[blml] Cheat?

[Adam Beneschan]

Richard wrote:
 
> Nigel Guthrie:
> 
> >>Katz-Cohen were also exonerated. In their case, did
> >>"internal evidence" give rise to suspicion? What method
> >>were they alleged to have employed?
> 
> Konrad Ciborowski:
> 
> >Does anyone know anything more about this case other than
> >they were banned from playing together and kicked out of
> >the ACBL?
> >
> >This case is one of the most mysterious to me.
> >
> >I assume that they were accused of cheating but does
> >anyone know anything more detailed?
> 
> Richard Hills:
> 
> Thanks to my collection of 1970s Bridge Worlds, I know the
> chronology of the cheating _allegations_ against Katz-
> Cohen.  Unlike the Cokin-Sion partnership, the Katz-Cohen
> partnership were never _convicted_ of cheating.  Indeed,
> after real-life legal action, the ACBL's failure to apply
> natural justice to Katz-Cohen in the 1976 Houston Affair
> saw both Katz and Cohen reinstated as ACBL members.

Under the condition that they not play with each other as partners, if
I recall correctly.  

I don't believe they were ever officially exonerated; they were
probably suspended (I'm not sure about that part), and then quit the
ACBL and sued, and as I recall, the end result---that they be
readmitted to the ACBL and allowed to play but not with each
other---was part of a legal settlement.  So there was never really a
full investigation into whether they cheated or not, and thus they
were never actually convicted or exonerated.  At least that's how I
recall the story, but I'd have to look it up to be sure.  

Danny Kleinman published his own analysis in which he concluded that
Katz and Cohen were not cheating, but of course this was just
Kleinman's opinion.


> Once Lew Mathe opened his big mouth, John Gerber then felt
> honour-bound to break his previous discreet silence, so
> Gerber disclosed that the allegation against Katz-Cohen
> was that they had circumvented the screens by using the
> old rubber bridge cheating technique of coded sniffing.
> 
> No evidence was ever presented correlating a sniff by Katz
> or Cohen with unusual bidding or play.  

The way I've heard it was that Katz's frequent sniffing was probably
due to an addiction to cocaine---not to be confused with Cokin, and
definitely not with Kokish.  :) :)

                                -- Adam