Harry J. Fishbein (April 18, 1897 – February 19, 1976) 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 and club owner. He used to be a professional basketball player. In competition, Fishbein was a runner-up for the world championship in the 1959 Bermuda Bowl, playing on the United States team in a three-way round-robin among Europe, North America, and South America representatives. Fishbein was "the presiding genius" of the famous Mayfair club r Mayfair Bridge Clubref name=morehead/> for more than 20 years" – proprietor of the training ground of experts from 1943 to 1966. As of 1960 he was also ACBL Treasurer. He developed the Fishbein convention as a defense against preemptive opening bids.

Biography

He was born on April 18, 1898, in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

. He died on February 19, 1976, at the New York Infirmary following a heart attack.

Legacy

Fishbein 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 2000. He was a second cousin of the noted

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

scholar J.D. Eisenstein.

Publications

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 2000"Induction by Year"
. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-14.

Wins

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 ...

(16) **

Master Individual The Master Individual national bridge championship was held at the fall 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 t ...

(2) 1942, 1952 **

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) 1939, 1940 **

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 ...

(1) 1959 **

Hilliard Mixed Pairs The Hilliard Mixed Pairs national bridge championship was last held at the spring American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermud ...

(3) 1937, 1942, 1946 ** Vanderbilt (5) 1936, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1958 ** Marcus Cup (1) 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 ...

(1) 1965 **

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) 1947

Runners-up

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 ...

(1) 1959 *

(1) 1938 **

Silodor Open Pairs The Silodor Open Pairs national bridge championship is held at the spring American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Silodor Open Pairs is a four session matchpoint (MP) pairs event with two qualifying ...

(2) 1959, 1968 **

(1) 1940 **

Nail Life Master Open Pairs The Nail Life Master Open Pairs is a North American bridge championship held at the fall American Contract Bridge League The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and ...

(1) 1963 ** Open Pairs (1928-1962) (5) 1934, 1937, 1940, 1941, 1942 ** Masters Team of 4 (1) 1937 **

(3) 1952, 1953, 1960 **

(2) 1945, 1948 **

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 ( ...

(4) 1942, 1953, 1957, 1959 **

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 ...

(3) 1943, 1945, 1958

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fishbein, Harry 1896 births 1976 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American contract bridge players American male non-fiction writers Bermuda Bowl players American contract bridge writers Jewish American non-fiction writers Writers from New York City