The Dallas Aces Part III
Mike Lawrence - Bob Hamman - Bobby Wolff
Jim Jacoby - Billy Eisenberg - Bobby Goldman
By Ken Monzingo
Cheating at Bridge on the Highest Stages
The black eye of our bridge world is the result of multiple episodes of cheating at the highest of all levels of play, and on the highest of world playing stages. Cheating is defined here as illegally conveying your holding to your partner during the auction. Since bridge players are normally high aptitude people, and play a game that often involves serious planning and often deception, perpetrators who choose to fudge are quite capable of creating a variety of creative communications; a.k.a cheating.
Black eye number 2 is when the powers that be choose not to prosecute these dastardly acts in fear of bad publicity for the tournament, or the venue, or the governing organizations; a.k.a. coverup.
Reese-Schapiro Finger Scandal
Not sure how far back documented cheating at bridge goes, but my first memory of a world bridge scandal was at the Bermuda Bowl the year I joined ACBL, 1965, when British experts Terence Reese and Boris Schapiro were accused by American players B. Jay Becker and Dorothy Hayden Truscott of holding their cards with different numbers of fingers in accordance with the number of hearts they held. Simply, if the player had three hearts he might initially hold his cards with three visible fingers; four heart holdings would be with four fingers, etc.
Knowing the exact distribution of any one suit gives experts invaluable information on counting the whole hand quickly, and with better accuracy not only assisting in the bidding, but also may influence an opening lead. Since year 1965 was decades before bidding screens were used, such illegal visual signals were very easy to transmit and read.
The World Bridge Federation (WBF) found Reese and Schapiro guilty and banned them from WBF events for three years, but in 1968 the Bermuda Bowl sponsor decided there was insufficient evidence for a guilty verdict, and reinstated them provided they never play together as partners. Bridge player/author Alan Truscott wrote a book about the affair, The Great Bridge Scandal, while Terence Reese wrote his own account, Story of an Accusation.
Bermuda Bowl Toe Tapping Scandal
Ten years later the string of Italian Blue Team Bermuda Bowl victories was followed by some severe cheating allegations, the best-known controversy occurred in 1975 during the Bermuda Bowl held at its home site of Bermuda. During the match an Pennsylvania newspaper journalist and bridge player named Bruce Keiden covering the games observed and reported that Blue Team partners Gianfranco Facchini and Sergio Zucchelli were “playing footsies,” touching each other’s shoes under the table in a coordinated attempt to relay information about their hands. Others in attendance had observed this unnatural behavior, leaving no doubt that something was amiss. This was presented to the presiding authorities of the event who, “severely reprimanded” Facchini and Zucchelli for their activity but allowed the players to continue competing in the event.
No expulsion! Cheating is normally grounds for expulsion from any bridge organization. Instead of removing the Italians from the games, the Bermuda Bowl authorities just placed blocks underneath the tables to prevent any further foot contact. Take that, naughty boys!
Bob Hamman’s autobiography, At the Table, my Life and Times, brings us a fascinating expose of the accused team’s cheating pair: Facchini and Zucchelli. And the aftermath of this alleged cheating scandal on the World Bridge Federation stage. “Although I had never played against them, I knew them by reputation, two rather ordinary players who won three major pairs championships in Europe,” wrote Bob.
Former original Ace Bobby Wofff was not so forgiving saying they were weak players who routinely racked up 70% games, and gave this example: Facchini defending 5♦ holding ♦AQx in front of declarer’s ♦KJx and no diamonds in dummy.
♦---
♦--- ♦AQx
♦KJx
Any decent player can see that by simply leading a small diamond from ♦AQx guarantees two diamond tricks whether it wins, or declarer wins and must lead into the your ♦AQ tenace. Wolff noted Facchini thought a long time and cashed the ♦A, endplaying himself and giving declarer the contract.
“When you see a gaffe like that, it’s a very strong clue that something stinks.You don’t make plays like that and put together a string 70% games,” notes Hamman, “We wondered how the Italians could leave Forquet home while allowing these bozos to play.”
Hamman continues, “We were scheduled to play the Italians on Sunday in the fifth round after they had trampled the field and left only us to stop them.” Then all hell broke loose.
Hearing of thisscandal, Eric Murray, one of Canada’s best ever players, cabled: “I want to play for the Italian team. I’m fairly well known as a bridge player, and above all, I wear a size 12 shoe.”
Cheating Scandals Homegrown see side bar.
Fast Forward to 2015 Fisher Schwartz Spingold Scandal see side bar.
