Maurice Harrison-Gray
Encyclopedia
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.
, and he became bilingual. He was educated at Haileybury School and served in the British Army
at the end of World War I
. In his younger days he boxed
, played rugby
and tennis
, rode motorcycles, but leg injuries stopped his sporting activities. During World War II
he was a Flight Lieutenant
in the RAF. Later, he became an ardent lepidopterist
, breeding tropical moths
at his Hampstead home.
Gray participated in the development of the Acol
System of bidding, He was captain of the winning Acol team in the years before World War II
, the other team members being his partner, S.J. (Skid) Simon
, Jack Marx
, Iain Macleod
and Colin Harding: a stellar group indeed. Gray was also instrumental in helping, in 1938, to unite the two warring bridge organisations (The British Bridge League, f.1931, and the National Bridge Association, f.1933) into one.
After the war the line-up of the British teams generally included Boris Schapiro
, Terence Reese
, Kenneth Konstam
, Leslie Dodds
, and Edward Rayne, initially with Gray as captain. These teams won the European title three times running. In London, 1949, the England team of Gray, Konstam, Reese and Schapiro defeated the American team of Crawford
, Rapee, Stayman
and Leventritt by 2,950 points over 96 boards for the Crowninshield trophy. A British team captained by Gray, but without Reese and Schapiro, were defeated by the USA in the first Bermuda Bowl
.
To summarise, Gray was European champion in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1963. He led Britain in the Bermuda Bowl in 1950, and played in the World Pairs 1962, World Team Olympiad 1964 and the European Championships in 1958. He won the Gold Cup
seven times, and many other national events. The first time, in 1937, was with the original Acol team; the last time in 1968 was with Tony Priday, Nico Gardener, Albert Rose and the Sharples brothers: also a star-studded team.
Like many other players of his day, Gray played rubber bridge almost daily. He used his bridge columns to champion the losing trick
method of evaluating hands for suit contracts. Gray was bridge editor of the Evening Standard
and Country Life
for many years.
This was a strange performance from Gray, especially given his motto for playing at the table, which was "Keep icy calm". The response from the British Bridge League, responsible for team selection at European and World events, was: "The British Bridge League have decided that Mr Harrison-Gray will not be considered for selection in the team to represent Great Britain in the European Championship in 1952." He did not play again for Britain until Oslo 1958.
According to Richard Fleet, his long-term bridge partner Jack Marx
wrote after his death:
Eleven years later, Schapiro updated his article:
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. 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 of an English father and an American mother. Much of his childhood was spent in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and he became bilingual. He was educated at Haileybury School and served in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
at the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In his younger days he boxed
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, played rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, rode motorcycles, but leg injuries stopped his sporting activities. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was a Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
in the RAF. Later, he became an ardent lepidopterist
Lepidopterist
A lepidopterist is a person who specialises in the study of Lepidoptera, members of an order encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
, breeding tropical moths
Moths
Moths may refer to:* Gustav Moths , German rower* The Moths!, an English indie rock band* MOTHS, members of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats...
at his Hampstead home.
Bridge career
Gray turned to bridge at 30 after a series of accidents at sports, including a motor-bike accident at 100mph. Within three years he was bidding for Britain in radio matches against the US and Australia.Gray participated in the development of the Acol
Acol
Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is named after the Acol Bridge Club, previously located on Acol Road in London NW6, where the system started to evolve...
System of bidding, He was captain of the winning Acol team in the years before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the other team members being his partner, S.J. (Skid) Simon
S. J. Simon
S.J. "Skid" Simon was a British author and bridge player. From 1937 until his death he collaborated with Caryl Brahms on a series of comic novels and short stories, mostly with a background of ballet or of English history...
, Jack Marx
Jack Marx (bridge)
Jack Marx was a British international bridge player who was instrumental in developing the Acol System of bidding.- Life :Marx went to Repton School, and served as a Captain in World War II in the RASC....
, Iain Macleod
Iain Macleod
Iain Norman Macleod was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Early life:...
and Colin Harding: a stellar group indeed. Gray was also instrumental in helping, in 1938, to unite the two warring bridge organisations (The British Bridge League, f.1931, and the National Bridge Association, f.1933) into one.
After the war the line-up of the British teams generally included Boris 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...
, 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...
, Kenneth 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...
, Leslie Dodds
Leslie Dodds
Leslie William Dodds was an English international bridge player and, by profession, an import-export merchant. He was a member of the British team which won the Bermuda Bowl in 1955...
, and Edward Rayne, initially with Gray as captain. These teams won the European title three times running. In London, 1949, the England team of Gray, Konstam, Reese and Schapiro defeated the American team of Crawford
John R. Crawford
John Randolph Crawford was an American bridge and backgammon player...
