The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (OEB) presents comprehensive information on the card game contract 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...

 with limited information on related games and on playing cards. It is "official" in reference to the American Contract Bridge League

American Contract Bridge League

The American Contract Bridge League is the largest contract bridge organization in North America. It promotes the game of bridge in the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, and Canada, and is a member of the World Bridge Federation...

 (ACBL) who authorized its production and whose staff prepared and/or supervised its various editions.

The front inside panel of the dust jacket states:

"This work is the most complete and authoritative book of information, guidance and instruction ever published for bridge players."

The first edition of the Encyclopedia was published in 1964 with Richard Frey as Editor-in-Chief; the seventh and latest edition was published in 2011 following intermediate editions in 1971, 1976, 1984, 1994 and 2001. The Executive Editor for the first six was Alan Truscott

Alan Truscott

Alan Fraser Truscott was a bridge player, author and columnist. He wrote the daily bridge column for The New York Times for 41 years, from 1964 to 2005 and served as Executive Editor for all six editions of The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, 1964 to 2002.- Britain :Truscott was born in Brixton,...

, bridge editor of the New York Times. For the fourth through sixth editions, Henry Francis succeeded Frey as Editor-in-Chief. Frey and Francis were also successive editors of the ACBL monthly membership magazine. Numerous contributing editors to the Encyclopedia were listed in each edition as were members of Editorial Advisory Boards.
The seventh edition was redesigned and prepared since 2006 and release in November 2011. Editor was Brent Manley, with primary assistance from Mark Horton, Barry Rigal and Tracey Yarbro. This is the first time where a huge amount of photographs are included, together with 2 CDs, one with the full printed version and one with biographies of all ACBL Diamond and higher Master Point players, and results.

First edition - 1964

The first edition set the ground work for the goals and scope of the Encyclopedia. In its forward, Editor-in-Chief Richard L. Frey observed that:

The only previous Encyclopedia of Bridge was edited by Ely Culbertson and published in 1935 ... The ambitious goal set for this Official Encyclopedia of Bridge was simple to state: "To provide an official and authoritative answer to any question a reader might ask about the game of contract bridge and its leading players."

On its dust jacket, the first edition states:

This encyclopedia is the most complete and authoritative book of information, guidance, and instruction for bridge players, ever published. It covers every aspect of bridge in all bridge-playing countries of the world; it contains complete and lucid definitions of every term; it describes and illustrates every standard bid, every recognized convention, and every type of play.

The first edition is divided into two main parts:

1. Main listings: The Introduction indicates that the entries in the main listings fall into five main categories (technical, historical, procedural, biographical and geographical, and terminological) and are presented alphabetically over 683 pages with entries frequently ending with cross-references to other entries on related category topics. Over 50 bridge-playing countries are listed and brief biographies of over 1,500 American and over 400 other players are recorded.
2. Bibliography: The main listings are followed by an eight page bibliography.

The Harvard University online catalog entry for the first edition includes a note that "A great majority of the unsigned technical entries are by Alan Truscott."

In 1967 an edition revised for the needs of a British and European audience was published by Paul Hamlyn (London) under the title The Bridge Players' Encyclopedia. It was described as an International Edition based on The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge of 1964. The edition modified American spellings, 'translated' bidding structures to the more widely used Acol system, omitted biographical notes on some lesser known Americans and added biographical notes on British and European players resulting in coverage of over 50 countries and over 500 players. The editors were Ben Cohen and Rhoda Barrow.

Editorial Advisory Board

• Albert H. Morehead
  Albert Hodges Morehead
  Albert Hodges Morehead, Jr. was a writer for The New York Times, a bridge player, a lexicographer, and an author and editor of reference works.-Early years:...
  
  , Chairman
• B. Jay Becker
• Geoffrey L. Butler
• Carlos Cabanne
• S. Carini-Mazzaccara
• Robert de Nexon

• Charles H. Goren
• Alfred M. Gruenther
• Ranik Halle
• Johannes Hammerich
• Ernst Heldring
• Oswald Jacoby
  Oswald Jacoby
  Oswald Jacoby was an American contract bridge player and author, considered one of the greatest bridge players of all time. He also excelled at, and wrote about, other games including backgammon, gin rummy, and poker.Born in Brooklyn, he was taught to play whist at the age of six and played his...
  
  

• Eric Jannersten
• Alvin Landy
• Alphonse Moyse, Jr.
• Carlo Alberto Perroux
  Carl'Alberto Perroux
  Carl'Alberto Perroux was Italian contract bridge official, founder and long-time non-playing captain of the Blue Team, the most successful team in bridge history...
  
  
• David R. Pigot
• Leon Sapire

• Alfred Sheinwold
  Alfred Sheinwold
  Alfred Sheinwold was an American bridge player, administrator, international team captain and prolific author of books about bridge. He was, with Edgar Kaplan, co-developer of the Kaplan-Sheinwold bidding system...
  
  
• Charles J. Solomon
• Michael J. Sullivan
• Severo A. Tuason
• Harold Vanderbilt
• Waldemar von Zedtwitz

Contributing Editors

• Russell Baldwin
• Jean Besse
• George W. Beynon
• Easley Blackwood
  Easley Blackwood
  Easley Blackwood may refer to:*Easley Blackwood, Sr. , invented the Blackwood convention used in bidding in contract bridge*Easley Blackwood, Jr. , his son, professor of music, concert pianist, and composer...
  
  
• Jens Boeck
• George S. Coffin
• Eric Crowhurst
• Victor R. Daly
• Albert Dormer
• Albert Field
• Harry Fishbein
• Mrs. A.L. Fleming
• Sam Fry, Jr.
• Richard Goldberg
• Harry Goldwater

• M. Harrison-Gray
• Mrs. Dorothy Hayden
• Lee Hazen
• Don Horwitz
• Monroe Ingberman
• Arturo Jaques
• Edwin B. Kantar
• Edgar Kaplan
• Sammy Kehela
• Jack Kelly
• Edwart Kempson
• José Le Dentu
• A. Littman-Lemaitre
• Paul Lukacs

• Arthur Marks
• Mrs. Rixi Markus
• Philip Merry
• Marshall L. Miles
• Victor Mollo
• Florence Osborn
• George Partos
• Harry Polunsky
• R. Anthony Priday
• Terence Reese
• William S. Root
• Federico Rosa
• Dr. George Rosenkranz
• Lawrence Rosler

• Ernest Rovere
• Jeff Rubens
• Howard Schenken
• Jerome Scheuer
• William Seamon
• Ramon Skoroupo
• Al Sobel
• Norman Squire
• Sam Stayman
• Roy G. Telfer
• Alec Traub
• Robert Wakeman
• Charlton Wallace
• Robert W. Wilson

Second edition - 1971

Richard Frey writes that since the first edition of 1964,

...bridge has attracted new adherents throughout the world, systems and conventions have been more and more influenced by "science" and "artificiality"...

The second edition is divided into four main parts:

1. Main listings: technical bidding and play, historical, procedural (tournament organization, laws, etc.), geographical, and terminological. As in the first edition, entries frequently end with cross-references to other entries on related topics.
2. Biographies of leading personalities: The biographies include over 2,000 Americans and over 500 players from elsewhere.
3. Tournament results: American Bridge Association National Championships, All-American Regional Championships, and European, Far East and South American Championships. World Championships and USBA Grand Nationals are in the main listings
4. Bibliography: listed according to subject matter.

Editors

• Richard L. Frey, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Thomas S. Smith, Managing Editor

Editorial Advisory Board

• B. Jay Becker
• Geoffrey L. Butler
• Carlos Cabanne
• S. Carini-Mazzaccara
• Charles H. Goren

• Alfred M. Gruenther
• Ranik Halle
• Johannes Hammerich
• Ernst Heldring
• Oswald Jacoby
  Oswald Jacoby
  Oswald Jacoby was an American contract bridge player and author, considered one of the greatest bridge players of all time. He also excelled at, and wrote about, other games including backgammon, gin rummy, and poker.Born in Brooklyn, he was taught to play whist at the age of six and played his...
  
  

• Eric Jannersten
• Edgar Kaplan
• Alphonse Moyse, Jr.
• Carlo Alberto Perroux
  Carl'Alberto Perroux
  Carl'Alberto Perroux was Italian contract bridge official, founder and long-time non-playing captain of the Blue Team, the most successful team in bridge history...
  
  
• Leon Sapire

• Alfred Sheinwold
  Alfred Sheinwold
  Alfred Sheinwold was an American bridge player, administrator, international team captain and prolific author of books about bridge. He was, with Edgar Kaplan, co-developer of the Kaplan-Sheinwold bidding system...
  
  
• Charles J. Solomon
• Michael J. Sullivan
• Severo A. Tuason
• Waldemar von Zedtwitz

Contributing Editors

• Mrs. Rhoda Barrow
• Jean Besse
• Easley Blackwood
  Easley Blackwood
  Easley Blackwood may refer to:*Easley Blackwood, Sr. , invented the Blackwood convention used in bidding in contract bridge*Easley Blackwood, Jr. , his son, professor of music, concert pianist, and composer...
  
  
• Jens Boeck
• George S. Coffin
• Eric Crowhurst
• Victor R. Daly
• Albert Dormer
• Albert Field
• Mrs. A.L. Fleming
• Sam Fry, Jr.
• Richard Goldberg
• Harry Goldwater
• M. Harrison-Gray*

• Mrs. Dorothy Hayden
• Lee Hazen
• Don Horwitz
• Monroe Ingberman
• Arturo Jaques
• Edwin B. Kantar
• Fred Karpin
• Sammy Kehela
• Jack Kelly*
• Edwart Kempson*
• José Le Dentu
• A. Littman-Lemaitre
• Paul Lukacs
• Arthur Marks*

• Mrs. Rixi Markus
• Philip Merry
• Marshall L. Miles
• Victor Mollo
• George Partos
• Harry Polunsky
• R. Anthony Priday
• Terence Reese
• William S. Root
• Federico Rosa
• Dr. George Rosenkranz
• Lawrence Rosler
• Ernest Rovere

• Jeff Rubens
• Howard Schenken
• Jerome Scheuer
• William Seamon
• Ramon Skoroupo*
• Terry Smith
• Al Sobel
• Sam Stayman
• Roy G. Telfer
• Alec Traub
• Robert Wakeman
• Charlton Wallace
• Robert W. Wilson*

Third edition - 1976

Richard Fey comments on several themes in the Foreword to the third edition:

We have seen rapid and radical developments in bidding systems; explosions of new cheating scandals and employment of devices to prevent them; the creation of techniques for warning opponents about bids that have unusual meanings...

...the newly uncovered evidence that bridge was known and played before the earliest previous accreditation (to Russia) of its origin and its name.

The third edition is organized into the same four parts as the second. There are again over 2,500 biographies but newer and stricter criteria was applied and many previous entries have been superseded by new ones; successes in competitions remain in the appropriate event listings.

Editors

• Richard L. Frey, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Amalya L. Kearse, Editor, Third Edition

Editorial Advisory Board

• B. Jay Becker
• Geoffrey L. Butler
• Carlos Cabanne
• S. Carini-Mazzaccara
• Herman Filarski
• Richard L. Goldberg

• Charles Goren
• Alfred M. Gruenther
• Ranik Halle
• Johannes Hammerich
• Ernst Heldring
• Oswald Jacoby
  Oswald Jacoby
  Oswald Jacoby was an American contract bridge player and author, considered one of the greatest bridge players of all time. He also excelled at, and wrote about, other games including backgammon, gin rummy, and poker.Born in Brooklyn, he was taught to play whist at the age of six and played his...
  
