There are about as many varieties of bridge as there are conventions.
Most of us know about Chicago bridge, honeymoon bridge and Just Declare – but have you ever heard of a bridge variety called pirate bridge?
It turns out that pirate bridge was a spin on the game invented by Aleister Crowley, the notorious founder of Thelema and co-creator of The Thoth Tarot.
Who Was Crowley?
Aleister Crowley was known to some as “the Most Dangerous Man in the World.”
Many hailed his insights into occultism, while some groups still follow the writings of Thelema today. Crowley has been cited as the inspiration for many occult students, tarot readers, musicians (including Jimmy Page) and a few other things.
He was also a writer, poet, mountaineer, artist and chess player. Additionally, Crowley is rumored to have been working for MI6 at some point in his life.
The book Ian Fleming’s Secret War says “we know for sure that Fleming tracked down Aleister Crowley for advice concerning Hess’s interrogation […]” and might lend some credibility to the claim.
It was, however, another book that caught my eye to the topic of bridge.
Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley (Richard Kaczynski) notes: “While staying at Adams Cottage, Crowley had entertained himself by dealing and playing through several hands of card games like skat, piquet, and bridge.”
Bridge? Aha.
The Origins of Pirate Bridge
According to The Life of Aleister Crowley, it was at Adams Cottage where “he developed a variation on auction bridge that was such an improvement that he convinced Frank Crowninshield to share it with the readers of Vanity Fair.”
The Vanity Fair article in question dates to 1917, titled The New Game of Pirate Bridge.
In the process, he developed a variation on auction bridge where “partners paired up after the cards are dealt using a bidding process.”