Terence Reese of Great Britain, died at the age of 82 at his home in Hove, England, on January 29, 1996. Until his death, Reese was the bridge correspondent for The London Evening News, The Observer, and several periodicals. He wrote, on his own or with others, over ninety books on the game of bridge. Many of his books are now considered classics.
Reese, partnered by Boris Schapiro, was a member of the British teams which won the first two European Championships (1948 and 1949) after World War II. Reese and Schapiro were a part of the British team that won the European Championship in 1954 and went on to win the World Championship in New York City in 1955.
Reese's playing career, at least at the international level, ended in 1965 after the World Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During the event, Reese and Schapiro were accused of cheating by using finger signals to indicate the number of hearts that they held. The World Bridge Federation (WBF) suspended Reese and Schapiro for three years. An independent investigation by the British Bridge League later ruled that the partnership was not guilty of the charges, but that finding was never accepted by the WBF.
In 1966 Reese wrote a personal account of the events in Buenos Aires; The Story of an Accusation. In 1969, Alan Truscott, bridge columnist for the New York Times, wrote The Great Bridge Scandal to present to the public the other side of the story. The hand in today's diagram was taken from Truscott's book. It was contested at international competition in Turin, Italy. Reese sat North and Schapiro, South.
Reese's opening bid of one spade (as opposed to a preemptive three spade bid or a conservative 'pass') could be explained as a mistake or even a strategic psychic bid. It is much easier to justify his bidding if, in fact, he were to know that Schapiro held six hearts.
Schapiro's two heart bid at his first turn is normal, but his jump bid to the heart game at his second turn has no explanation at all save for the knowledge that partner has heart tolerance.
If this were the only example of bidding or defense that caused questions to be raised, there would likely have been no accusation. This hand is but a sample of the situations that were cited during the numerous investigations of the charges.
The two books make fascinating reading and provide an inside view of the international bridge scene.
Reese contended all along that if, in fact, information was being passed between the partners as charged, the British team should have been doing much better than they actually were. He analyzes the charges in his book and concludes that the British team actually lost points on the hands that were used as examples to support the accusation to the WBF.
There is no question that Reese was one of the greatest bridge players and writers in the world for the last sixty years. It is unfortunate that the legacy of his contribution to the world of bridge will always be tainted by the events that took place in Buenos Aires.