The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge

6th edition cover

The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (OEB) presents comprehensive information on the card game contract bridge with limited information on related games and on playing cards. It is "official" in reference to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) who authorized its production and whose staff prepared and/or supervised its various editions.

The front inside panel of the dust jacket states:

"This work is the most complete and authoritative book of information, guidance and instruction ever published for bridge players."

The first edition of the Encyclopedia was published in 1964 with Richard Frey as Editor-in-Chief; the seventh and latest edition was published in 2011 following intermediate editions in 1971, 1976, 1984, 1994 and 2001. The Executive Editor for the first six was Alan Truscott, bridge editor of the New York Times. For the fourth through sixth editions, Henry Francis succeeded Frey as Editor-in-Chief. Frey and Francis were also successive editors of the ACBL monthly membership magazine. Numerous contributing editors to the Encyclopedia were listed in each edition as were members of Editorial Advisory Boards. The seventh edition was redesigned and prepared since 2006 and release in November 2011. Editor was Brent Manley, with primary assistance from Mark Horton, Barry Rigal and Tracey Yarbro. This is the first time where a huge amount of photographs are included, together with 2 CDs, one with the full printed version and one with biographies of all ACBL Diamond and higher Master Point players, and results.

First edition - 1964

The first edition set the ground work for the goals and scope of the Encyclopedia. In its forward, Editor-in-Chief Richard L. Frey observed that:

The only previous Encyclopedia of Bridge was edited by Ely Culbertson and published in 1935 ... The ambitious goal set for this Official Encyclopedia of Bridge was simple to state: "To provide an official and authoritative answer to any question a reader might ask about the game of contract bridge and its leading players."^[1]

On its dust jacket, the first edition states:

This encyclopedia is the most complete and authoritative book of information, guidance, and instruction for bridge players, ever published. It covers every aspect of bridge in all bridge-playing countries of the world; it contains complete and lucid definitions of every term; it describes and illustrates every standard bid, every recognized convention, and every type of play.^[2]

The first edition is divided into two main parts:

1. Main listings: The Introduction ^[3] indicates that the entries in the main listings fall into five main categories (technical, historical, procedural, biographical and geographical, and terminological) and are presented alphabetically over 683 pages with entries frequently ending with cross-references to other entries on related category topics. Over 50 bridge-playing countries are listed and brief biographies of over 1,500 American and over 400 other players are recorded.^[3]
2. Bibliography: The main listings are followed by an eight page bibliography.

The Harvard University online catalog^[4] entry for the first edition includes a note that "A great majority of the unsigned technical entries are by Alan Truscott."

In 1967 an edition revised for the needs of a British and European audience was published by Paul Hamlyn (London) under the title The Bridge Players' Encyclopedia. It was described as an International Edition based on The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge of 1964. The edition modified American spellings, 'translated' bidding structures to the more widely used Acol system, omitted biographical notes on some lesser known Americans and added biographical notes on British and European players resulting in coverage of over 50 countries and over 500 players^[5]. The editors were Ben Cohen and Rhoda Barrow.

Editors

• Richard L. Frey, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor

Editorial Advisory Board

Albert H. Morehead, Chairman B. Jay Becker Geoffrey L. Butler Carlos Cabanne S. Carini-Mazzaccara Robert de Nexon

Charles H. Goren Alfred M. Gruenther Ranik Halle Johannes Hammerich Ernst Heldring Oswald Jacoby

Eric Jannersten Alvin Landy Alphonse Moyse, Jr. Carlo Alberto Perroux David R. Pigot Leon Sapire

Alfred Sheinwold Charles J. Solomon Michael J. Sullivan Severo A. Tuason Harold Vanderbilt Waldemar von Zedtwitz

Contributing Editors

Russell Baldwin Jean Besse George W. Beynon Easley Blackwood Jens Boeck George S. Coffin Eric Crowhurst Victor R. Daly Albert Dormer Albert Field Harry Fishbein Mrs. A.L. Fleming Sam Fry, Jr. Richard Goldberg Harry Goldwater

