Malcolm Brachman, Bridge Champion, Dies at 78
NY Times
Malcolm Brachman, a Texas businessman and onetime nuclear physicist who was among the first bridge enthusiasts to finance his own team, died on Jan. 11 at his daughter’s home in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 78 and until recently a Dallas resident.
The cause was complications of pancreatic cancer, said Lisa Brachman, his daughter.
A wealthy oil and insurance executive, Mr. Brachman would hire and underwrite six-member teams that included bridge professionals like Paul Soloway and Eddie Kantar. As captain, he led his players in winning eight national team championships, including the Reisinger Board-A-Match as recently as 2003.
In 1979, his squad won both the Vanderbilt and Spingold, which are also national titles, and defeated Italy in the Bermuda Bowl, the world’s leading team competition.
“He was the first, shall we say, sponsor to win a world championship, and I think he opened people’s eyes to the possibility,” said Mike Passell, Mr. Brachman’s longtime bridge partner. “It’s like George Steinbrenner getting to play on the Yankees.”
