | William Grieve, Emmanuel Hochfeld |
| 1960 | Oswald Jacoby, Curtis Smith | Simon Becker, Eugene Davidson |
| 1961 | Phil Feldesman, Ira Rubin | Jack Blair, Robert Stucker |
| 1962 | B. Jay Becker, Dorothy Hayden | Eddie Kantar, Marshall Miles |
| succeeded by the Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs | ||