Dorothy Hayden Truscott (November 3, 1925 – July 4, 2006) 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, winner of four world championships and the top-ranked woman for many years. In the late 1960s, she authored two books on the game and later co-authored two with her husband

Alan Truscott Alan Fraser Truscott (16 April 1925 – 4 September 2005) was a British-American bridge player, writer, and editor. He wrote the daily bridge column for ''The New York Times'' for 41 years, from 1964 to 2005, and served as Executive Editor for th ...

. Her 1966 book, Bid Better, Play Better is considered a classic and was progressively updated.

Early and later life

Truscott was born as Dorothy Johnson in New York City. Her parents, Dorothy and Reginald Johnson, were keen bridge players and taught their daughter the game when she was 7 years old. Truscott would normally watch her mother play the game, but her father would allow her to bid and play his hand when he poured drinks. One evening a player was late, and she was allowed to fill in. That introduction made her a "bridge addict" for the remainder of her life. She graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

and briefly taught mathematics in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

. Her first two marriages ended in divorce. Her third, in 1972, was to

, bridge journalist for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Truscott died in

New Russia Novorossiya, literally "New Russia", is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later become the southern mainland of Ukraine: the region immediately north of the Black Sea and Crimea. ...

, New York, of complications from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

Bridge career

She won her first "national championships" in 1959 as Dorothy Hayden, the Mixed Pairs with John Crawford and the Women Pairs with Betty Goldberg. She won four world titles as a player: the

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

in 1974, 1976 and 1978, and the World Women Team Olympiad in 1980. She was the non-playing captain of the winning American Venice Cup team in 1989. In 1965 (as Dorothy Hayden), Truscott became the second woman to play for North America or the United States 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 Wuh ...

world championship tournament for open teams. (As for

Helen Sobel Helen Elizabeth Sobel Smith (''née'' Martin; May 22, 1909 – September 11, 1969) was an American bridge player. She is said to have been the "greatest woman bridge player of all time" and "may well have been the most brilliant card player of ...

in 1957, her team finished second to Italy.) She was one of the main accusers in a major bridge scandal that involved allegations of cheating brought against the British pair of

Terence Reese John Terence Reese (28 August 1913 – 29 January 1996) was a British bridge player and writer, regarded as one of the finest of all time in both fields. He was born in Epsom, Surrey, England to middle-class parents, and was educated at Bradfiel ...

and

Boris Schapiro Boris Schapiro (22 August 1909 – 1 December 2002) was a British international bridge player. He was a Grandmaster of the World Bridge Federation, and the only player to have won both the Bermuda Bowl (the world championship for national teams) ...

. Truscott is the only female player to have won a medal in the

World Open Pairs Championship The World Open Pairs Championship is a contract bridge competition initiated in 1962 and held as part of the World Bridge Series Championships every four years. Open to all pairs without any quota restrictions on nationality, the championship is wi ...

, where she won a bronze medal in 1966. She won a silver medal at the Bermuda Bowl in 1965 and bronze medals at Women's Team Olympiads in 1968, 1972 and 1976 and the

World Women Pairs Championship The World Women Pairs Championship is a bridge championship held every four years as part of the World Bridge Championships. It is restricted to women pairs only. Results World meets commonly run for 15 days on a schedule whose details vary. In 2 ...

in 1962 and 1974. She wrote two books on bridge that became best-sellers: ''Bid Better, Play Better'' and ''Winning Declarer Play'' first published in 1966 and 1969 respectively; each was reprinted several times. She was a contributing editor to several editions of the ''

Official Encyclopedia of Bridge ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'' (OEB) presents comprehensive information on the card game contract bridge with limited information on related games and on playing cards. It is "official" in reference to the American Contract Bridge League ...

'' (Alan Truscott, Executive Editor) and wrote two books with Alan: ''Teach Yourself Basic Bidding'' in 1976 and ''The New York Times Bridge Book'' in 2002. She also published a historical novel in 2002, ''Hell Gate'', about early Dutch settlers in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

. Among new ideas attributed to Truscott are an unusual jump to show a singleton or void along with support in partner's suit (a

splinter bid In the card game "contract bridge", a splinter bid is a convention whereby a double jump response in a side-suit indicates excellent support (at least four cards), a singleton or void in that side-suit (but preferably not the ace or king), and at ...

) and responses to Blackwood after interference (DOPI). Both of the systems are now commonly found in bridge partnerships worldwide.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

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 ...

, 1998

Wins

* WBF

World Bridge Championships The World Bridge Championships consists of several sets of championships organized under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation. World Bridge Series Championships ''World Bridge Series Championships'' is the new 2010 name for a quadrennial me ...

(4) **

(3) 1974, 1976, 1978 ** World Women Team Olympiad (1) 1980 * ACBL

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 ...

(26) ** North American Swiss Teams (1) 1987 ** Master Mixed Teams (1) 1985 ** Women's Board-a-Match Teams (7) 1967, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1986, 1994 ** Women's Knockout Teams (4) 1976, 1982, 1990, 1993 ** Women's Swiss Teams (1) 1992 ** North American Women's Swiss Teams (2) 1982, 1984 **

Blue Ribbon Pairs The Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs (or simply the Blue Ribbon Pairs) is a national bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The event is restricted to those that have wo ...

(1) 1963 ** Life Master Pairs (1) 1964 **

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) 1962 ** Mixed Pairs (2) 1959, 1989 ** Life Master Women's Pairs (3) 1961, 1966, 1978 ** Women's Pairs (2) 1959, 1981

Runners-up

* WBF

(1) 1965 * ACBL

(18) ** Vanderbilt (1) 1964 **

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 ...

(2) 1965, 1968 ** North American Swiss Teams (1) 1994 ** Master Mixed Teams (4) 1957, 1960, 1967, 1972 ** Women's Board-a-Match Teams (3) 1963, 1964, 1988 ** Women's Knockout Teams (1) 1987 ** Women's Swiss Teams (1) 1995 ** Life Master Women's Pairs (1) 1972 ** Women's Pairs (3) 1968, 1976, 1988 ** Women's Pairs, Spring NABC (1) 1961

Publications

* * * Canadian edition: ''Bridge Bidding''. Toronto: Key Books. (1978), * (paper). * ;Audio-video * ''Play Bridge with Omar Sharif'' (Great Neck, NY: Best Film & Video, 1986) – tips by

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif ( ar, عمر الشريف ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the ...

with commentary by Truscott

References

External links

*
Women Stars
at the

World Bridge Federation The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the international governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competitions, most of which are conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle. The most prestigiou ...

– with biography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Truscott, Dorothy Hayden 1925 births 2006 deaths American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Venice Cup players Contract bridge writers Neurological disease deaths in New York (state) Deaths from Parkinson's disease Sportspeople from New York City Smith College alumni