Agnes Leslie Gordon (''née'' Willson, April 25, 1906 – May 24, 1967) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

player. She was born in

Ridgetown Ridgetown is a community located in south-east Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus. It has a 2021 population of 2,797 and is one of many small farming communities in Chatham-Kent. The town mott ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and graduated from the University of Ontario. She moved to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

after her marriage in 1930, although she remained a Canadian citizen. At the

North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven da ...

meet in November–December 1963 (then called "Fall Nationals"), Gordon and Eric Murray won the premier annual championship of the North America, the

Rockwell Mixed Pairs The Rockwell Mixed Pairs is a national bridge championship held regularly at the Spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Rockwell Trophy, donated by Helen Rockwell in 1946, is presented to the w ...

. Their score in the final session, 506.5 of 650 top, or 78%, is the highest single-session score in the history of national-level ACBL pairs competition (at least, it was from the 1930s to 2009). During the same 16-day meet, Gordon and Helen Portugal tied for first place among eight pairs in trials to play on the USA women team in May 1964. They went on to earn silver medals in the second quadrennial

World Team Olympiad The World Team Olympiad was a contract bridge meet organized by the World Bridge Federation every four years from 1960 to 2004. Its main events were world championships for national teams, always including one open and one restricted to women ("O ...

with a second-place finish behind Great Britain. She died in a Buffalo hospital in 1967 from cancer. Gordon was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2009.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, Von Zedtwitz Award 2009"Induction by Year"
. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-16.

Wins

(6) **

(1) 1963 **

Whitehead Women's Pairs The Whitehead Women's Pairs bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Whitehead Women's Pairs is a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event with two qualifying ...

(1) 1961 ** Wagar Women's Knockout Teams (1) 1967 **

Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match The Mixed Board-a-Match Teams is a bridge competition held at the summer American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. It ...

(2) 1956, 1962 **

Reisinger The Reisinger national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Reisinger is a board-a-match event. History The event is contested for the Reisinger Trophy ( ...

(1) 1948

Runners-up

(1) 1956 **

(1) 1959 ** Smith Life Master Women's Pairs (1) 1964 ** Wagar Women's Knockout Teams (3) 1957, 1963, 1964 **

(2) 1951, 1955

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Agnes 1906 births 1967 deaths Canadian contract bridge players Canadian expatriates in the United States Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York Sportspeople from Chatham-Kent Deaths from cancer in New York (state)