The Dallas Aces Part II
The Fisher-Schwartz 2015 Spingold Teams Scandal​​​​​
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During my year as ACBL president one of my duties was to oversee the investigation of the professional cheaters du jour: Israel’s Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz of Israel. A scandal shook the bridge world as
these two top players were accused of colluding and cheating during the 2015 NABC Spingold Knockout Teams. It has been speculated that Fisher and Schwartz used a combination of coughing signals and/or board placement signals to convey illegal information.
In the Spingold quarter finals the team led by Richie Schwartz lost to the team headed by Jimmy Cayne (Cayne Michael Seamon, Lotan Fisher, Ron Schwartz, Alfredo Versace, Lorenzo Lauria). The match was lost by 1 IMP following an appeal that cost Schwartz 2 IMPs. Following the loss a member of the Schwartz team, Boye Brogeland of Norway, discovered many irregularities committed by the Cayne team’s pair of Fisher and Schwartz. Brogeland publicly accused then of cheating (a very serious act), and even created the website bridgecheaters.com to denounce the pair. Per-Ola Cullin, a Swedish international bridge player, postulated that after removing the board from the bidding tray, Fisher and Schwartz placed it in particular locations as a code to indicate strength in a suit. The analysis was based on video from the European Bridge Team Championship in Croatia in 2014.The accusations were escalated to the ACBL’s Ethical Oversight Committee which made the following July 2016 decisions:
• In the matter of disciplinary charges against Lotan Fisher, and Ron Schwartz the Ethical Oversight Committee unanimously found overwhelming evidence establishing that charged parties Fisher and Schwartz engaged in collusive cheating, and gave false information about prior disciplinary convictions.
• Pursuant to the ACBL Code of Disciplinary Regulations, Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz are expelled, with loss of all membership rights and privileges in the ACBL.
• Also, pursuant to the Code of Disciplinary Regulations Fisher and Ron Schwartz hereby forfeit 100% of their total ACBL masterpoint holdings, and loss of all titles, status ranks and privileges.
• Also, pursuant to the ACBL Code of Disciplinary Regulations the partners and teammates of Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz are subject to mandatory forfeiture of all masterpoints, titles and status ranks earned during the preceding four years calculated from the 2015 Spingold Teams final.
The scandal has been covered in an excellent documentary entitled “Dirty Tricks” (2021). Written and directed by Daniel Sivan, it is available on several streaming platforms.
Lotan Fisher
Ron Schwartz
More on Terence Reese
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Terence Reese was England’s greatest bridge player and writer. He won the 1955 Bermuda Bowl world championship as well as four European titles and 20 national events. His writing career included newspaper columns and 90 books. The 1948 classic
Reese on Play is still in print today and remains a must read.
Reese the Man
Boris Schapiro once wagered a fellow player that Reese would ignore a naked woman at the bridge table due to his absolute concentration. When the opportunity arose for Reese to declare a hand, a naked woman was duly summoned to take Schapiro's seat as dummy. Afterward, Schapiro asked if Reese noticed anything unusual. Reese's reply: “Yes ... the delicate situation in hearts.”
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Reese quote: Good players differ from average players mostly in this: that the good player tries to play all 52 cards, and the average player plays only the 26 which he can see.
Terence Reese
The 1977 Houston Affair
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The ACBL team trials are competed to decide which team moves on to world championship play e.g. The Bermuda Bowl. The Houston 1977 team trials ended scandalously when two west coast experts, Larry Cohen (not the Larry Cohen famous for his book The Law of Total Tricks) and Dr. Richard Katz, abruptly quit in the middle of the final. Officials were investigating rumors that Katz-Cohen were transmitting information illegally – allegedly with sniffs and coughs – but nothing was proven. Before any formal accusations were made Katz and Cohen resigned from the team, which was then was forced to forfeit the match due to a shortage of players.
My friend John Mohan, a member of the US team, said he went to bed early to prepare for a chance to go to the world championships the next day. But when he arose he was sent home.
Not only did Katz and Cohen quit the event, they both resigned their ACBL memberships. Later Katz and Cohen filed a $44M lawsuit against ACBL and three tournament officials for defamation of character, false allegations of misconduct, and forced resignation from the league. The messy affair managed to get settled in court as ACBL agreed to readmit Katz and Cohen, who promised in turn to not play with each other again. Monetary compensation was not made to the pair.
a.k.a. we caved?
​The Aces
The original Dallas Aces, Billy Eisenberg, Bobby Goldman, Bob Hamman, Jim Jacoby, Mike Lawrence and Bobby Wolff was the concept of Ira Corn formed in the mid 1960s to compete with The Italian Blue Team and their legendary world championship dominance in international bridge. The Blue Team rein lasting until 1969 when the Italians announced their retirement – one year following the official formation of the Aces.
