{{Short description|French bridge and checkers player}} [[File:Om het wereldkampioenschap dammen.ogv|thumbtime=39|thumb|300px| Ghestem during a match against Reinier Cornelis Keller at the 1947 world championship in Amsterdam]]
'''Pierre Ghestem''' (14 February 1922, Lille – 9 March 2000, Lille)<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=matchID - Pierre Ghestem |url=https://deces.matchid.io/id/s-ZCz9K7sEDv |website=Fichier des décès |publisher= |access-date=19 March 2023 |language=fr |date=}}</ref> was a French bridge and checkers player.
==Career== In 1947 he became the world champion in checkers. In bridge, he was a World Bridge Federation Grand Master. As a member of the France open team, he won the inaugural World Team Olympiad in 1960 and the Bermuda Bowl in 1956 (runner-up in 1954, third-place 1961 and 1963), as well as European titles in 1953, 1955, 1962 (second in 1956 and 1961).<!-- Ext link WBF is one source -->
In his early years Ghestem also played chess, and made it to the fourth position in the 1944 Chess Championship of North France.
In bridge, Pierre Ghestem is well known for his contributions to the theory of bidding. He was the author of Ghestem two-suit bids, and has significantly contributed to the theory of {{gcb|relaybid|relay systems}}. He invented and played the relay-based Monaco system with his regular partner René Bacherich.
Ghestem and Bacherich were unusually slow players. Covering the 1963 Bermuda Bowl in ''Playboy'', Alfred Sheinwold called them "the slowest partnership in the world" with "no rivals as a pair".<ref name=sheinwold/> The British expatriate Alan Truscott told readers of his ''New York Times'' bridge column in 1967, "all the records in this area are held by the famous French partnership".<ref>"Bridge: Slow Players Cause Problems Lost in Thought Either Way". Alan Truscott. ''The New York Times''. September 10, 1967. Page 164.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist |25em |refs=
<ref name=sheinwold> "Big-League Bridge". Alfred Sheinwold. ''Playboy''. May 1964. [http://www.bridgebum.com/big_league_bridge_alfred_sheinwold_3.php Reprint (page 3 of 4)] at Bridge Bum (bridgebum.com) retrieved 2015-01-15.</ref>
}}
==External links== * {{WBFpeople}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927075907/http://www.gabrial-ui.com/about_bridge/conventions/PIERREGH.HTM Pierre Ghestem], Gabungan Bridge Alumni Universitas Indonesia * [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=%22pierre+ghestem%22&qt=results_page Search: 'pierre ghestem'] at WorldCat <!-- as he is not identified by LCCN -->
{{Authority control}} <!-- 2014-11-10, no LCCN -->
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghestem, Pierre}} Category:1922 births Category:2000 deaths Category:French contract bridge players Category:Bermuda Bowl players Category:French draughts players Category:Players of international draughts Category:Contract bridge writers Category:Sportspeople from Lille Category:Articles containing video clips