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Remembering John Wignall
John Wignall (1932-2023)
John Wignall has been hugely influential on many aspects of the way we play bridge in New Zealand. He had a big impact on the game at the Christchurch Bridge Club, where he had been a member and played for almost 70 years. He has represented this country many times as a player and has many national titles to his credit. He has served as a committee member of NZCBA and as President of Zone 7. He has represented our Zone on the WBF and has risen to high office with that organisation.
He was made a Life Member of the Christchurch Club in 1978 and of New Zealand Bridge in 2007. In 1998 he was made a member of the WBF Committee of Honour (World Bridge Federation’s highest honour) and in the same year received the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to bridge.
John first played at the Christchurch Bridge Club in late 1953 and soon joined the club committee. Because players were having difficulty moving from beginner to regular club player, John proposed two grades of club membership, this being the origin of the grading system of Open, Intermediate and Junior players. About 1960, he worked with Sir Joseph Ward, a member of the NZCBA Management Committee, and they created the concept and structure for the Master Points Scheme we now have.
In 1962, he became temporary club Secretary and was permanently in that position from 1967 until 1970 though business interests as a sharebroker meant he could not continue in the role. While he was never again on the club committee, he always kept an interest in what was happening at the club and, of course, always expressed his opinions too.
His successor became the first full-time paid bridge club manager. The club was the first bridge club in the country to own its own premises and was the first to introduce computer scoring. When fire extensively destroyed the club premises, he oversaw the redesign and eventually left the committee on firm financial footing with “no wish to return to the club committee”. He concentrated then on his role with NZCBA.
In 1986, he succeeded Denis Howard as the Zone 7 representative to the WBF, a role which meant John had to pay his own expenses in travelling to WBF meetings. He was also President of Zone 7 and enlarged the zone from initially just New Zealand and Australia to include Tahiti, New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands. He was also a strong active supporter of the Oceania Bridge Championships which flourished in the mid 1980’s. This tribute to John came from Anna Gudge, on behalf of the World Bridge Federation.
“ The WBF is greatly saddened to hear of the recent death of John Wignall. John was a member of the WBF Executive Council from 1986 to 2018. During this time he held a number of official positions, among them Chairman of the Systems Committee as well as being a member of the Management, Credentials, Laws, Rules and Regulations Committees among others.
He served for a number of years as 1st Vice President and was elected to the WBF Committee of Honour in 1998 in recognition of his enormous contribution to the work of the WBF.
John was instrumental, together with Grattan Endicott, in creating a Guide for Appeals which was in force for many years before being replaced by the current Review procedure.
His diplomacy and calm good sense made him the person who dealt with difficult situations and discussions, when he would occasionally retreat outside to smoke his pipe and discuss them with his close friend and colleague José Damiani. Their friendship was built on mutual respect and appreciation and José has stated that he will always think of John as one of the great figures in the annals of the WBF.”
Former WBF President, Jose Damiani, also commented: “I just received the sad news this morning. John shares with me quite 20 years of the World Bridge life. I believe we did a lot together with the same goal , make bridge better and better for the players and their federations He was more specifically in charge of the laws , of the minutes of our meetings. If he was not the father , he was one of the main contributors with Grattan Endicott of the Guide and Appendix for Appeals that I wanted to create with Bobby Wolff.
He was always the one who calmed down difficult situations or discussions. From time to time we found solutions to some issues smoking outside him his pipe and me my cigar. Over time our friendship became closer and closer with mutual respect and appreciation of our duties. He will remain in my mind as one of the greatest figures of the WBF."
His first international representation was with Frank Lu in the FEBF in Tokyo in 1964. Along with Bruce Bell and Rex Evans, they played as a team of 4. They were given 100.00 pounds each to cover travel, accommodation and food. The team finished about half-way in 5th place.
After 1964 came a test against Australia in 1969, the first of 15 appearances for the New Zealand Open team between then and 1985. He also played in the 2010 and 2018 Commonwealth Nations events, played three times for the New Zealand Seniors’ team and four times was the npc for a New Zealand team. He won the New Zealand Pairs 6 times between 1964 and 1976, the New Zealand Teams in 1972, 1981 and 1986 and was in the winning Canterbury team in the Open Inter-Provincials 12 times between 1967 and 2004.
In the mid 60’s, at John’s instigation, the first Inter-Provincial Championships were played.
From 1966, John wrote a weekly bridge article for the Christchurch Press, which were repeated in the Otago Daily Times. The column lasted for over 40 years. In more recent years, he was a trustee of the New Zealand Bridge Foundation.
John was a very talented player, a fine analyst and an excellent partner. Way back in 1973, he gave an interesting view of his ambition. John said “I never aimed at being the best bridge player in the country, rather aspiring to be the best partner. To be a really good player, one must have the ability to extract the best from one’s partner, no matter what level one is playing.” He described himself as “self-taught” and did not believe in an innate card sense. “Most qualities that make a top class bridge player are developed by sheer hard slog.”
On behalf of all bridge players, I send our condolences to Adele, John’s three children and extended family and friends.
Richard Solomon
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