The Aces began to enjoy the success which their financier Ira Corn had envisioned, winning a number of NABC teams titles. Their greatest successes came in those first few years, although they remained the team to beat until they disbanded. The Aces were, and are, a legend to American bridge. All the original Dallas Aces have been inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame with the exception of Mike Lawrence who, for some reason, has up to this point, declined to be on the ballot. He would be a slam dunk in Wolff’s opinion.
The composition of the team saw change beginning with Eisenberg’s departure after the 1971 Bermuda Bowl.* He was replaced with Paul Soloway for the remainder of 1971, but Paul also left after the 1972 Olympiad. Soloway was replaced with Mark Blumenthal. About this time Corn, due to financial reverses, decided he could no longer afford the luxury of paying them salaries resulting in the departure of first Jacoby, then Lawrence, and finally Goldman and Blumenthal.
Eric Murray and Sami Kehela, Canada’s leading pair, were added in 1974. Soloway and John Swanson were added for 1975 replacing Goldman and Blumenthal. The partnership of Hamman and Wolff had become the anchor pair, the only original members remaining on the team. Although Soloway and Swanson played as members of the Aces for three national teams events that year, the US Bermuda Bowl team of 1975 was not connected with Corn or the Aces. Soloway and Swanson, together with Kantar and Eisenberg had won the Grand National Teams and then the trials. Hamman and Wolff were added as a third pair for the Bermuda Bowl. The identical situation occurred in 1977, although then Hamman and Wolff were added before the trials.
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World Bridge Championships
In their published memoirs former Dallas Aces Bob Hamman, Mike Lawrence and John Swanson offer recollections of the famed Aces competing in world bridge play: Inside the Bermuda Bowl, by Swanson, Hamman’s At the Table, my Life and Times, and Mike’s new book, My Life with Bridge. All are in-depth, step by step chronicles of the thrill of victory and agony of defeat on the world bridge stage. The Swanson, Hamman and Lawrence books contain treasure troves of hands played at the highest of all levels. Two hands particularly amused me: one was when the best pair of the Aces reached a power 6♣ against the Italians. The ace and king of hearts were both cashed, followed by a heart ruff, down 2! The next was when two of our world/national champions arrived at a grand slam off a cashing ace – which was not led and the contract was made. You would assume the non leader held the ace, and partner did not find it. No, the ace was on lead but chose not lead it!
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​​​The Blue Team (Italian: squadra azzurra) represented Italy, winning sixteen world titles from 1957-1975. From 1964-1969 and during a 1972 comeback, the team comprised three regular pairs: Walter Avarelli-Giorgio Belladonna, Pietro Forquet-Benito Garozzo, and Massimo D'Alelio-Camillo Pabis Ticci. Eugenio Chiaradia and Guglielmo Siniscalco played in early years; Dano De Falco, Arturo Franco, and Vito Pittalà in late years. The long-time coach, and non-playing captain through 1966 was Carl'Alberto Perroux.
When the famed Blue Team did reenter the world championship arena, they defeated the Aces in the 1972 Team Olympiad and again at the Bermuda Bowl games in both 1973 and 1974. The original Aces disbanded in 1974, and the Italians again beat the USA team in 1975. Finally, in 1976, the Bermuda Bowl was won by the US, and the Olympiad by Brazil, marking the end of Italy’s dominance.
The Aces were dissolved after the 1977 Summer Nationals but were reformed one year later, this time as a four man team: Hamman-Wolff playing with Fred Hamilton and Ira Rubin. This foursome performed quite well, and in 1979 they were back in the team trials with Mike Passell added to play with Hamilton, and Paul Soloway added to play with Rubin. This was Soloway’s third time to join the team. They won the trials easily but lost to the French in the 1980 Team Olympiad.
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Year 1981 was the last hurrah for the Aces. It was a good one. With Alan Sontag, Peter Weichsel, Michael Becker, Ron Rubin and, of course, Hamman-Wolff, they again won the trials and this time finally defeated the Italian Blue Team. Sadly, Ira Corn, age 60, passed away before the victory. The ever-changing Aces, following ins and outs of a plethora of pros, slowly disbanded after Corn’s heart attack death in 1982. Their final win in the 1982 Bermuda Bowl was dedicated to Ira.
It was the end of an era.
Scandal
Some of Lawrence’s problem hands are invaluable lessons on how experts think, and some expose very questionable leads and bids by the Italians. Hamman and Swanson also go into detail of fascinating improprieties of the Blue Team during the Bermuda Bowl. Subject for the final edition of this story: Cheating Scandals at the Bermuda Bowl.
