Alvin Leon Roth (November 6, 1914 – April 18, 2007) was an American

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, considered one of the greatest of all time, and "the premier bidding theorist of his bridge generation". He wrote several books on the game, and invented various

bidding convention A bridge convention is an agreement about an artificial or a set of related artificial calls. Calls made during the auction phase of a contract bridge game convey information about the player's card holdings. Calls may be "natural" (that is, are b ...

s that have become commonplace, including

five-card majors Five-card majors is a contract bridge bidding treatment common to many modern bidding systems. Its basic tenet is that an opening bid of one-of-a-major in first and second position guarantees at least five cards in that major. This method has beco ...

, negative doubles,

forcing notrump The forcing notrump is a bidding convention in the card game of bridge. In Standard American bidding, the response of 1NT to an opening bid of 1 or 1 shows 6 to 9 high card points (HCP) and is ''non-forcing''. Opener, with a balanced minimum, ma ...

, and the

unusual notrump In the card game of bridge, the unusual notrump is a conventional showing a two-suited hand. It was originally devised by Al Roth in 1948 with Tobias Stone, to show the minor suits after the opponents opened in a major. The convention concept ...

.(Obituary)
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''. May 26, 2007. Roth was considered a fascinating theorist but was described by one partner, Richard "Dick" Freeman, as "very tough to sit opposite—unless you were so thick-skinned that no insult was severe enough to hurt, or you were willing to make extreme sacrifices to get on a winning side." Rubens, Jeff, ed. (December 2009). "Dick Freeman: The Bridge World Interview". ''The Bridge World'' 81:2, p. 27. Interview of Richard Freeman.

Biography

Roth was born in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School and studied mathematics at City College of New York, where he discovered bridge. Roth then took a job as a government statistician in Washington, D.C. He served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in World War II, where he met future bridge partner Tobias Stone, then returned to New York City. He played for the United States or North America in the

Bermuda Bowl The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national . It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Venice Cup (women), the d'Orsi Senior Bowl and the W ...

world team championships of 1955, 1958, and 1967, losing the final each time. He also won a silver medal with the US team in the 1968

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 ...

. Roth was a Grand Life Master of the

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 is the largest such organization in North America having the stated mission ''"to promote, grow and sustain th ...

, and a World Life Master of the World Bridge Federation. After attending a bridge tournament in Miami Beach, Roth moved there and ran a bridge club for five years. Then he founded the

Charles Goren Charles Henry Goren (March 4, 1901 – April 3, 1991) was an American bridge player and writer who significantly developed and popularized the game. He was the leading American bridge personality in the 1950s and 1960s – or 1940s and 1950s, as " ...

School of Bridge in Washington and ran it for ten years. Roth then purchased the

Mayfair Club The Mayfair Club was a cardroom in New York City. Originally starting as a bridge and backgammon club, it eventually became "the most touted card club in New York" until its abrupt closing by authorities in 2000. Eolis, Wendeen"Documentary Film Shi ...

in New York, which he managed until retiring to Florida in 1995. Roth married twice, first to Fay Edelstein in 1940. They had a son, but were divorced in 1963, and she died in 1995. He married his second wife, Jean Farrell, in 1980. Roth died of natural causes in Boca Raton.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 1995"Induction by Year"
''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-16.

Awards

Fishbein Trophy The Fishbein Trophy is awarded to the player who wins the greatest number of masterpoints at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History The Fishbein Trophy was donated by the ACBL in memo ...

1963, 1965, 1966 * Herman Trophy 1952

Wins

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 ...

(30) ** Vanderbilt (3) 1943, 1963, 1968 **

Spingold The Spingold national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Spingold is a knock-out team event that attracts the top contract bridge players in the world. T ...

(6) 1940, 1956, 1957, 1963, 1966, 1967 **

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

(now Reisinger) (3) 1946, 1952, 1961 **

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) 1967 ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1955, 1961, 1969, 1971 ** Master Mixed Teams (4) 1952, 1953, 1955, 1965 ** Life Master Pairs (3) 1956, 1971, 1972 **

Fall National Open Pairs The National Open Pairs was the first national bridge championship for open pairs and was held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC) as a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event. History In ...

(1) 1942 ** Open Pairs (1) 1960 **

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 ...

(2) 1946, 1952 **

Hilliard Mixed Pairs The Hilliard Mixed Pairs national bridge championship was last held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History This was the original national mixed pairs event. It was contested at the ...

(1) 1959 ** Master Individual (1) 1943

Runners-up

(3) 1955, 1958, 1967 * World Open Team Olympiad (1) 1968 * Olympiad Mixed Teams (1) 1972 *

(23) ** Vanderbilt (2) 1953, 1975 **

(4) 1943, 1945, 1953, 1961 **

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

(now Reisinger) (2) 1937, 1954 **

(1) 1966 ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1952, 1957, 1973, 1977 ** Master Mixed Teams (5) 1945, 1963, 1966, 1973, 1975 ** Life Master Pairs (1) 1965 **

(1) 1958 ** Open Pairs (2) 1958, 1966 ** Master Individual (1) 1955 * United States Bridge Championships (1) ** Open Pair Trials (1) 1967

Publications

;Books * 176 pages. * 237 pages. * 512 pages. * 216 pages. * 237 pages. Preface revised by Alvin Roth. * 317 pages. ;Pamphlets * ''Negative Doubles'' (Louisville: Devyn Press, 1981), Championship Bridge no. 5 * ''The Unusual No Trump'' (Devyn, 1981), Championship Bridge no. 11

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Alvin 1914 births 2007 deaths American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Contract bridge writers Sportspeople from the Bronx People from Boca Raton, Florida