An abbreviation for American Contract Bridge League, the largest governing body for organized bridge in America. The ACBL traces its history from the organization of the American Auction Bridge League in Hanover, New Hampshire at the 1927 congress/tournament of the American Whist League. Contract bridge was introduced at the second congress/tournament held in Cleveland in 1928. A name change occurred in 1929 to American Bridge League. A merger of this group with the United States Bridge Association was effected in 1937.

District Director: The Board of directors is the governing body of ACBL. It consists of one District Director elected from each of the 25 Districts. Directors from each of eight or nine Districts are elected each year for three-year terms. The Board of Directors holds three regular meetings each year and makes the policy decisions for ACBL. Between meetings, committee activities and constant intercommunication between Board members and Management keep the Board up to date on important matters.

First and Second Alternate District Directors: The First alternate District Director must be prepared to serve on the Board of Directors in the event of the death or incapacity o the District Director. First and Second Alternate District Directors are also voting members of the board of Governors and should plan to attend all Board of Governors meetings if possible. First alternates and Second Alternates from each of eight or nine Districts are elected each year for three-year terms.

Board of Governors Representatives: The Board of Governors numbers about 150 persons, comprised of the First and Second Alternate District Directors from each of the 25 Districts, three elected Representatives from each District, and all past presidents of ACBL and past Chairmen of the Board of Governors. Meeting for one session at each North American Bridge Championship, this Board reviews actions taken by the Board of Directors and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors. All such recommendations coming from this body are given careful consideration by the Board of Directors at its next meeting. Three Representatives from each of eight or nine Districts are elected each year for three-year terms.

ACBL Ambassador of Bridge
The ACBL Board of Directors may confer the title ACBL Ambassador of Bridge on a deserving member.

ACBL Booklet - ACBL Member Guide From A to Z
Revised December 2004. This booklet, issued by the ACBL as a .pdf file, describes most of the designations for the bridge player and contains the official makeup of this governing body. This ACBL Booklet is only preserved and archived on this site for future reference. The visitor should visit the original site as published by the ACBL.

ACBL Booklet - ACBL Member Guide From A to Z
Published prior to December 2004. This booklet, issued by the ACBL as a .pdf file, describes most of the designations for the bridge player and contains the official makeup of this governing body. This ACBL Booklet is only preserved and archived on this site for future reference. The visitor should visit the original site as published by the ACBL.

ACBL Bridge Series
The ACBL publishes five student textbooks and teacher manuals designed to make bridge easy to learn and fun to play. Each student text is coordinated with a teacher manual, which offers lesson plans for teachers. The series, written by Canadian author and educator Audrey Grant, follows a spiral curriculum, with each course addressing bidding, play and defense but with a different focus, and presents eight chapters per book: Bidding (The Club Series), Play of the Hand (The Diamond Series), Defense (The Heart Series), Commonly Used Conventions (The Spade Series). Available and/or included are sets of coded E-Z Deal Cards which allow the student to deal out the practice deals found at the end of each of the eight chapters in each of the texts.

ACBL Charity Foundation
The ACBL Charity Foundation was created in 1964. The principle goal of the Charity Foundation is to make substantial contributions to various charitable organizations. The ACBL Charity Foudation is a 501(c)(3) organization and contributions are fully tax deductible.

ACBL Cooperative Advertising Program
This program is available to teachers, clubs, units, districts and ACBL members, who are involved with promoting the game of bridge. Subsidies are offered at discounted rates and requests are made directly to the ACBL.

ACBL Distinguised Member
The ACBL Board of Directors gives the ACBL Distinguished Member Award to members who exemplify everything positive in the game of bridge. ACBL inscribes an honoree's name on a permanent plaque which it keeps on display at its headquarters. Each Distinguished Member receives an individual commemorative plaque. The first recipient to be named Distinguised Member of the League was Mr. Louis (Lou) E. Bluhm in the year 1989.

ACBL District Map
The following map shows the designations of the different zones within North America and which are governed by the ACBL.

ACBL Educational Foundation
This Foundation is a charitable trust fund established as a non-profit organization in 1987. This Foundation provides grants to promote the education of the game of bridge and is separate from the daily activities of the Education Department of ACBL that supports the current needs of the bridge community. The goal of the Foundation is to make bridge a game played by people of all ages and walks of life. The activities of the Foundation is administered by a nine-member board of trustees.