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The Blue Team
Back row: Mike Passell - Ira Rubin - Bob Hamman - Fred Hamilton
Front row: Ira Corn (financier) - Bobby Wolff - Paul Soloway
The Dallas Aces Part I
The Dallas Aces, initially the U.S. Aces, later simply the Aces, was the world’s first full-time professional bridge team, a sponsored team of hired pros who devoted their lives to nothing but learning and enhancing their bridge skills to the highest possible level. This team concept was conceived in 1964 and organized in 1968 by Dallas businessman Ira Corn whose mission was to return world bridge supremacy to America after decades of domination by the formidable Italian Blue Team (16 world titles from 1957-1975).
Bobby Wolff, a bridge club owner in San Antonio at the time, and Ira Corn’s friend Dorothy Moore were the first recruits, and both invaluable in assembling (hiring) a professional team dedicated to this winning concept. During the fledgling years the original Aces featured bridge stars Billy Eisenberg, New York City, Bobby Goldman, Philadelphia, James Jacoby, Dallas, Mike Lawrence, San Francisco, Wolff, and Canadians Sami Kehela and Eric Murray. Soon afterward came Paul Soloway, Mill Creek, Washington, and California’s Bob Hamman.
They were all hired full time at salaries of $800/month for singles and $950/month for the married players – a livable wage in mid-1960s Dallas. Corn also paid the team’s expenses at major tournaments.
Alas, this grouping of individuals and pairs changed in composition from year to year making it difficult for continuity and maintaining a unified team spirit. More important, the early players didn’t work on their partnerships to a degree necessary to defeat the vaunted Italian Blue Team.
Solution: Wolff/Corn brought in a team coach, Joe Musumeci (Moose), a veteran military officer to quell the egos of this exceptionally gifted group of proud bridge players, and instill camaraderie. Moose was to create a working job description for the team, and create an environment to keep the guys in line and on the same page. Which he achieved. Now they had a team, not a group.
In their autobiographies Mike Lawrence and Bobby Wolff include fascinating chapters on the formation and beginnings of these famed Aces, the early regimented training, the dedication, their personal feelings, and Dallas living conditions. Both Mike and Bobby pay homage to Aces founder/financier, Ira Corn for their career defining decisions: Lawrence for Corn getting him into successful bridge writing and teaching, and Wolff for Ira’s persuading him to join bridge politics resulting in ACBL and World Bridge Federation presidencies.
One thing remains consistent from all three authors: the Aces was specifically formed by Corn to compete with and defeat Italian teams in world championship play.
EDGAR Online Cheating Investigating
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The ACBL continues to utilize EDGAR (Everyone Deserves a Game Above Reproach) to detect online cheating. Since February 1, 2024, 12,089 players have been submitted for screening. Approximately 700 players identified by EDGAR have been charged, and the current online cheating rate, which includes all players (members, non-members, and inactive accounts), is between 2.5% and 3%. Screening of all online players is hoped to be completed by year-end. Disciplinary actions have included Fast Track Discipline (303 players), Negotiated Resolutions (45), Expedited Disciplinary Panels (9), and Institute of Bridge Arbitration resolutions (26), with 20 resignations to avoid discipline and other cases pending. To view Hearing Reports and the Under Discipline List, go to https://www.acbl.org/ethics/
​​​​​​​The Bermuda Bowl
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The Bermuda Bowl is a biennial contract bridge world championship for national teams. It is contested every odd-numbered year under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation (WBF), alongside the Venice
Cup (women), the d’Orsi Senior Bowl and the Wuhan Cup (mixed). Entries formally represent WBF zones as well as nations, so it is also known as the World Zonal Open Teams Championships.
The Bermuda Bowl is the oldest event that confers the title of world champion in bridge, and was first contested in 1950, eight years before formation the WBF. It is named for the site of the inaugural tournament, the Atlantic archipelago of Bermuda. The Bermuda Bowl Trophy is awarded to the winning team. The Bermuda Bridge Federation provided the trophy and generously provides the replicas for the winners on each occasion.
1970 Stockholm, Sweden
1971 Taipei, Taiwan
1. Billy Eisenberg, Bobby Goldman, Bob Hamman, James Jacoby, Mike Lawrence, Bobby Wolff, USA
1975 Southampton, Bermuda 25th Anniversary and 21st returned to Bermuda
I. Italy: Giorgio Belladonna, Gianfranco Facchini, Arturo Franco, Benito Garozzo, Vito Pittalà, Sergio Zucchelli
2. United States North America: Billy Eisenberg, Bob Hamman, Edwin Kantar, Paul Soloway, John Swanson, Bobby Wolff