February 2020 - 16

Repeated Finesse
Jeff Meckstroth is ACBL's Player of the Decade

Despite what he calls "not my best decade," Jeff
Meckstroth amassed the most platinum points from 2010
through 2019, making him ACBL's third Player of the
Decade. A list of previous winners of this race - the type
of list that always accompanies this type of article - is
pointless: Jeff's is the only name on it.
Admired for his "winning-never-gets-old" fire,
Meckstroth says, "In all three decades, I've come from
behind to lead at the end. I'm sort of proud of that."
The ACBL began tracking platinum points in 1990; appropriately, the Bridge Bulletin ginned up a Player of the Decade designation in 1999. Meckstroth agrees that platinum
points, which are awarded only in nationally rated events,
are where it's at. "I find national titles more meaningful to
me. I want to play against the best players. I love the compe-

Photo by Francesca Canali

16 Bridge Bulletin February 2020

BY SUE MUNDAY

tition. That's the fun."
He evaluates his performance over the past 10 years. "I
started slowly. Just one world title and too many seconds. I
expect more from myself."
2010 was the first year in a decade that Meckstroth did
not win a North American Bridge Championship, and while
he has earned Player of the Year honors three times in his
bridge career, the last time was in 2009.
Meckstroth finished the decade with 13 NABC titles and
16 second-place finishes. While he appreciates that his pair
or team is in the thick of battle right up until the smoke
clears, he really hates coming in second. "I'm very competitive," he explains.
The world title came in 2016 in the D'Orsi Senior Trophy.
He was also part of the silver medal-winning squad (another
second!) in the 2010 Rosenblum Transnational Open
Teams.
Meckstroth calls out two high points from the decade, one
a big win for the game, the other personal.
He hails the cheating scandals of 2015 as the No. 1
highlight: "It was a turning point for bridge."
Norwegian Boye Brogeland took on the bridge
establishment, risking his bridge career when he publicly
called out several world-ranked pairs for cheating, and
backed his allegations with damning video and statistical
evidence assembled by experts around the world.
Meckstroth was one of a contingent of elite players who
traveled to ACBL Headquarters to analyze video of the
suspect pairs: Italians (playing for Monaco) Fulvio Fantoni
and Claudio Nunes, and Israelis Lotan Fisher and Ron
Schwartz. Their findings provided an unassailable bridge
foundation for successful prosecution of Fantoni/Nunes
and Fisher/Schwartz, who were branded as cheaters and
expelled from the ACBL.
Also under the microscope, Germany's Alexander
Smirnov and Josef Piekarek stepped forward with their own
confession. Their membership in the ACBL was suspended.
The national bridge organizations of Germany, Israel and
Monaco withdrew from the 2015 Bermuda Bowl. Cezary
Balicki and Adam Zmudzinski from Poland had their
invitation rescinded by the World Bridge Federation on the
eve of the Bermuda Bowl.
"Boye put his reputation on the line," says Meckstroth,
"and it was amazing how the bridge world got behind him
and proved him correct!"
Decade highlight No. 2: In 2017, Meckstroth was elected
to the ACBL Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. "That
was quite meaningful to me," he says.
At the ceremony, he acknowledged the support of so many



