[The_Badger]

I no longer play competitive bridge - covid and disability has put an end to that, sadly - but I still read the occasional bridge book. One that caught my attention was "Under the Table" by Avon Wilsmore: I had to order it specifically from the USA.

I was in regular contact with the late Alan Truscott, a naturalised British-American, the New York Times bridge correspondent for many years, 25 years ago, about The Great Bridge Scandal that occurred in the 1965 Buenos Aires Bermuda Bowl World Championship where a British partnership was accused of cheating. (I will name no names because, in my opinion, they do not deserve to be mentioned.)

To summarise briefly, the pair were accused by the USA players of cheating, the World Bridge Federation found them guilty, made them forfeit the matches they had won, yet a subsequent enquiry by the British Bridge League found them not guilty. I was told by a couple of middle-aged high-ranking British players when I was playing in my college days (the 1980s) that Alan Truscott was jealous (!) and wanted to ruin the reputations of the partnership involved. Which I find incredulous! I never questioned that until I finally read Alan's book, and it was plain to see that this pair, even though they had been fine bridge players, added an extra dimension to their game by resorting to illegal methods, namely finger signalling.

Which brings us to Mr Wilsmore's book which reads like a detective story, finally putting together all the clues that the Italian Blue Team cheated for 20 years before table dividing screens were introduced. The Italian Bridge Federation at the time just swept the accusations under the carpet, and the WBF didn't have the gumption to sanction these players totally, and that was that.

Reading Wilsmore's book just makes me so disillusioned with the game I used to love. Add to this Boye Brogeland's and his friends' dedicated commitment to root out recent cheats in the game, and all I can say that something now needs to be done about all this retrospectively.

It's about time the WBF cleaned up its own act and actually had the balls to remove all the Blue Team's record from its history, and I am not an American player with a gripe about what happened. I am disgusted that the incident in Buenos Aires was swept under the carpet by the British judiciary, and it seems that the Blue Team's victories will still be on the record books also. In my opinion, they should be voided. That might upset some Italians, but if you agree that cheats should benefit from the game then you stand alone.

There will be some that will say that these players who have allegedly cheated are mostly deceased, and one mustn't speak ill of the dead, and that they are no longer with us so cannot defend themselves. But having read Wilsmore's book, it is plainly evident to the honest bridge playing professional that time and time again something untoward was happening, and the systematic and perpetual abuse of the game was, at the time, quite sickening. It wasn't a case of a one-off, but even cheating as a one-off is cheating.

At least Boye Brogeland knew that what was happening was destructive to the game and took decisive action. It's about time the WBF acknowledged that they erred constantly during the Blue Team's era, and wiping their Bermuda Bowl (and other) victories and placings from the record books would at least send a clear signal that cheats will not be tolerated in our game.

The title of this comment "Partner Will Understand" is a reference to Wilsmore's book, where it is evident that "partner will understand" what is going on (in the auction or play) because illegal methods are being used to convey information.

[LBengtsson]

You can not change history, or its records imo. But you can comment on events afterwards. The wiki entry below that I found mentions this book, so the cheating allegations are there for all to see. It was wrong to cheat, but altering facts and records is 'cheating history' also. The Blue Team have been found 'with their pants down' and that is enough imo.

https://en.wikipedia...ue_Team_(bridge)

[AL78]

LBengtsson, on 2023-March-15, 10:07, said:

You can not change history, or its records imo. But you can comment on events afterwards. The wiki entry below that I found mentions this book, so the cheating allegations are there for all to see. It was wrong to cheat, but altering facts and records is 'cheating history' also. The Blue Team have been found 'with their pants down' and that is enough imo.

https://en.wikipedia...ue_Team_(bridge)

You can in some sports at least. Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven TDF titles after he was found to have been doping. It is not unreasonable to take titles off sports participants if they have later been found to have cheated.

[The_Badger]

AL78, on 2023-March-15, 11:27, said:

You can in some sports at least. Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven TDF titles after he was found to have been doping. It is not unreasonable to take titles off sports participants if they have later been found to have cheated.

Exactly! Now if cycling, the organisers of the Tour de France can do this, why cannot the WBF do this also? Surely, the allegations mentioned in Wilsmore's book deserve merit. The number of bridge professionals who have endorsed this book speaks volumes: Bart Bramley, Fred Gitelman, David Gold, Ron Klinger, Eric Kokish, Sam Lev, John Swanson, Anders Wirgren and Bobby Wolff. And I am a mere amateur compared to these time-served professionals, but I know my way around a bridge table.

[avonw]

I thank The Badger for the favourable review.

Another review, in The Bridge World, called for the formation of a committee of experts to finally determine the bona fides of the Blue Team. Nothing happened.

Nonetheless, the matter is not over. I hope to have some interesting news in the not-too-distant future.

[lchiu7]

avonw, on 2023-March-28, 23:13, said:

I thank The Badger for the favourable review.

Another review, in The Bridge World, called for the formation of a committee of experts to finally determine the bona fides of the Blue Team. Nothing happened.

Nonetheless, the matter is not over. I hope to have some interesting news in the not-too-distant future.

John Swanson's book Inside the Bermuda Bowl has some informative chapters and comments on both the Blue Team and the Italian Foot Soldiers. It does make you wonder why no further investigations have taken place.