BridgeWinners said:
Naren Gupta, Huub Bertens, Curtis Cheek, and Dan Korbel played 4-handed in the USBF Invitational 1 tournament May 30-June 3. They dominated the event, losing only one Round Robin match (to Robinson (Steve Robinson, Peter Boyd, Bart Bramley, and Kit Woolsey), and then defeating Donner in the Quarterfinal, Moss in the Semifinal and Rosenthal in the Final. Only the match against Moss was close (Gupta won that by 2 IMPs).
Over the next 4-1/2 months, the USBF Adjudicatory Committee: (a) examined all 253 USBF Invitational hands in which Mr. Bertens was involved; (b) reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, including expert reports, submitted by the Attorney-Advocate for the Charging Party; © reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, including expert reports, submitted by the three (3) Attorney-Advocates for Mr. Bertens; and (d) listened to fourteen (14) days of live testimony.
The USBF Adjudicatory Committee, after full and careful consideration of all the subject USBF Invitational hands and all of the other evidence, arguments, and testimony presented by the Parties and their Attorney-Advocates, unanimously finds, to its comfortable satisfaction, that Mr. Bertens is guilty as charged.
DISCIPLINE
The Adjudicatory Committee of the USBF imposes the following sanctions. Effective immediately, Mr. Huub Bertens is:
1. Barred from membership in the USBF until January 1, 2028, at which time he may reapply for membership in the USBF;
2. On probation for a three-year period commencing on the date, if any, that he is re-admitted as a member of the USBF; and
3. Barred for life from serving on the Board of Directors of the USBF.
Over the next 4-1/2 months, the USBF Adjudicatory Committee: (a) examined all 253 USBF Invitational hands in which Mr. Bertens was involved; (b) reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, including expert reports, submitted by the Attorney-Advocate for the Charging Party; © reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, including expert reports, submitted by the three (3) Attorney-Advocates for Mr. Bertens; and (d) listened to fourteen (14) days of live testimony.
The USBF Adjudicatory Committee, after full and careful consideration of all the subject USBF Invitational hands and all of the other evidence, arguments, and testimony presented by the Parties and their Attorney-Advocates, unanimously finds, to its comfortable satisfaction, that Mr. Bertens is guilty as charged.
DISCIPLINE
The Adjudicatory Committee of the USBF imposes the following sanctions. Effective immediately, Mr. Huub Bertens is:
1. Barred from membership in the USBF until January 1, 2028, at which time he may reapply for membership in the USBF;
2. On probation for a three-year period commencing on the date, if any, that he is re-admitted as a member of the USBF; and
3. Barred for life from serving on the Board of Directors of the USBF.
Assuming the conviction is correct, it seems unfair that the real winners are deprived of their title. it should be a condition of entry to a competition, that if a team-member is convicted of cheating, the tainted team automatically forfeits titles, places, and so on. Also, the other competitors are moved up, in the pecking order, in a predefined way, as simple and fairly as possible.