Norman Kay (bridge player)
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Norman Kay (born 1927, died January 17, 2002) was an American bridge player. He partnered Sidney Silodor until Silodor's death in 1963. With Edgar Kaplan, Kay formed one of the most successful and longest-lasting partnerships in organized bridge. It spanned more than 40 years, and ended with Kaplan's death in 1997.
In 1955 Kay won the ACBL's McKenney trophy (now called the Barry Crane Trophy) for most masterpoints won during the tournament year.
Kay won 13 major North American Bridge Championships in the period of 1957-1977, when he was named ACBL's top performance player. He won his last NABC in 1997.
He finished second in the Bermuda Bowl twice (1961 and 1967), and took second place (1968) and third place (1960) in the World Team Olympiad. [1] He was a WBF World Life Master and an ACBL Grand Life Master. Kay was elected to the ACBL Bridge Hall of Fame in 1996 and was ACBL's 2001 Honorary Member of the Year. [2]
Kay was arguably the greatest bridge player who never became a world champion [3] (another candidate for that title is Edgar Kaplan, Kay's longtime partner). [4] He was known both for the remarkable accuracy of his card play and for his even temperament at the table.
Kay was an account executive for Merrill Lynch for 38 years, retiring as a vice president in 1987. He operated a sports memorabilia business from 1980 to 1996.
Contents |
[edit] Awards
- ACBL Hall of Fame 1996
- ACBL Honorary Member 2001
- McKenney Trophy 1955
- Mott-Smith Trophy 1960, 1963, 1968
[edit] Tournament record
[edit] Winner
- North American Bridge Championships (27)
- Master Individual (1) 1955
- Men's Pairs (1) 1958
- Open Pairs (2) 1963, 1966
- Blue Ribbon Pairs (1) 1974
- Life Master Men's Pairs (1) 1973
- Open Swiss Teams (1) 1997
- Men's Board-a-Match Teams (3) 1955, 1961, 1966
- Chicago (now Reisinger) (1) 1961
- Spingold Knockout Teams (2) 1967, 1968
- Vanderbilt Knockout Teams (7) 1959, 1960, 1968, 1970, 1981, 1983, 1986
- Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams (7) 1966, 1967, 1971, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1990
- Other notable wins:
- USBC Bermuda Bowl qualifiers (3) 1961, 1967, 1971
- USBC World Team Olympiad qualifiers (2) 1960, 1968
[edit] Runners-up
- Bermuda Bowl (2) 1961, 1967
- World Team Olympiad (1) 1968
- North American Bridge Championships (20)
- Men's Pairs (4) 1958, 1962, 1965, 1970
- Open Swiss Teams (1) 1991
- Master Mixed Teams (3) 1960, 1962, 1967
- Men's Board-a-Match Teams (3) 1958, 1963, 1975
- Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1969
- Vanderbilt Knockout Teams (3) 1958, 1965, 1994
- Spingold Knockout Teams (5) 1960, 1961, 1965, 1971, 1978
- Other notable 2nd places:
- USBC Bermuda Bowl qualifiers (1) 1987
[edit] References
- ^ WBF Profile
- ^ ACBL Hall of Fame
- ^ Obituary by Alan Truscott, New York Times
- ^ World Bridge Federation Bulletin, October 20, 1997
