Lila Perlstein died recently after a long, courageous battle with cancer. She comported herself with great dignity to the end, playing the game she loved so much and played so well. We will miss this gracious lady.
Alvin Levy, our new District Director, seems to have gotten off to a good start. He is accessible to all (he may come to regret this) and seems very committed to bridge and the district he represents.
When someone asks me "Who writes your column?", I know I've done a good job.
Is Memphis suffering from its own Travelgate? At one point, there were no rooms available for the Spring NABC in Philadelphia, except at a premium. All of a sudden, 'bridge-rate' rooms were available again.
Is-this-some-kind-of-a-joke Department: Happy Miles was a 'junior master' and Donna Prisyon has close to 100 master points in no time at all. There would be nothing remarkable about this, except for the fact that Happy was a fox terrier and Donna started accumulating her master points when she was a few weeks old. Now, someone actually ran for the ACBL Hall of Fame on a petition. Election to such a place of honor should be based on a great tournament record or great contributions to the game of bridge. Bypassing Edith Kemp, one of the real greats for the second time, is bizarre.
Not a day goes by that some ACBL rule or regulation is not bent or broken in this unit's clubs. And Memphis couldn't care less! But at the very least, shouldn't Silver Point sectionals in the clubs be run by the book?
In spite of the good press the Bulletin is giving the event in Beijing, this C.O. has not heard one good word from the participants except, of course, from the winners who wouldn't care if they played (and won) in a cave.
Nothing is more appropriately named than the ACBL "MAD Line". If you're not mad when you call, you will be by the time you are finished.
With the death of Terence Reese, the bridge world lost one of its best players and, by far the best writer. It's sad that the cheating charges were never resolved one way or the other. According to most experts, the hands introduced as evidence made less than a compelling case. Also, why cheat in a match that is lost beyond redemption and one that is a total lock. It don't make sense!
The late Harry Fishbein (Fishy) who ran the best bridge club ever with a Wednesday night duplicate of no equal, gets very little recognition in the list of candidates for this year's nomination to the Hall of Fame. He won 9 National Championships, all with friends, as he had no regular partnerships.
It doesn't matter how long a star has been in the wilderness, he can still get some silly hand into print (silly auction, pedestrian play). Yet, when a lesser player has a hand of interest (to me, at least), A.T. tells him that he, A.T., has more hands than a centipede has feet.
Some people took exception with this column's mention of 4-3 fits. I did not intend to imply that people who religiously open 5-card or more majors never play 4 opposite 3. As a matter of fact, if they open one heart with A Q J x, 8 7 6 5 3, A x, K x (especially playing forcing NT), they may play in a 4-2 or a terrible 5-2.
If anyone belongs in the Bridge Hall of Fame, it's McKenney, if for nothing else for creating the Master Point system. It's weird enough that some players don't send in their points issued at clubs, so that they can keep playing in low-flight events as long as possible. Now, some john tried to register forged fractionals! Yes, that's right. And his defense? Someone else sent them in to get him into trouble!
Can it be possible that Stamford, Connecticut, is being considered as a possible site for this Unit's Regionals? It may be long past due, but shouldn't the negotiating for tournament space be put into the hands of business people?
The way the League is going with all the new alerts, soon you will need a traffic light: green for regular, amber for special and red for "Oh Boy!" No wonder so many players get turned off.
This C.O. wants to wish Norman Kurlander the best of luck with his new bridge club in Woodside.
In club games some people score in pen to ensure that no erasures occur after the boards are out of their sight.
Active Ethics Department: Board members should be cleaner than a hound's tooth (not a spot of plaque) and not immune to the scrutiny of any Recorder. This kind of 'Mr.Clean' approach should also apply to members of the Appeals Committee. No present or past transgressors need apply. Come to think of it, publishing the proceedings and decisions of Appeals for everyone to see does take a lot of guts.
When a player recorded one of two scoring errors (guess which one), Harry Goldwater deadpanned "So, you only report even-numbered boards?"