Zia Mahmood

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Zia Mahmood (born January 7, 1946 in Karachi, Pakistan) is a Pakistani professional bridge player. He is a World Bridge Federation and American Contract Bridge League Grand Life Master. As of April 2011 he ranks number 10 among Open World Grand Masters.[1]

Zia achieved international bridge fame practically overnight when he led Pakistan to second place in the 1981 Bermuda Bowl tournament.[2] The Bermuda Bowl is the most important open world championship and that was the first participation by anyone from the current geographic zone "Asia and the Middle East", also tie for the best finish by anyone from outside Europe and the United States. (Brazil having won in 1989, it remains tie for best finish by anyone from outside Europe and the Americas.)

Five years later, Zia led a short-handed team from Pakistan to second place in the Rosenblum Cup tournament, which is the open world championship in even-number non-Olympic years (1986).[2] That remains tie for best finish by anyone from the outskirts. The event is transnational, but none of the nine winning teams has included a single player from outside Europe and the United States.

Zia Mahmood is the author of Bridge My Way, an autobiography, and has hosted many TV shows. For many years his regular partner was Masood Salim (deceased), followed by Michael Rosenberg, and now Bob Hamman—as members of Nick Nickell's professional team through spring 2012. Beginning 2012/2013,[n 1] Nickell has replaced Hamman and Zia with Bobby Levin–Steve Weinstein.[3] It was reported in November that Zia will play for Marty Fleisher in partnership with Chip Martel.[4]

Recently Zia has represented the United States in world competition, and thus he won his first major world championship, the 2009 Bermuda Bowl. (He won the quadrennial Mixed Teams in 2004 with Sabine Auken and a French pair.) He still considers himself Pakistani, however: "I am proud and happy to be representing America, but my Pakistani identity is in no way submerged. I feel like a Pakistani who is living in America and playing for America." To prove his point, Zia and his American teammates once played their opening match in Pakistani dress.[5]

Zia was educated in England from the age of six to twenty-one. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant of the Institute of England and Wales and spent three years running the family newspaper chain in Pakistan. He also spent eighteen months in Abu Dhabi developing business interests.

Recently he spends much of his time in Great Britain and the United States and is very much part of the London bridge scene. He wrote a weekly column for The Guardian newspaper until January 2012, when the paper stopped covering bridge.[6]

The ACBL Hall of Fame inducted Zia in 2007. According to the citation sometime that year, he was a London resident. He had two sons with Emma, his wife of five years.[2]

Honors

  • ACBL Hall of Fame 2007
  • ACBL Honorary Member of the Year 2006

Awards

  • ACBL Player of the Year 1991, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2012
  • Mott-Smith Trophy 1991, 1996
  • Herman Trophy 2005, 2012
  • IBPA Award (Personality of the Year) 2007
  • Le Bridgeur Award (Best Played Hand of the Year) 1984
  • Romex Award (Best Bid Hand of the Year) 1983, 1987
  • Precision Award (Best Defended Hand of the Year) 1995

Wins

Runner-ups

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The current cycle for major professional teams in the United States covers 2011 and 2012 world championships, which are contested in the second half of the calendar year. New commitments begin in July but do not interfere with the world stage of the previous cycle. "Rosenberg-Willenken Joining Fleisher in 2012" by Martin Fleisher (2011-07-13). Bridge Winners. Retrieved 2011-07-15. See the clarification by Fleisher in the comments.

References

  1. ↑ Open World Grand Masters table. World Bridge Federation.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Zia Mahmood b. 1946, ACBL Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
  3. ↑ Levin–Weinstein Joining Nickell in 2012 (2011-07-05). Bridge Winners. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  4. ↑ Martel and Stansby to Go Separate Ways (2011-11-25). Bridge Winners. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
  5. ↑ Zia Mahmood. Based on a poolside interview at the 1997 world championships in Hammamet, Tunisia. "Archives of Sid & Abby", South Africa. Confirmed 2011-09-01.
  6. ↑ Through August 2011 there are 271 numbers online.
    Bridge. Archive of weekly column by Zia Mahmood, 2005-08-13 to date, The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2011-08-27.

External links

Authority control
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