Bridge Master

To some women it's a chance to show off a new hat; to other people it's an obsession. To SAMUEL M. STAYMAN '30 "bridge is a game" ... a game that has been the subject of his three books, won him every national title, and taken him to Tel Aviv, Rome, Naples, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Cannes.

Bridge fans link his name with Goren and Blackwood. Critics say he is "technically very gifted," "known for his scholarly innovations," and has "really shattering bridge theories."

The dark, aquiline, highly strung New Yorker says, "My ideas are novel, but unorthodox only in the sense that they represent revisions of theory." His system is designed as a whole. There are few ideas that can be adopted in isolation. The Stayman Convention functions primarily for finding 4-4 major suit fits after an opening no-trump bid.

His books, written for both average and advanced players, are Expert Bidding (1951), The Complete Stay manSystem (1956), and Do You PlayStayman? (1965). They have been published in the United States, England, France, and Italy. He calls them "the end result of carefully balancing practical experience and theoretical science."

He began playing at 14, stayed at it through Dartmouth and Tuck, and by 1944 was a Life Master. Though he no longer keeps track of his master points, he says he has over 4000.

He plays about twice a week and is probably one of the most trophied amateurs. In addition to holding all the national championships at one time or another, he has held the World's Championship three times and the Championship of France (1957), and has won the Vanderbilt Cup six times, the Spingold Trophy seven times. He has represented the United States both times bridge teams were sent to the Olympics.

Since leaving Hanover he has worked in textiles and became president of his own Stamina Mills, Inc. in 1955. That woolen business merged with Kayser-Roth Corporation last year, but Stayman is still president of the Stamina subsidiary. And he is now playing his cards on the market and winning some big board points.

"During 1966," he reports, "I started an investment company of the 'hedge fund' type which has me working very hard but is producing a thrilling experience. We expect a five-fold expansion in July."

In his business as well as in his hobby, he stresses common sense and codification. "Both are important," he says, "but there's no replacement for judgment."

The bridge advice he gives most frequently:

"Don't rely on point-count, which is simply a common denomination of value. Some points are worthless, others well-placed worth lots more. Revise your estimates as the bidding progresses."

He would probably agree with Somerset Maugham who called bridge "the most entertaining game that the art of man has ever devised." But the game can be only as good as the players.

Four years ago Stayman played with a computer (competing with human scorers) and lost.