I keep reading that in 1934 Louis H. Watson was ranked the number 4
bridge player in the world.

He died tragically in 1936 at age 29.

Why was he ranked number 4 ? Who were numbers 1, 2 and 3 ??

I have searched newspaper reports from 1932-1934 and it seems that
Watson was winning almost everything. The one time that his team
finished only second, it was attributed to a series of highly
irregular distributions. (After all, there is luck in Bridge.)

See "4 ACES AGAIN WIN VANDERBILT CUP; Defeat Watson Team by 4,090 to
Capture Bridge Trophy", The New York Times, November 13, 1935.

Other than this one loss, Watson seems to have won everything.

I have just reprinted his two books. I just re-did the cover on the
first one. They will soon be available at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/092389182X

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891749

See also:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0923891943

Sam Sloan

Sam Sloan

Keep posts where they belong, wart.

Why was he ranked number 4 ?

There was no official ranking system at the time. Perhaps the
references were to a magazine article:

"_Collier's Magazine_ of March 24, 1934, ranked Watson as the fourth
greatest player in the world on the basis of his tournament record."
-- _Encyclopedia of Bridge_ (5th ed.)

David

On Mar 30, 10:11 am, David Babcock wrote:
Why was he ranked number 4 ?

There was no official ranking system at the time. Perhaps the
references were to a magazine article:

"_Collier's Magazine_ of March 24, 1934, ranked Watson as the fourth
greatest player in the world on the basis of his tournament record."
-- _Encyclopedia of Bridge_ (5th ed.)

David

Thank you.

Now, can you tell us who was number 1, 2 and 3 ?

Sam Sloan

Schenken's RAYMOND CLUB Team, 1927-1929, first successfully broke the
reign of the established men's clubs in tournament competition.

The FOUR HORSEMEN (David Burnstine, Willard Karn, Oswald Jacoby, and
P. Hal Sims) won most of the principal American tournaments
1931-1933. Howard Schenken was an occasional member.

The FOUR ACES followed the four Horsemen (Howard Schenken, Richard
Frey, David Burnstine, Oswald Jacoby) 1933-1941. They won most of the
tournaments 1933-1935.

Your choice for the best players of that era!

Ref: 6th Edition of The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, 2001, pg.
737; 1964 Edition, pg. 187.

Larry

"_Collier's Magazine_ of March 24, 1934, ranked Watson as the fourth
greatest player in the world on the basis of his tournament record."
-- _Encyclopedia of Bridge_ (5th ed.)

Now, can you tell us who was number 1, 2 and 3 ?

Alas, no. If the article is available on-line, my quick search this
morning didn't find it. I did look up the likely candidates (at least
the ones who came to mind) in the Encyclopedia. and none of their bios
included any mention of that article. It may have been mentioned in
Watson's case because his playing career was cut short so sadly.

Another detail I would be interested in is: who wrote the article.

David