Sam Stayman
Template:Short description Samuel M. Stayman (May 28, 1909Template:Citation needed – December 11, 1993)<ref name=truscott/> was an American bridge player, writer, and administrator. He is best known for Stayman, one of the world's most popular Template:Gcb conventions; indeed, a day after writing his obituary Alan Truscott called him "the player best known in the world".<ref name=truscott/><ref name=truscott2/>
Life
Stayman was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. He graduated from Dartmouth College and from its affiliated Amos Tuck School of Business in 1930 and 1931.<ref name=truscott/><ref>Do you Play Stayman? (Odyssey, 1965), back flap of dust jacket.</ref> He became a successful textile executive (Stayman & Stayman) and portfolio management executive (Strand & Company).<ref name=truscott/><ref name="OEB6">Template:OEB</ref> He lived primarily in Manhattan.<ref name=truscott2/>
Stayman "played with enthusiasm until a few days before his death."<ref name=truscott2/> He died of cancer at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1993 at age 84. He was survived by his second wife Josephine (his first, Marjorie, had died in 1960), three daughters and a son, and several grandchildren.<ref name=truscott/>
Bridge career
The Stayman convention was invented independently by Jack Marx and by Stayman's regular partner George Rapée. It became associated with his name because it was first published in an article written by Stayman, in The Bridge World magazine, June 1945.<ref name=OEB6/> He also gave his name, spelled backward, to the Namyats convention, which was invented by another regular partner, Victor Mitchell.
Stayman and Rapée, John Crawford and Howard Schenken, Charles Goren and Sidney Silodor won the inaugural Bermuda Bowl in 1950, representing North America in a 3-way tournament with Great Britain and "Europe". For the next several years the event was a long head-to-head match with a European champion that might be Great Britain; Stayman, Rapée, Crawford, and Schenken won the next two in 1951 and 1953 with different teammates. Stayman also won a score of North American titles.<ref name=truscott/>
From 1958 to 1972, Stayman was president of the Cavendish Club of New York.<ref name=ACBLhof/> As a bridge administrator, he was treasurer of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) from 1966 to 1969, and also served on the ACBL Charity Foundation. He was recognized as an honorary member of the ACBL in 1969 and of the American Bridge Teachers Association (ABTA) in 1979, having written at least a few books on bridge.<ref name=truscott/>
Stayman was Inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 1996.<ref name=HOFby/>
Bridge accomplishments
Honors
- ACBL Hall of Fame, 1996<ref name=HOFby>"Induction by Year" Template:Webarchive. Hall of Fame. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-11-12.
With linked citations.</ref> - ACBL Honorary Member of the Year 1969<ref name=truscott/>
- American Bridge Teachers' Association (ABTA) Honorary Member, 1979<ref name=truscott/>
Wins
- Bermuda Bowl (3) 1951, 1952, 1953 <ref name="World Team Championship Winners">World Team Championship Winners</ref>
- North American Bridge Championships (20)
- von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs (1) 1965 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Open Pairs (1928-1962) (1) 1959 <ref>Template:Cite news Template:Full citation needed</ref>
- Vanderbilt (4) 1942, 1946, 1950, 1951 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1952, 1962, 1963, 1980 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Reisinger (3) 1945, 1953, 1984 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Spingold (7) 1942, 1944, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1959 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Runners-up
- North American Bridge Championships
- von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs (1) 1950 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Wernher Open Pairs (1) 1945 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Vanderbilt (4) 1944, 1945, 1952, 1969 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (3) 1948, 1955, 1965 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Reisinger (5) 1947, 1948, 1950, 1976, 1977 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Spingold (2) 1947, 1969 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Publications
Stayman was a contributing editor of The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, which appeared in several editions beginning 1964. Template:Clarify He wrote three books.<ref name=truscott/>
- Template:Cite book 144 pp. – UK edition, Faber & Faber, 1952
- Template:Cite book 223 pp. – UK edition, London: Rockliff, 1956
- Template:Cite book 207 pp. – UK edition, Faber, 1969, edited and introduced by Victor Mollo Template:OCLC
A second US edition of the latter was published as Highroad to Winning Bridge: do you play Stayman? (NY: Cornerstone Library, 1970), with a foreword by Omar Sharif. Template:OCLC A Chinese translation was published in 1972. Template:OCLC
The Complete Stayman System was published at least in French (1956) and Italian (1965) translations, introduced by Pierre Albarran and Mario Franco. Template:OCLC Template:OCLC