Peter M. Weichsel (born 1943) is an American professional

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 from

Encinitas, California Encinitas (Spanish language, Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County (San Diego area), North County area of San Diego County, California. Located within Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego, between ...

College and war years

Early Weichsel started playing bridge at home with his family, but did not get hooked until 1963 when he was a student at

Queens College, New York Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

. He dropped out of college and became a Life Master in 1964. His bridge career was interrupted by the Vietnam War. He served two years duty in the Navy as a

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attache ...

driver aboard the , responsible for moving large bombs out of the

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (ship), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Fermat ...

. After discharge, he lived in San Francisco in a fleabag hotel and became an "active member" of the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

. He felt this was a transforming experience and to the present describes himself as a reformed

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

The Precision Team and Hall of Fame

Weichsel returned to New York and bridge playing in the mid-1960s. His appearance, with puka shells around his neck, "really long" straight hair, beads and bell bottoms, caused "the ultra-straight bridge community" to give him "tons of strange looks...and an occasional shake of the head." He did not get a haircut until 1980. Seen as a young renegade, Weichsel feels that his looks may have helped his results, lulling unknowing opponents into thinking he could not have been much of a bridge player. He came to prominence in 1970 as a member of C.C. Wei's "

Precision Precision, precise or precisely may refer to: Science, and technology, and mathematics Mathematics and computing (general) * Accuracy and precision, measurement deviation from true value and its scatter * Significant figures, the number of digit ...

Team" team, a group of young American players that won the

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 ...

, defeating the defending champions who were also 1970 Bermuda Bowl champions. The bridge world was described as being in disbelief by their victory. When he won the 2019 Mitchell BAM, he had the distinction of winning a national title in every decade since the 1970s. Weichsel 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 2004."Induction by Year"
''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-16.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 2004

Awards

Fishbein Trophy The Fishbein Trophy is awarded to the player who wins the greatest number of masterpoints at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History The Fishbein Trophy was donated by the ACBL in memo ...

(2) 1980, 2000

Wins

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 ...

(2) 1983, 2001 * World Mixed Pairs (1) 1990 *

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 ...

(25) **

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 ...

(2) 1977, 1984 **

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 ...

(1) 1993 **

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 ...

(2) 1980, 1984 **

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) 1971 **

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 ...

(1) 2003 ** Vanderbilt (4) 1972, 1985, 1989, 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 ...

(5) 1979, 1987, 1996, 2001, 2019 **

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 ...

(3) 1976, 1989, 2001 **

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 ( ...

(1) 1973 **

(6) 1970, 1971, 1980, 1982, 1992, 2000

Runners-up

(19) **

(1) 1972 **

Lebhar IMP Pairs The Lebhar IMP Pairs national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Lebhar IMP Pairs is a four-session IMP pairs event with two qualifying and two final sess ...

(1) 1987 **

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 ...

(1) 1983 **

(1) 1989 **

(2) 2000, 2001 **

Jacoby Open Swiss Teams The Jacoby Open Swiss Teams national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Jacoby Open Swiss Teams is a four session Swiss Teams event with two qualifying ...

(1) 2000 ** Vanderbilt (3) 1975, 1981, 2008 **

(2) 1968, 1990 **

(1) 2004 **

(2) 1983, 1998 **

(4) 1985, 1988, 1991, 2003

References

External links

* – with video interview * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weichsel, Peter 1943 births American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players People from Encinitas, California Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people)