Famous Bridge Players | 10 Question Hobbies Multiple Choice Quiz

Answer: Harold Vanderbilt

Harold Vanderbilt was born into the Vanderbilt millions, but managed to serve his country in World War I and have a profound impact on both yacht racing and bridge. For bridge, Vanderbilt revamped the rules of an earlier game, auction bridge, to reward precise bidding, which greatly elevated the skill component of the game. His revisions were so effective that they are now the unquestioned standard for bridge players around the world, which is quite remarkable considering how almost every other card game has many variants.

Vanderbilt donated a trophy, the Vanderbilt Cup, in perpetuity to the American Contract Bridge League, and winning the Vanderbilt is regarded as one of the greatest achievements any bridge player can claim.

Answer: Ely Culbertson

Ely Culbertson is probably the person who is most responsible for the game's popularity. He invented many ideas which are still used in bidding systems today, such as forcing bids, and he challenged many leading players to public matches to demonstrate his system's superiority. His fame was such that at one point, his match against Sidney Lenz was called "The Bridge Battle of the Century" and the "box score" of the match was covered every day on the front page of the New York Times. He won decisively, and millions of Americans started using his bidding system, which is the foundation of American bidding systems today.

With the beginning of World War II, he quit bridge to focus his considerable talents on promoting world peace.

Answer: Oswald Jacoby

Oswald Jacoby was probably one of the most talented game players to have ever lived. Not only was he a world champion at bridge, but he was also a world champion of backgammon, and expert in gin and poker. He was on the losing team of the "Bridge Battle of the Century" but he was regarded as the best player in the match, quitting halfway through when his partner couldn't understand his bids and plays. Unlike most bridge champions, he played at a high level well into his 70s and 80s -- his final championship came in 1984 when he was 82, a few months before his death.

Outside of bridge, he served America in World War II and the Korean War as a cryptanalyst. His calculation skills were so great he could multiply 3- and 4-digit numbers in his head. He also became the youngest person ever to be accredited as an actuary by the Society of Actuaries, at age 21.

Answer: Charles Goren

Charles Goren learned the game in college in order to attempt to impress a girl. After failing miserably, he worked hard at improving his game and became one of the greatest players in history. He became one of the most influential bridge players in the history of the game due to his popularization of the Work point count, which is now the world standard for evaluating a bridge hand.

He was also a prolific author and promoter, televising bridge matches in a series called "Championship Bridge". Goren's fame was such that if he ruled on a bridge matter, it was no longer "According to Hoyle" but "According to Goren".

Answer: Helen Sobel Smith

Helen Sobel learned the game on the set of the Marx Brothers movie "Animal Crackers", where she was a chorus girl. She quickly became one of the best players in the game, partnering Charles Goren and winning over 30 national championships.

When a spectator watching her and Mr. Goren asked her how it felt to play with a great player, she replied "I don't know. Ask him." Most neutral observers agreed that of the two, she was the better player. Unfortunately, she died at the relatively young age of 59 from cancer.

Answer: Easley Blackwood

Blackwood was a fine player, but his convention became critical for slam bidding and was adopted widely around the world (despite other competitors such as the Culbertson 4-5 NT) due to its simplicity and effectiveness. In fact, it was so widely adopted that Blackwood lamented that if he had a nickel for every time it was used (often incorrectly), he would be a millionaire.

The wrong choices also created popular bidding conventions that are widely in use today, but none quite so much as the Blackwood convention.

Answer: Benito Garozzo

The Blue Team was the most successful team in 20th century bridge and Garozzo was regarded as its greatest player, routinely finding the one card in his hand that could set a declarer. Although dark clouds have dogged some of the less distinguished members of the team, including a cheating scandal that was uncovered in the 1975 Bermuda Bowl, Garozzo's individual brilliance has remained undiminished throughout the ages.

Answer: Bob Hamman

Bob Hamman is the most accomplished bridge player in the last quarter of the 20th century. His long run at the top of bridge is comparable to other great sportsmen such as Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. His saying about 3NT is known as Hamman's Law. When not dominating at the bridge table, he runs SCA Productions, a company that provides insurance for low-probability promotional contests such as hitting a basket from half-court or shooting a hole-in-one.

All of the answers are great bridge players of the time period, but only Hamman was #1 during this period.

Answer: Zia Mahmood

Zia Mahmood is one of the true oddities of the bridge world -- born into poverty in a Third World country, he managed to discover his talent and used it to achieve worldwide fame and fortune. Knowing for his sparkling psychological plays and dramatic flair, he usually just goes by one name, Zia.

He captained the winning team of the 1987 Reisinger, which featured "a Pakistani Muslim, an Indian Hindu, a black American Christian, and a white Canadian Jew", showing that bridge can unite people of all cultures and faiths. Today he is married to the daughter of a British earl and lives in America.

Answer: Jeff Meckstroth and Eric Rodwell (Meckwell)

Meckstroth and Rodwell have put on a run of success unprecedented in the history of the game. Their first championship was in 1979, and since then they've won almost every event imaginable. In every competition they enter, they are always regarded as the pair or team to beat. Rodwell is regarded as the greatest bidding theorist of modern times, while Meckstroth is seen as the greatest card player.

The incorrect answers are also famous partnerships, but none have lasted as long as Meckwell (35+ years).