About
History of the Acol Bridge Club
The club has a distinguished history, inextricably linked as it is to the development of Acol, one of the game's predominant bidding systems. Acol is often wrongly assumed to be an acronym, but it takes its name from the eponymous road where the club was originally located - just a stone's throw away from the club's current premises - where the system was originally formulated by a group of English players in the late 1920s and early 1930s, which included Maurice Harrison-Gray, Jack Marx and S. J. ("Skid" ) Simon.
Marx and Simon went on to form the first Acol team in 1933 and used their new system to great success, completely dominating the previously preeminent teams and winning everything in sight. By the time World War II had started, half the tournament players in England had adopted the new method, including Boris Shapiro, Niel Furse and Nico Gardener.
The Acol system has continued to develop and evolve since those early days in West Hampstead, but it still retains the underlying principle of keeping the bidding as natural as possible.
The Acol Bridge Club Team
Noorul
Noorul has been the manager of the Acol Bridge Club for the past six years and is known for his charm and patience towards all those who enjoy the great game of bridge. He has had numerous successes in the game, most recently winning the prestigious Middlesex Cup.
Andrew
Andrew ("Tosh") is the club's Teacher Extraordinaire, designing and running all the club's courses. He has been one of the country's leading players for many years. Domestically, he has won the country's most prestigious competition - The Gold Cup - four times (including three times in succession), the Crockfords Cup three times and the Lederer twice. Internationally he is a World Life Master and came sixth in the last World Pairs final - the best British performance for 40 years!
