Louis Shenkin 1917-2003 by Barnet Shenkin prev/next

Louis Shenkin

My father played international bridge for Scotland in 1948 before I was born.As a player he had much success. Due to his calmness at the table he did well with different partners although his favorite partner was his brother Lennie. He also did well at the rubber bridge table.

In 1949 his team finished runner up in the Gold Cup and they held the sports pages of the evening paper for news of the score.

While he was President of the Scottish Bridge Union in 1964 he won all 4 of the Bridge Congresses In Scotland with different partners and teammates.

Perhaps it was as an Administrator that he was best known as he was the Scottish representative on the British Bridge League when the Buenos Aires Cheating Scandal came to the fore. Terence Reese and Boris Schapiro were accused of signalling. He took over from Geoffrey Butler the chairman at that time was witness. He was the liason with Sir Jon Foster and the tribunal. He was elected Chairman of the BBL and was there for 10 years.

He was the captain of the British Women’s team in Dublin with the volatile Rixi Markus and Fritzi Gordon partnership. He also captained the British Open team in Warsaw and the Junior team in Czechoslovakia just before the Russian tanks rolled in to Prague.

In 1993 he substituted along with Victor Silverstone in the Semi–Final of the Scottish Cup when Maggie and I were unavailable. He was 77 at the time. Our team won handsomely and we went on to win the final. It is a happy memory.