Alvin Roth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alvin L. "Al" Roth (November 6, 1914 - April 18, 2007) was an American contract bridge player who won 29 national championships with 11 different partners.[1] He wrote several books on the game, and invented various bidding conventions that have become commonplace, including five-card majors, negative doubles, weak two bids, and the unusual notrump. [2]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Roth was born in the Bronx. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School and studied mathematics at City College, where he discovered bridge.[2] He took a job as a government statistician in Washington, D.C.[1] He served in the United States Army in World War II (where he met future bridge partner Tobias Stone), then returned to New York City.

He played for the United States in the three Bridge World Teams Championships, in 1955, 1958 and 1967, winning the silver medal each time.[2] He also came second in the 1968 World Team Olympiad.[1]

He was a Grand Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League, and a World Life Master of the World Bridge Federation.[1]

After attending a bridge tournament in Miami Beach, Florida, he moved there and ran a bridge club for five years. He then founded the Charles Goren School of Bridge in Washington, D.C. and ran it for ten years. He then purchased the Mayfair Club in New York, which he managed until retiring to Florida in 1995. He was inducted into the American Contract Bridge League Hall of Fame in 1995. [3]

He married twice. He was first married to Fay Edelstein in 1940. They had a son, but were divorced in 1963, and she died in 1995. He married his second wife, Jean Farrell, in 1980. He was survuved by his second wife and his son from his first marriage.[2]

Roth died of natural causes in Boca Raton, Florida. [1]

[edit] Awards

  • Fishbein Trophy 1963, 1965, 1966
  • Lou Herman Trophy 1952

[edit] Tournament Record

[edit] Winner

  • North American Bridge Championships (29)
    • Master Individual (1) 1943
    • Open Pairs (1) 1960
    • Spring Mixed Pairs (1) 1959
    • Summer Mixed Pairs (2) 1946, 1952
    • Life Master Pairs (3) 1956, 1971, 1972
    • Master Mixed Teams (4) 1952, 1953, 1955, 1965
    • Men's Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1955, 1961, 1969, 1971
    • Chicago (now Reisinger) (3) 1946, 1952, 1961
    • Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1967
    • Vanderbilt Knockout Teams (3) 1943, 1963, 1968
    • Spingold Knockout Teams (6) 1940, 1956, 1957, 1963, 1966, 1967
  • Other notable wins:
    • USBC Bermuda Bowl qualifiers (3) 1955, 1958, 1967
    • USBC World Team Olympiad qualifiers (1) 1968

[edit] Runner-ups

  • Bermuda Bowl (3) 1955, 1958, 1967
  • World Team Olympiad (1) 1968
  • World Mixed Teams (1) 1972
  • North American Bridge Championships (22)
    • Master Individual (1) 1955
    • Open Pairs (2) 1958, 1966
    • Life Master Pairs (1) 1965
    • Master Mixed Teams (5) 1945, 1963, 1966, 1973, 1975
    • Men's Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1952, 1957, 1973, 1977
    • Chicago (now Reisinger) (2) 1937, 1954
    • Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1966
    • Vanderbilt Knockout Teams (2) 1953, 1975
    • Spingold Knockout Teams (4) 1943, 1945, 1953, 1961

[edit] Selected bibliography

  • Al Roth on Bridge: The Roth-Stone System (1953)
  • Picture Bidding (1991)
  • Bridge Is a Partnership Game (1958) - co-author
  • Modern Bridge Bidding Complete (1968) - co-author
  • Bridge for Beginners (1970) - co-author

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Alder, Phillip (April 19, 2007). Alvin Roth, Bridge Champion, Dies at 92. New York Times
  2. ^ a b c d Obituary, The Times, May 26, 2007.
  3. ^ Tejedor, Chrystian (April 19, 2007). Alvin Roth, bridge player and innovator, at 92. South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[edit] External links