Larry Cohen (bridge)

Larry Neil Cohen (born April 14, 1959) is an American bridge player, writer and teacher. He is best known as an advocate for the "Law of Total Tricks" as a guide in the bidding. He has won 25 North American Bridge Championships (NABC) events including the Vanderbilt, two Spingolds, two Reisingers, three Life Master Pairs, and four Blue Ribbon Pairs, and he is a two-time winner of the Cavendish Invitational Pairs cash prize tournament.

Cohen's most important work on "the Law" was To Bid or Not to Bid: The LAW of Total Tricks, published in 1992. It was the best-selling bridge book of the 1990s with more than 90,000 copies sold in six different languages and its sequel Following the Law was another bridge best seller.^[1] He is known for long-term expert partnerships with Marty Bergen, Ron Gerard, and David Berkowitz, but announced his retirement from high-level competition in 2009 to devote more time to writing and teaching the game.^[2] However, he has, on occasion, played in high-level competition thereafter.

Cohen was born in New York City. He learned to play bridge at age six with his grandparents and brother Paul Cohen, started playing duplicate at age 14, and began playing in tournaments at age 15. He became an American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) Life Master at age 17.

He now makes a living as a bridge teacher, often on cruise ships and as a guest speaker/teacher at country clubs and bridge clubs across the United States and around the world. In March 2020 he and his team successfully transitioned into live webinars. He writes monthly columns titled The Real Deal and Bidding Basics, in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin.^[2] An extensive list of bridge articles and information can be found on his website and in his regular newsletters. He currently resides with his wife, Maria Eugenia, in Delray Beach, Florida.

Bridge accomplishments

Honors

ACBL Hall of Fame, 2020
Sidney H. Lazard Jr. Sportsmanship Award 2003

Awards

ACBL Named in Top 52 Most Influential People of Bridge 2013
ACBL Honorary Member of the Year 2011
ACBL Sportsman of the Year 2003
ITES Award (Best Defended Hand of the Year) 2003 (Winning Journalist)
ACBL Player of the Year 2002
Romex Award (Best Bid Hand of the Year) 1995, 2000
Precision Award (Best Defended Hand of the Year) 1996
ABTA Winner of seven+ Book/Software of the Year Awards

Wins

North American Bridge Championships (25)
- Grand National Teams (3) 1994, 2007, 2008^[3]
- Blue Ribbon Pairs (4) 1981, 1983, 1988, 1995^[4]
- Keohane North American Swiss Teams (1) 1999^[5]
- Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (3) 1984, 1991, 2007^[6]
- Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (1) 2002^[7]
- Nail Life Master Open Pairs (1) 1983^[8]
- Reisinger (2) 1985, 1991^[9]
- Silodor Open Pairs (3) 2004, 2006, 2009^[10]
- Spingold (2) 1981, 1984^[11]
- Vanderbilt (1) 2005^[12]
- Wernher Open Pairs (1) 1996^[13]
- von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs (3) 1987, 1988, 1996^[14]
United States Bridge Championships (1)
- Open Team Trials (1) 2000
Other notable wins:
- Buffett Cup (1) 2006
- Cavendish Invitational Teams (2) 1988, 1994
- Pan American Open Teams (1) 1992
- Cap Gemini World Top Invitational Pairs (1) 1999
- Cavendish Invitational Pairs (2) 1984, 1989
- Goldman Pairs (1) 1983

Runners-up

World Open Pairs (1) 1998
North American Bridge Championships (22)
- North American Pairs (2) 1980, 1984^[15]
- Grand National Teams (1) 1991^[3]
- Blue Ribbon Pairs (1) 1996^[4]
- Keohane North American Swiss Teams (1) 2006^[5]
- Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1990, 2008^[6]
- Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (1) 1994^[7]
- Nail Life Master Open Pairs (3) 1986, 1991, 2002^[8]
- Reisinger (3) 2002, 2004, 2007^[9]
- Silodor Open Pairs (2) 1979, 2002^[10]
- Spingold (2) 1983, 2009^[11]
- Vanderbilt (4) 1990, 1993, 1998, 2004^[12]
United States Bridge Championships (4)
- Open Team Trials (4) 1985, 1998, 2002, 2008
Other notable 2nd places:
- Cavendish Invitational Teams (2) 1986, 2000
- Goldman Pairs (1) 1991

