March 2022 - 30

Tales
from the
Ely Culbertson and the 1933 Schwab Cup
Ely Culbertson was born in 1891
Olden Days
By Barnet Shenkin
in Romania. He was the son of an
American engineer and a Russian
woman. He studied in Paris at the
Sorbonne and at the University of
Geneva; he spoke Russian, English,
French, Spanish, German and Czech
fluently. He moved to the U.S. in 1921
and played bridge and poker for a
living. In 1923, he married Josephine
Murphy, a leading player and teacher
in Manhattan. Culbertson was both
a great promoter and a showman. He
was often regarded as " the man who
made contract bridge. " A brilliant
publicist, he organized and played in
several famous challenge matches
both in the U.S. and U.K.
In the U.S., one was billed as the
" Bridge Battle of the Century, " played
against whist champion Sidney Lenz
and the " emerging " Oswald Jacoby.
This match, contested in December of
1931 and continuing into January of
1932, was prominently reported in the
most widely read national newspapers.
The Anglo-American matches in
1933 were played for the Schwab Cup,
donated by noted industrialist and
patron of bridge Charles Schwab.
Culbertson promoted the event and
picked his team. Both Culbertsons
played with Michael Gottlieb and
Theodore Lightner (of Lightner double
fame). The U.K. team was Lt. Col.
" Pops " Beasley, Sir Guy Domville,
Percy Tabbush, George Morris, Lady
Doris Rhodes and Graham Mathieson.
Strangely, I met Graham Mathieson.
In 1949, he defeated my father
Louis' team in the final of the Gold
Cup, the premier event in the U.K.
Mathieson had traveled to Glasgow
by train and arrived at Glasgow Central
Station. He had in his possession
the solid gold trophy worth a considerable
sum, which he left on the plat30
| Bridge Bulletin | March 2022
form. Remarkably, it was handed in
to lost property. I have to say, a rather
fortunate outcome in Glasgow! He
became a good friend of my dad's and
came to our house in Glasgow in the
'50s. I remember him and his attractive
blonde wife, Faith, having dinner
in our dining room.
The 1933 Schwab Cup match of 300
deals was held in the famous Selfridges
department store on Oxford
Street in London. It was packed with
spectators. Almost all the men wore
suits or tuxedos, and some used a
periscope to view the table. The playing
area was surrounded by a glass
panels.
Culbertson recorded the deals
played in a book and inserted his
analyses.
Dlr: East  Q 8 5 3
Vul: E-W k K 3 2
l 10 8 7 3
' A 8
 K J 10 4 2
k 6 5
l K Q 9
' 10 7 6
 A 9 6
k J 10 9 8
l 4
' K J 9 5 3
 7
k A Q 7 4
l A J 6 5 2
' Q 4 2
West North
J. Culbertson
1 1NT
Pass 5l
East South
Gottlieb
Pass 1l
2 3k
Pass Pass
Dbl All Pass
West made an educated double
with two likely trump winners, and
the contract was down two for plus
300. In the other room, 2l made
three for plus 110, a swing of 410
aggregate points to the U.K.
We can see that South's exuberWest
Culbertson
1'
Pass
Dbl
Dbl
2l(1)
3NT
ant
3k bid (a kind word) caused the
problem. Josephine had her 5l bid,
(today, she might cuebid 4'), as she
had a good hand.
Culbertson reported in his analysis
that North obviously overbid.
" The proper bid should have been
diamonds and passed by South, " he
wrote. It seems surprising, in the
light of this comment, that Josephine
put up with five more years of him before
their divorce in 1938! Although
Ely Culbertson had much more prominence,
it was thought that his wife
was the better player.
I wondered how Culbertson would
report on the following deal:
Dlr: South  A
Vul: E-W k J 8 6 5
l A K 10 7 5 3 2
' 5
 K 5
k K 10
l Q J 6 4
' A K J 7 4
 Q 9 3 2
k A 9 7 4
l 9
' Q 10 9 3
North East South
Lightner
Pass
Pass 2NT
Pass Pass
4l Pass 4NT
All Pass
(1) Strong
When Culbertson heard 3NT, he
decided quite understandably to
double. After 4NT, he checked his
calendar to see if Christmas had
come early.
 J 10 8 7 6 4
k Q 3 2
l 8
' 8 6 2
March 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2022
