Paul Lukacs
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Paul Lukacs (born Lukács Pàl; ; 23 April 1918 – 1982) ''Palestine, Illegal Immigration from German-Occupied Europe, 1938-1945 (USHMM)'' was a Hungarian-Israeli mathematician, analyst and composer of problems in the "play of the hand" at
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, competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each othe ...
. Some consider him "the best bridge player ever away from the table", as defined by
Victor Mollo Victor Mollo (17 September 1909 – 24 September 1987) was a British contract bridge player, journalist and author. He is best known for his "Menagerie" series of bridge books, which consist of fable-like stories of caricatured people with a ...
. He specialized in single dummy problems. Lukacs was born in
Rimavská Sobota Rimavská Sobota (; , ) is a town in southern Slovakia, in the Banská Bystrica Region, on the Rimava river. It has approximately 24,000 inhabitants. The town is a historical capital of Gömör és Kishont County (from 1850 to 1922). Geography ...
,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
(now
Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
) in 1918, the son of Friedrich Lukács and Katrine Grünwald. He later moved to
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
and was part of a boom of brilliant bridge players in Central Europe. His Austrian ''Wunderteam'' won four European titles in six years from 1932–37. But the Jewish Lukacs was forced to flee Europe in 1939 to escape Nazism, immigrating to
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. He was first placed in a detention camp for illegal immigration, but managed to stay despite an order of deportation. However, he then struggled to find bridge players worthy of his caliber. Singe dummy problems simulate the task that declarer faces in playing a bridge hand. Besides his hand he sees only dummy and has to make the best plan to make the contract, based on inferences from the bidding and from the opponents play. The single dummy problem reflects the challenges encountered by a declarer when dummy is tabled. In some single dummy problems the solver is required to look for a line of play which works for all possible distributions, while in others he has to find the plan which has the maximum success probability. Top players are often excellent single dummy problem solvers. He contributed regularly to the leading journal ''
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 wrote several problem books well known in bridge literature. His most lasting contribution to bridge literature was as co-author of ''Spotlight on Card Play'' (with Robert Darvas), the first post-war problem collection to highlight expert thought processes. He died in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
in 1982.


Publications

* * ''The second book of bridge problems: Single Dummy Plays'', Ewart Kempson and Lukacs (Nicholas Vane, London, 1962) * ''Third Pocket Book of Bridge Problems: Improve your dummy play'', Eric C. Milnes and Lukacs (Kaye & Ward, London, 1969) * ''The Fourth Collection of Interesting Bridge Problems: Bridge Hands for the Connoisseur'', Eric Milnes and Lukacs (Kaye & Ward, London, 1974) * ''Test Your Play as Declarer'', Lukacs and
Jeff Rubens Jeff Rubens (born 1941) is an American contract bridge, bridge player, editor, and writer of books including ''Secrets of Winning Bridge'' and ''Expert Bridge Simplified''. He is best known for long association with ''The Bridge World'' monthly mag ...
(Hart, 1977) * ''Learn to Play Bridge'', Milnes and Lukacs (Kaye & Ward, 1977) * ''Test Your Play as Declarer: Volume 2'',
Jeff Rubens Jeff Rubens (born 1941) is an American contract bridge, bridge player, editor, and writer of books including ''Secrets of Winning Bridge'' and ''Expert Bridge Simplified''. He is best known for long association with ''The Bridge World'' monthly mag ...
and Lukacs (Devyn Press, 1982)


See also

*
Bridge probabilities A bridge is a structure built to 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, which is usually somet ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lukacs, Paul 1918 births 1982 deaths Contract bridge writers Israeli contract bridge players Hungarian Jews People from Rimavská Sobota Date of death missing Yugoslav emigrants to Hungary Hungarian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine