Le personalità del brdige

Brian Platnick è nato il primo gennaio del 1967 a Bluefield in West Virginia ed ha imparato a giocare a bridge dalla madre Marsha assieme al fratello David, che è stato il suo partner abituale durante gli studi superiori.

Laureato in ingegneria all'Università della Virginia di Blacksburg, è sposato con Byrna Kra ed ha due figli: Jacob ed Elijah.

World Grand Master, fa parte di quel ristretto numero di campioni capaci di avere successo pur dedicando solo una parte del proprio tempo libero al bridge e senza rendersi sponsor di squadre professionistiche.

Dopo aver vinto i Campionati Mondiali Juniores del 1991 smise di giocare a livello agonistico e si dedicò agli studi di legge che lo portarono alla laurea alla William & Mary di Williamsburg, poi operò per qualche tempo come trader a Philadelphia.

Dopo essersi sposato, si trasferì ad Evanstons nell'Illinois prendendo una cattedra alla Northwestern University.

Riprese a giocare a livello agonistico nel 2008 arrivando a vincere un oro nella Rosenblum del 2010 ed un bronzo in quella del 2014.

Sul piano nazionale ha vinto alcuni NABC tra i quali ricordiamo il Jacoby del 2010 e le Spingold del 2010 e 2017.

Brian Platnick was born in Bluefield WE 1967 January 1 and probably he has had the most unusual path to becoming a world champion in bridge.

He doesn’t play full-time, spending most of his time trading options or with his family, and he took a 17-year hiatus from bridge after graduating college.

Nor is he a sponsor who bankrolls teams to play with him. And yet, he has been a mainstay of the DiamondTeam, one of the most successful teams in the past several years.

World Grand Master and ACBL Grand Life Master, highlights of his career include winning the 1991 World Junior Championships, the 2010 Rosenblum, the 2010 and 2017 Spingold, and the 2012 Blue Ribbon Pairs.

Although he’s represented the US in world competition several times, Wroclaw was the first time he didn’t medal in a world championship event.

Brian learned to play bridge from his mother Marsha, growing up in Bluefield, WV. His very first partner was his brother David, and they played tournaments together in high school. In 1988, while getting a MS in engineering at VA Tech, he formed his long-running partnership with John Diamond. After winning the World Junior Championships with John, he “retired” from bridge and went to law school at William and Mary. Upon graduating, he started trading options in Philadelphia. He moved to Evanston in 2004, to be with his wife, Bryna Kra, who is a math professor at Northwestern. In 2008, John wanted to get back into high-level bridge and asked Brian to resume their successful partnership. After getting Gitelman-Moss and Hampson-Greco to join their team, they quickly proved their strength by coming in second in the 2008 Vanderbilt and haven’t looked back since.

When not playing bridge, Brian pays forward the training he got as a Junior by coaching for the Michael Rosenberg-led Junior program. He also enjoys goofing off with his sons (Jacob in high school, Elijah in middle school), travelling, playing fantasy football, and reading Bridge Winners.