Brian Platnick is 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.

Biography

Platnick was born and raised in

Bluefield, West Virginia Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,658 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bluefield micropolitan area extending into Virginia, which had a populatio ...

, in

Mercer County, West Virginia Mercer County is a county in Southern West Virginia on the southeastern border of the U.S. state of West Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 59,664. Its county seat is Princeton. The county was originally established in the St ...

. He was taught bridge by his mother and played in tournaments with his brother as his partner throughout his school years. In 1988, he graduated from

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

with a Master's degree in engineering. After a brief but successful professional bridge career, he temporarily retired from bridge and attended the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary. His full-time career is options trading. He currently lives in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

with his wife and two sons and continues to play bridge professionally while working as an options trader.

Career

Platnick, along with his longtime bridge partner John Diamond, were mentored by noted Dallas Aces captain and former president 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 the ...

(ACBL)

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. ...

. He won his first major tournament victory, the

World Junior Teams Championship The World Junior Teams Championship is a bridge competition for zonal teams of players up to about 25 years old. ''Zonal'' signifies both organization by the World Bridge Federation (WBF) and qualification in eight WBF zones; for example (2006, 20 ...

, in 1991 alongside Diamond. After a 17-year hiatus from the game, Platnick resumed playing professionally as part of a team in the late 2000s, alongside Diamond and a few others.

Tournament victories

* Rosenblum Cup (1) 2010 *

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 ...

(4) **

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) 2010 **

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) 2012 ** Roth Open Swiss Teams (2) 2012, 2015 **

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) 2010, 2017

Runners-up

(3) ** Fast Open Pairs (1) 2008 ** Vanderbilt (3) 2009, 2012,2015 **

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 ( ...

2016

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Platnick, Brian American contract bridge players Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Sportspeople from Bluefield, West Virginia