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Leslie  DODDS

 Leslie William Dodds è nato il 2 febbraio del 1903 ed è stato uno dei migliori giocatori inglesi degli anni '50.

 Celebre fin da piccolo per le sue incredibili doti di memoria e di capacità di calcolo, è stato un imprenditore di successo specializzato in import-export ed uno dei rappresentanti della Nazionale Inglese che vinse la Bermuda Bowl nel 1955 dopo aver guadagnato l'argento nel 1950.

 Suo partner prima della guerra fu il calzolaio reale Eddie Raynes, nel dopoguerra fu 4 volte Campione d'Europa (1948, 1949, 1950, 1954), secondo nel 1953 e terzo nel 1957.

 Sul piano nazionale conquistò 5 volte la Gold Cup.

 Giocava il CAB, un suo sistema derivato da un'idea di G. G. J. Walshe che era più vicino allo Standard American che al nazionale ACOL e che lui contribuì a sviluppare e a far divenire il Sistema Ufficiale dell'Hamilton Club, forse il Circolo londinese più in di quel tempo.

 Sposato con la deliziosa Bijoli, era anche un abile golfista.

 Una improvvisa quanto terribile emorragia cerebrale lo costrinse a letto per gli ultimi 15 anni della sua vita ma non riuscì a spegnere il suo interesse per il bridge che continuava a d alimentare con articoli e lettera inviate alle varie testate specializzate.

 Scomparve nel settembre del 1975. 

Leslie William Dodds (1903–1975) was an English international bridge player and, by profession, an import-export merchant. He was a member of the British team which won the Bermuda Bowl in 1955. In his youth he was a chess player, and famous for feats of memory and mental calculations.

Dodd's first partner in post- WW II top events was Eddie Raynes , who became, by royal warrant, shoe-maker to the Queen. Then he partnered Kenneth Konstam : together they formed one of the finest partnerships in British bridge. They played in the British Bermuda Bowl victory of 1955, and in the European Championship victories of 1948, 1949, 1950, 1954. Dodds also represented Britain in the first Bermuda Bowl (1950), and the European Championships of 1952, 1953 and 1955; won the Gold Cup in 1938, 1949, 1956, 1960 and 1961 and the Master Pairs in 1955.

His bidding system was CAB, one of half-a-dozen natural systems developed in Britain during the 1930s. CAB, born from an idea of G. G. J. Walshe, was further developed by Dodds, who became its 'prophet'. The system featured ace-showing in response to the artificial game-forcing 2C opener plus Blackwood and strong 1NT openers. Jump raises and 2NT responses were forcing except in competition, opening three bids in minor suits invited 3NT (solid suit or near-solid with outside entry). The general tenor of the system was closer to the Standard American of the day than to Acol ; The CAB system, rarely played today, was the 'house' bidding system of the Hamilton Club, one of the high-class London rubber bridge clubs at the time. According to Mollo, Dodds used to win some £4,000 a year at the Hamilton, a huge sum in the 1950s.

He suddenly had a dreadful stroke, which left him almost bedridden and dependent on a manservant. He endured that state for nearly fifteen years, always the same Leslie, maintaining his interest in bridge and sometimes writing letters to the press on matters he considered important.

Hi disappeared in September of 1975.