# Mott-Smith Trophy

The Mott-Smith Trophy, named for writer and cryptographer Geoffrey Mott-Smith, is awarded to the player with the best overall individual performance in the Spring Nationals, the spring event of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC).

## History

The Mott-Smith Trophy was donated in 1961 by friends of Geoffrey Mott-Smith and was made retroactive to include all the winners from 1958.

## Namesake

Geoffrey Arthur Mott-Smith (1902–1960) was the second son of Harold Mead Mott-Smith (1872–1978) and Jennie Ormsby Yates (1874–1941) and a grandson of John Mott-Smith. He became co-chairman of the ACBL Laws Commission, editor of the ACBL Bridge Bulletin 1935–36, a contributor to The Bridge World, a writer and cryptographer. During World War II, Mott-Smith served as chief instructor for the OSS in the training of cryptographers and cryptanalysts. He wrote or co-wrote more than 29 books on games and served as games consultant for the Association of American Playing Card Manufacturers.

## Winners

Boldface numerals represent a record-breaking number of masterpoints.
Mott-Smith Trophy :
| Year | Winners | Masterpoints |
| 1958 | Ivar Stakgold | n/a |
| 1959 | Lew Mathe | n/a |
| 1960 | Norman Kay | n/a |
| 1961 | Robert Jordan | n/a |
| 1962 | Robert Jordan | n/a |
| 1963 | Sidney Silodor, Norman Kay | n/a |
| 1964 | Lew Mathe | n/a |
| 1965 | Phil Feldesman | n/a |
| 1966 | Phil Feldesman | n/a |
| 1967 | Lew Mathe | n/a |
| 1968 | Norman Kay | n/a |
| 1969 | Sue Sachs | 168 |
| 1970 | Barry Crane | 155 |
| 1971 | Barry Crane | 135 |
| 1972 | Paul Swanson, Jack Blair | 159 |
| 1973 | Bobby Wolff | 233 |
| 1974 | Ron Andersen | 250 |
| 1975 | Roger Bates | 203 |
| 1976 | Larry T. Cohen | 225 |
| 1977 | Mark Blumenthal | 200 |
| 1978 | Mike Passell | 250 |
| 1979 | Jeff Meckstroth | 215 |
| 1980 | Jeff Meckstroth, Eric Rodwell | 173 |
| 1981 | Allan Stauber | 166 |
| 1982 | David Berkowitz, Harold Lilie | 198 |
| 1983 | Mike Passell | 214 |
| 1984 | Lew Stansby | 172 |
| 1985 | Jeff Meckstroth | 196 |
| 1986 | Lew Stansby | 207 |
| 1987 | Steve Robinson, Peter Boyd | 200 |
| 1988 | Roger Bates | 193 |
| 1989 | Eddie Wold | 167 |
| 1990 | John Sutherlin | 300 |
| 1991 | Zia Mahmood | 183 |
| 1992 | Roger Bates | 186 |
| 1993 | Michael Seamon | 196 |
| 1994 | Chip Martel | 250 |
| 1995 | Michael Polowan | 242 |
| 1996 | Zia Mahmood | 252 |
| 1997 | Bart Bramley | 292 |
| 1998 | Eddie Wold | 243 |
| 1999 | Petra Hamman | 265 |
| 2000 | Jeff Meckstroth | 313 |
| 2001 | Jill Meyers | 234 |
| 2002 | Paul Soloway | 357.41 |
| 2003 | Geoff Hampson | 317.42 |
| 2004 | Fulvio Fantoni, Claudio Nunes | 363.82 |
| 2005 | Eddie Wold | 282.05 |
| 2006 | Fred Chang | 347.50 |
| 2007 | Roy Welland | 380.00 |
| 2008 | Krzysztof Jassem, Krzysztof Martens | 257.50 |
| 2009 | Jeff Meckstroth | 304.92 |
| 2010 | Tor Helness | 320.59 |
| 2011 | Joel Wooldridge | 454.31 |
| 2012 | Thomas Bessis, Ishamel Delmonte | 400.00 |
| 2013 | Mike Kamil | 342.58 |
| 2014 | Bobby Levin | 450.00 |
| 2015 | Cedric Lorenzini | 284.24 |
| 2016 | Geoff Hampson, Eric Greco | 315.71 |
| 2017 | Jeff Meckstroth | 400.00 |
| 2018 | Bobby Levin, Steve Weinstein | 380.00 |
| 2019 | Steve Garner | 304.51 |
| 2020 | No NABC Held | |
| 2021 | No NABC Held | |
| 2022 | Michael Rosenberg, Zachary Grossack | 405.00 |
| 2023 | Greg Humphreys | 291.24 |