Fred Gitelman


Frederick "Fred" Gitelman is a Canadian-American bridge player, developer of bridge software, and a founder of the online bridge platform Bridge [Base Online].

Biography

Gitelman has won one world championship, nine North American Bridge Championships, and a gold medal in the 2002 IOC Grand Prix. He was a runner-up in the 1995 Bermuda Bowl as a member of the Canada open. In 2005 he was named Personality of the Year by the International Bridge Press Association.
Gitelman was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Canadian youth and later open international teams before he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. He resides there with his wife, Sheri Weinstock, also a well-known bridge player.
He competed for Team Canada at the 1993 Maccabiah Games and 1997 Maccabiah Games in Israel.
He is well known for the educational software he produced through his company Bridge Base Inc. His most recent project is Bridge Base Online, which he began in 2001, for online bridge play. BBO is one of the most popular bridge-playing sites. He officially retired from Bridge Base Online on July 12, 2019.
Bill Gates selected Gitelman as his personal bridge coach.

Creativity at the table

Gitelman is sometimes recognized for his creativity at the bridge table. In one tournament he discarded an Ace, as a signal to his partner to not lead that suit. His partner led the remaining logical suit which Gitelman, being void, ruffed.

Books

Master Class: lessons from the bridge table, 207 pp. Duplicate Bridge at Home: deals & scoring from Fred Gitelman's Bridge Base Online, Mark Horton and Gitelman, 264 pp. – "commentary by Mark Horton"

Bridge accomplishments

Awards

Wins

Runners-up