John R. Crawford
John Yocum Randolph Crawford was an American bridge and backgammon player.
In bridge, he was a member of United States teams that won the first three Bermuda Bowls, or world championships, in 1950, 1951 and 1953; a wholly new team represented the US in 1954. In backgammon, Crawford is known as the inventor of the "Crawford rule", a regulation that restricts use of the doubling die in match play.
Life
Of Scots descent, the younger son of Andrew Wright Crawford Sr., a town planner, he was born at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and died in Manhattan aged 60. He was married to Carol Stolkin, née Ross, also a celebrated backgammon player.Books
Canasta Samba, three-deck canasta How to be a consistent winner in the most popular card games ; revised 1961Contract bridge, Crawford assisted by Fred L. Karpin Calypso: how to play and win the fascinating new card game The backgammon book, Oswald Jacoby and CrawfordThe latter was soon translated.Das Backgammonbuch, German transl. by Jens Schmidt-Prange and Suzanne Gangloff Le livre du backgammon, French transl. by René Orléan, 1975
Bridge accomplishments
Honors
- ACBL Hall of Fame, 1995
Awards
- Fishbein Trophy 1952, 1957
- Herman Trophy 1953
Wins
- Bermuda Bowl 1950, 1951, 1953
- North American Bridge Championships
- * Vanderbilt 1941, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960
- * Spingold 1943, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1957
- * Chicago 1937, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1961
- * Men's Board-a-Match Teams 1956, 1961
- * Master Mixed Teams 1942, 1945, 1948, 1957
- * Life Master Pairs 1943
- * Men's Pairs 1939
- * Rockwell Mixed Pairs 1948, 1949, 1959
- * Hilliard Mixed Pairs 1945
- * Master Individual 1956
Runners-up
- Bermuda Bowl 1958
- North American Bridge Championships
- * Vanderbilt 1952
- * Spingold 1939, 1947, 1955, 1961
- * Chicago 1948, 1950
- * Men's Board-a-Match Teams 1946, 1948, 1959, 1973
- * Master Mixed Teams 1944, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1973, 1975
- * Life Master Pairs 1938, 1941, 1947, 1952, 1956
- * Men's Pairs 1953
- * Rockwell Mixed Pairs 1947
- * Hilliard Mixed Pairs 1942
- * Master Individual 1951, 1958