Oswald Jacoby
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Oswald Jacoby (December 8, 1902 – June 27, 1984) was an American bridge expert and author, and is considered one of the greatest players of all time.
Born in Brooklyn, he was taught to play whist at the age of six. During World War I, he joined the army at 15 by lying about his age, but spent most of his time there playing poker. Dropping out of Columbia University to become an actuary, he became the youngest person ever to pass the examination of the Society of Actuaries, at the age of 21.
Throughout his career, he also worked as a bridge columnist. He soon achieved fame as a player at both auction and contract bridge, but achieved international renown via success in the Culbertson Match, partnering Sidney Lenz. He was a member of the famous "Four Horsemen" and "Four Aces" teams.
He captained the North American and US teams that won the Bermuda Bowl in both 1970 and 1971. In 1983, he was awarded the prestigious Charles H. Goren Award. During a long playing career, he won tournaments with his son, James Jacoby, as well as his wife of over 50 years, Mary Zita Jacoby.
He pionereed many bidding ideas, including the Jacoby transfer and Jacoby 2NT bids.
A prolific writer, he wrote over 10,000 newspaper articles on bridge, and his many books include volumes on poker, gin rummy, canasta, and the mathematics of card games. He also released a record titled How to Win at Championship Bridge.
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[edit] Bridge
[edit] Awards
- ACBL Hall of Fame 1965
- ACBL Honorary Member 1967
- IBPA Personality of the Year 1983
- McKenney Trophy 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963
- Lou Herman Trophy 1960
[edit] Tournament record
[edit] Winner
- IBL World Championship (1) 1935
- North American Bridge Championships (29)
- Master Individual (1) 1935
- Open Pairs (1) 1964
- Men's Pairs (3) 1934, 1939, 1949
- Life Master Pairs (1) 1936
- Master Mixed Teams (1) 1968
- Men's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1952, 1959
- Chicago (now Reisinger) (1) 1955
- Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1983
- Masters Teams-of-Four (now Spingold) (2) 1934, 1936
- Asbury Park Trophy (now Spingold) (4) 1931, 1932, 1933, 1937
- Spingold Knockout Teams (5) 1938, 1939, 1945, 1950, 1959
- Vanderbilt Knockout Teams (7) 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1946, 1965
- Other notable wins:
- USBC World Team Olympiad qualifiers (1) 1960
[edit] Runners-up
- North American Bridge Championships (18)
- Life Master Pairs (2) 1939, 1941
- Master Mixed Teams (2) 1935, 1941
- Men's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1954, 1956
- Vanderbilt Knockout Teams (3) 1930, 1941, 1949
- Spingold Knockout Teams (4) 1941, 1948, 1949, 1957
- Chicago (now Reisinger) (5) 1931, 1932, 1939, 1956, 1960
[edit] Backgammon
Jacoby was also an expert backgammon player, and in 1972, was crowned World Backgammon Champion.
In 1970, he wrote The Backgammon Book with John R. Crawford, which is considered the first book to deal with backgammon from an analytical viewpoint.
[edit] Bibliography
- The Four Aces System
- What is New in Bridge
- Win at Bridge with Oswald Jacoby
- Win at Bridge with Jacoby Modern
- Win At Bridge With Jacoby and Son
- Improve Your Bridge With Oswald Jacoby: 125 Bridge Hands from the Master
- The Backgammon Book (with John R. Crawford); 1970. ISBN:670-14409-6
- Oswald Jacoby on Gambling
- Gin Rummy
- How to Win at Gin Rummy
- Oswald Jacoby on Poker
- How to Win at Canasta
- Oswald Jacoby's Complete Canasta
- How to Figure the Odds
- Oklahoma
- Intriguing Mathematical Problems (with William H. Benson)
- New Recreations with Magic Squares (with William H. Benson), (New York: Dover, 1976).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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