Kenneth Walter "Konnie" Konstam (born Adolf Walter Konstam; 25 February 1906 – 21 May 1968) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

international

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 who won seven international titles. In 1955 he played on the only Great Britain team to win 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 W ...

(the world championship) and he won more

European Bridge League The European Bridge League is a confederation of National Bridge Federations (NBFs) that organize the card game of contract bridge in European nations. In turn the EBL organizes bridge competition at the European level. It is a member of the Europ ...

open championships than any other British player. Konstam, educated at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. The school has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City ...

, was employed for a time as a stockbroker in the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

. He was for many years an executive of the De La Rue company, which made

playing cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a f ...

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

and

banknotes A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

(the playing card business was eventually sold to

Waddingtons Waddingtons was a British manufacturer of card and board games. The company was founded by John Waddington of Leeds, England and the manager, actor and playwright Wilson Barrett, under the name ''Waddingtons Limited''. The name was changed in ...

). 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 ...

during World War II, reaching the rank of Major. His fluent French qualified him to act as Liaison Officer to the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

after D-Day.Ramsey, Guy. 1955. ''Aces All''. Museum Press, London. p. 65 ''et seq.''

Bridge career

Konstam was a key member of the London-based

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

bridge team which won the Bermuda Bowl in 1955, the first occasion a European team had beaten the United States in this competition, and the ''only'' victory for a British team in this, the world championship for teams of four. His main partner in the event was

Leslie Dodds Leslie William Dodds (2 February 1903 – 1975) was an English international bridge player and, by profession, an import-export merchant, from London. He was a member of the British team which won the Bermuda Bowl in 1955. In his youth he was a ches ...

. Konstam was described by Ramsey that year as "about the best pragmatic player in the game today". His bidding and play was rapid and direct in style; he was known for bidding borderline games, and for his acute tactical awareness at the table. Konstam also represented Great Britain in the World Championship 1937; the Bermuda Bowl 1950, 1962, 1965; the World Olympiad 1964; and the European Championship 12 times (a record), winning in 1948, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1961, 1963 (the first six of Britain's seven wins). He won the Gold Cup five times: 1949, 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1965. He was one of the proponents of a bidding system known as CAB, in which the responder to a strong artificial 2C opening immediately identifies an Ace in hand, if any. The 'B' stood for Blackwood; otherwise, the system was mostly natural, with strong no-trump opening bids, and forcing jump raises as in the older version of

Standard American Standard American is a bidding system for the game of bridge widely used in North America and elsewhere. Owing to the popularization of the game by Charles Goren in the 1940s and 1950s, its early versions were sometimes referred to simply as 'G ...

. He was bridge editor for the '' Sunday Times'' for many years. Konstam also played

rubber bridge Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...

, which for many years was a good source of income. He had one attribute not given to all experts, namely, a great ability to partner weaker players. Many clients were surprised and delighted to find themselves winning a tournament where they would normally be back-markers.

Schapiro's opinion

In an article written in 1951

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) ...

said of Konstam: :"Superb dummy player and defender, erratic and undisciplined bidder; is liable to and does in fact 'bring in' a lot of points. Very difficult to play against but concentration is bad." In 1962, he updated his article: :"He is still a most formidable opponent, a very good dummy player and superb defender. He makes mistakes nowadays but is fast and hard to get the better of. I still prefer him on my side rather than against me."Schapiro, Boris. 1962. ''Contract bridge journal'', reprinted in Hasenson P. ''British Bridge Almanack'' 2004. 77, London. pp. 63–64.

Death

Konstam died in 1968 in Juan-les-Pins, France, where he had gone to partner Baron Egmont von Dewitz of Germany in an international tournament.

Books

Konstam wrote two volumes in the Teach Yourself Books series. * ''Teach Yourself Canasta'' (London: English Universities Press, 1951), 153 pp. * ''Teach Yourself Card Games for Two'' (English Universities, 1954) 150 pp. – with several reprints including ''Play and Win Card Games for Two'' (Toronto: Coles, 1978) : 2nd edition, ''Card Games for Two'', David Sidney Parlett and Konstam ( Hodder & Stoughton; New York: David McKay, 1978), 177 pp. * ''How to Play Calypso'', or ''How to Play Calypso: the new British card game'' (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1954), 71 pp. * ''Enquire Within: a history and guide to card playing'', compiled by Konstam (London: Thomas De La Rue & Co., 1957), 72 pp. ;Pamphlets * ''The C.A.B. System of Bidding at Bridge'' (London: Sunday Times, 1959), 6 pp. – "a resumé by Kenneth Konstam"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Konstam, Kenneth 1906 births 1968 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British and Irish contract bridge players English contract bridge players Bridge players from London Contract bridge writers Bermuda Bowl players People from Marylebone