Paul Lukacs (born Lukács Pàl; he, פאול לוקאץ'; 23 April 1918 – 1982) ''Palestine, Illegal Immigration from German-Occupied Europe, 1938-1945 (USHMM)'' was a Hungarian-Israeli mathematician, analyst and composer of problems in the "play of the hand" at

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 ...

. Some consider him "the best bridge player ever away from the table", as defined by Victor Mollo. He specialized in single dummy problems. Lukacs was born in

Rimavská Sobota Rimavská Sobota (; hu, Rimaszombat, german: Großsteffelsdorf) is a town in southern Slovakia, in the Banská Bystrica Region, on the Rimava river. It has approximately 24,000 inhabitants. The town is a historical capital of Gömör és Kishon ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(now

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

) in 1918, the son of Friedrich Lukács and Katrine Grünwald. He later moved to

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and was part of a boom of brilliant bridge players in Central Europe. His Austrian ''Wunderteam'' won four European titles in six years from 1932–37. But the Jewish Lukacs was forced to flee Europe in 1939 to escape Nazism, immigrating to Palestine. He was first placed in a detention camp for illegal immigration, but managed to stay despite an order of deportation. However, he then struggled to find bridge players worthy of his caliber. Singe dummy problems simulate the task that declarer faces in playing a bridge hand. Besides his hand he sees only dummy and has to make the best plan to make the contract, based on inferences from the bidding and from the opponents play. The single dummy problem reflects the challenges encountered by a declarer when dummy is tabled. In some single dummy problems the solver is required to look for a line of play which works for all possible distributions, while in others he has to find the plan which has the maximum success probability. Top players are often excellent single dummy problem solvers. He contributed regularly to the leading journal ''

The Bridge World ''The Bridge World'' (TBW), the oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge, was founded in 1929 by Ely Culbertson. It has since been regarded as the game's principal journal, publicizing technical advances in bidding and the pla ...

'' and wrote several problem books well known in bridge literature. His most lasting contribution to bridge literature was as co-author of ''Spotlight on Card Play'' (with Robert Darvas), the first post-war problem collection to highlight expert thought processes. He died in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

in 1982.

Publications

* * ''The second book of bridge problems: Single Dummy Plays'', Ewart Kempson and Lukacs (Nicholas Vane, London, 1962) * ''Third Pocket Book of Bridge Problems: Improve your dummy play'', Eric C. Milnes and Lukacs (Kaye & Ward, London, 1969) * ''The Fourth Collection of Interesting Bridge Problems: Bridge Hands for the Connoisseur'', Eric Milnes and Lukacs (Kaye & Ward, London, 1974) * ''Test Your Play as Declarer'', Lukacs and

Jeff Rubens Jeff Rubens (born 1941) is an American bridge player, editor, and writer of books including ''Secrets of Winning Bridge'' and ''Expert Bridge Simplified''. He is best known for long association with ''The Bridge World'' monthly magazine, as co-edit ...

(Hart, 1977) * ''Learn to Play Bridge'', Milnes and Lukacs (Kaye & Ward, 1977) * ''Test Your Play as Declarer: Volume 2'',

and Lukacs (Devyn Press, 1982)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lukacs, Paul 1918 births 1982 deaths Contract bridge writers Israeli contract bridge players Jewish contract bridge players Hungarian Jews People from Rimavská Sobota Date of death missing Yugoslav emigrants to Hungary Hungarian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine

Publications

See also

References

External links