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Maurice Harrison-Gray
Maurice Harrison-Gray (13 November 1899 – 24 November 1968), known always as 'Gray', was an English professional contract bridge player. For about thirty years from the mid-thirties to the mid-sixties he was one of the top players. As a member of the Great Britain national team he won the European Bridge League championships in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1963. He was from London.
Gray, born Maurice Charles Harrison Gray on 13 November 1899 at Ingatestone, Essex, was the child of an English father and an American mother. Much of his childhood was spent in Paris, and he became bilingual. He was educated at Haileybury School and served in the British Army at the end of World War I. In his younger days he boxed, played rugby and tennis, rode motorcycles, but leg injuries stopped his sporting activities. During World War II he was a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. Later, he became an ardent lepidopterist, breeding tropical moths at his Hampstead home.
Gray later used the surname Harrison-Gray and after leaving Haileybury School he joined the family brewing business. When the company was taken over he turned to writing, at first fiction but he soon became a full-time writer about bridge.
Gray turned to bridge at 30 after a series of accidents at sports, including a motor-bike accident at 100 mph. Within three years he was bidding for Britain in radio matches against the US and Australia.
Gray participated in the development of the Acol System of bidding, He was captain of the winning Acol team in the years before World War II, the other team members being his partner, S.J. (Skid) Simon, Jack Marx, Iain Macleod and Colin Harding: a stellar group indeed. Gray was also instrumental in helping, in 1938, to unite the two warring bridge organisations, the British Bridge League (founded in 1931) and the National Bridge Association (founded in 1933).
After the war the line-up of the British teams generally included Boris Schapiro, Terence Reese, Kenneth Konstam, Leslie Dodds, and Edward Rayne, initially with Gray as captain. These teams won the European title three times running. In London, 1949, the England team of Gray, Konstam, Reese and Schapiro defeated the American team of Crawford, Rapee, Stayman and Leventritt by 2,950 points over 96 boards for the Crowninshield trophy. A British team captained by Gray, but without Reese and Schapiro, were defeated by the US in the first Bermuda Bowl.
To summarise, Gray was European champion in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1963. He led Britain in the Bermuda Bowl in 1950, and played in the World Pairs 1962, World Team Olympiad 1964 and the European Championships in 1958. He won the Gold Cup seven times, and many other national events. The first time, in 1937, was with the original Acol team; the last time in 1968 was with Tony Priday, Nico Gardener, Albert Rose and the Sharples brothers: also a star-studded team.
Like many other players of his day, Gray played rubber bridge almost daily. He used his bridge columns to champion the losing trick method of evaluating hands for suit contracts. Gray was bridge editor of the Evening Standard and Country Life for many years.
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Maurice Harrison-Gray
Maurice Harrison-Gray (13 November 1899 – 24 November 1968), known always as 'Gray', was an English professional contract bridge player. For about thirty years from the mid-thirties to the mid-sixties he was one of the top players. As a member of the Great Britain national team he won the European Bridge League championships in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1963. He was from London.
Gray, born Maurice Charles Harrison Gray on 13 November 1899 at Ingatestone, Essex, was the child of an English father and an American mother. Much of his childhood was spent in Paris, and he became bilingual. He was educated at Haileybury School and served in the British Army at the end of World War I. In his younger days he boxed, played rugby and tennis, rode motorcycles, but leg injuries stopped his sporting activities. During World War II he was a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. Later, he became an ardent lepidopterist, breeding tropical moths at his Hampstead home.
Gray later used the surname Harrison-Gray and after leaving Haileybury School he joined the family brewing business. When the company was taken over he turned to writing, at first fiction but he soon became a full-time writer about bridge.
Gray turned to bridge at 30 after a series of accidents at sports, including a motor-bike accident at 100 mph. Within three years he was bidding for Britain in radio matches against the US and Australia.
Gray participated in the development of the Acol System of bidding, He was captain of the winning Acol team in the years before World War II, the other team members being his partner, S.J. (Skid) Simon, Jack Marx, Iain Macleod and Colin Harding: a stellar group indeed. Gray was also instrumental in helping, in 1938, to unite the two warring bridge organisations, the British Bridge League (founded in 1931) and the National Bridge Association (founded in 1933).
After the war the line-up of the British teams generally included Boris Schapiro, Terence Reese, Kenneth Konstam, Leslie Dodds, and Edward Rayne, initially with Gray as captain. These teams won the European title three times running. In London, 1949, the England team of Gray, Konstam, Reese and Schapiro defeated the American team of Crawford, Rapee, Stayman and Leventritt by 2,950 points over 96 boards for the Crowninshield trophy. A British team captained by Gray, but without Reese and Schapiro, were defeated by the US in the first Bermuda Bowl.
To summarise, Gray was European champion in 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1963. He led Britain in the Bermuda Bowl in 1950, and played in the World Pairs 1962, World Team Olympiad 1964 and the European Championships in 1958. He won the Gold Cup seven times, and many other national events. The first time, in 1937, was with the original Acol team; the last time in 1968 was with Tony Priday, Nico Gardener, Albert Rose and the Sharples brothers: also a star-studded team.
Like many other players of his day, Gray played rubber bridge almost daily. He used his bridge columns to champion the losing trick method of evaluating hands for suit contracts. Gray was bridge editor of the Evening Standard and Country Life for many years.