Richard Pavlicek (born 1945) 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, teacher, and writer from

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, United States.

Career

Pavlicek began to play bridge in 1964 at the age of 18 while stationed in Stuttgart,

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, with the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Upon returning to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in 1966 he started to play in bridge tournaments in his spare time. Since then he has won over 400 events and accumulated more than 16,000

masterpoints Masterpoints or master points are points awarded by bridge organizations to individuals for success in competitive bridge tournaments run under their auspices. Generally, recipients must be members in good standing of the issuing organization. At t ...

. He is a Grand Life Master of the

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) and World International Master of the World Bridge Federation (WBF). Pavlicek has won 11

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 ...

, including a record-setting three straight wins in the Reisinger Board-a-Match Teams, 1982–84. In 1990, his team mounted a come-from-behind finish to win it again. He won the prestigious

Vanderbilt Trophy The trophy is awarded for the Vanderbilt Knockout Teams national bridge championship held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Vanderbilt is a knock-out team event. The event typicall ...

in 1983, 1986, and most recently in 1995 playing with a team that was arranged the day before the event. He won the inaugural 1973

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 ...

tournament and won the 1997 rendition too; one of his 1973 teammates was Billy Seamon and he played in 1997 with Billy's son Michael. His latest North American win was in 2004 when he and his son Rich became the first father–son partnership to win the Life Master Open Pairs. Pavlicek has written numerous bridge textbooks and lesson materials. He and William S. Root wrote ''Modern Bridge Conventions'', published in 1981 and still a best-seller in the bridge marketplace. He is also a bridge columnist and composer of bridge puzzles, and other novelties, which have appeared in a variety of publications. Since 1987, he has written the analysis booklet for the continent-wide ACBL "Instant Matchpoint" games. Since 2000, Pavlicek has conducted monthly bidding polls and play contests through his website, with thousands of regular participants from over 90 countries.

Personal

Richard and his wife of 40 years, Mabel, were not only a partnership in life but also in bridge teaching. Together, as the Pavlicek School of Bridge, they taught thousands of students in South Florida, some of whom won national titles. In 2006 he retired from teaching to be with his wife, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, until her death in September 2015.

Bridge accomplishments

Wins

(11) ** Vanderbilt (3) 1983, 1986, 1995 **

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 ( ...

(4) 1982, 1983, 1984, 1990 **

(2) 1973, 1997 **

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 a ...

(1) 1992 ** Life Master Open Pairs (1) 2004

Runners-up

(8) ** Vanderbilt (1) 2003 **

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 ...

(1) 1978 **

(1) 1992 ** North American Men's Swiss Teams (1) 1984 ** Life Master Pairs (2) 1995, 1998 **

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 ...

(1) 1982 **

Edgar Kaplan 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) 2022 * United States Bridge Championships (3) ** Open Team Trials (3) 1984, 1987, 1992

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavlicek, Richard 1945 births American contract bridge players Contract bridge writers United States Army soldiers Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Writers from Fort Lauderdale, Florida