John R. Crawford

John Yocum Randolph Crawford (August 4, 1915 – February 14, 1976) was an American bridge and backgammon player.

In bridge, he was a member of United States teams that won the first three Bermuda Bowls, or world championships, in 1950, 1951 and 1953; a wholly new team represented the US in 1954. In backgammon, Crawford is known as the inventor of the "Crawford rule", a regulation that restricts use of the doubling die in match play.

Life
Of Scots descent, the younger son of Andrew Wright Crawford Sr. (1873–1929), a town planner, he was born at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and died in Manhattan aged 60. He was married to Carol Stolkin, née Ross, also a celebrated backgammon player.

Books

 * Canasta (New York: JCS Associates, 1950; London: Faber, 1951)
 * Samba, three-deck canasta (Doubleday, 1951)
 * How to be a consistent winner in the most popular card games (Doubleday, 1953); revised 1961
 * Contract bridge (Grosset & Dunlap, 1953), Crawford assisted by Fred L. Karpin
 * Calypso: how to play and win the fascinating new card game (Doubleday, 1955)
 * The backgammon book (Viking Press, 1970), Oswald Jacoby and Crawford

The latter was soon translated.
 * Das Backgammonbuch, German transl. by Jens Schmidt-Prange and Suzanne Gangloff (Munich: Keyser, 1974)
 * Le livre du backgammon, French transl. by René Orléan, 1975

Honors

 * ACBL Hall of Fame, 1995

Awards

 * Fishbein Trophy 1952, 1957
 * Herman Trophy 1953

Wins

 * Bermuda Bowl (3) 1950, 1951, 1953
 * North American Bridge Championships (37)
 * Vanderbilt (9) 1941, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960
 * Spingold (5) 1943, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1957
 * Chicago (now Reisinger) (10) 1937, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1946, 1947, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1961
 * Men's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1956, 1961
 * Master Mixed Teams (4) 1942, 1945, 1948, 1957
 * Life Master Pairs (1) 1943
 * Men's Pairs (1) 1939
 * Rockwell Mixed Pairs (3) 1948, 1949, 1959
 * Hilliard Mixed Pairs (1) 1945
 * Master Individual (1) 1956

Runners-up

 * Bermuda Bowl (1) 1958
 * North American Bridge Championships (27)
 * Vanderbilt (1) 1952
 * Spingold (4) 1939, 1947, 1955, 1961
 * Chicago (now Reisinger) (2) 1948, 1950
 * Men's Board-a-Match Teams (4) 1946, 1948, 1959, 1973
 * Master Mixed Teams (6) 1944, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1973, 1975
 * Life Master Pairs (5) 1938, 1941, 1947, 1952, 1956
 * Men's Pairs (1) 1953
 * Rockwell Mixed Pairs (1) 1947
 * Hilliard Mixed Pairs (1) 1942
 * Master Individual (2) 1951, 1958