John Collings died on Friday 11 March aged 71.
Patrick Jourdain writes:

Collings first represented England at bridge in 1961 partnering Ronald Crown, but Crown went to the USA and Collings formed a partnership with one of Britain's most talented players, Jonathan Cansino. In 1965 they represented England in the Home Internationals, won the Gold Cup, the premier event in Britain , and represented Britain in the Europeans. Collings had three more Gold Cup wins, the latest being in 1999. He was a master of the bluff bid and opponents who tried to second-guess him rarely came out best.

At the 1966 World Pairs Olympiad Collings and Cansino were sixth and soon after Collings moved to Geneva whre he formed bridge partnerships with the leading Swiss players of the day, Jean Besse and Tony Trad, and represented Switzerland on two occasions. Following his recovery from a major heart attack Collings moved back to London where he ran a Bridge Academy owned by Jack Nunes. The British team, with Collings partnering Paul Hackett, won the silver medal at the 1981 Europeans.

His most successful partnership in recent years was with Martin Jones of Warwickshire, a player 40 years his junior. They represented Britain in the 1999 Europeans, the last before Britain became England, Scotland and Wales for European and World events. They represented England as recently as 2003 in the Home Internationals, and last year Collings partnered Martin's father, David, in the England Senior Team at the World Olympiad in Istanbul. Friends and opponents alike reminded Collings of his remark made some years earlier, "If you see me in the Seniors, I'll be dead, and even then I'll be above average."