Eric R. Murray (31 August 1928 in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

– 19 May 2018) was a Canadian

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...

player and co-founder of the Canadian Bridge Federation (CBF). He and his long-time regular partner Sami Kehela were considered two of the best Canadian players in the history of the game. The Eric R. Murray Trophy, named in his honour, is awarded to the open team representing Canada in the quadrennial World Team Olympiad (continued after 2004 as part of the

World Mind Sports Games The World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) was a multi-sport event created by the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) as a "stepping stone on the path of introducing a third kind of Olympic Games" after the Summer and the Winter Olympics". Th ...

). Murray was one of "four young bridge experts led by

Robert F. Jordan Robert Francis Jordan (October 31, 1927 – January 10, 2004)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''. Social Security Administration. was an American bridge player. During the 1960s he played on three North America or USA open teams that were ru ...

" who won the annual

Vanderbilt Cup The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. History An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held on October 8 on a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, ...

in 1961, when it was contested in a 64- double-elimination tournament. Murray was already a Toronto lawyer; his bridge partner Charles Coon was manager of the Boston Chess Club. The same quartet tied for second in the

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 ( ...

later that year and Coon–Murray went on to qualify for the 6-man North America team in the 1962 Bermuda Bowl, in which they finished second to Italy's Blue Team. Between 1962 and 1974, Murray placed second in four

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 ...

s, three times with Kehela. Unique among world players, Murray and Kehela also represented their country as a partnership in every one of the first six World Team Olympiads, from Turin in 1960 to Valkenburg in 1980. Together they won the Life Master Men's Pairs, the Life Master Pairs, the Vanderbilt, and the Spingold Trophy three times. They were also runners-up in 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 t ...

(ACBL) 1969 Blue Ribbon Pairs. It was said that the key to their successful partnership was that each thought the other the better player. Murray and Agnes Gordon won the ACBL's premier annual Mixed Pairs tournament in 1963. 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 (to 2009)."Bridge: Remembering Agnes Gordon, Master of the Tough Choice"
Philip Alder. ''The New York Times''. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2014. In Chicago at the 1965 Nationals (thrice-annual 10-day meets now called

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 ...

), Murray led a group of Canadian organizers and enthusiasts to create the Canadian Bridge Federation. Initial meetings were held in Murray's home and the organization ran its first national final in Winnipeg in September 1967. Murray was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2001 along with Kehela and into the CBF Hall of Fame in 2010. As part of the ACBL 75th anniversary celebration in 2012, he was ranked the 30th most influential personality in the organization history. He lived in Toronto where he had an active law practice as a barrister and solicitor.

Anecdote

During the Bermuda Bowl scandal of 1975 when two Italian players were caught passing information by tapping toes, Murray sent a telegram to the USA team saying he was available to play as an expert player. And he noted, "I wear a size 13 shoe." Murray was an expert witness in a criminal case involving whether bridge was a game of chance or skill. The Court of Appeal for Ontario (the province's highest court) stated of Mr. Murray: “His qualifications as an expert on the game of bridge are impressive.” In referring to this statement, Justice Spence of the Supreme Court of Canada found "that description may be said to be, at any rate, not put too strongly."

Bridge accomplishments

Honours

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 2001"Induction by Year"
''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 16 November 2014. * Canadian Bridge Federation Hall of Fame, 2010

Wins

(14) **

von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs The Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). Usually called simply the "Life Master Pairs" or "LM Pairs", this is a six-ses ...

(1) 1969 **

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 ...

(1) 1963 **

Wernher Open Pairs The Wernher Open Pairs national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). Typically starting on the Tuesday of the NABC, the Wernher Open Pairs is a four session ma ...

(2) 1954, 1955 ** Nail Life Master Open Pairs (1) 1963 ** Vanderbilt (2) 1961, 1970 **

Marcus Cup The Marcus Cup was a two-session open team event contested by Senior Masters at the American Contract Bridge League’s summer North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments spon ...

(1) 1959 **

Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams The Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams national bridge championship is held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). It is an open four session board-a-match event with two qualifying sessions and two ...

(1) 1962 ** Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (2) 1956, 1962 **

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 ...

(3) 1964, 1965, 1968

Runners-up

(1) 1965 ** Blue Ribbon Pairs (1) 1969 ** Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (1) 1955 **

(3) 1961, 1969, 1972

References

External links

* – with video interview * * Edgar Kaplan in an interview with Audrey Grant * (audio-video) * (audio-video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Eric 1928 births 2018 deaths Canadian contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Lawyers in Ontario Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian King's Counsel