David Burnstine (May 5 1900 – August 26, 1965) was a leading tournament contract bridge player of the 1930s. He changed his name to David Bruce after he retired from competition in 1939. Burnstine was born in New York City and regularly played at the Contract Bridge Club of New York. He was a member of the Four Horsemen team captained by

P. Hal Sims Philip Hal Sims (November 8, 1886 – February 26, 1949) was an American bridge player. In 1932 he was ranked by Shepard Barclay, bridge commentator of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', the second best player in the US during the preceding year.&nbs ...

, 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. Burnstine became American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) Life Master #1 at the age of 36. Burnstine moved to Los Angeles in 1939, changed his name to David Bruce, and retired from regular tournament play. He died in 1965 and was inducted into the

ACBL Hall of Fame This list is a compilation of contract bridge players, writers, administrators and personalities who have been recognized for their skills, achievements or contributions to the game as identified by various specific sources. People recognized by ...

as David Bruce in 1997. 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.

Playing record

Burnstine won one unofficial world championship in 1935 as the Four Aces defeated a team from France during a December fortnight in New York City. He "won 26 national titles by 1936, the year the rank of Life Master was established": * 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 Michael Theodore Gottlieb (November 28, 1900 – April 8, 1980) was an American bridge player, an original member of the Four Aces team established by David Burnstine in 1935. Gottlieb is recognized by the American Contract Bridge League (AC ...

, 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. ;Pamphlets * ''The Four Horsemen's One Over One summary of contract bidding'' (Blue Ribbon, 1932), 29 pp. * ''Pocket solitaire bridge: play your game'' (New York: Trumpet Products, 1932), compiler and editor, 1 folio * ''Teacher's outline of the 4 Aces system'' (Four Aces, 1935), by Burnstine et al., 28 pp. * ''Pocket outline 4 Aces system of contract bridge'' (NY: Four Aces Bridge Studio, 1935), Burnstine et al., 1 folio ;Lecture * "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

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, von Zedtwitz Award 1997"Induction by Year"
''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
Foundation for the Preservation and Advancement of Bridge (FPABridge.org). 2011. Retrieved 2014-12-09.

Wins

* North American Bridge Championships (17) ** Master Individual (1) 1933 ** von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs (3) 1931, 1933, 1936 ** Wernher Open Pairs (1) 1934 ** Vanderbilt (5) 1931, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938 ** Spingold (3) 1931, 1933, 1937 ** Masters Team of Four (2) 1934, 1936 ** Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (1) 1933 ** Spingold (1) 1938

Runners-up

* North American Bridge Championships ** Master Individual (2) 1932, 1935 ** von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs (1) 1932 ** Vanderbilt (1) 1932 ** Reisinger (1) 1931

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, David 1900 births 1965 deaths American contract bridge players Contract bridge writers Writers from New York City People from Los Angeles