The Fisher / Schwartz Bridge Cheating Scandal

[@TomBarrister]

Swedish expert Per-Ola Cullin, who ironically (or perhaps not that ironically) is a judge in real life, was the first to point out the cheating. Since the allegations came out, the pair modified some of their codes, but to no avail. In 2016, the EBL banned both Fisher and Schwartz from playing until 2021 and banned them for life from playing as a partnership. The ACBL unanimously agreed to expel both players and forfeit their titles and master points.

[@darrensusin8903]

I never thought I'd be fascinated by an 8 minute video about bridge, so thanks!

[@donc2815]

Who's here after watching the Dirty Tricks documentary?

[@propagandaBreaker]

burnt :))))

[@JohnDoe-dl7ub]

The only way to stop cheating is to computerise the games and have the players in separate booths not seeing anyone else

[@pierreaudebert1965]

I totally agree with this wise opinion! Now the computers are perfectionned enough to have all players closed into a tight cabin, with a screen displaying normal cards, and human-like robots appearance for the other players. This might be a bit expensive, but how desirable!!

[@plrc4593]

No need to keep everyone separate. 2 opponents can sit next to each other.

[@GetInGame]

Still possible to cheat by nobody hidden vibro receive and send info if enough motivation included.

[@vndafu]

This seems compelling and if found true, they should be banned from Bridge for life.

[@dh2119]

Great video. I like that you've taken the time to show what normal board placement looks like, that way even non-bridge players can see that something funny is going on

[@guyholladay1258]

At about 3:25 Schwartz waits for the tray to be moved out of the way so he can put the board in the right place.

[@gregutz4284]

That's convincing. Seemed very unnatural

[@shiangchen1]

ya the placement is very weird. People usually put the board tray back in the middle not all over the place.

[@johnportwood4211]

I don't suppose you could do a composite of the Israel-Monaco match - if F-N were playing as well?

[@miriamleising6197]

Wow, must have been a lot of work making this vid...It's making it extremely clear what's going on: thumbs up !

[@randylplampin1326]

Only the declarer or his partner should be allowed to move the tray or anything else, even during play.

[@brasileirosim5961]

Hi guys, I am searching for the bridge player mentioned in the following story: "Having a specialized memory is probably quite usual when a lot of time is spent on an activity, and there are some remarkable examples. One evening, a bridge player in Australia noticed that he had exactly the same cards as in a competition two years earlier. He concluded that the organizers had used the same pairing key as back then. He could not only tell all his upcoming cards, but also all the cards of his partners for the rest of the evening! The story ended surprisingly: he was disqualified and thus punished for his strong memory." (Pump Up Your Rating, p. 317). Do you know this player? Thanks.

[@MichaelShinosky]

He should of told the judge of what he suspected...

[@adrjaco]

Did they also alternated placing the cards on the table vertically and horizontally

[@debwastle]

Yes, but that's not cheating. That indicates which pair won the trick.

[@kalindatchev994]

An Italian pair used to place their opening lead differently indicating, I think, whether they had a top honor in that suit or not. They were later caught. Deb is talking about the already taken tricks which are indeed placed differently to indicate who took them.

[@rsankar100]

This is amazing. Cheating at this level should be rooted out completely and the cheats not just disciplined but also fined in some manner.

[@LibertyRapsher]

It boggles the mind that bridge was this primitive in cheat detection and just in recent years they finally picked up on these insanely primitive cheating techniques. When I was a kid we used to do various tricks (so called magic and/or psychic tricks using these techniques). Where you know what the card and/or what the other person is thinking based on the angle in which the card is placed. It could be how a cup is placed on a napkin by someone else who's in on the trick, who after tacking a sip of their drink places it on the napkin.. If the cup is placed in the middle it means something, If it's placed in the top left corner, middle left, bottom corner etc (you could relay 8-16 different signals just based on how someone places a cup on a napkin).... in this case you could relay just as many signals based on how the tray/board/cards are pushed through. That's all this style of cheating is. The angle (and even distance) in which the tray/cards are pushed through. And bridge is tailor made for people to consider and or attempt various cheating methods since much of it is based on what your teammate is thinking. So I find it absolutely hilarious that these cheating methods have just recently been discovered, when there have been so many activities over the years that use these techniques to relay information to someone else.

[@peejay1943]

Whose idea was it to have that ghastly racket going on?

[@jsicolts2]

I was more compelled by the mysterious music...