ACBL Fat Free Convention Card - Filled Out
This is the nickname for the ACBL simplified convention card developed for the use of players who do not employ many conventional agreements. This Convention Card is filled out with the corresponding data. This material has been archived and preserved on this site only in .pdf file format for future reference.

ACBL Fat Free Convention Card - Blank
This is the nickname for the ACBL simplified convention card developed for the use of players who do not employ many conventional agreements. This Convention Card is empty and blank and information can be entered by the player. This material has been archived and preserved on this site only in .pdf file format for future reference.

ACBL General Convention Chart
This is a .pdf file. The conventions listed in this .pdf file must be allowed in all ACBL sanctioned tournament play (other than in events with an upper restriction of 20 or fewer masterpoints and events for which the ACBL conditions of contest state otherwise) and at club-level events with multiple-site overall masterpoint awards. The regulations for ACBL Mid-Chart and ACBL Superchart are also include.

ACBL Golden Age Master
The title Golden Age Master is available to any ACBL member who has 300 or more masterpoints and is at least 70 years old, or to any ACBL member who has 100 or more masterpoints and is at least 80 years old. On request ACBL sends the recipient of this honor a certificate designating him or her as a Golden Age Master.

ACBL Goodwill Member of the Year
An ACBL Goodwill Member of the Year is selected annually by the ACBL Board of Directors. The member's name is added to the permanent plaque on display at ACBL headquarters. The plaque is inscribed: "ACBL Goodwill Member of the Year... Awarded for unselfish dedication to the causes of good conduct, worthy participation and ethical behavior." The winner receives an individual plaque.

ACBL Grand Life Master
This is the highest rank in the ACBL. It requires 10,000 masterpoints and one victory in one of the following: NABC+ event with no upper masterpoint limit, Open or Women's Team Trials or its equivalent, or any of the following WBF events: Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, Rosenblum Cup, McConnell Cup, Open Pairs, Women's Pairs, Team Olympiad or Women's Team Olympiad. To earn the title the bridge player must also have 100 platinum; 650 gold or platinum; 1250 silver, red, gold, or platinum; and a victory in a NABC+ event or World Bridge Federation event.

ACBL Hall of Fame
The ACBL Hall of Fame was re-introduced in 1995 to recognize the outstanding contributions to the game of bridge. This Hall of Fame rekindles the spirit of the original Bridge Hall of Fame established under the auspices of The Bridge World magazine in the 1960s. Nine members were originally inducted into this hall of fame: Ely Culbertson, Charles Goren, Harold Vanderbilt, Oswald Jacoby, Milton Work, Sidney Lenz, Waldemar von Zedtwitz, Howard Schenken, and Sidney Silodor.

New members to the Hall of Fame are nominated by a Hall of Fame Committee selected by the ACBL Board of Directors and then voted in by the Hall of Fame electors. These electors include all Grand Life Masters, all North American members of the International Bridge Press Association, all members and past members of the ACBL Board of Directors, all current members of the Board of Governors, and all Honorary Members of the Year. This Hall of Fame is maintained at ACBL Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee.

ACBL Hall of Fame Operating Procedures
Published and in effect for the election year 2006, this is the revised version. The ACBL Hall of Fame Committee (HoFC) is charged with the oversight of the Hall of Fame program, selection of the recipients of the Blackwood and von Zedtwitz Awards, and nomination of members in the Open category. It shall have responsibility for setting criteria for selecting nominees, establishing nomination and election procedures, overseeing the induction ceremonies at the Hall of Fame Banquet, in addition to providing input to ACBL Management on the Hall of Fame Gallery at ACBL Headquarters and Hall of Fame Online. This information has only been preserved and archived on this site in .pdf file format for future reference.

ACBL Hall of Fame Charter - September 15, 2003. Version 3.2. This information has only been preserved and archived on this site in .pdf file format and will be automatically opened by your browser.

ACBL Honorary Member of the Year
(Wetzlar Trophy Winner). An ACBL Honorary Member of the Year is selected annually by the ACBL Board of Directors. The benefits for an Honorary Member of the Year are: (1) free entries to NABCs for one year; (2) a Bridge Bulletin article and picture on The Bridge Bulletin cover; (3) a letter of congratulations from the ACBL Board of Directors signed by the ACBL President; and (4) a lifetime exemption from payment of dues or service fees.

