Terence Reese - The Buenos Aires Affair

The Buenos Aires Affair

Reese's 1965 appearance in the Buenos Aires Bermuda Bowl was marred by an accusation that he and his partner Boris Schapiro were communicating illegally (i.e. cheating). At a hearing held at the tournament site in Buenos Aires, the World Bridge Federation (WBF) judged Reese and Schapiro guilty of transmitting finger signals to each other indicating how many hearts each held. The WBF banned them from the remainder of the Bermuda Bowl and ordered the forfeit of all matches in which they had participated up to that point; further punishment was left uncertain at that time.

An important factor in the Buenos Aires procedure was that the pair had not been given an adequate opportunity to defend themselves. The British team captain had agreed with the accusation before discussing the matter with the players. The British Bridge League subsequently convened their own enquiry into the matter in a manner which did allow the players to defend themselves.

After many months, and taking testimony from a number of eyewitnesses, bridge analysts, and character witnesses, the "Foster Enquiry", as it was called, concluded that Reese and Schapiro had not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore acquitted them. Several factors must have played a part in this decision, especially the fact that little or no connection could be made between the claimed signals and the results at the table. Reese and Schapiro had not played especially well in Buenos Aires; Reese commented later that no pair were likely to cheat in a way that did not help them win. A simple system to signal whether a player was good or poor for his bid would be almost certain to bring good dividends.

In his 1966 book, Story of an Accusation, Reese went through every single hand presented by the 'prosecution' and showing that the bidding was clear by the principles of the Acol system they were using, and several occasions when they might have used information about the heart suit had it been available. Truscott also wrote his account, The Great Bridge Scandal, concentrating on the observations and reaching the opposite conclusion.

Neither side changed their opinions, and a considerable rift developed in the bridge world. The official World Bridge Federation position maintains the 1965 finding of guilty but after representations from the British Bridge League and others, the WBF announced in 1968 "that the suspension was over, Reese and Schapiro would be allowed to play, but not together" in the world championships.

There were other cases of accusations at the highest level, in one of which members of the famous Italian Blue Team were accused, again by members of the American team. The solution to this unsatisfactory situation came at last with introduction of bidding boxes and the system of movable compartments ('screens') which prevent players from seeing their own partners during bidding (a system only used at tournaments of the highest rank).