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Hubert Phillips (13 December 1891 – 9 January 1964) was a British economist, journalist, broadcaster, bridge player and organiser, composer of puzzles and quizzes, and the author of some 70 books.


Life


Education and early career

Phillips was educated at
Sexey's School Sexey's School is a Church of England, co-educational state boarding and day school in Bruton, Somerset, England for 11-18 year olds. Sexey's School is named after Hugh Sexey who, in 1599, was appointed as a Royal auditor to Elizabeth I and la ...
,
Bruton Bruton ( ) is a market town, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, 10 ...
, and
Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...
, where he read History and Economics, taking a first class degree. He served in the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
with the
Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...
throughout
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. After the war, he became Head of the Department of Economics at
Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
and Head of Extra-Mural Studies 1919–24; he was Director, Liberal Research Dept 1924; Economic Adviser and Secretary, Liberal Industrial Inquiry 1924–28; and adviser to the Parliamentary
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
1926-8. He stood as a Liberal Party candidate in 1929 at
Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...
. He joined the ''
News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...
'' in 1930.


Later career

Phillips' later career was as a journalist, broadcaster, freelance author, and organiser. Phillips was the founder (1932) and editor (1936–39) of the ''British Bridge World'', and a pioneer of bridge organisation in England. He was the first chairman of the English Bridge Union in 1936. He was a key person in setting up the first Anglo-American match ( Buller v Culbertson). He was the devisor and co-presenter of the first ever bridge programs on television,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
1936. These were programs which involved discussion of pre-selected hands, displayed on boards, followed by their bidding and play by expert pairs. Some of the hands were taken from famous matches, others were devised by Phillips. After play, comparison might be made, for example, with the play on the same hand in the Beasley–Culbertson match. The series was thought to be a great success, though of course viewership was limited in those days. As an author (the greater part of his income) he wrote on bridge, and on general knowledge, intellectual, mathematical and bridge puzzles and quizzes. Chess, he said, was his favourite game, but he wrote little on that subject. He wrote over 100 crime stories. He composed thousands of puzzles, both mathematical and inferential, and about 6000 crosswords. He wrote on bridge for the ''News Chronicle'' as 'Nine-spot', as well as being (by his own testimony) the chief
leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
writer for the paper for several years during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He also contributed to ''The Nation'' and ''The New Statesman'' as 'Caliban'. He was the editor of the London early editions of Ely Culbertson's ''Contract Bridge Blue Book''. He broadcast regularly on
BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
– on Transatlantic Quiz and its offshoot
Round Britain Quiz ''Round Britain Quiz'' (or ''RBQ'' for short) is a panel game that has been broadcast on BBC Radio since 1947, making it the oldest quiz still broadcast on British radio. It was based on a format called ''Transatlantic Quiz'', a contest betwee ...
and later, on occasion,
The Brains Trust ''The Brains Trust'' was an informational BBC radio and later television programme popular in the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 1950s, on which a panel of experts tried to answer questions sent in by the audience. History The series was ...
. In his heyday he earned a five-figure income; but in later years a fondness for drink and gaming led to a decline in his fortunes. Phillips as a bridge writer and as an organiser was always in competition with A.E. Manning Foster, who had been a professional player since the days of auction bridge, and was the bridge correspondent of ''
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'' (fou ...
''. Each of them founded a magazine (Foster's was the ''Bridge Magazine'') and a duplicate bridge organisation (Phillips' was the National Bridge Association, founded 1933). It was not until after WWII that the two organisations were unified. He helped
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 ...
on his first steps to becoming a professional contract bridge player, and co-authored several books with him. Phillips donated the Hubert Phillips Bowl for the English Mixed Teams Championship. This competition has been played annually since 1937, with the exception of 1939–46, and is the only major event in the country played with aggregate scoring.


Opinions of colleagues

:"For many years Phillips was internationally the most eminent author of intellectual and mathematical
puzzles A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle ...
under the name "Caliban" and "Dogberry", and of
cryptic crosswords A cryptic crossword is a crossword, crossword puzzle in which each clue is a word puzzle. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they originated, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth of Na ...
." :"He never lost his courtesy and good humour... he had a largeness of spirit that one seldom sees in this game or indeed in these times." :"Oh, yes, bridge players owe a lot to Hubert Phillips, particularly in the South
f England F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...
where he organised and founded the English Bridge Union and the Duplicate Bridge Control Board." H. St John IngramIngram, H. St John 1952. Personality of the month: Hubert Phillips. ''Contract Bridge Journal'', February 1952. p8


Personal life

Phillips was married twice: in 1919, to Margery Davies, who died in 1959, with whom he had a son, John, who died in 1961; and in 1961 to Madeleine Bartlett.


