{{Short description|American bridge player (1952–2020)}} '''Lynn Davis Deas'''<ref name=SA2014/> (June 16, 1952 – May 10, 2020)<ref name=SAWMG/><ref name=legacy> {{cite web |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailypress/obituary.aspx?n=lynn-d-deas&pid=196183942&fhid=22157|title=Lynn D. Deas |website= legacy.com |date=2020-05-14 |access-date=2020-05-14}}</ref> was a professional American bridge player.<ref name=OEB>{{OEB|5|606}}</ref> At the time of her death, she was second in the World Bridge Federation (WBF) All time Women Ranking by Placement Points, which do not decay over time.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mark Newton |url=http://www.wbfmasterpoints.com/AllTimerankingwomen.asp |title=WBF Master Points |publisher=WBF Master Points |date= |accessdate=2020-05-15}}</ref>
Deas was a native of Newport News, Virginia, near Norfolk, where she was a student at Eastern Virginia Medical School when she suffered a bad automobile accident in 1980. Already an avid bridge player, she played "all the time" when broken bones and blurry vision forced her to take one-year leave from school, and subsequently decided to drop out in favor of the card game as a career.<ref name=lawlor/>
Deas won 27 North American Bridge Championships (NABC) titles and nine world championships, including three in the Venice Cup.<ref name=bridgebulletin>{{cite magazine |last=Munday |first=Sue |date=May 2020 |title=Tickets for Two: Deas, Cohen elected to Bridge Hall of Fame |url=https://www.nxtbook.com/acbl/bridgebulletin/2020_05/index.php#/p/18 |magazine=Bridge Bulletin |publisher=American Contract Bridge League |access-date=2020-04-25}}</ref> At one time Deas ranked first among Women World Grand Masters. At one time she was on the road as a professional player for 30 weeks a year. She was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 1997 and reduced her travel. In January 2012, she was living in Schenectady, New York.<ref name=lawlor/>
At the inaugural SportAccord World Mind Games in Beijing, December 2011, Deas and Beth Palmer won the "Pairs Women" gold medal. Not a world championship meet, the SportAccord WMG invited 24 women from Great Britain, France, China, and the U.S. to compete in three small tournaments as four national teams, twelve pairs, and 24 individuals. The six U.S. women also won the Teams gold medal.<ref name=SAWMG/> Beside the two gold medals Deas won $8,000 in cash prizes.<ref name=lawlor/>
==Bridge accomplishments==
===Awards=== * ACBL Hall of Fame, 2020 * Sidney H Lazard Jr. Sportsmanship Award, 2004 * IBPA Sportsman of the Year, 1997 * Fishbein Trophy (1) 1994
===Wins=== * World Women's Team Championships (7) and World Women's Pairs (2) <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbridge.org/people/person/?qryid=3907 |title=Person | World Bridge Federation |publisher=Worldbridge.org |date= |accessdate=2020-05-15}}</ref> * North American Bridge Championships (24) ** Smith Life Master Women's Pairs (4) 1983, 1985, 1994, 2008 <ref name="American Contract Bridge League">{{cite news |title=Smith Women's Pairs Previous Winners |publisher=American Contract Bridge League |url=http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2013/03/bulletins/db1.pdf |page=7 |date=2013-11-29 |accessdate=2014-10-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021045907/http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2013/03/bulletins/db1.pdf |archivedate=2014-10-21 }}</ref> ** Machlin Women's Swiss Teams (5) 1987, 1995, 1996, 2007, 2012 <ref name="Machlin Swiss Previous Winners">{{cite news |title=Machlin Swiss Previous Winners |publisher=American Contract Bridge League |url=http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/01/bulletins/db9.pdf |page=10 |date=2014-03-29 |accessdate=2014-10-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021163816/http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/01/bulletins/db9.pdf |archivedate=2014-10-21 }}</ref> ** Wagar Women's Knockout Teams (7) 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013 <ref name="Wagar Previous Winners">{{cite news |title=Wagar Previous Winners |publisher=American Contract Bridge League |url=http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/02/bulletins/db4.pdf |page=10 |date=2014-07-21 |accessdate=2014-10-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021163711/http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/02/bulletins/db4.pdf |archivedate=2014-10-21 }}</ref> ** Sternberg Women's Board-a-Match Teams (5) 1992, 1995, 2005, 2006, 2008 <ref name="Women's BAM Winners">{{cite news |title=Women's BAM Winners |publisher=American Contract Bridge League |url=http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2013/03/bulletins/db3.pdf |page=4 |date=2013-12-01 |accessdate=2014-10-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021163618/http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2013/03/bulletins/db3.pdf |archivedate=2014-10-21 }}</ref> ** Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (3) 1982, 2004, 2006 <ref name="Mixed BAM Previous Winners">{{cite news |title=Mixed BAM Previous Winners |publisher=American Contract Bridge League |url=http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/02/bulletins/db7.pdf |page=14 |date=2014-07-24 |accessdate=2014-10-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021163650/http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/02/bulletins/db7.pdf |archivedate=2014-10-21 }}</ref>
===Runners-up===
* North American Bridge Championships ** von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs (1) 2002 <ref>{{cite news |title=von Zedtwitz LM Previous Winners |publisher=American Contract Bridge League |url=http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/02/bulletins/db1.pdf |page=6 |date=2014-06-18 |accessdate=2014-10-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021163438/http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/02/bulletins/db1.pdf |archivedate=2014-10-21 }}</ref> ** Rockwell Mixed Pairs (1) 2005 <ref>{{cite news |title=Rockwell Mixed Pairs Previous Winners |publisher=American Contract Bridge League |url=http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/01/bulletins/db5.pdf |page=8 |date=2014-03-25 |accessdate=2014-10-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021163529/http://www.acbl.org/nabc/2014/01/bulletins/db5.pdf |archivedate=2014-10-21 }}</ref> ** Smith Life Master Women's Pairs (2) 1989, 2010 <ref name="American Contract Bridge League"/> ** Freeman Mixed Board-a-Match (1) 2014 <ref name="Mixed BAM Previous Winners"/> ** Machlin Women's Swiss Teams (2) 2008, 2013 <ref name="Machlin Swiss Previous Winners"/> ** Wagar Women's Knockout Teams (4) 1981, 1986, 1992, 1994 <ref name="Wagar Previous Winners"/> ** Sternberg Women's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1991, 2001 <ref name="Women's BAM Winners"/> ** Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match (2) 1981, 1984 <ref name="Mixed BAM Previous Winners"/>
==References== <references>
<ref name=lawlor> [https://www.dailypress.com/2012/01/13/newport-news-native-wins-gold-in-china-in-contract-bridge/ "Newport News native wins gold in China in contract bridge"]. Joe Lawlor. ''Daily Press''. January 13, 2012. Retrieved 2014-11-11.</ref> <ref name=SAWMG> [http://worldmindgames2011.sportresult.com/NH/en/Participant/ParticipantInfo/8b97ec7b-71ef-4691-8b2d-77818bd78c49 "DEAS Lynn"]. ''Athlete Information''. 1st SportAccord World Mind Games. December 2011. Retrieved 2014-11-10.</ref><ref name=SA2014> [http://www.sportaccord.com/multimedia/docs/2014/10/Bridge_reg_list.pdf "Bridge Registration List"]. SportAccord World Mind Games. October 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-08.</ref>
</references>
==External links== * {{official website }} * {{WBFpeople}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140623122117/http://www.worldbridge.org/women-stars.aspx Women Stars] at the World Bridge Federation – with biographies ([https://web.archive.org/web/20141110221025/http://www.worldbridge.org/deas.aspx Deas]) * [http://worldmindgames2011.sportresult.com/NH/en/Participant/ParticipantInfo/8b97ec7b-71ef-4691-8b2d-77818bd78c49 DEAS Lynn] athlete information at the 2011 SportAccord World Mind Games
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deas, Lynn}} Category:1953 births Category:2020 deaths Category:American contract bridge players Category:People from Newport News, Virginia Category:People from Schenectady, New York Category:People with muscular dystrophy Category:Venice Cup players