Jeremy Flint
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Flint an English
bridge
player, author and horse racing
enthusiast, was one of the world's leading professional players.
surgeon, and was educated at Radley College
. He studied to be a lawyer, but soon gave up his legal career.Flint represented Britain
in seven European championships, five World team championships and two World pairs. He won the European Championship in 1963, and came second in the world championships of 1960 (World Team Olympiad
) and 1987 (Bermuda Bowl
). He played rubber bridge
and backgammon
on a regular basis; this and his work as a bridge correspondent were his main sources of income.
In an extended visit to the USA in 1966, partnering Peter Pender, he became a Life Master in eleven weeks: this is still a record. They devised the Flint–Pender bidding system. He was also a collaborator of Terence Reese
on the Little Major bidding system, and the author of several other popular bidding conventions.
Flint was bridge editor of The Times
, author of some significant books, and figured in successful television programs about bridge. His first marriage, to Susanna, produced two sons: Dominic and Noel. His second wife, Honor, was also an international bridge player. His early death was caused by cancer.
gave this view of Flint:
, held in Buenos Aires at the start of 1965: later, he gave an account of the accusation of cheating made against Reese
and Schapiro
. The results of the BBL trials was: 1 Reese—Flint; 2 Konstam
—Schapiro; 3 Albert Rose
—Ralph Swimer
. The BBL then announced the team, omitting Swimer and substituting Maurice Harrison-Gray
. Controversy ensued, and eventually Swimer had to be content with being non-playing captain. Reese and Schapiro were hardly on speaking terms at the time; Reese played mainly with Flint, the pair using the Little Major bidding system.
Flint made two main points, over and above those made by Reese in his book:
1. The bitter quarrel between Reese and Schapiro "was surely not the perfect background for alleged dishonest complicity".
2. When Flint was playing with Reese in the closed room, Geoffrey Butler (BBL official) and Waldemar von Zedwitz (senior American master) came to watch. After the session Flint said to Reese:
"Reese is considered a fool by no-one [yet] according to his accusers he continued to exchange signals for the next seven days".
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
player, author and horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
enthusiast, was one of the world's leading professional players.
Life & bridge career
Flint was the son of a LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
surgeon, and was educated at Radley College
Radley College
Radley College , founded in 1847, is a British independent school for boys on the edge of the English village of Radley, near to the market town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and has become a well-established boarding school...
. He studied to be a lawyer, but soon gave up his legal career.Flint represented Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in seven European championships, five World team championships and two World pairs. He won the European Championship in 1963, and came second in the world championships of 1960 (World Team Olympiad
World Team Olympiad
The World Team Olympiad was a contract bridge meet organized by the World Bridge Federation every four years from 1960 to 2004. Its main events were world championships for national teams, always including one open and one restricted to women...
) and 1987 (Bermuda Bowl
Bermuda Bowl
The Bermuda Bowl is a trophy awarded to the winners of the Open series in the World Team Championship in contract bridge and is named for the site of the inaugural tournament held in 1950...
). He played rubber bridge
Rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge and is played with four players. It is most often played for fun but is also played seriously for money...
and backgammon
Backgammon
Backgammon is one of the oldest board games for two players. The playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice, and players win by removing all of their pieces from the board. There are many variants of backgammon, most of which share common traits...
on a regular basis; this and his work as a bridge correspondent were his main sources of income.
In an extended visit to the USA in 1966, partnering Peter Pender, he became a Life Master in eleven weeks: this is still a record. They devised the Flint–Pender bidding system. He was also a collaborator of Terence Reese
Terence Reese
John Terence Reese was a British bridge player and writer, regarded as one of the finest of all time in both fields...
on the Little Major bidding system, and the author of several other popular bidding conventions.
Flint was bridge editor of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, author of some significant books, and figured in successful television programs about bridge. His first marriage, to Susanna, produced two sons: Dominic and Noel. His second wife, Honor, was also an international bridge player. His early death was caused by cancer.
