Samuel Stayman

Who was Samuel Stayman?

Samuel M. Stayman was an American bridge player, writer, and administrator. He is best known for the Stayman convention in bidding.

Stayman was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and was a successful textile executive and portfolio manager.

The Stayman convention was invented independently by Jack Marx and by Stayman's regular partner George Rapée. It became associated with his name because it was first published in an article written by Stayman, in The Bridge World magazine, June 1945. He also gave his name, spelled backward, to the Namyats convention, which was invented by another regular partner, Victor Mitchell.

Stayman and Rapée, Charles Goren, Howard Schenken, John R. Crawford and Sidney Silodor won the inaugural Bermuda Bowl in 1950 and repeated in 1951 and 1953; he also won numerous North American titles. As a bridge administrator, he was president of the Cavendish Club of New York, treasurer of the American Contract Bridge League from 1966 to 1969, and also served on the ACBL Charity Foundation.