May 2019 - 22

Three enter Hall of Fame
BY CHIP DOMBROWSKI

hree players have been elected
to the ACBL Hall of Fame: Peter
Boyd, Bart Bramley and Judi
Radin.
To be eligible for this honor, candidates must be North American residents at least 60 years old who have
achieved prominence in the game
and have an outstanding tournament
record. The Hall of Fame Committee
nominates candidates, and a pool of
electors votes on them.

Peter Boyd

Boyd, 68, is a
former systems analyst/
programmer
and bridge
professional.
His 17 North
American titles
include three
Vanderbilts and
a Reisinger. He won a gold medal in the
1986 World Open Teams, his first time
playing in a world championship, and a
silver in the 2011 d'Orsi Senior Teams.
Although his parents did not play
bridge, he learned young - from a different family. "One of my best friends
from grade school was an only child,"
Boyd explains. "His parents wanted to
teach their son to play bridge, and they
needed a fourth. I learned to play at
their kitchen table."
He managed to find a Goren book
around his house - even families who
didn't play might have one of those -
and read up to learn more.
Boyd began working as a programmer after college and continued until

22 Bridge Bulletin May 2019

1995. He lives in Darnestown MD with
wife Ellen Klosson and five Afghan
hound show dogs.
Since 1980, Boyd has played with
Steve Robinson, a Hall of Famer and
the dean of the DC-area bridge scene.
They have played in more than 100
NABCs since then, missing only two,
and they also play in local tournaments.
"Whenever I want to rant about
something, I talk it over with him,
and he tells me why I should be more
reasonable," Robinson says. "He is
very easy to play with and very rarely
forgets our agreements, which can be
complicated."
Another top player in the DC area,
Beth Palmer, finds much to praise in
Boyd. "Peter is obviously an excellent
bridge player and makes very few technical mistakes. Even more important,
he is always a very pleasant partner,
teammate and opponent. He is the
rare bridge player who is nice not only
when he is winning, but also when he
is losing.
"As a teammate, I can say that when
a mistake is made, his first reaction is
that his partner or teammate did what
was right and was unlucky to have a
bad result. He also has set an example
for honesty in District 6, and by setting
the tone that this is how bridge should
be played, it has permeated to all levels
of the district. He frequently plays in
local sectionals, regionals and Grand
National events and is always willing
to talk about bridge to less experienced
players."
His active participation in District 6
North American events has resulted in
three wins each in the North American

Pairs Flight A and the Championship
Flight of the Grand National Teams.
In 2009 Boyd was honored with the
Sidney H. Lazard Jr. Sportsmanship
Award. He has served many terms on
the boards of Unit 147 and District
6 and several committees. He was
recently elected chair of the Ethical
Oversight Committee.
Boyd names his Hall of Fame election, world championship and sportsmanship award as the most significant
events of his bridge career. "I feel very
honored to be elected to the Hall of
Fame," he says. "I believe that several
of the women players on the ballot
deserve to be elected, and I think they
will be in the coming years."

Bart Bramley

Bramley, 71,
played in his
first NABC in
1967 and hasn't
missed one since
1982. Along the
way, he's won 17
titles - including
a Vanderbilt, a
Reisinger, two
Blue Ribbon Pairs and a von Zedtwitz
Life Master Pairs - and 14 secondplace finishes. He has three world
medals: gold in the 2007 d'Orsi Senior
Teams, silver in the 2005 Transnational Open Teams and bronze in the 1998
Open Teams. He was the 1997 Player
of the Year and placed second in the
World Par Contest in 1998.
As a child in Connecticut, Bramley
started learning bridge at age 5 from
his father, who died when Bart was 10.

May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2019