John R. Crawford

John Randolph (Johny) Crawford^[1] (August 4, 1915 – February 14, 1976) was an American bridge and backgammon player.

In bridge, he was a member of United States teams that won the first three Bermuda Bowls, or world teams championships, in 1950, 1951 and 1953; a wholly new team represented the US in 1954. In backgammon, Crawford is known as the inventor of the "Crawford rule", a regulation that restricts use of the doubling cube in match play.

Life

Crawford was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and died in Manhattan at age 60. He was married to Carol Crawford.^[2]

Books

• Canasta (New York: JCS Associates, 1950; London: Faber, 1951)
• Samba, three-deck canasta (Doubleday, 1951)
• How to be a consistent winner in the most popular card games (Doubleday, 1953); revised 1961
• Contract bridge (Grosset & Dunlap, 1953), Crawford assisted by Fred L. Karpin
• Calypso: how to play and win the fascinating new card game (Doubleday, 1955)
• The backgammon book (Viking Press, 1970), Oswald Jacoby and Crawford

The latter was soon translated.

• Das Backgammonbuch, German transl. by Jens Schmidt-Prange and Suzanne Gangloff (Munich: Keyser, 1974)
• Le livre du backgammon, French transl. by René Orléan, 1975

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

• ACBL Hall of Fame, 1995^[3][4]

Awards

• Fishbein Trophy 1952, 1957
• Herman Trophy 1953

Wins

• Bermuda Bowl (3) 1950, 1951, 1953
• North American Bridge Championships (37)
  • Vanderbilt (9) 1941, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960
  • Spingold (5) 1943, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1957
  • Chicago (now Reisinger) (10) 1937, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1961
  • Men's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1956, 1961
  • Master Mixed Teams (4) 1942, 1945, 1948, 1957
  • Life Master Pairs (1) 1943
  • Men's Pairs (1) 1939
  • Rockwell Mixed Pairs (3) 1948, 1949, 1959
  • Hilliard Mixed Pairs (1) 1945
  • Master Individual (1) 1956

Runners-up

• Bermuda Bowl (1) 1958
• North American Bridge Championships (27)
  • Vanderbilt (1) 1952
  • Spingold (4) 1939, 1947, 1955, 1961
  • Chicago (now Reisinger) (2) 1948, 1950
  • Men's Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1946, 1948, 1959, 1973
  • Master Mixed Teams (6) 1944, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1973, 1975
  • Life Master Pairs (5) 1938, 1941, 1947, 1952, 1956
  • Men's Pairs (1) 1953
  • Rockwell Mixed Pairs (1) 1947
  • Hilliard Mixed Pairs (1) 1942
  • Master Individual (2) 1951, 1958

References

1. "Sport: Four Other Bridge Masters". TIME. September 29, 1958. (subscription required)
2. 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. ISBN 0-943855-48-9. LCCN 96188639.
3. "Induction by Year". Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
4. "Crawford, John". Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-22.

External links

• Citation at the ACBL Hall of Fame
• John R. Crawford international record at the World Bridge Federation.
• "John Crawford – The Table Games Genius" at Backgammon Portal (backgommoned.com)