84 | March• 2018
HOUSE OF CARDS
That night, a crushed Brogeland
could not sleep. He rose at 7am and
opened Bridge Base Online (BBO),
a website that archives tournament
hands, to see exactly how he had lost.
He immediately noticed something
odd. Ron Schwartz had opened a hand
by playing a club lead. Yet, Schwartz’s
hand indicated that a heart lead was
the obvious play.
Then he saw something even
stranger. In one of the hands, Fisher
had claimed 11 tricks. Except Fisher,
as BBO showed, held the cards for just
tentricks. Brogeland thought it was a
mistake and immediately contacted
his sponsor. In any event, challenges
must be raised within half an hour of
a match. The loss would stand.BROGELAND SPENT THEnext two
days at the tournament scouring
BBOandcomparingnoteswithother
players.Bythetimeheflewbackto
Norway,hewasconvincedFisher
andSchwartzweresignallingto
each other, but he had no ideahow.
Still,hebelievedthatifheamassed
enoughillogicalhands,hecould
make a convincing case, however
circumstantial.
Brogeland contacted governing
bodies on both sides of the Atlantic.
When he gave suspect hands to the
ACBL,hewastoldtosupplymore.
“They had plenty of hands,” he says.
“Fifty, 60. I said, ‘How many do you
need? One hundred? Two hundred?
Please do something!’”trump’). Any other communication
isoutlawed.Inoneofthegame’sbig-
gest scandals, British champion J.
TerenceReeseandhispartner,Boris
Schapiro,werediscoveredin1965
using finger signals to communicate
thenumberofheartstheyheld.
Tournament organisers would
eventually respond by erecting
screenstoblockpartners’viewof
each other. When players were dis-
coveredcommunicatingviafootsie,
barriers were installed under tables.
Pairscancomeundersuspicioneven
when no signalling is detected.
“Inbridgeatthehighestlevel,”says
ChrisWillenken,aleadingAmerican
professional, “the best players play in
arelentlesslylogical fashion, so when
something illogical happens, other
goodplayersnoticeit.Andifthatil-
logical thing is consistently winning,
suspicions can be aroused.”
LESS THAN A MONTHafter Lotan
Fisher and Ron Schwartz had left Ri-
chie Schwartz’s team, Brogeland met
thepairasopponents,inthequar-
ter-finalofthe2015SpingoldinChi-
cago.Brogeland’steamwastheclear
underdog,butitwonbytheslimmest
marginpossible:asinglepoint.
Or it seemed to. Fisher immediately
contested the result on a technicality.
After an arbitration that stretched un-
til 1.30am, the win was overturned:
Brogeland’s team had nowlostby one
point and been knocked out of the
tournament.