Events & Discoveries

Bridge and Ethics

Midway through the 10-day world championship bridge match with Italy last January, Tobias Stone of the American team lost his temper, none too stable in any event, protested, and set in motion a chain of circumstances that led to his being censured by the American Contract Bridge League and banned from international play for a year. Last week he sued the league to have the censure—in itself unprecedented—removed by court action.

About all that has been known of what happened in Italy is that the American team was decisively beaten. Long dominant in world bridge, the U.S. team was first crushed by the Italians two years ago, when they appeared in New York with an entirely new bidding system, passing in odd situations and suddenly stopping with bidding in full swing. The suave and diplomatic Italians, personally popular and praised by Bridge Master Charles Goren as "fine sportsmen and magnificent players," were also noted to be doing a lot of staring at each other—long, soulful looks that bothered some players and spectators.

In Italy this year, play started in the Casino at Como, with the players in the open room in a soundproof booth, the bidding and the hands shown on a large board outside for the benefit of spectators. (The same hands were played in the closed room, with the Italian team holding the cards the Americans had held in the open room, as in ordinary duplicate bridge, and scoring was by international match points, roughly one for every 100 bridge points.)

After five days the match was moved to Campione, where spectators crowded around the table in the open room. The Americans were told not to show their hands to the audience. Through an oversight, the Italians were not warned, and on the first hand, as is customary in playing before a gallery, held their cards over their heads so the spectators could see them and follow the bidding.

What happened next is in dispute. The New York Times at the time reported that Stone protested. "Protested nothing!" said a bridge official. "Toby screamed!" In another hassle, Stone said to the Italian player Guglielmo Siniscalco, "Stop staring at your partner!"

"Are you accusing me of cheating?" asked Signor Siniscalco .

"No," said Stone. "It makes me uncomfortable."

The Italian team, winners of the 164-hands match by 211 to 174 points, charged Stone with discourtesy to an opponent. Back in the U.S. the Bridge League barred Stone for a year for discourtesy, but cleared him of a second complaint that he had accused the Italians of cheating. Bridge experts say the barring is unnecessary—the Italians wouldn't play against a team of which Stone was a member.

They also say that the conflict dramatizes the different ethical climate of European and American bridge. Betting is heavy during European tournaments and all but unknown, or for small stakes, in American matches. There is no way to codify unethical practices in bridge. It is unethical, for instance, to hesitate on playing a singleton, just as it is to deliberate too long on certain no-trump bids or to go through elaborate facial grimaces, indicating profound uncertainty, whose net result in certain bidding and playing situations can only be to acquaint one's partner of the nature of the cards held. But if any protest is entered, the dispute boils down to something as nebulous as a fleeting expression. Hence bridge officials in the United Stated hold that the primary aim is to maintain an ethical climate, rather than legislate against concrete acts. They want to avoid the money-saturated, gambling-tense environment of much European tournament play, where, in recent years, both the Italian and the French teams have fired top bridge stars for cheating. American bridge experts also tried to soothe international friction diplomatically. Charles Goren went over the boards (each dealt hand is called a board and each board is recorded) "with a fine tooth comb," could not find a shred of evidence of cheating by the Italian players, called the very idea "preposterous." As for the staring Stone complained about, Goren said: "Heck, Americans are the greatest starers in the world."