February 2020 - 32

Living Legends
Burger, Smith and Weinstein
to enter ACBL Hall of Fame

Chuck Burger

The ACBL Hall of Fame rolls out
the red carpet this summer for the
recipients of the von Zedtwitz Award
and the Blackwood Award. The Hall of
Fame Committee tapped established
great Chuck Burger and two longtime
tournament directors - Matt Smith
and Sol Weinstein - for induction at
the July 16 ceremony during the North
American Bridge Championships in
Montreal.

von Zedtwitz Award

Burger enters the ACBL Hall of
Fame as the 2020 winner of the von
Zedtwitz Award. The von Zedtwitz
Award recognizes players who have an
outstanding tournament record, but
who are no longer in the limelight.
Expert Allan Falk said he's been
privileged to partner "the Chuckmeister" for almost 15 years. "Chuck is a
supreme technician and a talented
natural bidder. His natural ability extends to all card games, and backgammon, too."
Burger, a retired attorney, won 11
North American Bridge Championships over the course of five decades.
His victories include the Spingold
Knockout Teams in 1985, back-to-back
Spingold trophies in 1989 and 1990,
and two wins in the Reisinger Board-aMatch Teams in 1988 and 1992.

32 Bridge Bulletin February 2020

Matt Smith

Sol Weinstein

Playing with Ira Rubin, Chuck won
the Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs in 1970;
Chuck and Ira shared the honor of seeing their names engraved on the Lou
Herman Trophy, given to the player
who wins the most masterpoints at a
Fall NABC. Chuck's first NABC title
came in the Nail Life Master Pairs
in 1969; he also has 19 second-place
finishes.
Reflecting on his bridge journey,
Burger said, "It is the wonderful people
and players I have encountered in my
many travels" that stand out.
Burger lives in West Bloomfield
MI with his wife, Suzy - a three-time
NABC champion. They have a daughter and twin sons.

for directors. "Whether it's the World
Championships, the Spingold or
a sectional side game, if Matt's in
charge, you know the event will be run
professionally. In my experience, his
rulings are always well thought out and
explained clearly and thoroughly; even
when a ruling goes against you, you
might disagree, but you understand
why the decision was made."
Smith began directing at his local
club in Victoria BC in 1973 and became
a tournament director in 1993.
Last year, he scaled back his
directing duties to part-time status,
but Smith continues to serve as the
head director for the World Bridge
Federation.

Blackwood Award

Weinstein has been a fixture of
bridge in the Northeast since the
1970s. He has been a national tournament director since 1978, a field manager since 2015 and was director in
charge of Summer NABCs for 15 years.
"Always composed, he ran tournaments to perfection," said world champion David Berkowitz.
He has trained and mentored a lot of
directors and done a lot of work with
the Board of Directors on motions
pertaining to bridge and simplifying
masterpoints, according to Nancy
Boyd, director of field operations. "He's
someone who very much wants things
to be right," she said.
◾

The Blackwood Award is given to
individuals who have made major
contributions to the game of bridge
outside expertise at the table.
The Hall of Fame Committee was
"euphoric" about putting directors in
the Hall of Fame, said committee chair
Mitch Dunitz. "The committee recognizes that directors have a trying job.
They're constantly under fire."
Smith was an obvious choice.
"For my money, Matt is the
best of the best," world champion
Steve Weinstein wrote in a Bridge
Winners post in late 2018 when
Smith was honored with an award

February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2020