Géza Ottlik
Encyclopedia
Géza Ottlik was a Hungarian
writer, translator, mathematician, and bridge
theorist.
He attended the military school at Kőszeg
and Budapest
, and studied mathematics and physics at Budapest University 1931-1935. After a brief career on Hungarian radio, he was a secretary of Hungarian PEN Club from 1945 to 1957. As he was unable to publish his works for political reasons, he earned his living translating. He translated mainly from English (Charles Dickens
, George Bernard Shaw
, John Osborne
, Evelyn Waugh
); and German (Thomas Mann
, G. Keller, Stefan Zweig
).
He was a passionate bridge player and advanced theoretician, and his 1979 book Adventures in Card Play written with Hugh Kelsey
introduced and developed many new concepts (such as Backwash squeeze
and Entry-shifting squeeze
). A survey of bridge experts in 2007, listed the book third on a list of their all-time favourites, nearly thirty years after its first publication.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
writer, translator, mathematician, and bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
theorist.
He attended the military school at Kőszeg
Koszeg
----Kőszeg is a town in Vas county, Hungary. The town is famous for its historical character.- History :The origins of the only free royal town in the historical garrison county of Vas go back to the third quarter of the 13th century...
and Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, and studied mathematics and physics at Budapest University 1931-1935. After a brief career on Hungarian radio, he was a secretary of Hungarian PEN Club from 1945 to 1957. As he was unable to publish his works for political reasons, he earned his living translating. He translated mainly from English (Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
, John Osborne
John Osborne
John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre....
, Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
); and German (Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
, G. Keller, Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most famous writers in the world.- Biography :...
).
He was a passionate bridge player and advanced theoretician, and his 1979 book Adventures in Card Play written with Hugh Kelsey
Hugh Kelsey
Hugh Walter Kelsey was a bridge player and writer. He won the Gold Cup, the most prestigious British competition, twice, in 1969 and 1980. He represented Scotland twelve times in the Camrose Trophy, played between the constituent countries of the British Isles...
introduced and developed many new concepts (such as Backwash squeeze
Backwash squeeze
Backwash squeeze is a rare squeeze which involves squeezing an opponent which lies behind declarer's menace. A variation of this, known as the "Sydney Squeeze" or "Seres Squeeze", was discovered in play at a rubber bridge game in Sydney, Australia in 1965, by the Australian great Tim Seres; it was...
and Entry-shifting squeeze
Entry-shifting squeeze
In the card game contract bridge, an entry-shifting squeeze is a mixture between a material squeeze and an immaterial squeeze. The material part is the same as in a trump squeeze or a squeeze without the count. The immaterial part is that depending on the choice of discards of the squeezee an entry...
). A survey of bridge experts in 2007, listed the book third on a list of their all-time favourites, nearly thirty years after its first publication.
Awards
- He received a grant from the British Government for his translations, 1960
- József Attila Prize (1981)
- Kossuth Prize (1985)
Publications
- Hamisjátékosok (Swindlers; stories) (1941)
- Hajnali háztetők (Rooftops at Dawn; novella) (1957)
- Iskola a határon (School at the Frontier; novel) (1959)
- Minden megvan (Nothing's Lost; short stories) (1969, revised and enlarged 1991)
- Adventures in Card Play (with Hugh KelseyHugh KelseyHugh Walter Kelsey was a bridge player and writer. He won the Gold Cup, the most prestigious British competition, twice, in 1969 and 1980. He represented Scotland twelve times in the Camrose Trophy, played between the constituent countries of the British Isles...
, on the play of the hand in bridgeContract bridgeContract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
) (1979) - Próza (Prose; essays, interviews) (1980)
- A Valencia-rejtély (The Valencia Enigma; novel) (1989)
- Hajónapló (Logbook; novel) (1989)
- Buda (novel) (1993)