Home Page

Hubert  PHILLIPS

 Hubert Phillips è nato nel 1891 a Bruton, una cittadina una cinquantina di Km. a Sud di Bristol ed è stato un economista, un giornalista, un annunciatore radiofonico, uno scrittore ed un giocatore e organizzatore di gare bridgistiche.

 Hubert ha studiato nella Sexey's School di Bruton e poi nel Merton College di Oxford dove è stato anche lettore di storia e di economia.

 Dopo aver partecipato alla prima Guerra Mondiale tra le file dell'Essex Regiment, occupò diversi incarichi all'Università di Bristol fino al 1930.

 Nel 1932 fondò la prestigiosa rivista British Bridge World che diresse fino al 1939 e fu un pioniere dell'organizzazione di eventi"legati al bridge in Gran Bretagna.

 Ebbe un ruolo fondamentale sia nell'organizzazione dell'incontro tra il Colonnello Buller ed Ely Culbertson, sia in quello tra quest'ultimo ed il Colonnello Beasley.

 Amante anche degli scacchi e noto enigmista fu uno degli autori di punta del News Chronicle e il corrispondente specializzato del Times oltre che un regolare annunciatore radiofonico della BBC.

 Aiutò il grande Terence Reese e a fare i suoi primi passi da professionista e scrisse con lui diversi libri di Bridge.

 Donò la Hubert Phillips Bowl, un trofeo che premia fin dal lontano 1937 la squadra vincitrice del Campionato Misto Britannico.

Sposato due volte, scomparve nel 1964.

  Hubert Phillips (1891–1964) was an economist, puzzleist, bridge player and organizer, journalist, broadcaster, and an author who wrote some 70 books.

 Phillips was educated at Sexey's School , Bruton , and Merton College, Oxford , where he read history and economics, taking a first class degree. He served in the British Army with the Essex Regiment throughout WWI .

After the war, he became Head of the Department of Economics at Bristol University and Head of Extra-Mural Studies 1919-24; he was Director, Liberal Research Dept 1924; Economic Advisor and Secretary, Liberal Industrial Enquiry 1924-28; Advisor to the Parliamentary Liberal Party 1926-8. He joined the News Chronicle in 1930.

Phillips' later career was as a journalist, broadcaster, freelance author, and organizer.

Phillips was the founder and editor (1932-9) of the "British Bridge World", and a pioneer of bridge organization in England. He was a key person in setting up the first Anglo-American match (Buller v Culbertson). He was the devisor and co-presenter of the first ever bridge programs on television, BBC 1936. 

These were programs which involved discussion of pre-selected hands, displayed on boards, followed by their bidding and play by expert pairs. Some of the hands were taken from famous matches, others were devised by Phillips. After play, comparison might be made, for example, with the play on the same hand in the Beasley-Culbertson match. The series was thought to be a great success, though of course viewership was limited in those days.

As an author (the greater part of his income) he wrote on bridge, and on general knowledge, intellectual, mathematical and bridge puzzles and quizzes. Chess, he said, was his favorite game, but he wrote little on that subject.

He wrote over 100 crime stories. He composed thousands of puzzles, both mathematical and inferential, and about 6000 crosswords. He was an essayist and leader-writer for the "News Chronicle", and wrote for the "New Statesman" as 'Caliban'. He broadcast regularly on BBC radio – on Transatlantic Quiz and its offshoot Round Britain Quiz and later, on occasion, the Brains Trust . In his heyday he earned a five-figure income; but in later years a fondness for drink and gaming led to a decline in his fortunes.

Phillips as a bridge writer and as an organizer was always in competition with A.E. Manning Foster, who had been a professional player since the days of auction bridge, and was the bridge correspondent of The Times . Each of them founded a magazine (Foster's was the "Bridge Magazine") and a duplicate bridge organization (Phillips' was the National Bridge Association, founded 1933). It was not until after WWII that the two organizations were unified. 

He helped Terence Reese on his first steps to becoming a professional contract bridge player, and co-authored several books with him.

Phillips donated the Hubert Phillips Bowl for the English Mixed Teams Championship. This competition has been played annually since 1937, with the exception of 1939-46, and is the only major event in the country played with aggregate scoring.