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.

1 Bridge
2 Backgammon
3 Bibliography
4 See also
5 External links

[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).