by Georgia Heth, ACBL Director
One of the biggest problems facing tournament bridge is the perception that people are getting away with cheating. The ACBL invests a significant amount of money each year in monitoring events at the NABCs in case allegations or suspicions of cheating are raised. Chess has had incidents of cheating using electronic devices, and the World Bridge Federation has already banned electronic devices at their championships.
To respond to this problem, the ACBL Board of Directors passed the following motion at its meetings in Detroit:
The following policy will apply to all NABC events, effective July 1, 2008.
Electronic devices, excluding health related equipment, capable of sending or receiving communication, including but not limited to, headphones, earphones, cellular phones and minicomputers:
(1) Shall not be allowed in the playing areas, adjacent hallways, rest rooms or accessible break areas; and
(2) Shall not be used during a session.
These restrictions shall apply to all pairs, team members, captains, coaches, recorders and kibitzers and shall apply throughout any actual playing session or segment.
A violation of this policy shall result in a disciplinary penalty of one full board (12 imps at that form of scoring) for the first offense. A second offense shall result in disqualification from the event for the pair/team.
Kibitzers violating this policy shall be removed from the playing area for the remainder of the session.
Please note:
This is not just cell phones. The ban includes earphones of all kinds, PDAs, I-pods and all other electronic devices.
There will not be any place to check or store the devices, so please leave them in your hotel room or car. It is possible a vendor will fill this need. I do not believe there will be metal detectors to pass through, but there may be equipment that is capable of detecting cell phones.
There will be medical exceptions. If you believe your device is "health-related equipment", please clear it with Chief Tournament Director (Rick Beye) before you go to the tournament.
Currently, this policy only applies in national-rated events at NABCs beginning with the Las Vegas NABC in July. This will probably pass on to regional events after a few trial runs in the NABC events.
This policy will be strictly enforced. The first violation carries a bridge penalty, the second results in expulsion from the event for the pair or team.
ACBL is very serious about keeping the game honest. Many people think nothing is ever done because it takes time to gather enough evidence to successfully prosecute a case. One reason for this is that investigations must be kept secret in order to be effective. I do not know if any investigations are pending and will not know unless charges are brought.
We have all seen how successful our past turn-off-your-phone policy is -- phones go off with regularity during the game, and directing staff are reluctant to penalize. I was initially opposed to the new proposal because of the inconvenience to the players, but I was convinced of the necessity and I do not believe that anything less than the total ban will be effective. I agree that we are penalizing the masses for the infractions of a small minority, but there appears to be no other way. I am still not sure it can be successfully implemented below the level of NABC events.