USBF Invitational May-Jun 2020

[nige1]

Naren Gupta, Huub Bertens, Curtis Cheek, and Dan Korbel played 4-handed in the USBF Invitational 1 tournament May 30-June 3. They dominated the event, losing only one Round Robin match (to Robinson (Steve Robinson, Peter Boyd, Bart Bramley, and Kit Woolsey), and then defeating Donner in the Quarterfinal, Moss in the Semifinal and Rosenthal in the Final. Only the match against Moss was close (Gupta won that by 2 IMPs).

Over the next 4-1/2 months, the USBF Adjudicatory Committee: (a) examined all 253 USBF Invitational hands in which Mr. Bertens was involved; (b) reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, including expert reports, submitted by the Attorney-Advocate for the Charging Party; © reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, including expert reports, submitted by the three (3) Attorney-Advocates for Mr. Bertens; and (d) listened to fourteen (14) days of live testimony.

 

The USBF Adjudicatory Committee, after full and careful consideration of all the subject USBF Invitational hands and all of the other evidence, arguments, and testimony presented by the Parties and their Attorney-Advocates, unanimously finds, to its comfortable satisfaction, that Mr. Bertens is guilty as charged.

 

DISCIPLINE

 

The Adjudicatory Committee of the USBF imposes the following sanctions. Effective immediately, Mr. Huub Bertens is:

 

1. Barred from membership in the USBF until January 1, 2028, at which time he may reapply for membership in the USBF;

 

2. On probation for a three-year period commencing on the date, if any, that he is re-admitted as a member of the USBF; and

 

3. Barred for life from serving on the Board of Directors of the USBF.

 

 

Assuming the conviction is correct, it seems unfair that the real winners are deprived of their title. it should be a condition of entry to a competition, that if a team-member is convicted of cheating, the tainted team automatically forfeits titles, places, and so on. Also, the other competitors are moved up, in the pecking order, in a predefined way, as simple and fairly as possible.

 

 

 

 

[paulg]

Assuming the conviction is correct, it seems unfair that the real winners are deprived of their title. it should be a condition of entry to a competition, that if a team-member is convicted of cheating, the tainted team automatically forfeits titles, places, and so on. Also, the other competitors are moved up, in the pecking order, in a predefined way, as simple and fairly as possible.

Although a laudable aim, this was just a practice event and I don't think that there were any titles or points at stake.

 

However it is never easy to say who should have won if you were to disqualify the winners. Surely Donner, Moss and Rosenthal would all have some degree of a claim?

 

I have degrees of claim on a number of Spingolds where we were beaten by teams with cheating pairs, but I doubt that 0.05% is going to get my name on any trophy.

[LBengtsson]

cheating again in bridge :angry: :( cheating players must be banned for LIFE. from all events and from all clubs. that is my opinion. you would have thought after all that Boye Brogeland and other honest bridge players did to eliminate cheating shark from the game that players would now stop their dirty tricks. no, as nige1 has posted, cheating it is still is here.

 

Edited. Cut/paste this from Bridgewinners

 

Bad news for bridge

by Roy Welland Aug. 4

 

Fulvio Fantoni is confirmed to be a player on the Italian national team. This means he will be playing in the upcoming EBL qualifying event for the world championships, and as Italy is the host country, they will be guaranteed a spot in next year's Bermuda Bowl.

 

Sabine and I have formally withdrawn from our position on the German Open Team for the upcoming event. We had been very much looking forward to fighting for a spot in the Bermuda Bowl.

 

I hope someone will consider running a concurrent event for those who feel similarly.

[paulg]

cheating again in bridge :angry: :( cheating players must be banned for LIFE. from all events and from all clubs. that is my opinion. you would have thought after all that Boye Brogeland and other honest bridge players did to eliminate cheating shark from the game that players would now stop their dirty tricks. no, as nige1 has posted, cheating it is still is here.

Although nige1 has only just posted this, it is old news from last year.

 

I think the English Bridge Union has shown a reasonable approach to cheating players with their sentences for those who been found guilty, with a sliding scale based on the scale of the offence, the impact and whether guilt has been admitted.

 

The problem at the top of the game is proving an offence, often to the satisfaction of a court, by authorities who are not used to this process with the rigour that is required.