We are very sad to report that David Jackson passed away peacefully in Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross, on Friday 3 November, after a long illness.
David was a top player in his own right, a grandmaster and a multiple national champion. But it was as Non-Playing Captain of the Irish Open team that he perhaps made his biggest mark on Irish bridge, revolutionising that role by bringing to it an analytical rigour and discipline that, in combination with the emergence of a number of very talented younger players, heralded a very significant improvement in the performance and achievements of the team, culminating of course in the winning of the silver medal at the European Championships in Warsaw in 2006 – a result which, in hindsight, could very easily have been one place better, given that the victorious Italian team contained a pair subsequently convicted in the cheating scandals of the mid-2010s. All the players involved in that team, and his successor as NPC, Gráinne Barton, are always quick to acknowledge David’s huge influence on their many successes.
By profession, David was a highly-regarded statistician, and his analytical mind and his passion for sports combined to create a lifelong interest in sports betting and odds-making. He was also an easy and witty raconteur, whose victory speeches were always eagerly anticipated by those present, a rarity in any context. In addition, he was a successful bridge theorist and author, developing and expounding the banzai bidding system in conjunction with Ron Klinger in Better Balanced Bidding: The Banzai Method, the first book in 75 years to significantly update the fundamental hand evaluation system. He will be sadly missed by all his many bridge friends, especially those in the Regent Bridge Club, where he was a member of long standing. We send our sympathies to his wife Lynn, and family Ben, Sharon and Sam, Dave, Sandra, Max, Leo and Noa.
David’s funeral took place on Sunday 5 November. His Shiva (period of mourning) will extend for the remainder of this week; anyone wishing to pay their respects may do so by visiting his home (33 Hillside Drive, Churchtown, D14 A303) between 2-4 p.m. or 7-9 p.m. until Friday. May he rest in peace.