July 2018 - 25

Eric R. Murray 1928-2018

B

ridge titan Eric Murray, arguably
the greatest Canadian player of
all time, died May 19. Murray, an
ACBL Grand Life Master, was a member of both the ACBL and Canadian
Halls of Fame. The 89-year-old was a
resident of Orangeville ON.
During Murray's career as a player,
he earned 14 NABC titles, five Canadian national victories and seven medals
in the world championships: four silver
medals in the Bermuda Bowl representing North America, two bronze
medals in the Olympiad representing
Canada, and another bronze in the
Rosenblum Cup.
Murray's partnership with fellow
Canadian Hall of Famer Sami Kehela
was one of the most powerfully effective combinations in the history
of the game. Their skill and stamina
(they frequently played all or most of
the boards in the days-long, top-level
team matches) were an integral part of
the success of any squad of which they
were members.
In addition to Murray's talent as a
player, he was also skilled in bridge
governance. His Hall of Fame entry on
the CBF website notes, "As a bridge
administrator, Murray was the president of the Ontario Bridge League in its
early days, engineering its union with
the ACBL, and was District 2 representative to the ACBL Board of Directors.
He was also the organizing chairman of
the 1964 Summer NABC.
"Murray, whose energy and drive are
legendary, was the prime mastermind
behind the creation of the Canadian
Bridge Federation in 1967. In recognition of all his contributions to bridge
in Canada and his leading role in the
formation of the Canadian Bridge Federation, Murray was named Honorary
Life Member of the CBF in 2009."

Murray also contributed to bridge
theory by devising the Murray 2♦
convention and, most significantly,
co-authoring the Drury convention
with the eponymous Doug Drury. The
now-famous origin of the convention
came about when Drury, compelled to
protect himself against then-partner
Murray's penchant for opening light
in third seat, came up with a method
to determine the strength of opener's
hand.
In "civilian" life, Murray was one of
Toronto's top trial lawyers for decades.
Murray's status as an iconic figure
in the game was rooted in more than
his technical abilities, outstanding as
they were. His persona as the urbane,
cigar-loving raconteur armed with a lethally funny sense of humor made him
a larger-than-life figure wherever he
went. Of his four second-place finishes
in the Bermuda Bowl - with the famed
Italian Blue Team taking the gold on
each occasion - Murray quipped, "I
know the Italian national anthem
by heart." During the Bermuda Bowl
scandal of 1975 when two Italian players (Gianfranco Facchini and Sergio
Zucchelli) were caught passing information by tapping toes, Eric wired a
message to the American team offering
his services: "I play a reasonable game,
and take a size 14 shoe."
Fellow Hall of Famer Bob Hamman
said, "Murray definitely was the most
intense opponent I ever faced. You
never beat Eric. On occasion you might
have been ahead when the final buzzer
sounded, but beating Eric was not in
the realm of possibility. Intensity was
the game, Murray was the name. In
Eric's case, they really did throw away
the mold: It will be a long wait for a
replacement."

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Silver Medal
Bermuda Bowl
1962, 1966, 1967, 1974
Bronze Medal
Olympiad
1968, 1972
Rosenblum Cup
1982
NABC TITLES
Freeman Mixed Board-a-Match Teams
1956, 1962
Mitchell Open Board-a-Match Teams
1962
Spingold Knockout Teams
1964, 1965, 1968
Vanderbilt Knockout Teams
1961, 1970
Marcus Cup
1959
Nail Life Master Pairs
1963
Rockwell Mixed Pairs
1963
von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs
1969
Wernher Open Pairs
1954, 1955
CANADIAN TITLES
Canadian National Teams Championship
1980, 1981, 1987
Canadian Senior Teams Championship
2007, 2010
July 2018 Bridge Bulletin

25
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2018
