Who Is The Best Bridge Player Of All Time
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ค. 2024
- Who do you think the best player of all time is? Do you know any other awesome hands from these players.
Link to Bob Hamman - ask me anything:
bridgewinners.com/article/vie...
/ bridgevid - เกม
I recommend Bob Hamman's book 'At the Table'. It's more or less an autobiography of his bridge career and a fascinating read. Lots of examples of hands he's played, anecdotes about other great players and partners. He also dips into the psychology of the game with lots of tips on how to keep focus at the table. A brillliant read.
I know the answer to the thumbnail, it's Peter Hollands!!! Even if his play is not #1 his contributions through these videos make him the best
Bob hamman is the best player in history ever
I wonder what would have happened if on Garozzo 4H contract East would have false carded on the king of diamonds and followed with the jack.
The "natural" play of a top heart from either hand then would lead to minus one. But of course there was no Garozzo sitting East.
I also think Belladonna was a very great player. On one of his early Bermuda Bowl wins, he almost defeated the US single handedly.
Fun fact: not only Garozzo, but also Forquet (born 1925) is still alive.
And Siniscalco died in December 2020, just six months shy of his 100th birthday.
I remember a story about Maurice Harrison-Gray who was playing in an 'unmakeable' 6 clubs. At some stage he ended in dummy and had a winner to cash in dummy and and no entry after that. He didn't cash it but instead returned to hand, cashed his winners and 'squeezed' the opposition to make his contract.
Enjoyed the video. When you're talking about greats in that rarefied atmosphere of Hamman, Belladonna, and Garozzo I'm not sure anyone can definitively separate them and single out "the greatest", but the discussion is fun. Speaking of which, just for fun I'll take the opportunity to mention two women who I believe to be two of their gender's most gifted bridge players ever: Agnes Gordon and Helen Sobel. Sadly, both died having barely reached the age of 60.
It is impossible to compare players of the '60 and '70s with later players; it was impossible to easily move around the globe up until the late 70s, so the possibility to partecipate to ACBL events was quite difficult for non-AM players up until 50 years ago. But another point is essential: the ability to develop robust bidding systems - in this topic Meckwell and Garozzo are among the best, in my opinion. Moreover, Zia has an impressive string of wins playing with a lot of different partners: this, I believe, makes him the most effective single player.
Charles Goren is a top player I know of though he was definitely old school by today's standards. I can't say I know any famous hands though. I just know he was well known and hosted the tv show Championship Bridge which you can watch on TH-cam if you search for it.
Peter - i am a very average player taught by my parents but they always said against 4 of a major contract lead a minor doubleton if you have it. So as you said defence on the Bob Hammond could have won 2D and 2H so my folks would have said ' bad lead ' !
I remember something saud about Howard Schenken. People made more _errors_ against him when he was declaring. That qualit9y of decepti9on is hard to measure.
That Hamman 4s is actually -2 on a d ruff as well as the 2 ds
Best match point player of all-time: Barry Crane
You could maybe talk about the best player at the time? Seems like a good idea with BB ending
Well, Kluk comes to mind. 2 BBs under his belt at the age of 25.
Shame he sold his soul to the DevilZ
Having played against all the (living) players you mentioned, I will say that the demeanors of Hamman and Meckstroth are the best. They are very calm and composed. The first time I played against Garozzo, he got so upset with his partner that I thought he was going to have a heart attack!
Hamman is about 10 years older then I. When I started playing as a teenager I played against Hamman and Lew Mathe; Mathe was clearly the big gun in that partnership but I bet Hamman's game benefited. Since Bridge is a partnership game, defining the "best" player dodesn't make a lot of sense. Hamman played with Bob Wolfe in many of these wins.
Bridge is a game played by couples : best couple of all times Garozzo/ Belladonna, the perfection in bridge .
How much do you think a good player can compensate for an indifferent partner? I find that when I am paired with a good player my results improve. I cannot decide whether it is because I concentrate harder to avoid making an idiot of myself, or whether I am being ‘dragged along' by a better player.
The best thing a good player can do is come up with ways to help their partner not make mistakes or if they make a mistake help mitigate it. It is very rare that you get good scores with a good partner because they pull off fancy plays.
