Sport: FOUR OTHER BRIDGE MASTERS

RANKING up with Partners Goren and Sobel in the Big Four of U.S. bridge—as judged by master points piled up in American Contract Bridge League tournaments —are Sidney Silodor (4,479½) and John Randolph Crawford (4,383), longtime teammates with radically different bridge-table styles. Philadelphian Silodor, 51, who makes a comfortable income as a society bridge teacher, is perhaps the slowest player in top-level bridge, infuriates opponents with long spells of fierce, immobile concentration. Suave, dapper New Yorker Crawford, 43, Main Line Philadelphian by origin (he claims to be the only bridge master in the Social Register), is fast and impatient, deliberately tries to confuse opponents by creating an impression of wildness while actually playing with hard logic. He has a habit of staring at opponents with what an old acquaintance calls “the coldest eyes in bridge.” Captain of the U.S. team that lost the world championship match to Italy last winter, Crawford is an inveterate gambler, plays poker, canasta, gin and pinochle for money, as well as bridge. Well supplied with the egoism that seems necessary to bridge greatness, he was once asked to name his ideal partner, unhesitatingly rasped out his answer: “Another John Crawford.”

Right alongside Silodor and Crawford, in the judgment of top bridge players, are Howard Schenken and Alvin Roth, both of whom have missed master point opportunities by staying away from many tournaments. New Yorker Schenken, 54, was already renowned in the bridge world back in the early 1930s, has steadily maintained a reputation among the experts as one of the very greatest players, though he stands only twelfth in master points (2,919) and makes his living as a travel agent instead of a fulltime bridge pro. A recent recruit to Charles Goren’s team, Schenken is a highly deceptive player, masks his imaginative boldness with an air of easygoing calm. In contrast, Washington’s quick-minded Alvin Roth, 43, is a worrier, and shows it. No. 6 in master points with 3,849^, Roth “suffers from being a bit of a genius,” according to one fellow expert. With his explosive partner Tobias Stone, he devised some widely used bidding innovations, including the “preempt overcall” (e.g., North, one diamond; East, two spades) to show a single strong suit with little side strength, and the “unusual no trump” (e.g., North, one spade; East, pass; South, two spades; West, two no trump) asking partner to bid his better minor suit. Says Roth on bidding: “I am a revolutionary.”