M. Harrison-Gray Mrs. Dorothy Hayden Lee Hazen Don Horwitz Monroe Ingberman Arturo Jaques Edwin B. Kantar Edgar Kaplan Sammy Kehela Jack Kelly Edwart Kempson José Le Dentu A. Littman-Lemaitre Paul Lukacs

Arthur Marks Mrs. Rixi Markus Philip Merry Marshall L. Miles Victor Mollo Florence Osborn George Partos Harry Polunsky R. Anthony Priday Terence Reese William S. Root Federico Rosa Dr. George Rosenkranz Lawrence Rosler

Ernest Rovere Jeff Rubens Howard Schenken Jerome Scheuer William Seamon Ramon Skoroupo Al Sobel Norman Squire Sam Stayman Roy G. Telfer Alec Traub Robert Wakeman Charlton Wallace Robert W. Wilson

Second edition - 1971

Richard Frey writes^[6] that since the first edition of 1964,

...bridge has attracted new adherents throughout the world, systems and conventions have been more and more influenced by "science" and "artificiality"...

The second edition is divided into four main parts^[7]:

1. Main listings: technical bidding and play, historical, procedural (tournament organization, laws, etc.), geographical, and terminological. As in the first edition, entries frequently end with cross-references to other entries on related topics.
2. Biographies of leading personalities: The biographies include over 2,000 Americans and over 500 players from elsewhere.
3. Tournament results: American Bridge Association National Championships, All-American Regional Championships, and European, Far East and South American Championships. World Championships and USBA Grand Nationals are in the main listings
4. Bibliography: listed according to subject matter.

Editors

• Richard L. Frey, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Thomas S. Smith, Managing Editor

Editorial Advisory Board

B. Jay Becker Geoffrey L. Butler Carlos Cabanne S. Carini-Mazzaccara Charles H. Goren

Alfred M. Gruenther Ranik Halle Johannes Hammerich Ernst Heldring Oswald Jacoby

Eric Jannersten Edgar Kaplan Alphonse Moyse, Jr. Carlo Alberto Perroux Leon Sapire

Alfred Sheinwold Charles J. Solomon Michael J. Sullivan Severo A. Tuason Waldemar von Zedtwitz

Contributing Editors

Mrs. Rhoda Barrow Jean Besse Easley Blackwood Jens Boeck George S. Coffin Eric Crowhurst Victor R. Daly Albert Dormer Albert Field Mrs. A.L. Fleming Sam Fry, Jr. Richard Goldberg Harry Goldwater M. Harrison-Gray*

Mrs. Dorothy Hayden Lee Hazen Don Horwitz Monroe Ingberman Arturo Jaques Edwin B. Kantar Fred Karpin Sammy Kehela Jack Kelly* Edwart Kempson* José Le Dentu A. Littman-Lemaitre Paul Lukacs Arthur Marks*

Mrs. Rixi Markus Philip Merry Marshall L. Miles Victor Mollo George Partos Harry Polunsky R. Anthony Priday Terence Reese William S. Root Federico Rosa Dr. George Rosenkranz Lawrence Rosler Ernest Rovere

Jeff Rubens Howard Schenken Jerome Scheuer William Seamon Ramon Skoroupo* Terry Smith Al Sobel Sam Stayman Roy G. Telfer Alec Traub Robert Wakeman Charlton Wallace Robert W. Wilson*

Third edition - 1976

Richard Fey comments on several themes in the Foreword to the third edition:

We have seen rapid and radical developments in bidding systems; explosions of new cheating scandals and employment of devices to prevent them; the creation of techniques for warning opponents about bids that have unusual meanings...

...the newly uncovered evidence that bridge was known and played before the earliest previous accreditation (to Russia) of its origin and its name.^[8]

The third edition is organized into the same four parts as the second. There are again over 2,500 biographies but newer and stricter criteria was applied and many previous entries have been superseded by new ones; successes in competitions remain in the appropriate event listings.^[9]

Editors

• Richard L. Frey, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Amalya L. Kearse, Editor, Third Edition

Editorial Advisory Board

B. Jay Becker Geoffrey L. Butler Carlos Cabanne S. Carini-Mazzaccara Herman Filarski Richard L. Goldberg

Charles Goren Alfred M. Gruenther Ranik Halle Johannes Hammerich Ernst Heldring Oswald Jacoby

Eric Jannersten Edgar Kaplan José Le Dentu A. Littman-Lemaitre Carlo Alberto Perroux

Julius Rosenblum George Rosenkranz Leon Sapire Alfred Sheinwold Waldemar von Zedtwitz

Contributing Editors

Jean Besse Easley Blackwood Jens Boeck George S. Coffin Ralph Cohen Eric Crowhurst Victor R. Daly Albert Dormer Robert Ewen Albert Field Mrs. A.L. Fleming Henry G. Francis Harold Franklin

Sam Fry, Jr. Richard Goldberg Harry Goldwater Lee Hazen Don Horwitz Monroe Ingberman Arturo Jaques Edwin B. Kantar Fred Karpin Sammy Kehela Ron Klinger Rhoda Barrow Lederer Paul Lukacs

Rixi Markus Philip Merry Marshall L. Miles Victor Mollo George Partos R. Anthony Priday Terence Reese William S. Root Lawrence Rosler Ernest Rovere Jeff Rubens Howard Schenken

William Seamon Edith Simon Terry Smith Thomas M. Smith Sam Stayman Roy G. Telfer Alec Traub Robert True Dorothy Hayden Truscott Jo Van Den Borre Robert Wakeman Charlton Wallace

Fourth edition - 1984

The fourth edition contains 922 pages — the most of any edition. Again, the pace of change in bridge is great as Richard Frey, now Editor Emeritus having been succeeded as Editor-in-Chief by Henry Francis, notes in the Foreword,

...a quantum leap in the technical material...many new and intriguing methods and ideas have made their appearance in the past seven years, and some have been widely adopted.^[10]

The organization of the fourth edition follows that of the third and second.

Editors

• Henry G. Francis, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Richard L. Frey, Editor Emeritus
• Diane Hayward, Editor, Fourth Edition

Editorial Advisory Board

B. Jay Becker Geoffrey L. Butler Carlos Cabanne S. Carini-Mazzaccara Benno Gimkiewicz

Richard L. Goldberg Charles Goren Ranik Halle Johannes Hammerich Denis Howard

Oswald Jacoby Edgar Kaplan José Le Dentu Jaime Ortiz-Patiño

George Rosenkranz Leon Sapire Alfred Sheinwold Waldemar von Zedtwitz

Contributing Editors

Bertrand N. Bauer Jean Besse Easley Blackwood George S. Coffin Ralph Cohen Eric Crowhurst Victor R. Daly George F. Donaghy Albert Dormer Sue Emery Robert Ewen Albert Field Irene (Dimmie) Fleming

Harold Franklin Sam Fry, Jr. Richard Goldberg Harry Goldwater Lee Hazen Don Horwitz Monroe Ingberman Arturo Jaques Edwin B. Kantar Fred Karpin Steve Katz Sammy Kehela Ron Klinger

Rhoda Barrow Lederer Rixi Markus Philip Merry Marshall L. Miles Richard Oshlaf George Partos Richard Anthony Priday Terence Reese William S. Root Lawrence Rosler Ernest Rovere Jeff Rubens

William Sachen William Seamon Edith Simon Terry Smith Thomas M. Smith Sam Stayman Peggy Sutherlin Roy G. Telfer Alec Traub Robert True Dorothy Hayden Truscott Jo Van Den Borre

Fifth edition - 1994

In the Foreword, Alan Truscott notes,

The changes in the technical section have been far greater than in any of the earlier editions, reflecting the many theoretical advances in the past decade.^[11]

The four part organization of the book follows the format of its immediate predecessors. More than 2,800 bridge personalities^[12] are listed in the biographies, largely updated by Dorthy Fancis^[11]; Truscott prepared most of the technical and foreign material with Frank Stewart contributing significantly to the technical^[11]; the expanded 21 page bibliography was prepared by William Sachen.^[11] Previous editions were published by Crown Publishers Inc. of New York; the 5th edition was published by the American Contract Bridge League.