Selected works

Books

Larry Teaches Modern Bidding Vol. I, II, and III (Self-Published 2020) ABTA Award Winner
On The Other Hand Co-written with David Bird (2019) ABTA Award Winner
On The Other Hand - Defense Co-written with David Bird (2020) ABTA Award Winner
Tricks of the Trade (2018) ABTA Award Winner
Larry Teaches Declarer Play at Suit Contracts (Self-Published March 2017)
Larry Teaches Declarer Play at Notrump (Self-Published April 2016)
Larry Teaches Defense (Self-Published March 2015)
Larry Teaches Opening Leads (Self-Published October 2014) ABTA Award Winner
Larry Teaches Doubles and Redoubles (Self-Published October 2013)
Larry Teaches 2/1 Game Force (Self-Published April 2012)
My Favorite 52 (Toronto: Master Point Press, 2009)
Larry Cohen's Bidding Challenge (Toronto: Master Point Press, 2002) OCLC 48533856
Introduction to the Law (Devyn Press, 1997)
Bridge Below the Belt, Cohen and Liz Davis (Boca Raton, FL: Natco, 1997) OCLC 37682710
Following the LAW: The Total Tricks Sequel (Little Falls, NJ: Natco Press, 1995; (c) 1994) OCLC 34135078
To Bid or Not to Bid: The LAW of Total Tricks (Stamford, CT: Platinum Press, 1992) OCLC 28013533 ABTA Award Winner

Interactive CD ROMs

The Real Deal Advanced (2010) ABTA Award Winner
The Real Deal Intermediate (2010) ABTA Award Winner
Play Bridge with Larry Cohen (1999 Life Master Pairs) Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 ABTA Award Winner
My Favorite 52 (2005) ABTA Award Winner

CDs

Talking Bridge (2012) ABTA Award Winner

DVDs

Including: Larry Teaches Third-Hand Play, Second-Hand Play, Signals, Opening Leads, Defensive Planning, Declarer Play at Notrump, Declarer Play at Suit Contracts Draw or Not Draw Trump, 2/1 Game Force, Takeout Doubles, and Slam Bidding. (2019) ABTA Award Winner -Technology of the Year

References

^ "About Larry". Bridge with Larry Cohen (larryco.com). Retrieved 2014-05-21.
^ ^a ^b "End of Career?". Bridge with Larry Cohen (larryco.com). March 2009. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
^ ^a ^b "GNT Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "Blue Ribbon Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "Keohane Swiss Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "Mitchell BAM Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "Mixed BAM Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "Life Master Open Pairs Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "Reisinger Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "Silodor Open Pairs Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "Spingold Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ ^a ^b "Vanderbilt Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ "Wernher Open Pairs Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ "von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
^ "NAP Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

External links

Official website
"International record for Larry Cohen". World Bridge Federation.
Audio-video presentation by Cohen of partner David Berkowitz for ACBL Hall of Fame induction (uploaded July 24, 2010, by Cohen)
Larry Cohen at Library of Congress, with 2 library catalog records – among several under 'Cohen, Larry' without '1959-', on the previous page of the browse report

[about-1] "About Larry". Bridge with Larry Cohen (larryco.com). Retrieved 2014-05-21.

[end-2] "End of Career?". Bridge with Larry Cohen (larryco.com). March 2009. Retrieved 2014-05-21.

[GNT_Previous_Winners-3] "GNT Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Blue_Ribbon_Winners-4] "Blue Ribbon Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Keohane_Swiss_Previous_Winners-5] "Keohane Swiss Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Mitchell_BAM_Winners-6] "Mitchell BAM Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Mixed_BAM_Previous_Winners-7] "Mixed BAM Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Life_Master_Open_Pairs_Winners-8] "Life Master Open Pairs Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Reisinger_Winners-9] "Reisinger Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Silodor_Open_Pairs_Previous_Winners-10] "Silodor Open Pairs Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Spingold_Previous_Winners-11] "Spingold Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Vanderbilt_Previous_Winners-12] "Vanderbilt Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[Wernher_Open_Pairs_Winners-13] "Wernher Open Pairs Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[von_Zedtwitz_Life_Master_Pairs_Previous_Winners-14] "von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs Previous Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

[NAP_Winners-15] "NAP Winners". ACBL. Retrieved 2016-07-31.

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