Hugh Kelsey

Hugh Walter Kelsey (born 1926 at Edinburgh, Scotland; died March 18, 1995 at Edinburgh) was a bridge player and writer. He won the Gold Cup, the most prestigious British competition, twice, in 1969 and 1980. He represented Scotland twelve times in the Camrose Trophy, played between the constituent countries of the British Isles. He was the non-playing captain of the Great Britain Women's Team in the 7th World Team Olympiad held at Seattle in 1984.

However it is as a writer that he will be best remembered. He wrote some fifty books on the game, mostly aimed at intermediate to advanced players. It is a measure of their quality that - over a decade after his death - many of them are still in print. Two of his books, "Killing Defence at Bridge" and "Advanced Play at Bridge", were listed by the Official Encyclopedia of Bridge as "mandatory requirements for a modern technical bridge library". "Adventures in Card Play", written with Geza Ottlik, is still regarded by many as the most advanced book on the play of the cards. He was the bridge columnist for The Scotsman, and wrote many articles for bridge magazines. He was the International Bridge Press Association's Personality of the Year in 1993.

The Scottish Bridge Union ( [http://www.scottishbridge.co.uk SBU] ) hold an annual Hugh Kelsey Tournament. This is open to all those in Scotland who are currently receiving lessons.

Bibliography

The section lists some of his major works, together with their date of first publication. (Most were first published in the UK.) [http://www.amazon.co.uk]

* "Killing Defence at Bridge" (1966)
* "Advanced Play at Bridge" (1968)
* "More Killing Defence at Bridge" (1972)
* "How to Improve Your Bridge" (1973)
* "Slam Bidding" (1973)
* "Match-Point Bridge" (1976)
* "Logical Bridge Play" (1976)
* "Learn Bridge for Fun" (1976)
* "Adventures In Card Play", with Geza Ottlik (1979)
* "Winning Card Play" (1979)
* "The Tough Game" (1979)
* "Bridge Odds for Practical Players", with Michael Glauert (1980)
* "Bridge: The Mind of the Expert" (1981)
* "Improve Your Opening Leads", with John Matheson (1982)
* "Deceptive Plays in Bridge" (1982)
* "Bridge Wizardry" (1986)
* "Bridge for the Connoisseur" (1991)
* "New Instant Guide To Bridge" (1993)
* "Acol Bridge for Bright Beginners" (1995)
* "Kelsey on Squeeze Play" (2002) (compilation of four earlier booklets: Simple Squeezes, Strip Squeezes, Double Squeezes and Triple Squeezes)

He also wrote two novels:
* "A Bullet for Charles"
* "Please Don't Squeeze the Trees" (1964)

References

* "The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, 5th edition." 1994. ISBN 0-943855-48-9
* Peter Hasenson, "British Bridge Almanack", 77 Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-9549241-0-X, pp198-199.

External links

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7DE153EF932A15750C0A963958260 New York Times obituary]
* [http://www.haroldschogger.com/Kelsey.htm Profile by Harold Schogger]
* [http://eurobridge.org/scripts/person.asp?qryid=5000 Profile on Eurobridge site]