Richard A. Freeman (July 21, 1933 – June 29, 2009) was a world champion 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 holding the title of World Grand Master, the highest title of the

World Bridge Federation The World Bridge Federation (WBF) is the international governing body of contract bridge. The WBF is responsible for world championship competitions, most of which are conducted at a few multi-event meets on a four-year cycle. The most prestigiou ...

. He won 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 ...

world team championship and won many

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, i ...

. Freeman was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2001. At the time of his death he held 17,880

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 ...

Early life

He was born in 1933, and was from

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

. He was a radio

Quiz Kid ''Quiz Kids'' is a radio and TV series originally broadcast in the 1940s and 1950s. Created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G. Cowan, and originally sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, the series was first broadcast on NBC from Ch ...

in 1942. In 1952, Freeman became the youngest Life Master in the ACBL ever at that time. In January 1964, he became editor of newly published ''Modern Bridge'' magazine. In 1993 he was a founding member of the Nick Nickell team where he played until his death as Nickell's professional partner. He died in Atlanta. By age 13 Freeman was in his third year at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. He later graduated from the

and received a J.D. from

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

* ACBL Hall of Fame 2001

Awards

* Fishbein Trophy (1) 1995

Wins

(3) 1995, 2000, 2003 World Team Championship Winners
/ref> *

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 ...

(22) **

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 ...

(1) 2003 ** Vanderbilt (2) 1979, 2000 **

Marcus Cup The Marcus Cup was a two-session open team event contested by Senior Masters at the American Contract Bridge League’s summer North American Bridge Championships North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments spon ...

(1) 1953 **

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 ...

(3) 1955, 1962, 1966 ** Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (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 ( ...

(6) 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2005, 2008 **

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 ...

(8) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006

Runners-up

(2) 1997, 2005 World Team Championship Winners
/ref> *

Buffett Cup The Buffett Cup is a bridge trophy which is awarded biennially in an event between teams from Europe and the United States. The tournament is modeled on the Ryder Cup golf competition and is held in the week preceding the golf event at a nearby lo ...

(1) 2008 *

(14) ** Silodor Open Pairs (1) 2007 ** Blue Ribbon Pairs (1) 1970 **

Grand National Teams The Grand National Teams (GNT) North American bridge championship is held at the summer American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) North American Bridge Championship (NABC). The Grand National Teams is a team knockout event. The event is broken into ...

(1) 1983 ** Vanderbilt (3) 1975, 1996, 2002 **

(6) 1957, 1958, 1977, 1983, 1998, 1999 **

(1) 1965 **

(1) 1959

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Richard 1933 births 2009 deaths American contract bridge players Bermuda Bowl players People from Atlanta George Washington University Law School alumni University of Chicago alumni