Blog posts celebrating ACBL’s 75th Anniversary in 2012 primarily composed of republished Bridge Bulletin articles covering everything from A to Z.
Superstition and cards go hand-in-hand. The reoccurrence of the number 13 in card games is one of the most classic examples of bad luck. In order to combat this unlucky curse, many bridge players have adopted superstitions they believe sway the luck in their favor – some logical, but most not. In the 2001 European
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In a long cover story on Charles Goren as “King of the Aces,” the September 1958 Time magazine said, Despite sneers that he is a slave to his own system, few players can break the rules faster and more effectively than Charles Goren. He once found himself in this tournament plight: Sobel ♠ 6 4
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Here’s an auction written up in the February 1956 Bridge Bulletin by none other than A.M. (Al) Sobel in his regular monthly column: It may sound silly to start a description of a trip backwards, but that’s the way they do everything in Europe–including the bidding of the French team. They make up their minds
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Teams representing Cornell University and Oberlin College won the 1957 National Intercollegiate Bridge Tournament Championship. More than 2,000 undergraduates at 103 colleges and universities in the U.S. took part in the tournament. Paul Trent and Frank Goldring were on the Cornell team which won playing the North-South boards. Danny Kleinman and Dick Recht played the
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The first indication that any of the nation’s colleges were offering a course in how to play bridge appeared with the publication of the 1956-1957 catalog of courses of the University of Cincinnati. The University catalog listed a series of eight lectures including such topics as point-count bidding, notrump bids and responses, pre-emptive bids and
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It’s not unusual to hear of wealthy alumnus giving money to his alma mater, but when a well-to-do industrialist endows his school with a grant to encourage bridge playing and golf, that’s news. That’s what happened in 1955 when James F. Gerity Jr. bequeathed $5,000 to Notre Dame to encourage student participation in the fine
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1956 was a progressive year for the ACBL. It started on Jan. 1 when ACBL became a League of bridge players from all of America instead of just part of it. Although ACBL had been working in agreement with the Western Division (formerly the Pacific Bridge League) since the Forties, they finally integrated. The Western
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As I was preparing Bridge Beats to have at the ready while I am off serving my civic duty, this classic came to mind. From Tournament Bridge: an Uncensored Memoir, Jerry Machlin writes, “Lew was a witness in a court case where ACBL was being sued. He was put on the stand as a bridge
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The Vanderbilt, the premier event at the Spring NABC, wrapped up last night at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis TN. The Vanderbilt Trophy has been contested annually since 1928. Like most things related to the game of bridge, it has some stories. Currently the trophy is safely housed in the Bridge Museum at the
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The 54th contest of the Silodor Open Pairs concludes later this evening at the Memphis NABC. Named in his honor, this event was the last that Sidney Silodor won. Playing with Norman Kay they took the title just a few months before Silodor’s death in 1963. Silodor trained as a lawyer, but happily for the
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Reprinted from the Buffalo Evening News, Nov. 19, 1954 This Bid Deserves a Set The (take a breath) New Jersey Legalized Games of Chance Commission has recommended that bridge and all other card games, when conducted by qualified groups, be considered games of chance and licensed by law. We leave the larger issue of gambling
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Bridge writers usually write about hands with slams or intricate plays, but in 1955 the most innocuous and worthless ever seen was the talk of the town. Take a look: West East ♠ 6 5 3 ♠ K Q 9 4 ♥ 7 6 3 ♥ K 8 ♦ 7 6 5 4 3 2
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A 1958 Goodwill reminder from committee chairmen, Louise Durham and John Simon: Gloating over boards you’ve won Offends good taste – it isn’t done. Overlook your partner’s crime Dress him down at dinnertime. When a stranger is in the game Introduce yourself by name. Lose or win, let’s try to be Less guilty of discourtesy.
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One of the innovations of the 1954 Winter NABC was the introduction of the Daily Bulletin. It was a simple document. The first Daily Bulletins listed the names of every player in first or second place in every section from the previous day, the overall winners of any event that ended the previous day, the
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During the Roth-Stone controversy of 1953, Tobias Stone remained fairly silent until one night at the Dallas Winter Nationals. Stone was out to prove that B. Jay Becker was wrong in objecting to the Roth-Stone system. In his usual manner, Stone delivered a fiery monologue at 300 words per minute, complete with gestures and body
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The debate over the use of the Roth-Stone system in tournament competition continued throughout 1953. The Bulletin dutifully wrote articles on the system to enlighten readers and the letters poured in. Oswald Jacoby wrote, “I seemed to have stirred up a hornet’s nest with my comments on the Roth-Stone system … For that I am
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