ACBL Laws Commission
The ACBL Laws Commission consists of a minimum of nine (9) members and a maximum of fifteen (15) members. The members are appointed by the President of ACBL with the approval of the ACBL Board of Directors to a five-year term. The Commission, in cooperation with the Laws Committee of the World Bridge Federation, prepares the Laws under which both duplicate and rubber bridge games are governed. Current ACBL Laws Commission members are listed below with their term expiration dates (December 31 of the year shown) indicated.

I. Membership

The ACBL Laws Commission consists of 9 (minimum) to 15 (maximum) members, in accordance with ACBL Bylaws. The ACBL President appoints the ACBL Laws Commission members for terms of five years, on a staggered basis. The ACBL President makes these appointments at the fall meetings, and they are subject to confirmation by the Board of Directors. These terms begin on January 1 of the year following appointment and expire on December 31 of the fifth year. The Chairman of the ACBL Laws Commission is selected by the Commission from among its members. When vacancies occur, the ACBL president, with the approval of the Board, may make appointments to fill the unexpired terms. The ACBL Laws Commission meets on one morning of each NABC.

II. Duties and Responsibilities

In accordance with the ACBL Bylaws, the ACBL Laws Commission prepares and periodically reviews and revises the laws by which duplicate and rubber bridge games are governed. When feasible, the Commission makes these law revisions in consultation and cooperation with other national contract bridge organizations and the World Bridge Federation. The ACBL Laws Commission is the final court of appeal within ACBL in disputes that involve interpretation or applicability of one or more of the laws of duplicate bridge.

The attempt has been made to include those players, who have served before.

Name	Term Ends
Mr. Chip Martel, Co-Chairman	2002
Mr. Ralph Cohen, Co-Chairman	2003
Mr. Dan Morse	2000
Mr. Sami R. Kehela	2000
Katie Thorpe	2000
Mr. Henry A. Lortz	2001
Mr. George Rosenkranz	2001
Peggy Sutherlin	2001
Amalya Kearse	2002
Mr. Jeffrey D. Polisner	2002
Mr. Eric Rodwell	2003
Mr. Roger Stern	2003
Karen Allison	2004
Mr. Ron Gerard	2004
Mr. Bobby Wolff	2004
Mr. Howard Weinstein	2011
Mr. Robb Gordon	2009
Mr. Allan S. Falk	2012
Ms. Georgia Heth	2012
Mr. Ron Gerard	2010
Mr. Chip Martel	2013
Mr. Peter Boyd	2011
Mr. Jeffrey D. Polisner	2013
Mr. Chris Compton	2013
Mr. Eric Rodwell	2009
Mr. Matt Smith	2010
Mr. John Solodar	2012
Mr. Roger D. Stern	2009
Ms. Peggy Sutherlin	2011
Mr. Adam Wildavsky	2010
Mr. Adam Wildavsky, Vice Chairman	2015
Mr. Alvin Levy	2016
Mr. Roger Stern	2014
Ms. Rebecca Rogers	2017
Mr. Matt Smith	2015
Mr. Eric Rodwell	2014
Mr. Chris Compton	2018
Mr. Matt Koltnow	2018
Mr. Peter Boyd	2016
Mr. Chip Martel, Chairman	2018
Mr. Ron Gerard	2015
Mr. Aaron Silverstein	2017
Mr. Allan Falk	2017
Mr. Robb Gordon	2014
Mr. Howard Weinstein	2016

ACBL Presidents - Presidents USBA - Presidents ABL - A list of all the former elected Presidents during the evolution period resulting in the ACBL. These ladies and gentlemen have served as the Presidents of the organizations, which evolved from the USBA and the ABL into the American Contract Bridge League or ACBL. They have given their time, their energy, their administrative skills, and their devotion to establish a unity among the many bridge players in North America and around the world.

ACBL President Emeritus
The ACBL Board of Directors may confer the title ACBL President Emeritus on a past president. The Board invites the conferee to attend all ACBL Board meetings and functions. The conferee votes in elections for ACBL Honorary Members, Goodwill Committee chairperson, Charity Foundation trustees, Educational Foundation trustees. ACBL waives membership dues and Life Master service fees for the ACBL President Emeritus.

ACBLscore
ACBL has developed a computer scoring program under this designation and is available to clubs and tournaments. The program enables a game to be scored almost instatly once the last deal has been played and the result entered.

ACBL Standard Yellow Card System Booklet 1988
The ACBL Standard Yellow Card game is one where all partnerships have agreed to play the system exactly as described in this publication. The object is to provide a simple, modern method which will lead to a good, solid understanding in a partnership. Also a .pdf file, which will automatically be opened by your browser.