Larry Neil Cohen (born April 14, 1959) is 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, writer and teacher. He is best known as an advocate for the "

Law of Total Tricks In contract bridge, the Law of total tricks (abbreviated here as LoTT) is a guideline used to help determine how high to bid in a competitive auction. It is not really a law (because counterexamples are easy to find) but a method of hand evalua ...

" as a guide in the . He has won 25

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 ...

(NABC) events including the Vanderbilt, two

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 ...

s, two

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 ( ...

s, three Life Master Pairs, and four

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 ...

, and he is a two-time winner of the Cavendish Invitational Pairs cash prize tournament. Cohen's most important work on "the Law" was ''To Bid or Not to Bid: The LAW of Total Tricks'', published in 1992. It was the best-selling bridge book of the 1990s with more than 90,000 copies sold in six different languages and its sequel ''Following the Law'' was another bridge best seller. He is known for long-term expert partnerships with Marty Bergen, Ron Gerard, and

David Berkowitz David Richard Berkowitz (born Richard David Falco, June 1, 1953), also known as the Son of Sam and .44 Caliber Killer, is an American serial killer who pleaded guilty to eight shootings that began in New York City on July 29, 1976. Berkowitz ...

, but announced his retirement from high-level competition in 2009 to devote more time to writing and teaching the game. However, he has, on occasion, played in high-level competition thereafter. Cohen was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He learned to play bridge at age six with his grandparents and brother Paul Cohen, started playing duplicate at age 14, and began playing in tournaments at age 15. He became an

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 th ...

(ACBL) Life Master at age 17. He now makes a living as a bridge teacher, often on cruise ships and as a guest speaker/teacher at country clubs and bridge clubs across the United States and around the world. In March 2020 he and his team successfully transitioned into live webinars. He writes monthly columns titled ''The Real Deal'' and ''Bidding Basics'', in the ACBL ''Bridge Bulletin''. An extensive list of bridge articles and information can be found on his website and in his regular newsletters. He currently resides with his wife, Maria Eugenia, in

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles ...

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 ...

, 2020 * Sidney H. Lazard Jr. Sportsmanship Award 2003

Awards

* ACBL Named in Top 52 Most Influential People of Bridge 2013 * ACBL Honorary Member of the Year 2011 * ACBL Sportsman of the Year 2003 * ITES Award (Best Defended Hand of the Year) 2003 (Winning Journalist) * ACBL Player of the Year 2002 * Romex Award (Best Bid Hand of the Year) 1995, 2000 * Precision Award (Best Defended Hand of the Year) 1996 * ABTA Winner of seven+ Book/Software of the Year Awards

Wins

(25) **

Grand National Teams The Grand National Teams (GNT) North American bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Grand National Teams is a team knockout event. The event is broken into ...

(3) 1994, 2007, 2008 **

(4) 1981, 1983, 1988, 1995 **

Keohane North American Swiss Teams The Keohane North American Swiss Teams bridge championship is held at the fall 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. I ...

(1) 1999 **

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 Championships, North American Bridge Championship (NABC). It is an open four session board-a-match event ...

(3) 1984, 1991, 2007 **

Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match The Mixed Board-a-Match Teams is a bridge competition held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). From 2010 the event is officially the Freeman Mixed Board-a-Match Teams, as it is contested ...

(1) 2002 **

Nail Life Master Open Pairs The Nail Life Master Open Pairs is a North American bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The championship is a Matchpoints pairs event restricted to players with a ...

(1) 1983 **

(2) 1985, 1991 **

Silodor Open Pairs The Silodor Open Pairs national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Silodor Open Pairs is a four session matchpoint (MP) pairs event with two qualifying ...

(3) 2004, 2006, 2009 **

(2) 1981, 1984 ** Vanderbilt (1) 2005 **

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 ...

(1) 1996 **

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 ...

(3) 1987, 1988, 1996 * United States Bridge Championships (1) ** Open Team Trials (1) 2000 * Other notable wins: **

Buffett Cup The Buffett Cup is a bridge trophy which is awarded biennially in an event between teams from Europe and the United States. The tournament is modeled on the Ryder Cup golf competition and is held in the week preceding the golf event at a nearby l ...

