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Quiz about Famous Bridge Players
Quiz about Famous Bridge Players

Famous Bridge Players | 10 Question Hobbies Multiple Choice Quiz


The game of contract bridge is regarded as one of the toughest card games ever devised. See how well you know the great personalities of the game.

A multiple-choice quiz by eyhung. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
eyhung
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
378,177
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
241
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: Guest 82 (7/10), WhiskeyZulu (4/10), bgjd (9/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. This man, the scion of a respected railroad family, invented the game of contract bridge as we know it today. Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Who was the man who popularized the game during the Great Depression and captained the winning team in the "Bridge Battle of the Century" in 1931-2? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Which world champion lent his name to important bidding concepts such as transfer bids and a game-forcing major-suit raise? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Known as "Mr. Bridge", what Philadelphia-born lawyer and world champion popularized the Work point count and was regarded as the final authority on all matters bridge during the 40s and 50s? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. What former showgirl and partner of "Mr. Bridge" was the first woman to play in the world championships of bridge (the Bermuda Bowl), and is regarded as the greatest female player of all time? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Who invented probably the most popular bridge convention in the world, the ace-asking bid of 4NT that bears his name? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. What Italian man won 13 world championships as a member of the fabled Italian Blue Team, was regarded as the best player in the world during the 60s and 70s, and set up another strong partnership with Lea duPont in the 1990s and 2000s? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The #1 world-ranked player from 1985-2005, he is often quoted as saying, "If you have a choice of reasonable bids, and one of them is 3NT, bid it."? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Who is the highly charismatic and larger-than-life bridge personality who led a team of nobodies from Pakistan to a 2nd place finish in the Bermuda Bowl in 1981, and then won the Bermuda Bowl itself in 2009? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The final question will be about arguably the most successful bridge partnership in history. Known by an amalgam of their last names, which American pair, known for its 800-page bidding system and extremely aggressive philosophy, has dominated the bridge scene since the 1980s? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 08 2024 : Guest 82: 7/10
Feb 07 2024 : WhiskeyZulu: 4/10
Feb 04 2024 : bgjd: 9/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This man, the scion of a respected railroad family, invented the game of contract bridge as we know it today.

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.
2. Who was the man who popularized the game during the Great Depression and captained the winning team in the "Bridge Battle of the Century" in 1931-2?

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.
3. Which world champion lent his name to important bidding concepts such as transfer bids and a game-forcing major-suit raise?

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.
4. Known as "Mr. Bridge", what Philadelphia-born lawyer and world champion popularized the Work point count and was regarded as the final authority on all matters bridge during the 40s and 50s?

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".
5. What former showgirl and partner of "Mr. Bridge" was the first woman to play in the world championships of bridge (the Bermuda Bowl), and is regarded as the greatest female player of all time?

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.
6. Who invented probably the most popular bridge convention in the world, the ace-asking bid of 4NT that bears his name?

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.
7. What Italian man won 13 world championships as a member of the fabled Italian Blue Team, was regarded as the best player in the world during the 60s and 70s, and set up another strong partnership with Lea duPont in the 1990s and 2000s?

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.
8. The #1 world-ranked player from 1985-2005, he is often quoted as saying, "If you have a choice of reasonable bids, and one of them is 3NT, bid it."?

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.
9. Who is the highly charismatic and larger-than-life bridge personality who led a team of nobodies from Pakistan to a 2nd place finish in the Bermuda Bowl in 1981, and then won the Bermuda Bowl itself in 2009?

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.
10. The final question will be about arguably the most successful bridge partnership in history. Known by an amalgam of their last names, which American pair, known for its 800-page bidding system and extremely aggressive philosophy, has dominated the bridge scene since the 1980s?

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).
Source: Author eyhung

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
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