Eric Murray is a Canadian contract bridge player and co-founder of the Canadian Bridge Federation (CBF). Along with his partner Sami Kehela, Murray is considered one of the top Canadians ever to have played the game. The Eric R. Murray trophy, awarded to the team representing Canada in the Open Teams at the World Olympiad, is named in his honour.[1]
Between 1962 and 1974, Murray placed second in four Bermuda Bowls, three times with Kehela.[2][3] Unique among world players, Murray and Kehela also represented their country as a partnership in every one of the first six World Team Olympiads, from Turin in 1960 to Valkenburg in 1980. Together they won the Life Master Men’s Pairs, the Life Master Pairs, the Vanderbilt, and the Spingold Trophy three times.[4] They were also runners-up in the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL)'s 1969 Blue Ribbon Pairs.[5]
At the 1965 Nationals (now called North American Bridge Championships) in Chicago, Murray led a group of Canadian organizers and enthusiasts to create the Canadian Bridge Federation. Initial meetings were held in Murray's home, and the organization ran its first national final in Winnipeg in September 1967.[6]
A member of both the ACBL Hall of Fame (2001) and the CBF Hall of Fame (2010), Murray lives in Toronto, where he maintains an active law practice.[7]