George Rapée
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George Nicholas Rapée (May 22, 1915 – April 1, 1999) was an American
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
player. From 1942 to 1980 he was the most successful player in 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 the ...
(ACBL) in its three most important tournaments, the Vanderbilt, Spingold, and Reisinger. He played on the American teams that won the first three
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 Wu ...
s, 1950 to 1953.


Life

Rapée was born and raised in New York City. His parents were from Hungary; his father Erno Rapée was a concert pianist and orchestra conductor. He earned bachelor's and law degrees at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
and served in the
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
for three years during World War II. He was an attorney and real estate investor or, in the words of his obituary by
Alan Truscott Alan Fraser Truscott (16 April 1925 – 4 September 2005) was a British-American bridge player, writer, and editor. He wrote the daily bridge column for ''The New York Times'' for 41 years, from 1964 to 2005, and served as Executive Editor for th ...
, "a real estate lawyer ... assembling properties for development". He died at his home in Floral City, Florida, age 83, survived by his wife Joellen Hall Rapée, a daughter, and two grandsons.


Bridge career

Rapée is known as the man who invented the
Stayman convention Stayman is a bidding convention in the card game contract bridge. It is used by a partnership to find a 4-4 or 5-3 trump fit in a suit after making a one (1NT) opening bid and it has been adapted for use after a 2NT opening, a 1NT overcall, a ...
that is named for
Sam Stayman Samuel M. Stayman (May 28, 1909 – December 11, 1993) was an American bridge player, writer, and administrator. He is best known for Stayman, one of the world's most popular conventions; indeed, a day after writing his obituary Alan Truscott cal ...
. (It was first published in 1945 under Stayman's name. One of the world's most popular bridge conventions, generally as "Stayman", it was invented also and perhaps earlier by
Jack Marx Jackson Gregory Marx, known as Jack Marx, is an Australian journalist and author. He was born in Maitland, New South Wales. Career Marx moved to Sydney in his late teens to pursue a career in music with the rock band I Spartacus (previously ...
, for whom it is named in the U.K.) According to Truscott, Rapée had the idea that a two clubs response to one notrump asks for a major suit; his long-time partner Stayman "enlarged and publicized the idea". Rapée was 21 years old when he first won a national title in 1936 (predating the ACBL, est. 1937, and not listed below). Sixty years later he "currently" entered all major American tournaments for open teams and he had been the oldest player to achieve several marks including a bronze medal as team captain and player in the 1990 Rosenblum Cup (off-year world championship). Rapée and Stayman, as well as Johnny Crawford and Howard Schenken, played on the teams that won the first three Bermuda Bowls, representing America against Europe. (The inaugural event, played 1950 in Bermuda, was a 3-way tournament with Great Britain and "Europe", followed for several years by long head-to-head matches with a European champion that might be Great Britain.) One or two others played on each team. Rapée represented ACBL again in 1958 and 1969, on teams that placed second and third in the expanding tournament. He was on the third-place USA team in the inaugural, 1960
World Team Olympiad The World Team Olympiad was a contract bridge meet organized by the World Bridge Federation every four years from 1960 to 2004. Its main events were world championships for national Glossary of contract bridge terms#teams, teams, always including o ...
. Rapée 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 1997. He was the only survivor from the American teams in the first three Bermuda Bowls and, during the preceding year, the ACBL had ranked him number five among American players all-time according to a rating of first and second-place finishes in major North American and world tournaments. According to his ACBL citation, critical coverage of the 1958 Bermuda Bowl, by Edgar Kaplan in ''
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 pl ...
'', identified Rapée as the outstanding American player in defeat by Italy. Quoting Kaplan, "Rapée's performance was most impressive. He was the only American to play up to his potential, and his potential is considerable." Also quoted in the Hall of Fame citation, Bobby Wolff and Sidney Lazard suggested that Rapée may have been the best American player mid-century. Wolff called him "by far the most consistent" and Lazard "the best of the bunch, including John Crawford and Howard Schenken".


Bridge accomplishments


Awards and honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 1997"Induction by Year"
. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-12.
  With linked citations.


World championships

* Wins (3) **
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 Wu ...
, 1950, 1951, 1953 * Other medals **
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 Wu ...
, second 1958, third 1969 **
World Team Olympiad The World Team Olympiad was a contract bridge meet organized by the World Bridge Federation every four years from 1960 to 2004. Its main events were world championships for national Glossary of contract bridge terms#teams, teams, always including o ...
, third 1960 ** Rosenblum Cup, third 1990


North America

North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual contract bridge, bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November fo ...
national-rated wins (24) and runners-up * Wins ** Master Individual (2) 1944, 1949 ** Vanderbilt (8) 1946, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1970 **
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 Championship (NABC). It is an open four session board-a-match event with two qualifying sessions and two ...
(1) 1975 **
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) 1960 **
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 ( ...
(6) 1945, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1970, 1971 **
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 ...
(6) 1944, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1957, 1968 * Runners-up ** Rockwell Mixed Pairs (1) 1955 **
Wernher Open Pairs The Wernher Open Pairs national bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championships, North American Bridge Championship (NABC). Typically starting on the Tuesday of the NABC, the Wer ...
(2) 1945, 1950 ** Vanderbilt (5) 1942, 1944, 1952, 1965, 1967 **
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 Championship (NABC). It is an open four session board-a-match event with two qualifying sessions and two ...
(3) 1946, 1948, 1972 **
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 ...
(2) 1952, 1968 **
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 ( ...
(6) 1947, 1948, 1950, 1968, 1969, 1972 **
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 ...
(8) 1943, 1947, 1955, 1960, 1961, 1966, 1976, 1980


References


External links

* – with video interview * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapee, George 1915 births 1999 deaths American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Game players from New York City 20th-century American lawyers People from Citrus County, Florida