September 2021 - 74

Chuck Malcolm | 1948-2021
By Bill Muir
Charles Ellis " Chuck " Malcolm, a Platinum Life Master
with 11,833 masterpoints and a lifetime member of the ACBL
Goodwill Committee, passed away June 25 from complications
following open-heart surgery, some three weeks shy of
his 73rd birthday.
Chuck and his wife, Marti, had been one of the leading
partnerships in the Kansas City area since they moved to
Topeka KS after he retired from a career of 20-plus years in
the U.S. Army. Chuck and Marti co-chaired the Kansas City
Holiday Regional tournament for more than 15 years.
As Chuck's " significant " other partner for the last couple
of years, I had the privilege of playing with him often. When
we were the top qualifiers going into the finals of the 2018
World Open Pairs, it was one of the most exciting moments
of our bridge careers.
Chuck's true loves, in order, were Marti, granddaughters
Jillian and Raegan, USA 1 (the United States of America),
bridge, golf and his Kansas State Wildcats. A passionate guy,
he was especially passionate about all these. He was a real
force of nature.
Chuck and Marti married in 1985. Chuck worked as a clinical
psychologist for the VA in Topeka until his retirement in
Stan Tomchin | 1945-2021
NABC champion Stanley Tomchin, most recently of Las Vegas NV,
died at his home June 1 at age 75.
Tomchin was a member of the winning squad in the 1973 Freeman
Mixed Board-a-Match Teams, and he was on the second-place squad
in the 1975 Vanderbilt Knockout Teams.
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Long Island, Tomchin was not only
highly skilled at bridge: He was also a chess master and was, at one
time, known as the best backgammon player in the world. Alongside
his decades-long games pursuits, he devoted much of his life to both
philanthropic and hands-on engagement with teens in both the Core Academy and the
Marty Hennessy Inspiring Children Foundation in Las Vegas.
Expert player Mike Becker said, " Stan had a great life. He was a wizard of games and
odds. He was the world's best handicapper of football and other sports. He became a cofounder
of Pinnacle, an early online betting site.
" Stan was good enough to partner Al Roth. Later, Stan augmented our 1978 Rosenblum
Cup team when one of our teammates could not play, and Mike Lawrence needed a
partner. "
Tomchin is survived by his daughter, Emily, his grandchildren, Vivian and Wesley, all of
New Zealand; and his sister, Joy and his nephew, Evan, both of New York City.
2014. Wherever the Army posted him, including
multiple tours in Germany, he and
Marti played duplicate bridge and became
friends with those in the local bridge community.
He was a master psychologist at
the bridge table and certainly that helped
him become a Platinum LM. Playing BBO
online after face-to-face bridge was curtailed by COVID,
many opponents would exchange greetings with Chuck. He
knew a wide array of good players from all over the country.
Chuck had a sense of humor, for sure. It could be wry or
wicked. He often had a twinkle in his eye, an impish grin -
and was not above playing a prank. You'd likely appreciate
the joke, unless you were the one in his crosshairs. Bridge?
He had fun with that, too. But he was certainly serious about
bridge. Often it was Chuck's voice making the first " Director! "
call of any given session. Director Chris Patrias would
teasingly limit Chuck to two director calls per session.
The members of Bridge Unit 131 assumed that Chuck
would always be a fixture of our weekly bridge lives. We will
miss him greatly.
74 | Bridge Bulletin | September 2021

September 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2021