Alan Truscott was born in England, one of the 1925 bridge babies. (Other leading players born that year included Dorothy Hayden Truscott, Edgar Kaplan, Robert Nail and Tim Seres.) Truscott was on the British team that won the 1961 European Open Team Championship. He came to New York City in February 1962 to compete in the Bermuda Bowl. While in New York, he was spotted by Richard Frey writing newspaper reports. Impressed by his work ethic, Frey asked Truscott if he would like to move to the city and work for the American Contract Bridge League (then based in New York), in particular to help Frey produce the first Official Encyclopedia of Bridge. As Truscott had instantly liked the bustling metropolis, he agreed.
Then, on Jan. 1, 1964, Truscott took over The New York Times bridge column. He wrote it daily until March 1994, when it was reduced to three days a week. He continued until April 2005, when he retired because of ill health, having written some 12,750 columns. He died on Sept. 4 that year.
He seemed to have unlimited stamina, working on six editions of the encyclopedia, writing 13 successful books and winning three national championships. He was elected to the American Contract Bridge League Hall of Fame in 2001.
When not working, he completed the 1986 New York City Marathon. He also had a prodigious memory for humorous song lyrics, with which he would entertain dinner companions. He was also a demon at the game Botticelli (Google it) and virtually unbeatable at the Cutlery Game, in which each player takes it in turn to say, truthfully, “I’ve never _____” (i.e., smoked a cigar, drank liquor, etc.), because he had, in fact, never consumed coffee or tea, smoked a cigarette, worn a ring or had any siblings.
His excellence as a declarer is highlighted by the diagramed deal. Even looking at all 52 cards, it is not immediately apparent how to make three no-trump after West leads a low spade to dummy’s nine, but Truscott worked it out seeing only 26 cards. What did he do?
Declarer realized that if he cashed his three diamond winners, then played the ace and another club, even if West had to take the trick, he could exit with a heart or the ace and another spade to defeat the contract.
Truscott saw his best chance. At Trick 2, he played a heart to his queen. When that held, he cashed the heart ace and his three top diamonds, then exited with the spade king. West cashed his spade winners, bringing everyone down to three cards.
West had three clubs, dummy held the diamond jack and club queen-jack, and declarer retained one heart and ace-doubleton of clubs. West, forced to lead a club, had to give Truscott the last three tricks with two clubs and the diamond jack regardless of the location of the club king.
Truscott was the Isaac Asimov and P. G. Wodehouse of bridge, never tiring and never resting.
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