February 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2020

In First Seat - Paul Linxwiler
Inbox -Letters to the Editor
A Message from the President
Columbus NABC
Effervescent Success
Repeated Finesse
Hot Streak
San Francisco Results
ACBL Board Minuts
Golden Gate, Silver Screen
Hall Of Fame
Club News
Ruling the Game
The Bidding Box
It's Your Call
Card Play 101 - by Phillip Alder
Parrish the Thought - Adam Parrish
Reasoning with Robert - Robert Todd
Startup Bridge by Lynn Berg
Ask Jerry - by Jerry Helms
Bidding Basics by Larry Cohen
Mike's Bridge Lesson - Mike Lawrence
The Real Deal - by Larry Cohen
Chalk Talk- Eddie Kantar
West Hands -Bidding Box
Boehm on Bridge
Misplay these Hands with Me - by Mark Horton
East Hands -Bidding Box
Challenge of the Month
Better Bridge with Bergen-Marty Bergen
Bidding Matters - by Karen Walker
Test Your Play
Mike's Advice - by Mike Lawrence
Solutions to Test Your Play
My Bridge and Yours - by Frank Stewart
Dear Billy - by Billy Miller
Bridge with the Abbot - by David Bird
George's World - by George Jacobs
Lessons Learned - Michael Berkowitz
Instant Matchpoint Game Winners
Tournament Talk
New Life Masters
Life Master Milestones
In Memoriam
Obit - Claude W. Cain III (1944-2019)
Obit - Martin Miller (1937-2019)
Obit - Joyce Penn (1940-2019)
Obit - Charles Frederick Gill (1949-2019)
Big Games
Tournament Directory
February 2020 - 1
February 2020 - 2
February 2020 - 3
February 2020 - 4
February 2020 - 5
February 2020 - In First Seat - Paul Linxwiler
February 2020 - Inbox -Letters to the Editor
February 2020 - 8
February 2020 - A Message from the President
February 2020 - Columbus NABC
February 2020 - 11
February 2020 - 12
February 2020 - Effervescent Success
February 2020 - 14
February 2020 - 15
February 2020 - Repeated Finesse
February 2020 - 17
February 2020 - 18
February 2020 - Hot Streak
February 2020 - 20
February 2020 - 21
February 2020 - 22
February 2020 - 23
February 2020 - San Francisco Results
February 2020 - 25
February 2020 - 26
February 2020 - 27
February 2020 - 28
February 2020 - 29
February 2020 - ACBL Board Minuts
February 2020 - Golden Gate, Silver Screen
February 2020 - Hall Of Fame
February 2020 - 33
February 2020 - Club News
February 2020 - 35
February 2020 - Ruling the Game
February 2020 - The Bidding Box
February 2020 - 38
February 2020 - 39
February 2020 - It's Your Call
February 2020 - 41
February 2020 - 42
February 2020 - 43
February 2020 - Card Play 101 - by Phillip Alder
February 2020 - Parrish the Thought - Adam Parrish
February 2020 - Reasoning with Robert - Robert Todd
February 2020 - Startup Bridge by Lynn Berg
February 2020 - Ask Jerry - by Jerry Helms
February 2020 - Bidding Basics by Larry Cohen
February 2020 - 50
February 2020 - Mike's Bridge Lesson - Mike Lawrence
February 2020 - The Real Deal - by Larry Cohen
February 2020 - West Hands -Bidding Box
February 2020 - Boehm on Bridge
February 2020 - East Hands -Bidding Box
February 2020 - Challenge of the Month
February 2020 - Better Bridge with Bergen-Marty Bergen
February 2020 - Bidding Matters - by Karen Walker
February 2020 - Test Your Play
February 2020 - Mike's Advice - by Mike Lawrence
February 2020 - Solutions to Test Your Play
February 2020 - My Bridge and Yours - by Frank Stewart
February 2020 - Dear Billy - by Billy Miller
February 2020 - Bridge with the Abbot - by David Bird
February 2020 - 65
February 2020 - Lessons Learned - Michael Berkowitz
February 2020 - Instant Matchpoint Game Winners
February 2020 - Tournament Talk
February 2020 - New Life Masters
February 2020 - Life Master Milestones
February 2020 - 71
February 2020 - Obit - Martin Miller (1937-2019)
February 2020 - Obit - Charles Frederick Gill (1949-2019)
February 2020 - Tournament Directory
February 2020 - 75
February 2020 - 76
February 2020 - 77
February 2020 - 78
February 2020 - 79
February 2020 - 80
February 2020 - 81
February 2020 - 82
February 2020 - 83
February 2020 - 84
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