Editors

• Henry G. Francis, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Dorthy A Francis, Editor, Fifth Edition

Contributing Editors

Phillip Alder Carlos Cabanne Larry N. Cohen Gabriel Chagas Hugh Darwen Sue Emery Albert Field

Santanu Ghose Richard Grenside Olof Hanner Diane Hayward Per Jannersten Jared Johnson

Patrick Jourdain Edgar Kaplan Phillip Martin Svend Novrup David Parry R. Anthony Priday

Bill Sachen Ton Schipperheyn Frank Stewart Jess Stuart Dorothy Truscott Sol Weinstein

Sixth edition - 2001

The Foreword to the sixth edition states,

This edition has been prepared primarily by Henry Francis, with major contributions and help from Alan Truscott and Barry Rigal. Once again Dorthy Francis has updated American biographies and world-wide tournament results. Tim Bourke, who owns one of the world's most complete bridge libraries and who assembled the Morehead Library at ACBL Headquarters, prepared the bibliography.^[13]

The four part organization of the book follows the format of its immediate predecessors. More than 3,000 bridge personalities^[14] are listed in the biographies; the 60 page bibliography doubled that of the previous edition.

Editors

• Henry G. Francis, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Dorthy A Francis, Editor, Sixth Edition

Contributing Editors

Phillip Alder Carlos Cabanne Gabriel Chagas Hugh Darwen Herman De Wael

Elly Ducheyne-Swaan Albert Field Santanu Ghose Anna Gudge Mazhar Jafri

Per Jannersten Danny Kleinman Eric Kokish Sandra Landy Jean-Paul Meyer

Svend Novrup Julian Pottage Barry Rigal Gianarrigo Rona

Seventh edition - 2011

The 7th edition had its beginning about 2006, when decisions were made about the format, the contents and the people who would be involved in putting it together. This edition is a departure from previous editions. Shape and size changed, with bigger pages and font size. It introduces photographs - lots of them. It comes with an index instead of a cross reference table. Items have been separated into chapters rather than being run together in alphabetic order. 26 chapters do come in paper and CD format. An additional CD brings 8 chapters with all biographies from Diamond Life Master up to Grand Life Master, including Bridge Hall of Fame and National Directors biographies. 3 appendix are devoted to North American and Masterpoins Race Results and World Bridge Federation Tournaments' Results.^[15]

Editors

Brent Manley, Editor Mark Horton, Co-Editor Tracey Greenberg-Yarbro, Co-Editor Barry Regal, Co-Editor

Expert contributors Ron Tacchi Robb Gordon Peggy Kaplan Paul Linxwiler (math chapter)

Contributing editors

Current edition

Henry B. Anderson Bill Buttle John Carruthers Simon Cocheme Lee Daugharty Tom Dawson Judy Dawson

Herman De Wael Fred Gitelman Robb Gordon Terre Gorham Anna Gudge Peter Hasenson Per Jannersten

Peggy Kaplan Paul Linxwiler Donna Manley Jan Martel Kelley McGuire Jean-Paul Meyer Pony Nehmert

Julian Pottage Jeff Rubens Frank Stewart Ron Tacchi Bob van de Velde Jeroen Warmerdam Anders Wirgen

Past editions

Jean Besse Larry N. Cohen Eric Crowhurst Albert Dormer Sue Emery Robert Ewen Richard Grenside Olof Hanner

Maurice Harrison-Gray Diane Hayward Monroe Ingbergman Jane Johnson Jared Johnson Patrick Jourdain

Edgar Kaplan Fred Karpin Sami Kehela Rhoda Barrow Lederer Phillip Martin Marshall Miles Victor Mollo

David Parry Tony Priday Bill Sachen Jess Stuart Alec Traub Dorothy Truscott Ray Telfer Sol Weinstein

Content

The book (and the first CD) include:

Chapter 1. History Chapter 2. ACBL Hall of Fame Chapter 3. CBF Hall of Fame Chapter 4. Bridge at the Top Chapter 5. Bridge Museum Chapter 6. ACBL - How it Works Chapter 7. Tournaments Chapter 8. Trophies Chapter 9. World of Bridge Chapter 10. Terminology Chapter 11. Bidding Chapter 12. Competitive Bidding Chapter 13. Conventions Chapter 14. Systems

