Maurice Weissberger died on 3rd March, just short of his 90th birthday. He had been one of Great Britain’s finest players both in domestic and international competition. internationally, his best result was finishing second with the late Joan Durran in the World Mixed Pairs in 1966. This, along with numerous other good performances, helped him become one of very few British players ever to achieve the World Bridge Federation’s rank of World Master. The pinnacle of his domestic record was achieving back to back wins in the Lederer Trophy in 1966 and 1967.
As a bridge theorist, Maurice invented the convention known as ‘Extended Stayman’, where, if the auction begins 1NT – 2C – 2D, then a bid of 3D asks the 1NT opener to show if he has one or both three-card majors. until last February, Maurice was still playing rubber bridge at the Avenue bridge club, where he enjoyed enormous respect and affection.