  

• Eric Jannersten
• Edgar Kaplan
• José Le Dentu
• A. Littman-Lemaitre
• Carlo Alberto Perroux
  Carl'Alberto Perroux
  Carl'Alberto Perroux was Italian contract bridge official, founder and long-time non-playing captain of the Blue Team, the most successful team in bridge history...
  
  

• Julius Rosenblum
• George Rosenkranz
• Leon Sapire
• Alfred Sheinwold
  Alfred Sheinwold
  Alfred Sheinwold was an American bridge player, administrator, international team captain and prolific author of books about bridge. He was, with Edgar Kaplan, co-developer of the Kaplan-Sheinwold bidding system...
  
  
• Waldemar von Zedtwitz

Contributing Editors

• Jean Besse
• Easley Blackwood
  Easley Blackwood
  Easley Blackwood may refer to:*Easley Blackwood, Sr. , invented the Blackwood convention used in bidding in contract bridge*Easley Blackwood, Jr. , his son, professor of music, concert pianist, and composer...
  
  
• Jens Boeck
• George S. Coffin
• Ralph Cohen
• Eric Crowhurst
• Victor R. Daly
• Albert Dormer
• Robert Ewen
• Albert Field
• Mrs. A.L. Fleming
• Henry G. Francis
• Harold Franklin

• Sam Fry, Jr.
• Richard Goldberg
• Harry Goldwater
• Lee Hazen
• Don Horwitz
• Monroe Ingberman
• Arturo Jaques
• Edwin B. Kantar
• Fred Karpin
• Sammy Kehela
• Ron Klinger
• Rhoda Barrow Lederer
• Paul Lukacs

• Rixi Markus
• Philip Merry
• Marshall L. Miles
• Victor Mollo
• George Partos
• R. Anthony Priday
• Terence Reese
• William S. Root
• Lawrence Rosler
• Ernest Rovere
• Jeff Rubens
• Howard Schenken

• William Seamon
• Edith Simon
• Terry Smith
• Thomas M. Smith
• Sam Stayman
• Roy G. Telfer
• Alec Traub
• Robert True
• Dorothy Hayden Truscott
• Jo Van Den Borre
• Robert Wakeman
• Charlton Wallace

Fourth edition - 1984

The fourth edition contains 922 pages — the most of any edition. Again, the pace of change in bridge is great as Richard Frey, now Editor Emeritus having been succeeded as Editor-in-Chief by Henry Francis, notes in the Foreword,

...a quantum leap in the technical material...many new and intriguing methods and ideas have made their appearance in the past seven years, and some have been widely adopted.

The organization of the fourth edition follows that of the third and second.

Editors

• Henry G. Francis, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Richard L. Frey, Editor Emeritus
• Diane Hayward, Editor, Fourth Edition

Editorial Advisory Board

• B. Jay Becker
• Geoffrey L. Butler
• Carlos Cabanne
• S. Carini-Mazzaccara
• Benno Gimkiewicz

• Richard L. Goldberg
• Charles Goren
• Ranik Halle
• Johannes Hammerich
• Denis Howard

• Oswald Jacoby
  Oswald Jacoby
  Oswald Jacoby was an American contract bridge player and author, considered one of the greatest bridge players of all time. He also excelled at, and wrote about, other games including backgammon, gin rummy, and poker.Born in Brooklyn, he was taught to play whist at the age of six and played his...
  
  
• Edgar Kaplan
• José Le Dentu
• Jaime Ortiz-Patiño

• George Rosenkranz
• Leon Sapire
• Alfred Sheinwold
  Alfred Sheinwold
  Alfred Sheinwold was an American bridge player, administrator, international team captain and prolific author of books about bridge. He was, with Edgar Kaplan, co-developer of the Kaplan-Sheinwold bidding system...
  
  
• Waldemar von Zedtwitz

Contributing Editors

• Bertrand N. Bauer
• Jean Besse
• Easley Blackwood
  Easley Blackwood
  Easley Blackwood may refer to:*Easley Blackwood, Sr. , invented the Blackwood convention used in bidding in contract bridge*Easley Blackwood, Jr. , his son, professor of music, concert pianist, and composer...
  
