Presents St. Louis, Misery Appeals at the 1997 Fall NABC Edited by Rich Colker CONTENTS Foreword ......................................................... iii The Expert Panel....................................................v Cases from St. Louis Tempo (Cases 1-21)..............................................1 Unauthorized Information (Cases 22-29).............................83 Misinformation (Cases 30-41) ....................................119 Claims (Cases 42-44)...........................................167 Closing Remarks From the Expert Panelists.............................176 Closing Remarks From the Editor.....................................181 The Panel’s Director and Committee Ratings ............................186 NABC Appeals Committee ..........................................187 i ii FOREWORD In his response to a Chairman’s case write-up a panelist raised the following issue: Brissman: “I disagree with the practice of using the terms ‘unanimously’ or ‘in a split decision’ in the write-ups; it can be counterproductive. Any majority is the Committee decision and the internal vote remains no one’s business other than the voters. If dissenters feel strongly enough to state their opinion in writing, they should do so. But the intent to give comfort to the vanquished by disclosing a split vote or to emphasize Committee solidarity by disclosing unanimity is not helpful to the Committee process.” Jon’s position has been the policy of National Appeals for quite a long time, although many of us have been guilty of deviating from it in recent years. In support of it I have removed all references from the Committee Decisions in this casebook to the unanimity, or lack thereof, of the final decisions (except for written Dissenting Opinions). At the same time I have left discussions of law, bridge and merit issues which serve to further our understanding of the Committee process intact — even if by doing so Committees’ voting tendencies were revealed. Committee Chairs should take note of this policy in preparing future write-ups. We continue with our presentation of appeals from NABC tournaments. As always, our goal is to provide information and to stimulate change (hopefully for the better). We hope we have done this in a manner that is entertaining, as well as instructive and stimulating. As in previous casebooks, we’ve asked our panelists to rate each Director’s ruling and each Committee’s decision. While not every panelist rated every case (just as every panelist didn’t comment on every case), many did. The two ratings (averaged over the panelists) are presented after each write-up, expressed as percentages. These ratings also appear in a summary table near the end of the casebook for handy reference. Once again I wish to thank all of the hard-working people without whose efforts these casebooks would not be possible: the scribes and Committee chairs who labor to chronicle the details of each case; the panelists for their hard work and devotion to a truly arduous task for which they receive only our praise (and occasional abuse); and, of course, Linda Weinstein, who manages the case write-ups at NABC tournaments. As always, she is the indispensable one in this operation. My sincere thanks to all of you. I hope that my revisions have not diminished any of your earlier work. One final thanks goes to Sheri Winestock, for suggesting the casebook’s title. Rich Colker, July, 1998 iii iv THE EXPERT PANEL the WBF and ACBL. He has won four world titles (his first at age 25 in 1981) and numerous National Championships including seven Spingolds, four of which were won Bart Bramley, 50, was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. He grew up in Connecticut consecutively from 1993 to 1996. and Boston and is a graduate of MIT. He currently resides in Chicago with his longtime companion Judy Wadas. He is a stock options trader at the CBOE. Bart is a sports fan Barry Rigal, 40, was born in London, England. He is married to Sue Picus and (especially baseball and specifically the NY Yankees), a golf enthusiast, enjoys word currently resides in New York City where he is a bridge writer and analyst who games and has been a Deadhead for many years. He is proudest of his 1989 Reno contributes to many periodicals worldwide and is the author of the recently published Vanderbilt win and his participation in the 1991 Bermuda Bowl. He was captain of the book, Precision in the Nineties.. He enjoys theater, music, arts, and travel. Barry is also 1996 U.S. Olympiad team. He also credits Ken Lebensold as an essential influence in an outstanding Vugraph commentator, demonstrating an extensive knowledge of the his bridge development. many bidding systems played by pairs all over the world. He coached the USA I team to the Venice Cup in 1997. He is proudest of his fourth place finish in the 