The Nail Life Master Open Pairs is a North American bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).
The championship is a Matchpoints pairs event restricted to players with a Life Master rating. It consists of two qualifying sessions and two final sessions, typically starting on the first Friday of the NABC.
The Nail Life Master Open Pairs has its roots in 1961 when a new championship event was created for male players with a rank of National Master or higher.
In 1963, the rank for eligibility was increased to Life Master and in 1990, it became an open event so that female players with Life Masters status could also compete. Before and after opening to women, this tournament and the LM Women's Pairs have been structured and scheduled in parallel. Several women enter the open event and 1987 Women's winner Jill Meyers is a two-time Open winner.
The event is named after Bobby Nail, a 1974 winner.
| Year | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | G. Gard Hays, Max Manchester | Martin J. Cohn, Hampton Hume |
| 1962 | Sam Fuoto, Victor Mitchell | Hal Kandler, Kelsey Petterson |
| 1963 | Harry Fishbein, Charles J. Solomon | |
| 1964 | 2/3. Mervin Key, Harold Rockaway 2/3. Jack Blair, William Christian | |
| 1965 | Paul Soloway, Alex Tschekaloff | Edgar Kaplan, Victor Mitchell |
| 1966 | Carl Hudecek, Ray Zoller | Gaylor Kasle, Ed Theus |
| 1967 | Harlow S. Lewis, Peter Pender | Donald R. Faskow, Bill Flannery |
| 1968 | Henry Bethe, John Solodar | Don Pearson, John Swanson |
| 1969 | Norman H. Fischer, Christopher G. Jeans | |
| 1970 | Ron Andersen, Hugh MacLean | Curtis Smith, E. Lowell Yost |
| 1971 | Steve Robinson, Kit Woolsey | |
| 1972 | Steve Robinson, Kit Woolsey | |
| 1973 | Roxy Violin, Ed Weiner | |
| 1974 | Gerald L. Michaud, Bobby Nail | John Gerber, Daniel Kaim |
| 1975 | Steve Lapides, Walt Walvick | Marc Culbertson, Robert Visokey |
| 1976 | Steve Altman, Thomas M. Smith | |
| 1977 | David Hoffner, David Schroeder | Roger Bates, John Mohan |
| 1978 | Norm Coombs, Tom Hodapp | Kevin Castner, Mike Lawrence |
| 1979 | Zeke Jabbour, Dennis McGarry | |
| 1980 | Craig Janitschke, Jan Janitschke | Bob Hamman, Paul Swanson |
| 1981 | Roger Abelson, Mike Levinson | Bob Hamman, Donald P. Krauss |
| 1982 | Bobby Lipsitz, Dan Gerstman | Lew Mathe, Harold Guiver |
| 1983 | Mitch Chandler, Cliff Bishop | |
| 1984 | Per-Olof Sundelin, Peter Pender | Jim Becker, Howard Chandross |
| 1985 | Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell | |
| 1986 | Jim Krekorian, Paul Kiefer | Marty Bergen, Larry N. Cohen |
| 1987 | Leslie West, David Ashley | |
| 1988 | Bobby Levin, Larry T. Cohen | Glen Lublin, Peter Boyd |
| 1989 | Steve Lapides, Walt Walvick | Peter Weichsel, Roger Stern |
Before and after opening to women in 1990, this event has been structured and scheduled parallel to the LM Women's Pairs.
| Year | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Zia Mahmood, Hugh Ross | Tommy Gullberg, Michael Polowan |
| 1991 | Zia Mahmood, Hugh Ross | Larry N. Cohen, David Berkowitz |
| 1992 | Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell | |
| 1993 | Brad Moss, Ravindra Murthy | Ed Nagy, Jeff Polisner |
| 1994 | Bobby Levin, Richard Katz | Michael Polowan, Steve Robinson |
| 1995 | Mark Itabashi, Gene Simpson | |
| 1996 | Walter Schafer Jr., Ron L. Smith | Michael Schreiber, Curtis Cheek |
| 1997 | Jeff Schuett, Kerry Smith | Dennis Kasle, Garey Hayden |
| 1998 | Ron Smith, Richard Schwartz | |
| 1999 | JoAnna Stansby, Lew Stansby | |
| 2000 | Zia Mahmood, Chuck Burger | |
| 2001 | Zia Mahmood, Sidney Lazard | |
| 2002 | Larry N. Cohen, Steve Weinstein | |
| 2003 | Fred Gitelman, Jay Borker | |
| 2004 | Richard Pavlicek, Richard Pavlicek Jr. | Jonathan Green, Mark Aquino |
| 2005 | Bobby Levin, Louk Verhees | |
| 2006 | John Armstrong, Paul Hackett | |
| 2007 | Alex Perlin, Michael Prahin | |
| 2008 | John Diamond, Eric Rodwell | |
| 2009 | Hemant Lall, Justin Lall | |
| 2010 | Kazuo Furuta, Hiroaki Miura | Fred Gitelman, Brad Moss |
| 2011 | Justin Lall, Ishmael Del'Monte | Doug Doub, Adam Wildavsky |
| 2012 | Cecilia Rimstedt, Meike Wortel | |
| 2013 | ||
| 2014 | James Krekorian, Venkatrao Koneru | Wael Mohsen, Reda Wasfi Yaacoub |
| 2015 | Kevin Castner, David Gold | |
| 2016 | Tom Hanlon, Leslie Amoils | |
| 2017 | Alon Birman, Dennis Bilde | Quentin Robert, Godefroy De Tessieres |
| 2018 | Greg Hinze, David Grainger | Boye Brogeland, David Gold |
| 2019 | Radu Nistor, Iulian Rotaru | Igor Savchenko, Alex Perlin |
| 2020 | Competition not held (COVID-19) | Competition not held (COVID-19) |
| 2021 | Phillip Becker, Kenneth Kranyak | Olin Hubert, Kevin Collins |
Web site: ACBL - NABC Winners . acbl.com . ACBL . 17 July 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120204184033/http://www.acbl.org/play/nabc-winners.html . 4 February 2012. Web site: ACBL - NABC Winners Nail Life Master Pairs . acbl.com . ACBL . 21 Feb 2018. List of previous winners, Page 8
2008 winners, Page 1