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Les Gould...collecting a prize for a tournament success.

Two well-known bridge players and personalities have passed in the last few weeks. They are Robin Young of the Marlborough Bridge Club, who was a Life Member of New Zealand Bridge and Les Gould of the Whanganui Bridge Club. Today, we remember Les. Thanks to Don Nightingale for the following tribute.

Les Gould 1946 -2023

“Les Gould sadly passed away on Friday 4th October 2023.

Les Gould was a wonderful friend and partner to many Bridge players.  He learned to play Bridge and joined the Hutt Bridge Club in  1970. He became a keen player and also supported his local club, taking the position of Vice President in 1980.  He had a strong partnership with his wife, Karen and also a long and successful partnership with Gary Duncan.  He moved from Wellington and joined the Whanganui Bridge Club in 1986 and gave 37 years of service to the Whanganui Club and Central Districts Bridge Region.

Les served numerous years on the Whanganui Club Committee being elected President at the 1988 AGM and was the driving force behind the Club's very successful 50th jubilee celebration in 1990.  He continued on the Committee with two stints as Club Director and was still currently holding the position of Club Recorder.  Les was a very successful Bridge teacher and ran the Club's learners’ lessons for many years, He was an excellent Bridge teacher,  with a wonderful rapport and patience with the learners, continuing to mentor them after they started play in the Club.  Les was made a well- deserved  Life Member of the Club in 2019.

Les'  Bridge partnership with Gary Duncan continued after his move to Whanganui. He attended numerous National Congress's, represented Central Districts Region many times in the Interprovincial Championships, and also in the New Zealand Senior Team in 2010 and 2011 with Gary as his partner.

 
   Les and Gary representing New Zealand in the Seniors' competition at 
the Asia Pacific Bridge Championships in Kuala Lumpur in 2011. That year, 
New Zealand sent two Senior teams to the ABPF with Gary, Les, Trevor Robb 
and Andrew Janisz being in the second team. 

Les also served on the Central Districts Regional Committee for many years and as President of the Centre was elected as a Vice President of the New Zealand Contract Bridge Association in 1991 and 1992 at the National AGM.”

 

I also asked Gary Duncan to reflect on his very good friend and long-time bridge partner, Les. Gary referred to Les as an intuitive player with great table presence and as being a fine player. Many a time, Les would stay quiet throughout an auction and then just as it was about to be passed out, came in with a winning bid for his side.

Les was not averse to a bit of “bridge mischief”, especially in terms of psyching. Gary referred to Les being one of the main reasons why the Congress psyche register was introduced. Yet, Gary made the point that it was not that Les was always psyching that produced their good results. It was that the opposition perceived that he might be!

There were, however, times that he did. Dean Sole referred to a certain sequence which went as follows with Les sitting South:

West              North             East                South

2                   Pass                2                   2   (not the suit Les held!)

Pass                4                   x                      5

x                     5                   x                      6   (more hearts than spades!)

x                     6                   x                      7

x                      All Pass

 

West, Ray Gruschow, had a Weak 2 in hearts and Dean, East, a Weak 2 in spades. Les had quite a good hand, the main feature being his heart suit and not his very empty spade suit. It took far too long for his inexperienced partner to get the message!

However, we cannot leave a tribute to Les on such an unhappy note. Gary recalls the following. It occurred on the first board of a mid- 90’s National Congress right at the start of the New Zealand Pairs. Their opponents were two Australian Grand-Masters.

With only North-South vulnerable, the bidding started as follows:

West              North             East                South

Les                                          Gary

1                   x                      4                   x

and within a couple of bids North-South had bid to 6. Gary had no high card points and 4 hearts: hence his raise to 4. However, Les doubled the final contract leaving Gary on lead.

Gary decided to lead a heart, a great idea when Les ruffed at trick 1! Les proceeded to take two further spade tricks as his trump holding was KQxxx! That is not to say that the opposition could not make slam. Their makeable slam was 6, except when Les was at the table.

Later in their partnership, Gary got a badge made for Les which said "I do not psyche." Les wore it at the table and while playing with Gary, Les kept to the words on the badge. 

While Les can be remembered for his sometime unorthodox bidding, Don Nightingale also commented that Les was one of the most ethical players around. His table manners were exemplary.

Les loved bridge and gave plenty to the game. Les was 77.

Richard Solomon

A tribute to Robin Young will follow in the next few days.

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