June 2014 - 32

Coughing Fits
Cheating allegations rock the bridge world.

L

ance	Armstrong,	Barry	Bonds,	
Enron,	Martha	Stewart,	Richard	
Nixon	...	from	sports	to	business	
to politics, society does not tolerate	cheaters.	Add	proof	to	rumor,	and	
the	miscreants	may	end	up	stripped	
of	wins	or	medals,	suspended,	imprisoned	or	even	impeached.	But	only	if	
they get caught.
The	bridge	world	is	not	immune	
from	cheating.	National	and	international	championships	through	the	
decades	have	been	tainted	by	scandals	
involving	partnerships	who	used	everything	from	fingers,	foot	taps,	blinking,	sniffling	and	pencil	placement	
to	cigars,	cigarettes	and	even	smoke	
signals	to	exchange	information.
According	to	the	Laws	of	Duplicate	
Bridge,	"the	gravest	possible	offence	is	
for	a	partnership	to	exchange	information	through	prearranged	methods	
of	communication	other	than	those	
sanctioned	by	the	Laws."
It	is	this	law,	73B	in	the	rule	book,	
that Dr. Michael Elinescu, 61, and Dr.
Entscho	Wladow,	71,	stand	accused	
of	violating.	Elinescu	and	Wladow	are	
members	of	the	German	team	that	
won	the	d'Orsi	Senior	Trophy	at	the	
2013	World	Team	Championships	last	
fall	in	Bali.	While	the	pair	was	found	
guilty	by	a	World	Bridge	Federation	
Disciplinary	Commission	in	March,	
they are appealing the decision. The
case	before	the	WBF's	Appeal	Tribunal	
is pending.

Rumblings

Nearly	as	grave	as	breaking	Law	73B	
is	accusing	a	player	or	pair	of	cheating.	
It's	not	a	topic	players	are	comfortable	talking	about;	in	fact,	nowhere	in	

32 Bridge Bulletin June 2014

Photos by Elisabeth van Ettinger

BY SUE MUNDAY

the	Laws	of	Duplicate	
Bridge	will	you	even	
find	"the	c	word."	
With reputations and
livelihoods on the line,
it takes solid evidence
Michael Elinescu
Entscho Wladow
and	courage	to	formulate	and	pursue	an	
accusation	of	cheating,	and	once	there,	 ♠10 2 ♥9 8 6 5 3 ♦A	6	3			A	Q	2.
it's	tough	to	prove.	
	Mark	Horton's	commentary:	"The	
The	unimaginatively	nicknamed	
German	doctors	are	renowned	for	their	
"German	doctors"	have	been	playing	
eccentric	bidding	so	it	was	no	surprise	
together	for	two	decades.	Players	and	
to	see	South	take	a	speculative	view	of	
vugraph	operators	have	described	the	
his	hand	(at	the	other	23	tables,	only	
doctors'	bidding	and	opening	leads	as	
China's	Shi	and	Ju	reached	5♣)."
"eccentric"	or	"peculiar."
"Entscho	Wladow's	peculiar	bidding	
Evidence gathering
does	not	always	pay	off"	appeared	on	
The	knockout	phase	of	the	d'Orsi	
Italian	bridge	great	Fulvio	Fantoni's	
Senior	Trophy	championship	reduced	
website	(July	27,	2012).	On	one	deal	
from	the	2008	European	Bridge	Cham- the	field	of	22	teams	to	eight.	Germany	
beat	Indonesia	in	the	quarterfinals	
pions	Cup,	Wladow	abruptly	passed	
and	France	in	the	semifinals;	USA2	
partner	in	a	game-forcing	sequence	to	
beat	Scotland	in	the	quarterfinals	and	
land	in	the	only	makeable	spot.		
Poland	in	the	semifinals,	setting	the	
Fantoni	says,	"The	Italians	did	not	
feel	comfortable	with	the	situation	and	 stage	for	a	showdown	between	USA2	
called	the	director	just	to	have	the	facts	 and	Germany.
Playing	on	the	USA2	team	were	Carrecorded."	
olyn	Lynch,	Mike	Passell,	Eddie	Wold,	
He	continues,	"Some	boards	later,	
Roger	Bates,	Garey	Hayden	and	Marc	
Wladow	passed	out	a	good	14-count.	
Jacobus.	The	squad	was	captained	by	
He	probably	miscounted,	for	everyDonna	Compton.	Foreseeing	the	posbody	knows	that	he	likes	to	declare	
sibility	of	meeting	the	German	team	in	
whenever	he	gets	any	chance	at	all."
the	final,	Compton	began	following	the	
The Daily Bulletin in Bali included a
doctors	in	the	vugraph	room	and	online	
write-up	of	board	16	from	Germany's	
during	the	quarterfinals.	
quarterfinal	match	against	Indonesia.	
"The	commentators	continuously	
Wladow,	South,	heard	West	open	a	
talked	about	the	doctors'	unusual	
strong	1NT	on	his	left.	Partner	passed	
jumps	to	good	contracts	and	their	spotand	East	bid	4♥	-	a	transfer	to	4♠.
on	leads,"	Compton	says.	"I	began	anaHolding:
lyzing	their	hand	patterns	and	opening	
♠5 ♥Q	4			♦J	9	8	7	4			♣K 9 7 6 4,
leads	in	an	effort	to	find	a	pattern	and	
Wladow	bid	4NT	at	favorable	vulner- break	their	code."
Before	the	start	of	the	two-day	
ability,	and	caught	partner	with:
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2014
