The top ranked player in the world, my former hero, has been accused of cheating along with his partner on the bridge team of Monaco. The evidence seems overwhelming and I am heartbroken. The full article is here: http://bridgewinners.com/article/view/the-videos-speak-fantoni-nunes
The foreign press has picked this up but not the U.S. Press
Click here for the UK Daily Mail article
This news comes only days after a top Israeli pair was outed for cheating, reported in Israel:
click here for the Ynet news article
The bridge details are at the Bridge Winners web site in the first
The Videos Speak article.
So how does this relate to bridge teaching? I think it is extremely important to bring up the topic of ethics when teaching people to play this wonderful game. There is so much inadvertent cheating among beginners that it is best to explain at the start what is expected.
I often begin by saying something like, “You are not allowed to know that your partner liked your lead because they smiled or that they hated it because they frowned; so learn how to signal with the cards you play, not how you play them.” I tell the tale of a player told her opponent that since her partner was leading with her left hand, it was a singleton. Obviously this is illegal and not part of the game.
Then I tell stories about famous past cheating scandals which brought about the use of screens in international play. Next there was a pair exchanging foot signals below the screens so that the screens had to be extended all the way to the floor.