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 and writer. He and his long-time regular partner Pierre Jaïs were the first two of ten players who have won the Triple Crown of Bridge. Their achievement was unique for more than twenty years and they accomplished it on the earliest occasion possible. Having played on the France team that won the 1956 Bermuda Bowl representing Europe against the United States, they won the inaugural renditions of both premier
World Bridge Federation
The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the international governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competitions, most of which are conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle. The most prestigio ...
quadrennial events, the 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 ...
and the 1962
World Open Pairs Championship
The World Open Pairs Championship is a contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competin ...
. Trézel and Jaïs also won the ''Sunday Times'' Invitational pairs tournament in 1963.
They used a canapé system, generally bidding the second-longest suit first, and their becoming one of the world's strongest pairs "demonstrated the effectiveness" of the style. Their partnership was terminated only by Trézel's late 1986 death in France.
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 ...
then called it "one of the greatest partnerships in the history of the game" and two years later asserted that many European cognoscenti of 30 years earlier would have called them the "world's greatest partnership".
Trézel wrote several bridge books, including the Master Bridge Series with
Terence Reese
John Terence Reese (28 August 1913 – 29 January 1996) was a Great Britain, British Contract bridge, bridge player and writer, regarded as one of the finest of all time in both fields. He was born in Epsom, Surrey, England to middle-class pare ...
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
at the age of 68.
Publications with Terence Reese
''Those Extra Chances in Bridge''
* 1978: Frederick Fell Publishers (New York), 64p.,
* 1978: Ward Lock (London), 64p.,
* 1978, 1986: Victor Gollancz (London) in association with Peter Crawley, 64p.,
''Master the Odds in Bridge''
* 1979, 1986: Victor Gollancz (London) in association with Peter Crawley, Master Bridge Series, 79p.,
* 1979: F. Fell (New York), 79p.,
''Snares and Swindles in Bridge''
* 1976: Frederick Fell Publishers (New York), Master Bridge Series, 64p.,
* 1976: Ward Lock (London), 64p.,
* 1979, 1986: Victor Gollancz (London) in association with Peter Crawley, 64p.,
''The Art of Defense in Bridge''
* 1979: Frederick Fell Publishers (New York), Master Bridge Series, 79p.,
* 1979, 1988: Victor Gollancz (London) in association with Peter Crawley, 79p.,
''Imaginative Cardplay''
* 2014: Master Point Press (Toronto). 248p. . This publication is a compendium of the four above-noted, each revised and updated.
''Elimination Play in Bridge''
* 1976: Frederick Fell Publishers (New York), Master Bridge Series, 77p.,
* 1976: Ward Lock (London), 77p.,
* 1979, 1986: Victor Gollancz (London) in association with Peter Crawley, 77p.,
''When to Duck When to Win in Bridge''
* 1978: Frederick Fell Publishers (New York), 64p.,
* 1978: Ward Lock (London), 64p.,
* 1978, 1988: Victor Gollancz (London) in association with Peter Crawley, 64p.,
''Blocking and Unblocking Plays in Bridge''
* 1976: Frederick Fell Publishers (New York), Master Bridge Series, 64p.,
* 1976: Ward Lock (London), 64p., ,
* 1976, 1979: Victor Gollancz (London) in association with Peter Crawley, 64p.,
''Safety Plays in Bridge''
* 1976: Frederick Fell Publishers (New York), Master Bridge Series, 63p.,
* 1976: Ward Lock (London), 63p., ,
* 1976, 1990: Victor Gollancz (London) in association with Peter Crawley, 63p., ,
''Accurate Cardplay''
* 2014: Master Point Press (Toronto). 232p. . This publication is a compendium of the four above-noted, each revised and updated.
''The Mistakes You Make at Bridge''
* 1984, 1989: Victor Gollancz (London) in association with Peter Crawley, Master Bridge Series, 168p., ,
* 1992: Reprint: Houghton Mifflin (Boston) in association with Peter Crawley,
* 1994: New Edition: Gollancz (London), 168p.,
* 2006: Revised edition by Ron Klinger: Cassell (London) in association with Peter Crawley, 160p.,