Sandy Duncan, Scots bridge champion known for his steady partnerships and loyalty

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27-02-2025

Sandy Duncan, the bridge player, who has died aged 79, won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Bridge Games and bronze in the 1977 Common Market Championships; playing for Scotland in the Camrose Home International competition, his team won outright in 1975-76, 1976-77 and 1995-96, and tied with England in 1972-73.
Duncan formed a notable partnership with Brian Short, with whom he won the Scottish Cup and the Scottish National pairs, four times, and bronze at European level in 1977. Later, he scaled even greater heights with Douglas Piper, winning gold for Scotland at the 2010 Commonwealth Bridge Games, as well as another Scottish Cup and a record-breaking fifth Scottish National pairs.
Duncan had a reputation as a steady player. In his youth he was a cautious bidder, which led to an incident in the early days of his partnership with Short, when he made a pre-emptive three-level opening on a hand that most players would open at the one level or the four level.
When Short did not raise but 10 tricks rolled in, enough for game, Duncan loudly queried why Short had not raised. Short made it made clear that shouting at the table was not acceptable, and the pair never had a cross word at the table again.
As a policy decision, the pair agreed that they would be aggressive in the bidding, which fitted in with the system that they played, the Precision Club. For them an artificial opening bid of one club covered most strong hands, which meant that other one level opening bids were limited in strength and so could be opened slightly lighter than was the custom at the time. The system enabled them to find good contracts when they had strong hands, and to stop low when they did not.
Duncan's partnership with Short ended in 1987 when Short temporarily gave up bridge, but the families continued to holiday together. A theme with Duncan was that, once his friend, you would be a friend for life.
On one occasion, after he and Short were holders of the Swiss Teams played at the Adelphi hotel in Liverpool but found their regular teammates were unavailable, the team was doing nowhere near as well as usual. In their last match their opponents sat down and asked 'You are not the Short and Duncan, are you?' Simultaneously both Short and Duncan replied: 'Oh no, but we are often mistaken for them.'
Alexander Henry Duncan was born in Dunfermline on December 16 1945, the youngest of three; he had two older sisters, one of whom died before he was born. His father, also Alexander Henry Duncan, was a local authority sanitary inspector. His mother was Christina, née Haxton.
After Dunfermline High School, Sandy read maths and physics at the University of Edinburgh, where he began to play bridge seriously. Although he was academically brilliant, the sudden death of his mother when he was 19 affected him profoundly, and he could not complete his degree.
He took a job instead as a clerk at Scottish Equitable, rising to IT manager. It was there he met Rossyln, whom he married in 1983, later welcoming two daughters and a son. The family travelled widely, to the US, Italy, Canada, Jamaica and France.
When Duncan was made redundant from Scottish Equitable he moved across the Atlantic to Baltimore, finding contract work as a project manager. He was proud to have visited all 50 US states and began supporting the Orioles baseball team and the Ravens American football team.
After retiring in 2009 Duncan returned home to Scotland and resumed his bridge career.
His wife and children survive him.
Sandy Duncan, born December 16 1945, died January 2 2025
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