, Rapee, Stayman
Samuel Stayman
Samuel M. Stayman was an American bridge player, author and administrator. A graduate of the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College, he was also a successful textile executive and portfolio investment manager.He was the eponym of the Stayman convention...
and Leventritt by 2,950 points over 96 boards for the Crowninshield trophy. A British team captained by Gray, but without Reese and Schapiro, were defeated by the USA in the first 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...
.
To summarise, Gray was European champion in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1963. He led Britain in the Bermuda Bowl in 1950, and played in the World Pairs 1962, World Team Olympiad 1964 and the European Championships in 1958. He won the Gold Cup
Gold Cup (bridge)
The Gold Cup is the premier open Britishcontract bridge competition for teams of four. It was first contested in the 1931/32 season, making it one of the oldest contract bridge tournaments anywhere...
seven times, and many other national events. The first time, in 1937, was with the original Acol team; the last time in 1968 was with Tony Priday, Nico Gardener, Albert Rose and the Sharples brothers: also a star-studded team.
Like many other players of his day, Gray played rubber bridge almost daily. He used his bridge columns to champion the losing trick
Losing-Trick Count
The Losing-Trick Count is an alternative, or supplement, in the card game contract bridge, to the high card point method of hand evaluation to be used in situations where shape and fit are of more significance than HCP in determining the optimum level of a suit contract - it should only be used...
method of evaluating hands for suit contracts. Gray was bridge editor of the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
and Country Life
Country Life (magazine)
Country Life is a British weekly magazine, based in London at 110 Southwark Street, and owned by IPC Media, a Time Warner subsidiary.- Topics :The magazine covers the pleasures and joys of rural life, as well as the concerns of rural people...
for many years.
A hiccup
Gray's career as an international was interrupted for about seven years after a strange incident in 1951. He withdrew from the trials at an early stage, leaving his partner high and dry, and announced his retirement from international competition, without giving reasons. Thus, he did not play in the 1951 European championship, but he gave a lengthy account of it in a press report, which attacked the performance of the British team (who came third to Italy and Austria). An editorial in the English Bridge Union's official medium gave an unforgettable response:- "One article in particular makes us very hot under the collar and that is the one in the European Bridge Review under the name of Harrison-Gray... We have searched closely for one single word of praise, but in vain... Surely he could have brought out the fact that they finished joint second on VPs [Victory Points], and scored more IMPs [International Match Points] and lost fewer than any other country, and that had the result been decided on IMPs they would have been easy winners.
- "Perhaps everything is accounted for by the statements of Mr Gray himself:
- 'Although unable to make more than token appearances in the playing room [he admitted he saw only one hand out of 3,460 played through to the end]... my impressions are gleaned from a number of reliable judges.' "
This was a strange performance from Gray, especially given his motto for playing at the table, which was "Keep icy calm". The response from the British Bridge League, responsible for team selection at European and World events, was: "The British Bridge League have decided that Mr Harrison-Gray will not be considered for selection in the team to represent Great Britain in the European Championship in 1952." He did not play again for Britain until Oslo 1958.
According to Richard Fleet, his long-term bridge partner Jack Marx
Jack Marx (bridge)
Jack Marx was a British international bridge player who was instrumental in developing the Acol System of bidding.- Life :Marx went to Repton School, and served as a Captain in World War II in the RASC....
wrote after his death:
Like many talented people, he was apt to be touchy at even implied criticism of his talent; and disagreements on impersonal issues were apt with him to become personal disputes. These failings perhaps accounted for his long and sterile feud with the[ BBL] .
Schapiro's opinion
In 1951 Boris Schapiro wrote an article giving his opinion of the top players of the day. This was his assessment of Gray:- "Brilliant dummy player, very good defender, inclined to overbid in competitive situations but always liable to 'slip a contract through'. Concentration poor; difficult to play against."
Eleven years later, Schapiro updated his article:
- "Gray must be the best player over 60 and he is still a great force at the bridge table."
Publications
- Losing Trick Count, 1961 and 1983.
- Country Life Book of Bridge, 1972. A posthumously published collection of his articles from the magazine selected by Jack Marx which originally appeared between 1954 and 1968. A large format hardback.
- The Best of Gray: The Country Life Book of Bridge Revisited, 1999, ISBN 978-0953675210. A paperback in which Raymond BrockRaymond BrockRaymond Brock was for over forty years a leading English bridge player and then administrator. In 1987 he was a member of the British team that won the silver medal in both the European Bridge Championship and the Bermuda Bowl . This success came during his partnership with Tony Forrester, which...
edited and updated a selection of his Country Life articles.