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*Called "the best of the nonprofessionals" by no less an authority than Charles Goren, Gruenther also became the bridge mentor of his sometime boss, Dwight Eisenhower, the first good bridge player among U.S. Presidents. *The tournament team headed by Houston Bridge Pro John Gerber devised the Gerber convention in 1937 as a less troublesome substitute for the Blackwood, invented in 1933 by Indianapolis Insuranceman Easley Blackwood. Instead of using the Blackwood four-no-trump bid to ask partner how many aces he has, the Gerber convention starts out with four clubs, with partner responding four diamonds for one ace, four hearts for two, etc.