The international bridge world has again been stunned by accusations of cheating. Claims have been made against the top ranked players in the world, Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes, with suggestions made that the orientation of the card when they make their opening lead gives an indication as to their holding in the suit. The information and 'evidence' was revealed in an article on the Bridge Winners website. This follows the accusations made against Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz.
Update: Accusations made against Alex Smirnov & Josef Piekarek of the German term, have led to them acknowledging previous unethical behaviour. Germany have withdrawn from the forthcoming Bermuda Bowl, as have Monaco and Israel (following the Fantoni/Nunes and Fisher/Schwartz allegations). Their places in the competition have been taken by Sweden, Denmark and France.
Michael Clark has made two videos which explain the basis for the accusations:
He also made a video to cover the accusations made against Michael Elinescu and Entscho Wladow, the 'coughing Germans'.
- Article on Bridge Winners website
- Interview with Andrew Robson on 5Live - scroll to 56:30
- Daily Mail article - Fantoni/Nunes
- The Times article - Fantoni/Nunes
- Daily Telegraph article - Smirnov/Piekarek
September 21, 2015