[@tigerboy1966]

The really distressing thing about these videos is that I always imagined top class bridge players wearing suits and ties in plush surroundings. In fact they dress like chavs and seem to be playing in someone's garage.

[@dokbob5795]

Bridge can be played anywhere. When in the Royal Air Force the ground crew sat over the main spar on the Shackleton aircraft playing as soon as the engines were started.

[@kevinwu2040]

Well, just like poker, wear any clothes you like.

[@rukdropov]

Well they used. But then it was a more civilized age.

[@unplayedpiano7039]

Just Saw The Doc On Showtime. Crazy.

[@anyone9689]

why even keep the board on the table ? its unnecessary after bidding

[@nancysmith9487]

See since we are all watching this and judging, we would of looked if the statically if it changed each match and if there were 6 matches each way in watch we were doing...

[@Jori-em7nx]

The traditional way of placing the board in the same place in the middle of the table will over a period of time hollow out that part of the table and it will need to be replaced. By spreading out where we place the board the tables will on average last up to 4 times longer! In fact we encourage all bridge event organisers to sue any pair that doesn't play like this for inducing extra costs!

[@yabbaguy]

+Ennoo Hääppönen If a dinky little plastic board can do that much damage, they're playing on some pretty crappy tables. :P

[@dokbob5795]

So how are the table manufacturers supposed to make money? They need the tables to get worn out.

[@MisterMcGuinness]

Ignorant comment Jori 2020. If you played bridge youd know you have to pay something called "table money". I presume these funds are designated towards the precise purpose of replacing tables which have been hollowed out over time through aggressive placement of the cards, bidding boxes and boards.

[@MisterMcGuinness]

Ignorant comment Jori 2020. If you played bridge youd know you have to pay something called "table money". I presume these funds are designated towards the precise purpose of replacing tables which have been hollowed out over time through aggressive placement of the cards, bidding boxes and boards.

[@hoonaignachowaneha]

Jewish hands typed this.

[@richardmessina9475]

This sort of thing is not knew. "In 1965, the bridge world was rocked by an accusation of cheating at the world championships in Buenos Aires. The pair involved were Britain's Terence Reese and Boris Schapiro, two of the world's best players..."

[@richardmessina9475]

not new....:)

[@baldrick98007]

I'm reading Truscott's account of Reese and Schapiro. (There are many other examples in his book.) Apparently, in Reese's publication he does not mention any of the deals that were used in evidence against the pair.

[@richardmessina9475]

"The Great Bridge Scandal"?

[@nancysmith9487]

So we need someone to eliminate the middle process of game to see... Put them in separate rooms and play.

[@fullauto1125]

so whats the cheat? how is it helping them?>

[@MichaelClarkZ]

The opening lead is still often a guess, no matter how good you are. If you know which suit your partner wants you to lead that gives you a big advantage.

[@thearcticlord3920]

Ban all cheats for life, as a warning to anyone even thinking of copying them.

[@Lightstrikers]

why play teams if you cant commuicate.

[@avienated]

There is some communication. The limitation to it is at the core of the game.

[@EvilQueEvil]

Just watched this and out of 250 hands they said 6 times the pattern matched....I call BS

[@edoson01]

No expert to bridge, but it seems crazy to me that a the info of the preferable suite of cards is enough to constantly win. How come the game is so sensitive to that information? And.. there are tons of ways to deliver such low capacity information. For example saying something right after removing the tray, and splitting the ABC to 4 parts, each for each suite. Really it seems mind blowing to me that if it only takes knowing one dominant suite to win world championships that nobody else does that

[@danielwang7793]

The game is very much based on information being hidden, or least equally available to all the players. Every little bit of information can be helpful to provide an unfair advantage. Also, it's quite possible that the full extent of their cheating hasn't been discovered. It's difficult to discover.

[@RangeWilson]

The opening lead is absolutely critical to the play of the entire hand, and the edge among expert players is very slim. The combination is enough to propel the cheaters to the top of the heap.