Good players are good at not making partner make uncomfortable choices, simplifying defenses, and creating leeway which will all improve their partner a lot and make them feel good about how they play. There are also top players that are bad at this aspect of the game as well and if you pair with them you will wonder why your results aren't as good as someone who is "worse" but you always do better with them.
@@BridgeWithPete Thanks; a most interesting response. I must be very lucky because all the good players with whom I am paired are patient and very understanding of my idiocy. This is why I prefer chess; there is no one to blame but oneself.
Another part of this is the simple fact that bridge is a partnership game. If you partner is not very good, you cannot understand his bids or defensive plays as easily as you can those of a strong player.
You also form trust. When he or she makes a bit, you trust them to have their bid instead of overbidding, underbidding, or rebidding the same values. A lot of bad players will compete one more level simply because they don't want to sell even though their previous bidding told the whole story. When they make a defensive play, you trust them and tend to cooperate with a strong player. You may not understand why they are doing something, but you will still follow their lead.. With a poor partner, you may not cooperate with their defensive plan because you don't trust them.
Finally, a good player can anticipate likely problems you will face. They will often defend in a manner that eliminates some guesswork for you.
Bridge is hard work. In many hands the battle is won if you manage to process ALL the available information and it is all correct. Bad partners give less good information and often give bad information. When playing with a strong player, you actually DO play better because your information is better and the effort required to get the information is reduced. Playing with a strong player is MUCH easier than playing with a mediocre one, so of course you reach more correct conclusions and have less overall mental fatigue.
@@BridgeWithPete This is a really good point. I played several times with Stephen Blackstock (NZ) and at the end of the tournament I always felt like superman as I had made 'no' mistakes. On reflection it was because he had the rare defensive (and also bidding) ability to either make decisions for me or prevent me from having to guess.
Impossible to decide. Of the two hands you showed, I absolutely loved the one from Benito Garozzo. Imagine being West and seeing your trump tricks disappear 🙂
I remember reading about a hand that Benito Garozzo defended against 3NT. He passed the final contract, holding AKQJ10 of a suit "as if he was going to his own funeral". His opening lead was fourth highest 🙂
If you can find the hand and the occasion, I would dearly love to see that again.
Splendid moves
where does Zia sit in the grand scheme?
How about Howard Shenken?
In any competitive situation, business, politics, sports or else, never ever trust the record of Italians. This applies to Garozzo too see for instance the rumors mentioned in Alan Sontag's "Bridge Bum".
"Under the Table" is utterly damning.
But does that make Garozzo and Belladonna lesser dummy players?
@@nuwandalton No, but unfortunately we have seen examples of good players who don't need it at all still cheating...
Personally I played an Italian pair known as world class in 2009 in Juan-Les-Pins where declarer made a winning double dummy play after his partner, being dummy, checked out my partners hand. We both are good enough as bridge players to be able to judge this was foul play and not their level of play beyond our comprehension. We do understand and recognize all world class plays even without us pulling it of with the same consistency ourselves.
It happens and good opponents KNOW they are victims of it even without being able to point it out, that is how rumors start.
But what can one do when all you have is one example?
Who is the greatest bridge player is subjective. Pete has highlighted 2 players with incredible credentials but the "greatest" could mean the most famous. So if you asked 100 non bridge players to name a famous bridge player my guess is the top answer would be Omar Sharif. Not top in terms of world titled or master points although he was a brilliant player but he is the name everyone knows and he was probably the greatest ambassador of the game.
Why does no one ever talk about Terence Reese? This guy was a genius. And look at Howard Schenken. He has to be a candidate.
Terence Reese was accused of cheating. There are two books about it. One on the accusation and on the defense. You can read them both and make up your own mind.
rubber bridge is the best test of "greatness". many players had to play to EAT!!!
best of all time was(most of the best from his long ago era agree)was
MEYER SCHLIEFER
you forgot Belladonna and Forquet...
Zia for me also Rixi
Jeff Meckstroth
Giorgio Belladonna. Not even close.
By far Giorgio Belladonna
Nah its Geir Helgemo