  
• George S. Coffin
• Ralph Cohen
• Eric Crowhurst
• Victor R. Daly
• George F. Donaghy
• Albert Dormer
• Sue Emery
• Robert Ewen
• Albert Field
• Irene (Dimmie) Fleming

• Harold Franklin
• Sam Fry, Jr.
• Richard Goldberg
• Harry Goldwater
• Lee Hazen
• Don Horwitz
• Monroe Ingberman
• Arturo Jaques
• Edwin B. Kantar
• Fred Karpin
• Steve Katz
• Sammy Kehela
• Ron Klinger

• Rhoda Barrow Lederer
• Rixi Markus
• Philip Merry
• Marshall L. Miles
• Richard Oshlaf
• George Partos
• Richard Anthony Priday
• Terence Reese
• William S. Root
• Lawrence Rosler
• Ernest Rovere
• Jeff Rubens

• William Sachen
• William Seamon
• Edith Simon
• Terry Smith
• Thomas M. Smith
• Sam Stayman
• Peggy Sutherlin
• Roy G. Telfer
• Alec Traub
• Robert True
• Dorothy Hayden Truscott
• Jo Van Den Borre

Fifth edition - 1994

In the Foreword, Alan Truscott notes,

The changes in the technical section have been far greater than in any of the earlier editions, reflecting the many theoretical advances in the past decade.

The four part organization of the book follows the format of its immediate predecessors. More than 2,800 bridge personalities are listed in the biographies, largely updated by Dorthy Fancis; Truscott prepared most of the technical and foreign material with Frank Stewart contributing significantly to the technical; the expanded 21 page bibliography was prepared by William Sachen. Previous editions were published by Crown Publishers Inc. of New York; the 5th edition was published by the American Contract Bridge League

American Contract Bridge League

The American Contract Bridge League is the largest contract bridge organization in North America. It promotes the game of bridge in the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, and Canada, and is a member of the World Bridge Federation...

.

Editors

• Henry G. Francis, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Dorthy A Francis, Editor, Fifth Edition

Contributing Editors

• Phillip Alder
• Carlos Cabanne
• Larry N. Cohen
• Gabriel Chagas
• Hugh Darwen
• Sue Emery
• Albert Field

• Santanu Ghose
• Richard Grenside
• Olof Hanner
• Diane Hayward
• Per Jannersten
• Jared Johnson

• Patrick Jourdain
• Edgar Kaplan
• Phillip Martin
• Svend Novrup
• David Parry
• R. Anthony Priday

• Bill Sachen
• Ton Schipperheyn
• Frank Stewart
• Jess Stuart
• Dorothy Truscott
• Sol Weinstein

Sixth edition - 2001

The Foreword to the sixth edition states,

This edition has been prepared primarily by Henry Francis, with major contributions and help from Alan Truscott and Barry Rigal. Once again Dorthy Francis has updated American biographies and world-wide tournament results. Tim Bourke, who owns one of the world's most complete bridge libraries and who assembled the Morehead Library at ACBL Headquarters, prepared the bibliography.

The four part organization of the book follows the format of its immediate predecessors. More than 3,000 bridge personalities are listed in the biographies; the 60 page bibliography doubled that of the previous edition.

Editors

• Henry G. Francis, Editor-in-Chief
• Alan F. Truscott, Executive Editor
• Dorthy A Francis, Editor, Sixth Edition