[@hecatommyriagon655]

The reason why this is so effective comes down to several factors and in order to understand it, you really need to understand quite a lot about the game and how scoring works. You are not really playing against the pair your are playing, in a tournament setting. So it's not about beating them, because that would be a game of luck and who gets the best cards - instead your score is compared towards other teams with the same cards. Say there are five tables with a total of 10 teams. They all will play each-other for a set of hands - let's make it 10 hands for each round. Round 1: Team 1 as NS, plays team 2 EW, Team 3 as NS playes team 4 EW and so on. The score for NS on table 1, is compared towards all the other teams of NS, while the score of EW on table 1 is compared against EW on all the other tables. All the tables have the same exact hands dealt. So NS on table 1 is really playing NS on all the other tables and vice versa. So, for example, if Table 1-4 the score is NS: 450 and table 5 NS: 420(because EW cheated and found the ONE play that could steal an extra trick from NS), that becomes a huge deal, when the score is recalculated from "rubber scoring" to "match/tournament scoring. It's guaranteed to give you an edge in the long run, and since tournament bridge is exactly that, a large number of hads, played against a number of opponents, it makes a HUGE differene in the end. The reason is that you constantly find the best opening play 100% of the times, instead of say 75-80%(I just pulled a number out of my ass for comparison).

[@lucbellicaud]

Thank you for the video, nice job

[@user-yn4fq3ei5b]

I dont get it can someone explain?

[@kevinwu2040]

You can only see your cards when choosing an opening lead. The only clues you have is the auction and your hand. They use the placement to give their partner hint. That is unauthorized information in bridge.

[@johnworf]

One person is on lead - the other person signals with the tray a suit lead they would like.

[@r0yalguy]

As far as cheating goes this is brilliant. Very clever on their part. It's a shame that this is the world of pro bridge.

[@joaov.m.oliveira9903]

If this is true, I think they're very lame actors to say the minimum. South is clearly fearful and pretending, I would suspect him right away even if they were playing without a tray and a board.

[@RangeWilson]

Brilliant? They made a sequence of bizarre plays that raised suspicions, then got caught afterwards. Not so brilliant, as far as I'm concerned.

[@mrgrems1]

Clearly cheating one time he goes out of his way to push it into position even waiting for them to move the tray out of the way so he can place it where he wants

[@MrJohanna45]

Schande voor de edele bridge sport.

[@Bridge5002]

Y

[@danmcdonald726]

I would just assume anyone under 90yrs old playing bridge is cheating

[@tgwnn]

OK this is pretty awesome.

[@AnnaMishel]

They should each have their own tablet,and play against each other on the tablets. Come-on folks get with the technology!

[@KiatHuang]

it's happened, - checkout the tablet bridge at lovebridge.com

[@hoonaignachowaneha]

Why do the people of their tribe always act like they are the victims after they have been outed in their deception?

[@661cyclist]

Watching these guys' antics, only makes me wonder how on earth I ever got to be accused! In a much more humble setting at club level, here was my 'crime': I was defending and partner had overcalled hearts in which I was void and was hoping for a ruff, but he chose to lead something else instead. Declarer (perceiving the danger) proceeded to promptly draw trumps, *then* led a heart. Of course I had to discard, and after turning my discard (a diamond) face-down, I flipped it face-up again a couple of times in an expression of exasperation. For that I was nearly taken to the cleaners by declarer! For a moment I thought I was going to be slung out! OK, a bit naughty of me, but hardly 'cheating'...!! *This* is what I call cheating!

[@kevinwu2040]

Here to see the Michael Jordan of bridge.

[@xxxyyy1880]

I played a quite similar card game as bridge with my friend and we learned few tricks just to signal our hand strenght. We were already really good at the game and nobody beat us but when we started playing for small sum of money we just wanted to make sure that we will win most of the games. We only used signal for like 1/10 of the situations in the game but then we met another pair and instantly i noticed that they used strange gestures with almost in every games. Then i started to see pattern with their manners and realized that these opponents had a signal for basicly every possible hand compination! Thats when i stopped playing the game for money completely. It was just insane. Nobody shouldnt play any card game if you opponent can see or signal its partner and that has money in stake. If it is possilble to cheat and win money - people will cheat.

[@nerazzurro182]

LOL@ "Israeli pair" cheating.....Who would have guessed? -_-

[@dokbob5795]

That is why they thought that they could get away with it.

[@richardmessina9475]

Now, now! In 2014, two German physicians, who had won a World Pairs Championship, were banned for ten years by the World Bridge Federation for using an auditory signalling system. (They’re now known as the Coughing Doctors.) Their method was so crude that they were relatively easy to catch, but, in general, as security measures have become more sophisticated, methods of evading them have become more sophisticated, too-like the arms race between e-mailers and spammers.

[@joaov.m.oliveira9903]

What a stupid post.

[@carlavega8019]

we must admit that they invented it cleverly 😊

[@tiafaja7454]

no, i am quite sensitive in cheaters and this "chaos" in boards was noticed by me after a couple of times already, coughing too, if they were both doing that (especially during corona :) and always good leads annoys me tremendously so extra alert....