Norman Kay (August 11, 1927 – January 17, 2002) was 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. He partnered

Sidney Silodor Sidney Silodor (November 13, 1906 – August 4, 1963) was an American bridge player. Silodor was a World Champion, winning the Bermuda Bowl in 1950. Silodor is currently 6th on the all-time list of North American Bridge Championships wins with 34. ...

until Silodor's death in 1963. With

Edgar Kaplan Edgar Kaplan (April 18, 1925 – September 7, 1997) was an American bridge player and one of the principal contributors to the game. His career spanned six decades and covered every aspect of bridge. He was a teacher, author, editor, administrator, ...

, Kay formed one of the most successful and longest-lasting partnerships in organized bridge. It spanned more than 40 years, and ended with Kaplan's death in 1997. He was from

Narberth, Pennsylvania Narberth is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is one of many neighborhoods on the historic Philadelphia Main Line. The population was 4,282 at the 2010 census. History Narberth is located on a parcel of land origin ...

. In 1955, Kay won the McKenney Trophy (now the Barry Crane Top 500) for earning the greatest number of

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 ...

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 ...

-sanctioned play during the year. Kay won 13 major

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 ...

(NABC) in the period of 1957–1977, when he was named ACBL's top performance player. He was runner-up in the

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 W ...

twice (1961 and 1967), and was second (1968) and third (1960) in the

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 teams, always including one open and one restricted to women ("O ...

. He was a World Bridge Federation World Life Master and an ACBL Grand Life Master. Kay was arguably the greatest bridge player who never became a world champion. He was known for both the remarkable accuracy of his card play and for his even temperament at the table. Away from the table, he was widely respected as an exceptionally kind and humble gentleman. According to

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 ...

, Kay "bent over backward to avoid criticizing his partner, or his opponents, blaming himself for any misfortune if he possibly could." He also played slowly: "Kay believed in a thorough analysis at the table, and never played a card until he had examined every angle. This leisurely approach occasionally caused problems." Kay was an account executive for Merrill Lynch for 38 years, retiring as a vice president in 1987. He helped his wife who operated a

sports memorabilia Sports memorabilia refers to collectables associated with sports. Types include equipment, trophies, sports cards, autographs, photographs, etc. A multi-billion-dollar industry has grown up around the trading of sports memorabilia. Individual ...

business from 1980 to 1997. He and his wife, Judy, also owned a stable of

standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

s (trotters and pacers) from 1970 or 1980 to 1986 or 1987. Kay died from a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...

on January 17, 2002. Judy Kay subsequently married

Bobby Wolff Robert S. (Bobby) Wolff (born October 14, 1932, San Antonio, Texas) is an American bridge player, writer, and administrator. He is the only person to win world championships in five different categories. He is a graduate of Trinity University. ...

in late 2003. "Author's Tribute ...", p. v. Kay was Inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 1996.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 1996"Induction by Year"
''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
With linked citations. * ACBL Honorary Member of the Year 2001

Awards

* McKenney Trophy 1955 *

Mott-Smith Trophy The Mott-Smith Trophy, named for writer and cryptographer Geoffrey Mott-Smith, is awarded to the player with the best overall individual performance in the Spring Nationals, the spring event of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North Amer ...

1960, 1963, 1968

Wins

(27) ** Vanderbilt (7) 1959, 1960, 1968, 1970, 1981, 1983, 1986 **

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 ...

(2) 1967, 1968 **

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

(now Reisinger) (1) 1961 **

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 ( ...

(7) 1966, 1967, 1971, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1990 ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (3) 1955, 1961, 1966 **

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) 1997 **

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) 1974 ** Life Master Men's Pairs (1) 1973 ** Open Pairs (2) 1963, 1966 ** Men's Pairs, Spring NABC (1) 1958 ** Master Individual (1) 1955

Runners-up

(2) 1961, 1967 * World Open Team Olympiad (1) 1968 *

(21) ** Vanderbilt (3) 1958, 1965, 1994 **

(5) 1960, 1961, 1965, 1971, 1978 **

(1) 1969 ** Men's Board-a-Match Teams (3) 1958, 1963, 1975 **

(1) 1991 ** Master Mixed Teams (3) 1960, 1962, 1967 **

Fall National Open Pairs The National Open Pairs was the first national bridge championship for open pairs and was held at the fall American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC) as a four-session matchpoint (MP) pairs event. History In ...

(1) 1956 ** Men's Pairs (3) 1958, 1965, 1970 ** Men's Pairs, Spring NABC (1) 1962 * United States Bridge Championships (5) ** Open Team Trials (4) 1971, 1984, 1986, 1992 ** Open Pair Trials (1) 1966

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Norman 1927 births 2002 deaths American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players American stockbrokers People from Narberth, Pennsylvania Deaths from pulmonary embolism Place of birth missing