Contributing Editors

• Phillip Alder
• Carlos Cabanne
• Gabriel Chagas
• Hugh Darwen
• Herman De Wael

• Elly Ducheyne-Swaan
• Albert Field
• Santanu Ghose
• Anna Gudge
• Mazhar Jafri

• Per Jannersten
• Danny Kleinman
• Eric Kokish
• Sandra Landy
• Jean-Paul Meyer

• Svend Novrup
• Julian Pottage
• Barry Rigal
• Gianarrigo Rona

Seventh edition - 2011

The 7th edition had its beginning about 2006, when decisions were made about the format, the contents and the people who would be involved in putting it together.
This edition is a departure from previous editions. Shape and size changed, with bigger pages and font size. It introduces photographs - lots of them. It comes with an index instead of a cross reference table. Items have been separated into chapters rather than being run together in alphabetic order. 26 chapters do come in paper and CD format. An additional CD brings 8 chapters with all biographies from Diamond Life Master up to Grand Life Master, including Bridge Hall of Fame and National Directors biographies. 3 appendix are devoted to North American and Masterpoints Race Results and World Bridge Federation Tournaments' Results.

Editors

• Brent Manley, Editor
• Mark Horton, Co-Editor
• Tracey Greenberg-Yarbro, Co-Editor
• Barry Regal, Co-Editor

Expert contributors

• Ron Tacchi
• Robb Gordon
• Peggy Kaplan
• Paul Linxwiler (math chapter)

Contributing editors

Current edition

• Henry B. Anderson
• Bill Buttle
• John Carruthers
• Simon Cocheme
• Lee Daugharty
• Tom Dawson
• Judy Dawson

• Herman De Wael
• Fred Gitelman
• Robb Gordon
• Terre Gorham
• Anna Gudge
• Peter Hasenson
• Per Jannersten

• Peggy Kaplan
• Paul Linxwiler
• Donna Manley
• Jan Martel
• Kelley McGuire
• Jean-Paul Meyer
• Pony Nehmert

• Julian Pottage
• Jeff Rubens
• Frank Stewart
• Ron Tacchi
• Bob van de Velde
• Jeroen Warmerdam
• Anders Wirgen

Past editions

• Jean Besse
• Larry N. Cohen
• Eric Crowhurst
• Albert Dormer
• Sue Emery
• Robert Ewen
• Richard Grenside
• Olof Hanner

• Maurice Harrison-Gray
• Diane Hayward
• Monroe Ingbergman
• Jane Johnson
• Jared Johnson
• Patrick Jourdain

• Edgar Kaplan
• Fred Karpin
• Sami Kehela
• Rhoda Barrow Lederer
• Phillip Martin
• Marshall Miles
• Victor Mollo

• David Parry
• Tony Priday
• Bill Sachen
• Jess Stuart
• Alec Traub
• Dorothy Truscott
• Ray Telfer
• Sol Weinstein

Content

The book (and the first CD) include:

• Chapter 1. History
• Chapter 2. ACBL Hall of Fame
• Chapter 3. CBF Hall of Fame
• Chapter 4. Bridge at the Top
• Chapter 5. Bridge Museum
• Chapter 6. ACBL - How it Works
• Chapter 7. Tournaments
• Chapter 8. Trophies
• Chapter 9. World of Bridge
• Chapter 10. Terminology
• Chapter 11. Bidding
• Chapter 12. Competitive Bidding
• Chapter 13. Conventions
• Chapter 14. Systems

• Chapter 15. Card play
• Chapter 16. Matchpoints vs. IMPs
• Chapter 17. Carding
• Chapter 18. Advanced Plays
• Chapter 19. Squeezes
• Chapter 20. Suit Combination
• Chapter 21. At the Table
• Chapter 22. Mathematics at Bridge
• Chapter 23. Rules and "Laws" of Bridge
• Chapter 24. Bridge and the Digital Age
• Chapter 25. Curiosities
• Chapter 26. Rubber Bridge

CD2 includes:

• Chapter 2. ACBL Hall of Fame
• Chapter 3. CBF Hall of Fame
• Chapter 27. Grand Life Masters
• Chapter 28. Platinum Life Masters
• Chapter 29. Emerald Life Masters
• Chapter 20. Diamond Life Masters
• Chapter 21. Other Noted Personalities

• Chapter 22. ACBL Presidents
• Chapter 23. National Tournament Directors
• Appendix 1. North American Results
• Appendix 2. Masterpoints Race Results
• Appendix 3. World Championship Results