Wikipedia / Jeff Meckstroth
Wikipedia / Jeff Meckstroth
Jeffrey John (Jeff) Meckstroth (born May 15, 1956) is an American professional contract bridge player. He is a multiple world champion, winning the Bermuda Bowl on USA teams five times. He is one of only ten players who have won the so-called triple crown of bridge: the Bermuda Bowl, the World Open Pairs and the World Team Olympiad. As of May 16, 2016, he was the fifth-ranking World Grand Master. For decades Meckstroth has been in a regular partnership with Eric Rodwell and together, nicknamed "Meckwell", they are one of the most successful bridge partnerships of all time. They are well known for playing an aggressive and very detailed system that derived from Precision Club.
One of Meckstroth's iconic achievements was winning three of the four available major events contested at the ACBL's 2008 fall championships, the Open Board-A-Match Teams, Blue Ribbon Pairs, and Reisinger Teams.
He became ACBL's all-time leading masterpoint holder when he went past Paul Soloway's long held record during the Indianapolis Winter Regional in March 2010.
Meckstroth was born in Springfield, Ohio. He is a full-time bridge professional and lives in Clearwater Beach, Florida with his wife, Sally Chapleau-Meckstroth.
Bridge accomplishments
Awards
ACBL Player of the Decade (3)1990s, 2000s, 2010s
ACBL Player of the Year (3) 1992, 2004, 2009
Barry Crane Top 500 1993, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008
Mott-Smith Trophy 1979, 1980, 1985, 2000, 2009, 2017
Fishbein Trophy 1996, 2004, 2007
Herman Trophy 1980, 1982, 1995, 2004
ACBL King of Bridge 1974
Le Bridgeur Award (Best Played Hand of the Year) 1998
IBPA Award (Best Played Hand of the Year) 1999
Goren Trophy (1) 2009
Wins
Bermuda Bowl (5) 1981, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2009
World Open Team Olympiad (1) 1988
World Open Pairs (1) 1986
World Mixed Pairs (1) 2002
North American Bridge Championships (62)
Senior Knockout Teams (3) 2013, 2014, 2016
Grand National Teams (14) 1990, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018
Jacoby Open Swiss Teams (6) 1989, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009
Blue Ribbon Pairs (3) 1982, 2008, 2016
Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1984, 2008
Nail Life Master Open Pairs (1) 1979
Reisinger (9) 1979, 1985, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009
Rockwell Mixed Pairs (1) 1980
Silodor Open Pairs (3) 1979, 1992, 2016
Spingold (12) 1984, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007
Vanderbilt (7) 1980, 1982, 1985, 2000, 2003, 2014, 2017
Wernher Open Pairs (1) 1999
United States Bridge Championships (13)
Open Team Trials (13) 1980, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017
European Open Bridge Championships (1)
Open Pairs (1) 2003
Other notable wins:
Buffett Cup (1) 2010
Cavendish Invitational Teams (2) 2000, 2003
Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 2019
Macallan Invitational Pairs (2) 1995, 1996
Runners-up
Bermuda Bowl (2) 1997, 2005
World Open Team Olympiad (1) 1992
Rosenblum Cup (1) 2010
North American Bridge Championships (26)
Senior Knockout Teams (1) 2012
Grand National Teams (3) 1994, 2003, 2005
Jacoby Open Swiss Teams (2) 2005, 2010
Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1998, 1999
Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (2) 1983, 1992
Nail Life Master Open Pairs (2) 1985, 1992
Norman Kay Platinum Pairs (1) 2013
Reisinger (1) 1980
Spingold (4) 1985, 1990, 2011, 2012
Vanderbilt (6) 1979, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2018, 2019
Keohane North American Swiss Teams (1) 2022
von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs (1) 1983
United States Bridge Championships (4)
Open Team Trials (4) 1982, 1984, 1985, 1997
Other notable 2nd places:
Cavendish Invitational Teams (1) 1997
Cap Volmac World Top Invitational Pairs (1) 1994
Sunday Times–Macallan Invitational Pairs (1) 1993
Cavendish Invitational Pairs (1) 1984
Publications
"New Minor Forcing & Fourth Suit Forcing & Artificial" (Louisville: Devyn Press, 1985), Championship Bridge no. 28 – pamphlet
Win the Bermuda Bowl With Me, Meckstroth and Marc Smith (Toronto: Master Point Press, 2001), , 188pp.
References
External links
Nickell Team at the United States Bridge Federation (2009?) – with player profiles
Audio-video interview uploaded October 27, 2009, by ACBLvideo at YouTube