1990 Geneva Jon Brissman, 54, was born in Abilene, Texas. He attended Purdue University and World Mixed Pairs, winning the Common Market Mixed Teams in 1987, and winning earned a B.A. from Parsons College, an M.A. from Northeast Missouri State University, the Gold Cup in 1991. and a J.D. from Western State University College of Law. He operates a small law office in San Bernardino, California, teaches at the Los Angeles College of Michael Rosenberg, 44, was born in New York where he has resided since 1978. He Chiropractic, and serves as a judge pro tem in small claims and municipal court. He is a stock options trader. His mother, father and sister reside in Scotland where he grew served as Co-Chair of the National Appeals Committee from 1982-88, and was up. His hobbies include tennis and music. Widely regarded as the expert’s expert, reappointed in 1997. A Good Will Committee member, he believes that a pleasant Michael won the Rosenblum KO and was second in the Open Pairs in the 1994 demeanor coaxes forth his partnership's best efforts. Albuquerque World Bridge Championships. He was the ACBL player of the year in 1994. He believes the bridge accomplishment he will be proudest of is still in the future. Larry Cohen, 39, was born in New York. He is a graduate of SUNY at Albany. He Michael is also a leading spokesman for ethical bridge play and for policies that currently resides in Boca Raton, Florida. He is a Bridge Professional and author of three encourage higher standards. books, two that are best sellers: To Bid or Not To Bid and Following the Law, and a third book published recently, Bridge Below the Belt, written with Liz Davis. Larry is Dave Treadwell, 85, was born in Belleville, New Jersey and currently resides in a Co-Director of the Bridge World Master Solver’s Club. He enjoys golf in his spare Wilmington, Delaware. He is a retired Chemical Engineer, a graduate of MIT, and was time. He has won sixteen National Championships. employed by DuPont for more than 40 years where his responsibilities included the initial production of Teflon for introduction to the marketplace. He has three grown Ron Gerard, 54, was born in New York. He is a graduate of Harvard and Michigan children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His hobbies include Law School (JD). He currently resides in White Plains, NY with his wife Joan (District blackjack and magic squares. The bridge accomplishment he is proudest of is breaking 3 Director) where he is an attorney. Ron is a college basketball fan and enjoys classical the 20,000 masterpoint barrier. He believes bridge can be competitive and intellectual, music and tennis. He is proudest of winning both the Spingold and Blue Ribbon Pairs but above all can be and must be fun. in 1981. Each year from 1990 to 1995 he made it to at least the round of eight in the Vanderbilt; he played in three finals (winning in Fort Worth, 1990) and one semi-final Howard Weinstein, 45, was born in Minneapolis. He is a graduate of the University without playing once on a professional team. of Minnesota. He currently resides in Chicago where he is a stock options trader at the CBOE. His brother, sister and parents all reside in Minneapolis. His parents both play Bobby Goldman, 59, was born in Philadelphia. He currently resides in Dallas with his bridge and his father is a Life Master. Howard is a sports enthusiast and enjoys playing wife Bettianne and his son, Quinn. He is a Bridge Professional and Financial Analyst. golf. He is a member of the ACBL Ethical Oversight Committee, Chairman of the His hobbies include tennis, volleyball, basketball and softball. While Bobby was a ACBL’s Conventions and Competition Committee and has been a National Appeals member of the original ACES from 1968 to 1974, he was a pioneer in writing computer Committee member since 1987. He has won five National Championships, and is programs that generate bridge practice hands and evaluate bidding probabilities. Bobby proudest of his 1993 Kansas City Vanderbilt win. has won four World Championships and more than thirty National Championships. Bobby Wolff, 65, was born in San Antonio, and is a graduate of Trinity U. He currently Jeff Meckstroth, 42, was born in Springfield, Ohio. He currently resides in Tampa, resides in Dallas. His father, mother, brother and wives all played bridge. Bobby is a Florida with his wife Shirlee and his two sons, Matt, 13, and Rob, 15. He is a Bridge member of the ACBL Hall of Fame as well as a Grand Life Master in both the WBF Professional who enjoys golf and movies in his spare time. Every year his name can be and the ACBL. He is one of the world’s greatest players and has won ten World Titles found near the top of the Barry Crane Top 500 list. Jeff is a Grand Life Master in both and numerous National Championships including four straight Spingolds (1993-96).