bridge in the SSSR

[John Dunn]

My 1963 Энциклопедический словарь [Entsiklopedicheskij slovar'] has an entry for бридж [bridzh], which it defines as карточная игра, распространённая в Англии, США и нек-рых др. странах [kartochnaja igra, rasprostranjonnaja v Anglii, SShA i nek-ryx dr. stranax].  I suspect it was not so much a case of it being formally banned, as one of a lack of official support, i.e. there were no clubs or other official structures, and thus Soviet bridge-players were not able to compete in international competitions.

The answer to Robert's question seems to be 'up to a point'.  I once spent some time trying to track down 'бирич [birich]' as a Russian card term, but without success, and I suspect that it is of Turkish origin, which would reflect the game's apparent origins in Constantinople.  In any event it is noteworthy that the Russians borrowed the English name, and a reference to мост [most] in the encyclopedia entry quoted above suggests that the word was considered an anglicism.

John Dunn.     

________________________________________
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Robert Orr [colkitto at ROGERS.COM]
Sent: 16 May 2011 05:44
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] bridge in the SSSR

But was bridge not originally a Russian game in any case?

http://www.pagat.com/boston/biritch.html




-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Tim West
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 3:01 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: [SEELANGS] bridge in the SSSR

Dear colleagues,

A friend was recently told that contract bridge was illegal in the Soviet
Union, and she would like to find sources that might explain or refute this.
A quick Russian google search yields only an anekdot that has Stalin playing
bridge with members of the Politburo; an English site informs that he
outlawed bridge because it was "bourgeois," but it provides no
documentation. Can anyone help, either anecdotally or with sources?

Thanks,
Tim West
Princeton Univ.

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