Chapter 15. Card play Chapter 16. Matchpoints vs. IMPs Chapter 17. Carding Chapter 18. Advanced Plays Chapter 19. Squeezes Chapter 20. Suit Combination Chapter 21. At the Table Chapter 22. Mathematics at Bridge Chapter 23. Rules and "Laws" of Bridge Chapter 24. Bridge and the Digital Age Chapter 25. Curiosities Chapter 26. Rubber Bridge

CD2 includes:

Chapter 2. ACBL Hall of Fame Chapter 3. CBF Hall of Fame Chapter 27. Grand Life Masters Chapter 28. Platinum Life Masters Chapter 29. Emerald Life Masters Chapter 20. Diamond Life Masters Chapter 21. Other Noted Personalities

Chapter 22. ACBL Presidents Chapter 23. National Tournament Directors Appendix 1. North American Results Appendix 2. Masterpoints Race Results Appendix 3. World Championship Results

Bibliographic data

• Frey, Richard L., Editor-in-Chief; Truscott, Alan F., Executive Editor (1964). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (1st ed.). New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. pp. 691. LCCN 64-23817. 
• Frey, Richard L., Editor-in-Chief; Truscott, Alan F., Executive Editor; Cohen, Ben, International Edition Editor; Barrow, Rhoda, International Edition Editor (1967). The Bridge Players' Encyclopedia. London: Paul Hamlyn. pp. 674. OCLC 560654187. 
• Frey, Richard L., Editor-in-Chief; Truscott, Alan F., Executive Editor; Smith, Thomas M., Managing Editor (1971). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (2nd ed.). New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. pp. 793. LCCN 73108084. OCLC 250404789. 
• Frey, Richard L., Editor-in-Chief; Truscott, Alan F., Executive Editor; Kearse, Amalya L., Editor, Third Edition (1976). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (3rd ed.). New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. pp. 858. ISBN 0-517-52724-3. LCCN 76017053. 
• Francis, Henry G., Editor-in-Chief; Truscott, Alan F., Executive Editor; Frey, Richard L., Editor Emeritus; Hayward, Diane, Editor, Fourth Edition (1984). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (4th ed.). New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. pp. 922. ISBN 0-517-55272-8. LCCN 84001791. 
• Francis, Henry G., Editor-in-Chief; Truscott, Alan F., Executive Editor; Francis, Dorthy A., Editor, Fifth Edition (1994). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (5th ed.). Memphis, TN: American Contract Bridge League. pp. 827 (plus 38 page Bibliography). ISBN 0-943855-48-9. LCCN 96188639. 
• Francis, Henry G., Editor-in-Chief; Truscott, Alan F., Executive Editor; Francis, Dorthy A., Editor, Sixth Edition (2001). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (6th ed.). Memphis, TN: American Contract Bridge League. pp. 826 (plus 60 page Bibliography). ISBN 0-943855-44-6. OCLC 49606900. 
• Manley, Brent, Editor; Horton, Mark, Co-Editor; Greenberg-Yarbro, Tracey, Co-Editor; Rigal, Barry, Co-Editor (2011). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (7th ed.). 6575 Windchase Blvd., Horn Lake MS 38637-1523: American Contract Bridge League. pp. 634 (plus additional 399 pages in CD format) totalling 1033 pages. ISBN 978-0-939460-99-1. 

See also

Encyclopedic bibliographies on bridge

References

1. ^ Foreword to the 1st edition.
2. ^ Front inside panel of the dust jacket to the 1st edition
3. ^ ^{a b} Introduction to the 1st edition.
4. ^ Harvard Hollis catalog entry for First Editon
5. ^ Foreword to the International Edition, 1967.
6. ^ Foreword to the 2nd edition.
7. ^ Introduction to the 2nd edition.
8. ^ Foreword to the 3rd edition
9. ^ How to use this Encylopedia, 3rd edition
10. ^ Foreword to the 4th edition.
11. ^ ^{a b c d} Foreword to the 5th edition
12. ^ How to use this Encyclopedia, 5th edition
13. ^ Foreword to the 6th edition
14. ^ How to use this Encyclopedia, 6th edition
15. ^ Introduction to the 7th edition.