(1) 2006 ** Cavendish Invitational Teams (2) 1988, 1994 ** Pan American Open Teams (1) 1992 ** Cap Gemini World Top Invitational Pairs (1) 1999 ** Cavendish Invitational Pairs (2) 1984, 1989 ** Goldman Pairs (1) 1983

Runners-up

World Open Pairs 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 ...

(1) 1998 *

(22) **

North American Pairs The North American Pairs (NAP) is a set of annual North American championships for contested over two days at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championships (NABC). The events are restricted to pairs that have ...

(2) 1980, 1984 **

(1) 1991 **

(1) 1996 **

(1) 2006 **

(2) 1990, 2008 **

(1) 1994 **

(3) 1986, 1991, 2002 **

(3) 2002, 2004, 2007 **

(2) 1979, 2002 **

(2) 1983, 2009 ** Vanderbilt (4) 1990, 1993, 1998, 2004 * United States Bridge Championships (4) ** Open Team Trials (4) 1985, 1998, 2002, 2008 * Other notable 2nd places: ** Cavendish Invitational Teams (2) 1986, 2000 ** Goldman Pairs (1) 1991

Selected works

;Books * ''Larry Teaches Modern Bidding Vol. I, II, and III (Self-Published 2020) ABTA Award Winner * ''On The Other Hand'' Co-written with David Bird (2019) ABTA Award Winner * ''On The Other Hand - Defense'' Co-written with David Bird (2020) ABTA Award Winner * ''Tricks of the Trade'' (2018) ABTA Award Winner * ''Larry Teaches Declarer Play at Suit Contracts'' (Self-Published March 2017) * ''Larry Teaches Declarer Play at Notrump'' (Self-Published April 2016) * ''Larry Teaches Defense'' (Self-Published March 2015) * ''Larry Teaches Opening Leads'' (Self-Published October 2014) ABTA Award Winner * ''Larry Teaches Doubles and Redoubles'' (Self-Published October 2013) * ''Larry Teaches 2/1 Game Force'' (Self-Published April 2012) * ''My Favorite 52'' (Toronto:

Master Point Press Master Point Press is a Canadian book publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It grew out of Canadian Master Point magazine (1992–1997), which was published by Ray and Linda Lee. The company began publishing books in 1994. While ...

, 2009) * ''Larry Cohen's Bidding Challenge'' (Toronto:

, 2002) * ''Introduction to the Law'' ( Devyn Press, 1997) * ''Bridge Below the Belt'', Cohen and Liz Davis (Boca Raton, FL: Natco, 1997) * ''Following the LAW: The Total Tricks Sequel'' (Little Falls, NJ: Natco Press, 1995; (c) 1994) * ''To Bid or Not to Bid: The LAW of Total Tricks'' (Stamford, CT: Platinum Press, 1992) ABTA Award Winner ;Interactive CD ROMs *''The Real Deal Advanced'' (2010) ABTA Award Winner *''The Real Deal Intermediate'' (2010) ABTA Award Winner *''Play Bridge with Larry Cohen (1999 Life Master Pairs)'' Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 ABTA Award Winner *''My Favorite 52'' (2005) ABTA Award Winner ;CDs *''Talking Bridge'' (2012) ABTA Award Winner ;DVDs *''Including: Larry Teaches Third-Hand Play, Second-Hand Play, Signals, Opening Leads, Defensive Planning, Declarer Play at Notrump, Declarer Play at Suit Contracts Draw or Not Draw Trump, 2/1 Game Force, Takeout Doubles, and Slam Bidding.'' (2019) ABTA Award Winner -Technology of the Year

References

External links

* *
Audio-video presentation by Cohen
of partner David Berkowitz for

induction (uploaded July 24, 2010, by Cohen) * – among several under 'Cohen, Larry' without '1959-', on the previous page of the browse report {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Larry 1959 births American contract bridge players Contract bridge writers Writers from New York City Living people