William Rosen

William Albert (Bill, Billy) Rosen (born September 12, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American bridge player, best known for winning the 1954 Bermuda Bowl world championship.

Rosen won his first national title in 1952, the National Men's Pairs in partnership with Arthur Grau. In August 1953, Rosen made the pages of Life Magazine, when he and Milton Ellenby won the prestigious Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs to become the youngest pair ever to win the event.[1] The same year he won the McKenney Trophy which the American Contract Bridge League gives to the player earning the most masterpoints in a calendar year. Rosen won the Spingold tournament twice in a row, in 1953 and 1954, the latter helping him qualify for that years Bermuda Bowl world team championship. The Bermuda win made him, at 25 years old, the youngest world champion at the time and earned him the title of World Bridge Federation World Life Master.

The September 1954 issue of Playboy Magazine the editors wrote, "If bridge has a world's champion, he's a twenty four year old guy named William Rosen." Rosen contributed a column on "Tournament Bridge" for the issue. He wrote, "The game holds a beguiling interest to most people because it is undoubtedly the most challenging of all card games, combining skill in bidding, play of the hand and also, the subtle art of gamesmanship."

In 1958, Rosen won the Lebhar Trophy for winning the Master Mixed Pairs at the North American Championships. [2]He won the prize playing with his wife Eunice Rosen, also a champion bridge player.

In 1978 Rosen won the Grand National Teams. Rosen won his last national championship in 1980.

In a 1983 column, Alan Truscott of The New York Times called Bill Rosen "one of the greatest names in the game."[3]

Rosen worked as an options trader at the Chicago Board Options Exchange before retiring in 1994. He lives in Highland Park, Illinois where he enjoys making pizzas from scratch.

Contents

Awards

Wins

Runner-ups

References

  1. ^ Life Magazine August 24, 1953, 2NeatMagazines.com
  2. ^ [1], "bridgeguys.com"
  3. ^ Bridge; Saying Farewell to the McKenney Trophy, nytimes.com, 1983-06-05

External links