Selected works


Bridge

*
Ely Culbertson Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was wide ...
, edited by Hubert Phillips 1932. ''Contract Bridge Blue Book''. Faber and Faber. London. *Ely Culbertson, Foreword by Hubert Phillips 1933. ''Britain v. America: Contract Bridge Championship of 1933''. News Chronicle Publications Department. London. *Ely Culbertson, edited by Hubert Phillips 1933. ''Contract Bridge For Auction Players''. Faber and Faber. London. *Harold Thorne, Fourth edition revised and enlarged by "Petronius" (Hubert Phillips), 1939. ''Thorne's Complete Contract Bridge''. Eyre & Spottiswoode, London. *Aileen McCabe, Foreword by Hubert Phillips, 1933. ''Contract Without Tears''. Faber and Faber. London. *Jordanis Pavlides, Foreword by M. Kissa and Hubert Phillips, ''One-Page Guide to Bidding''. Games Publishers Ltd. London. *Phillips, Hubert 1951. ''Bridge at Ruff's Club''. edited by Terence Reese. Batchworth. London *Phillips, Hubert 1959. ''Bridge is Only a Game''. Parrish, London. Illustrated by Pearl Falconer *Phillips, Hubert 1960. ''Bridge with Goren''. Citadel Press. New York. Contributions by
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 " ...
. *Phillips, Hubert 1939. ''Brush up Your Bridge''. Dent, London. Illustrated by Ward. *Phillips, Hubert 1962. ''Making Bridge Pay: how to win at rubber bridge''. Parrish, London. *Phillips, Hubert 1932. ''One Hundred Contract Bridge Hands''. Faber and Faber. London. *Phillips, Hubert 1934. ''You Can Play and Laugh''. Faber, London. *Phillips, Hubert and Terence Reese 1952. ''Bridge with Mr Playbetter''. Batchworth. London *Phillips, Hubert and Terence Reese 1937. ''The Elements of Contract''. British Bridge World. London. Edition 1. *Phillips, Hubert and Terence Reese 1948. ''The Elements of Contract''. Eyre and Spottiswoodie. London. Edition 2. *Phillips, Hubert and Terence Reese 1945. ''How to Play Bridge''. Penguin. London. *Phillips, Hubert and Bernard Westall 1934. ''Two Hundred Hands from Match Play: an annotated case-book for contract bridge''. De La Rue; Faber and Faber. London.


Other subjects

*Phillips, Hubert 1921. ''The development of a residential qualification for representatives in colonial legislatures''. Abingdon, Cincinnati, OH. eveloped as a Columbia University doctoral dissertation*Phillips, Hubert, Shovelton S.T. & Marshall G.S. 1933. ''Caliban's problem book: mathematical, inferential and cryptographic puzzles''. De La Rue, London. *Phillips, Hubert 1936. ''Brush Up Your Wits''. J M Dent, London. *Phillips, Hubert 1941. ''Charteris Royal''. Gollancz, London. thriller*Phillips, Hubert and Westall B.C. 1945. ''The complete book of card games''. Witherby, London. *Phillips, Hubert 1945. ''Something to think about''. Penguin (Ptarmigan Books), Harmondsworth. A book of puzzles that sold over 100,000 copies. *Phillips, Hubert 1945. ''Word play''. Penguin, Harmondsworth. *Phillips, Hubert 1948. ''Who wrote that?'' Penguin, Harmondsworth. *Phillips, Hubert 1947. ''Chipwinkle: 100 Crosswords with solutions''. Penguin, Harmondsworth. -words are by Phillips; book includes a spoof biography of 'Eugene Chipwinkle' *Phillips, Hubert and Falconer, Pearl (1949). ''Meet William Shakespeare''. Cornleaf, London. *Phillips, Hubert 1950. ''Round Britain Quiz''. Hamilton, London. *Phillips, Hubert 1951. ''The Hubert Phillips Annual 1951''. compendium of puzzles and quizzes*Phillips, Hubert 1958. ''The Penguin Hoyle: a book of indoor games''. Penguin, C. *Golombek, H. and Hubert Phillips 1959. ''Chess''. Witherby. *Phillips, Hubert 1960. ''The Pan book of card games''. Pan, London. *Phillips, Hubert 1960. ''100 Crossword puzzles (the Hubert Phillips Crossword puzzle book)''. Penguin, Harmondsworth. *Phillips, Hubert 1960. ''Profitable poker: the mathematics and psychology of playing a winning game''. Arco, NY. *Phillips, Hubert 1960. ''Journey to nowhere''. MacGibbon & Kee, London. discursive autobiography, which concentrates on his early days*Phillips, Hubert 1961. ''My best puzzles in logic and reasoning''. Dover, NY. *Phillips, Hubert 1961. ''My best puzzles in mathematics''. Dover, NY. *Phillips, Hubert 1992. ''Mathematische puzzles: Homo ludens''. Munich.


References


External links


"The Chess-loving Puzzle-master"
by Edward Winter (chesshistory.com) * (1928–1972) {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Hubert 1891 births 1964 deaths British economists British and Irish contract bridge players Contract bridge writers Puzzle designers British broadcasters British male journalists English crime fiction writers Academics of the University of Bristol Alumni of Merton College, Oxford 20th-century English novelists British male novelists 20th-century English male writers Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Card game book writers People educated at Sexey's School Essex Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of World War I