Bobby Wolff has suggested that we should police a new offence called 'convention disruption'. So far as the cynical observer can tell this offense would occur whenever a player forgets a convention or doesn't know every sequence in which it applies, and somehow gets a good result anyway. Never mind that forgetting a convention would not seem to violate any of the Laws, and never mind that the game itself tends to punish those who forget their conventions, does anyone find it curious that the man asking us to suggest this concept has been playing with the same partner for 25 years? It must annoy him no end when his opponents' mistakes don't get the results they deserve at the table! If he has his way he'll have another shot.
Bridge might be on the decline in the U.S. but no one would know it from the looks of East 57th Street. Airfare wars have nothing on the local bridge wars: $5.00 card fees, gourmet food, luxurious playing conditions...Is this just healthy competition or are we headed for fewer bridge clubs and higher card fees?
Karpov and Kasparov are household words these days. Big Blue and Fischer playing for large sums. What happened to Bridge??? Down to three days in the NY Times. 3/4 million plus purse for the Cavendish and what is a Weinstein and Stewart???
Where have all the flowers gone? NY bridge is missing its finest. Why aren't they showing for our tournaments? Are options and Rubber more exciting than masterpoints?
The Swami predicts: Higher card fees, fewer bridge clubs. Bigger Purses, more coverage. The flowers return for Greenpoints.
The late Ludwig Kaplan once played in a tournament and heard his opponents reach 6S, down 4, with not a word of recrimination from either opponent. On the next board, he heard his partner open 1S. He raised to 6S and promptly called for the director. When the official appeared, Ludwig said "I want to ask a question of ethics. Is it OK to bid on the opponents' wire?"
You'd best not question the ethics of some 'muckamucks' at the Nationals. All you'd wind up with is a stern reprimand from a committee of his cohorts.
The ACBL allows 7 1/2 minutes per board, or 8 boards per hour. If you play 9-board Swiss matches you're supposed to turn in your results within 60 minutes. Therefore, a 56-board KO that starts at 1 PM and ends in a tie after midnight is some kind of a joke: 3 hours for 14 boards. Those must have been some hands! If either of the teams made it to the Nationals it's safe to say they wouldn't be able to pick up enough IMPs to make up for slow penalties.