Hugh Kelsey

Hugh Walter Kelsey (1926 – 18 March 1995) was a British bridge player and writer, best known for advanced books on the play of the cards.

Life

Kelsey was born and died in Edinburgh. He was a combatant in World War II, and subsequently lived for a long time in Malaya. Before he turned to writing about bridge, he was the author of two detective novels.

Kelsey was a resident of Edinburgh when he died there on 18 March 1995, presumably from "repeated cardiac problems", in the words of Alan Truscott, citing his son George. He was survived by his wife Flora, two sons, and two daughters. such as backwash squeeze and entry-shifting squeeze. Bridge experts surveyed by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) in 2007 ranked it third on a list of their favourite books, nearly thirty years after its first publication.

Kelsey was bridge columnist for the Edinburgh newspaper The Scotsman, wrote many articles for bridge magazines, and was general editor for the Gollancz Master Bridge series.

Publications Bridge Killing Defence at Bridge (Faber & Faber, 1966); first US ed., Hart, 1967 Advanced Play at Bridge (Faber, 1968) More Killing Defence at Bridge (Faber, 1972) How to Improve Your Bridge (1973) Slam Bidding (1973) Match-Point Bridge (1976) Logical Bridge Play (Faber, 1976) Learn Bridge for Fun (1976) Adventures In Card Play, Kelsey and Géza Ottlik (Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1979) – "in association with Peter Crawley", 285 pages Winning Card Play (1979) The Tough Game (1979) Bridge Odds for Practical Players (1980), with Michael Glauert Bridge: The Mind of the Expert (Faber, 1981) Sharpen Your Bridge Technique: How to think like an expert (Faber, 1981) Improve Your Opening Leads (1982), with John Matheson Deceptive Plays in Bridge (1982) The Needle Match (Faber, 1982) Simple Squeezes: Kelsey on squeeze play (Gollancz/Crawley, 1985) Bridge Wizardry (1986) Bridge for the Connoisseur (Gollancz/Crawley, 1991) New Instant Guide To Bridge (1993) Acol Bridge for Bright Beginners (1995) Kelsey on Squeeze Play (2002) – compilation of Simple Squeezes (1985), Strip Squeezes, Double Squeezes, and Triple Squeezes

Novels A Bullet for Charles (1955), as by Hugh Walter, his given names Please Don't Squeeze the Trees (1964)