John Armstrong

[MickyB]

John, one of England's finest players, died earlier today, aged 56. I didn't know him that well, but my experiences suggest he was a true gentleman, a feeling which I believe was universal.

 

The first time I played against him, I was young, clueless, and playing transfer responses to a 1C opening. After 1C! (P) 1H!, his partner overcalled 1S without asking any questions. Obviously, he knew this was intended as natural, but bid as though it were takeout of spades; the only instance I had in which an opponent was totally ethical in this situation. He also ran an excellent coaching session for the U25 squad.

 

I understand that he refused to play professionally, and was the only amateur to be consistently at the very top level in England in recent years, and, in partnership with John Holland, the only Acol weak NT pair in the England team. They played in the open team in Pau, where they finished second on the butler over the final stage of the competition. There will be a full obituary posted on the EBU website shortly.

 

He will be greatly missed.

[Walddk]

That is indeed sad news. I first met John Armstrong when he started playing with Graham Kirby in the late 70's. He did not change one bit over the years. A great player, a dream partner, a loyal team-mate, and a wonderful opponent! A true English gentleman in all respects.

 

Last time I had the pleasure of being on a team with John was in 2005 when a Mike Lawrence All Star Team played against Scotland in Edinburgh. I remember how I apologised for a very bad result Iain Sime and I had on our card. John's reply, with a wry smile on his lips, was:

 

"Don't worry Roland. I have done much worse several times". That helps a lot when you're feeling down.

 

RIP.

 

Roland

[Rossoneri]

Awfully sad news, and so sudden too, just coming right after Pau...

[MikeRJ]

I met John once in about 1990 when we stayed at the same bed and breakfast establishment during the LLangollen bridge congress (in North Wales). We were the only two who stayed over to the Monday morning and we had breakfast together before leaving. I was a complete non-entity at bridge, he was a Bermuda Bowl silver medalist, but he was happy to chat over the bridge of the previous few days as if we were equals. As others have remarked, a real gentleman. Very sad.

 

Mike

[Finch]

As one of England's best players he is a great loss to the Bridge World.

As others have said a very nice man and a real gentleman - always polite, friendly and a role model for how to play top bridge totally ethically.

[catch22]

Terrible news - I first played against John 25 years ago, and have played against him a number of times since. Win or lose John was always the same, friendly, polite and totally ethical. Of course, invariably he would win because he was a great player, but it was always a pleasure to play against him. I, for one, will really miss John and I know a lot of Bridge players will feel the same. The annual Brighton Congress is just a few weeks away and it will not be the same without John. A great loss.

[nige1]

John was a top British Bridge player; also a great person, always friendly and polite. His Derbyshire County Bridge Association site has another obituary ...

http://www.ronsblogs.ronaldsway.net/Defaul...px?categoryId=4