James Oswald Jacoby (April 4, 1933 – February 8, 1991) 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 and writer. He played as Jim Jacoby but he wrote books as James and for many years co-wrote a syndicated bridge column with his father as "Jacoby on Bridge" by Oswald and James Jacoby. (He wrote a re-branded newspaper bridge column after his father's death.) He won 16 "national" (ACBL) championships, first at age 22 in 1955, and he was the most successful ACBL tournament player (s leader) during 1988. Jacoby may have inherited talent and interest in games not only from his legendary father

Oswald Jacoby Oswald "Ozzie", "Jake" Jacoby (December 8, 1902 – June 27, 1984) was an American contract bridge player and author, considered one of the greatest bridge players of all time and a key innovator in the game, having helped popularize widely used bi ...

. He and his mother Mary Zita Jacoby co-wrote ''The New York Times Book of Backgammon'' (1973). Jacoby graduated from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. He was a long-time resident of Texas and an original, 1968 member of the professional bridge team formed by Texas businessman Ira Corn, variously known as the Aces, Dallas Aces, and Texas Aces. Jacoby was a resident of

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University of ...

, when he died of cancer in a Dallas hospital at age 58. He was survived by his wife Judy, his son Jim Jacoby, Jr., and his brother Jon. In competition Jacoby was a member of four world champions. The Aces won 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 ...

both in 1970 as U.S. representative and in 1971 as defending champion. United States won the 8th quadrennial

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 ...

in 1988 (its first win in the open flight, in a field of 56 national teams). Jacoby also led the winning mixed team in 1972 as playing captain. At Jacoby won world silver medals in the 1966 Open Pairs with Dr. John Fisher and in the 1978 Mixed Pairs with Heitie Noland (quadrennial events in non-Olympic even years). Jacoby 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 ...

in 1997.

Bridge accomplishments

Awards and honors

* Barry Crane Trophy, 1988 * ACBL Hall of Fame, 1997"Induction by Year"
''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-10.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacoby, James Oswald 1933 births 1991 deaths Writers from New York City American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Contract bridge writers University of Notre Dame alumni People from Richardson, Texas