Boris Schapiro's opinion
In 1962, Boris SchapiroBoris Schapiro
Boris Schapiro was a British international bridge player. He was a Grandmaster of the World Bridge Federation, and the only player to have won both the Bermuda Bowl and the World Senior Pairs championship...
gave this view of Flint:
- "Jeremy Flint is very talented, and a beautiful dummy player and defender. If I had to find a fault in his game it would be slowness and the fact that he is easy to play against. Otherwise he approaches world class."
Flint on the Buenos Aires affair
Jeremy Flint was a member of the British team at the 1964 Bermuda BowlBermuda Bowl
The Bermuda Bowl is a trophy awarded to the winners of the Open series in the World Team Championship in contract bridge and is named for the site of the inaugural tournament held in 1950...
, held in Buenos Aires at the start of 1965: later, he gave an account of the accusation of cheating made against Reese
Terence Reese
John Terence Reese was a British bridge player and writer, regarded as one of the finest of all time in both fields...
and Schapiro
Boris Schapiro
Boris Schapiro was a British international bridge player. He was a Grandmaster of the World Bridge Federation, and the only player to have won both the Bermuda Bowl and the World Senior Pairs championship...
. The results of the BBL trials was: 1 Reese—Flint; 2 Konstam
Kenneth Konstam
Kenneth W. Konstam , often known as 'Konnie', was an English international bridge player, and in 1955 was one of the only British team to win the Bermuda Bowl. He won more European Open teams championships than any other British player.Konstam, educated at Oundle School, was employed for a time in...
—Schapiro; 3 Albert Rose
Albert Rose
Albert Rose was an American physicist, who made major contributions to TV video camera tubes such as the orthicon, image orthicon, and vidicon....
—Ralph Swimer
Ralph Swimer
Ralph Swimer was an international bridge player who was best known for being the nonplaying captain of the British team at the 1965 Bermuda Bowl in Buenos Aires, during which there was a great deal of controversy surrounding the British team due to allegations of cheating.An obituary on him was...
. The BBL then announced the team, omitting Swimer and substituting Maurice Harrison-Gray
Maurice Harrison-Gray
Maurice Harrison-Gray , known always as 'Gray', was an English professional contract bridge player. For about thirty years from the mid-thirties to the mid sixties he was one of the top players, and won the European Championship four times - in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1963.- Life :Gray was the child...
. Controversy ensued, and eventually Swimer had to be content with being non-playing captain. Reese and Schapiro were hardly on speaking terms at the time; Reese played mainly with Flint, the pair using the Little Major bidding system.
Flint made two main points, over and above those made by Reese in his book:
1. The bitter quarrel between Reese and Schapiro "was surely not the perfect background for alleged dishonest complicity".
2. When Flint was playing with Reese in the closed room, Geoffrey Butler (BBL official) and Waldemar von Zedwitz (senior American master) came to watch. After the session Flint said to Reese:
- "Terence, you realise we were being watched."
- "Good gracious," he replied "Do you think so?"
- "I suppose they must be considering banning the Little Major," I ventured.
"Reese is considered a fool by no-one [yet] according to his accusers he continued to exchange signals for the next seven days".
Publications
- Flint, Jeremy and Freddie North 1970. Tiger bridge: the game at the top. Hale, London.
- Flint, Jeremy and Freddie North 1971. Bridge in the looking glass. Cassell, London.
- Reese, Terence and Jeremy Flint 1979. Trick 13. Bibliagora. (A novel)
- Flint, Jeremy and Freddie North 1980. How to win more at racing. Sphere, London.
- Flint, Jeremy and Richard Sharp. 1980. Competitive bidding. Cassell, London.
- Flint, Jeremy and David Greenwood. 1980. Instructions for the defence. The Bodley Head, London.
- Flint, Jeremy 1983. Bridge with The Times. Country Life, London.
- Flint, Jeremy 1983. Grand slam. Country Life & Newnes, London.
- Flint, Jeremy 1986. The winning edge. Faber & Faber, London.
- Flint, Jeremy and Terence Reese 1991. Bridge with the professional touch. Gollancz, London. 50 hands from Flint's column in The Times, selected and edited by Reese.