Bobby Nail
George Robert Nail was an American bridge player and a club owner and teacher in Houston, Texas.
Nail was born in Kansas City, Missouri, with the congenital bone disorder osteogenesis imperfecta. In the 1960s he moved to Houston, where he operated Nail's Bridge Center with his wife Betty until his death. He died of a heart attack on May 25, 1995, survived by his wife and a sister.
Nail won four American Contract Bridge League national championships and placed second eleven times. He represented the United States twice in the Bermuda Bowl, finishing second
in 1963. He was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2001. The Nail Life Master Open Pairs event is named after him.
Nail and Robert Stucker invented the Big Diamond bidding system and presented it in the 1965 book Revolution in Bridge. A major departure from Standard American bidding concepts of the day, it featured a weak notrump, an unbalanced big 1 opening and a 1 opening that was forcing but not necessarily strong.
Publications
- Revolution in Bridge: Featuring the big diamond and the fantastic no trump, Nail and Robert Stucker, 325 pp.; ASIN B0007IX8GI
Bridge accomplishments
Honors
- ACBL Hall of Fame, 2001
Wins
- North American Bridge Championships
- * von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs 1974
- * Nail Life Master Open Pairs 1974
- * Vanderbilt 1967
- * Marcus Cup 1948
- * Spingold 1953
Runners-up
- North American Bridge Championships
- * von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs 1979
- * Silodor Open Pairs 1970
- * Wernher Open Pairs 1949
- * Blue Ribbon Pairs 1980
- * North American Pairs 1989
- * Jacoby Open Swiss Teams 1988
- * Vanderbilt 1985
- * Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams 1961, 1964
- * Reisinger 1960
- * Spingold 1962