B. Jay Becker (May 5, 1904 – October 9, 1987)''Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014''.

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify fo ...

. was an American lawyer and bridge champion from

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and th ...

Biography

He was born and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where he trained as a lawyer at

Temple Law School The Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law is the law school of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls about 530 students. Student body Admission for fall 2019 entering class was highly com ...

, graduating in 1929; he lived there until 1937. Turning to a career in

contract bridge Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...

, he became a top player, columnist and teacher, twice winning world championships 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 ...

events of 1951 and 1953. After playing on the

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 ...

-winning team at age 81 in 1976, he was both the oldest player to win the Vanderbilt teams tournament and the winner of the greatest number of "national" (North American) team championships.

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 ...

described him as "Among the handful of American experts who are legitimate candidates for the title of 'best player of all time.'" A conservative bidder, Becker had a careful style, avoided most bidding conventions and relied instead on his technical skills and judgment; he was admired and respected for his quiet demeanor at the table. Over the years, Becker managed three New York bridge clubs (the

Cavendish Cavendish may refer to: People * The House of Cavendish, a British aristocratic family * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), British poet, philosopher, and scientist * Cavendish (author) (1831–1899), pen name of Henry Jones, English auth ...

1942–47, the New York Bridge Whist 1948–50 and the Regency 1951–56) and for thirty years was a nationally syndicated columnist. A contributor to ''

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 ...

'' and the ''ACBL Bulletin'', he was a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of ''

The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'' (OEB) presents comprehensive information on the card game contract bridge with limited information on related games and on playing cards. It is "official" in reference to the American Contract Bridge League ...

'' and a member of the ACBL Laws Commission. Becker was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 1995. Both of Becker's sons,

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

and Steve, are also prominent in the bridge world. They divided his legacy—Mike is also an ACBL Hall of Fame player; Steve took over th
syndicated column

Books

* ''Check Pinochle: official rules and conventions'', Morton Wild and Becker (New York Bridge Whist Club, 1950), pamphlet(?), , * ''Becker on Bridge'' (

Grosset & Dunlap Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin ...

, 1971), 127 pp.,

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 1995"Induction by Year"
. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-13.

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 The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canad ...

(1) 1972

Wins

(2) 1951, 1953 *

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 ...

(31) ** Masters Individual (2) 1937, 1948 **

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) 1935, 1964 **

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 ...

(1) 1938 **

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) 1963 **

Open Pairs (1928-1962) Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (Y ...

(2) 1946, 1962 **

Vanderbilt Vanderbilt may refer to: People *Vanderbilt (surname) *Vanderbilt family Places In the United States: * Vanderbilt, California, a former gold-mining town *Vanderbilt, Michigan, a village *Vanderbilt, Nevada, a ghost town * Vanderbilt Mansion Nat ...

(8) 1944, 1945, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1981 **

Masters Team of 4 Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

(1) 1936 **

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 ( ...

(8) 1932, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1950, 1953, 1954, 1956 **

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) 1938, 1944, 1947, 1952, 1957, 1972

Runners-up

(2) 1958, 1965 *

** Masters Individual (4) 1934, 1941, 1949, 1955 **

Hilliard Mixed Pairs The Hilliard Mixed Pairs national bridge championship was last held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). History This was the original national mixed pairs event. It was contested at the ...

(1) 1932 **

(1) 1949 **

(7) 1937, 1938, 1941, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1964 **

(1) 1932 **

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 ...

(2) 1959, 1963 **

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 ...

(5) 1936, 1958, 1960, 1967, 1972 **

(3) 1933, 1944, 1951 **

(7) 1941, 1943, 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1968

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, B. Jay 1904 births 1987 deaths American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players Contract bridge writers Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers Lawyers from Philadelphia People from Flushing, Queens