David Bruce (bridge)
David Burnstine (May 5[citation needed] 1900 – August 26, 1965) was a leading tournament contract bridge player of the 1930s.[1][2] He changed his name to David Bruce after he retired from competition in 1939.[1]
Burnstine was born in New York City and regularly played at the Contract Bridge Club of New York. He was a member of the team captained by P. Hal Sims, which he left to create his own teams, first the Bid-Rite team and later the Four Aces. The Four Aces dominated tournament play in the later half of the 1930s.[3] Burnstine became American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) Life Master #1 at the age of 36.[a]
Burnstine moved to Los Angeles in 1939, changed his name to David Bruce, and retired from regular tournament play.[1] He died in 1965 and was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame as David Bruce in 1997.[4] Thus he was the second recipient (after Sims) of the von Zedtwitz Award, a name for Hall of Fame recognition of players long out of the limelight.[5]
Playing record[]
Burnstine won one unofficial world championship in 1935 as the Four Aces defeated a team from France[2] during a December fortnight in New York City.
He "won 26 national titles by 1936, the year the rank of Life Master was established":[1]
- Vanderbilt tournament victories came as a member of the Four Horsemen team in 1931 and the Four Aces team in 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938;
- three wins in the Spingold - 1934, 1936 and 1938;
- won the American Whist League (AWL) All-American Open Teams four times: 1932 (Contract); 1931, 1932 and 1933 (Auction);
- won the United States Bridge Association (USBA) Open Teams in 1934 and 1937, the Open Pairs 1936
- won the American Bridge League (ABL) Challenge Teams in 1931, 1933 and 1937.
Game contributions[]
- invention of the strong artificial 2♣ opening, still used by the majority of tournament players; and
- creation of intermediate two-bids in the other suits, a prominent feature of the modern-day Acol system.
Publications[]
- Books
- The Four Horsemen's One Over One Method of Contract Bidding (New York: Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., 1932), 118 pp.
- The Four Aces System of Contract Bridge (New York: Four Aces, 1935), by Oswald Jacoby, Burnstine, Michael T. Gottlieb, and Howard Schenken (the original Four Aces), 302 pp.
- Five-suit Bridge (Simon & Schuster, 1938), by Burnstine, Jacoby, Merwyn Maier, and Schenken (the Four Aces), 96 pp. OCLC 4662268
- Pamphlets[6]
- The Four Horsemen's One Over One summary of contract bidding (Blue Ribbon, 1932), 29 pp. OCLC 742301718
- Pocket solitaire bridge: play your game (New York: Trumpet Products, 1932), compiler and editor, 1 folio OCLC 756445829
- Teacher's outline of the 4 Aces system (Four Aces, 1935), by Burnstine et al., 28 pp. OCLC 668383785
- Pocket outline 4 Aces system of contract bridge (NY: Four Aces Bridge Studio, 1935), Burnstine et al., 1 folio
- Lecture[6]
- "Transcript of lectures on the four aces system: at the Four Aces Bridge Teacher's Convention, Hotel Pennsylvania, New York City, May 28, 1935" (New York, Four Aces Bridge Studio, 1935), by Burnstine, et al. – 31-page typescript OCLC 666777170
Bridge accomplishments[]
Honors[]
Wins[]
- North American Bridge Championships (17)
- Master Individual (1) 1933 [7]
- von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs (3) 1931, 1933, 1936 [8]
- Wernher Open Pairs (1) 1934 [9]
- Vanderbilt (5) 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938 [10]
- Spingold (3) 1931, 1933, 1937 [11]
- Masters Team of Four (2) 1934, 1936 [12]
- Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (1) 1933 [13]
- Spingold (1) 1938 [14]
Runners-up[]
- North American Bridge Championships
- Master Individual (2) 1932, 1935 [15]
- von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs (1) 1932 [16]
- Vanderbilt (1) 1932 [17]
- Reisinger (1) 1931 [18]
See also[]
- Bruce LM-5000 Pairs, annual competition for the Bruce Trophy at the ACBL North American Bridge Championships, "Summer"
- Four Aces
Notes[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d
"Bruce, David". Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
"von Zedtwitz Award" (FPAB, 2011) presents the identical text under the identical heading and portrait image. Quote: "Player biographies are up to date as of the year of induction" (1997). - ^ Jump up to: a b "Bridge: Death of Burnstine Recalls Achievements 30 Years Ago"]. Alan Truscott. The New York Times. August 30, 1965. Page 22. Quote: "death of David Bruce in Los Angeles last Thursday".
- ^ Manley, Brent; Horton, Mark; Greenberg-Yarbro, Tracey; Rigal, Barry, eds. (2011). The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge - Biographies and Results (compact disk) (7th ed.). Horn Lake, MS: American Contract Bridge League. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-939460-99-1.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Induction by Year". Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "von Zedtwitz Award". Foundation for the Preservation and Advancement of Bridge (FPABridge.org). 2011. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Burnstine, David". WorldCat. Retrieved 2014-05-20.
- ^ "List of Previous Winners". American Contract Bridge League.
- ^ "von Zedtwitz LM Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-06-18. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "Wernher Open Pairs Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-22. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "Vanderbilt Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-03-24. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "List of Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-21. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "List of Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-21. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "Mixed BAM Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-24. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "Spingold Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-07-21. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "List of Previous Winners". American Contract Bridge League.[full citation needed]
- ^ "von Zedtwitz LM Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-06-18. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "Vanderbilt Previous Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2014-03-24. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "Reisinger Winners" (PDF). American Contract Bridge League. 2013-12-06. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2014-10-18.
- ^ "Bridge". Alan Truscott. The New York Times. July 14, 1991. Retrieved 2014-05-20. Untitled column on the original Life Masters (ten, 1936).
External links[]
- Citation at the ACBL Hall of Fame
- David Burnstine at Library of Congress Authorities, with 3 catalog records
- 1900 births
- 1965 deaths
- American contract bridge players
- Contract bridge writers
- Writers from New York City
- People from Los Angeles