September 2020 - 16

pressure, especially Kyle and Ron, who
thought the match was over after the first
quarter. Incredibly, we were the more
solid team, and they did not live up to
their abilities. We won by 30!

Their semifinal opponent was another tough squad, the No. 3 seed: Al
Roth-Tobias Stone, a legendary partnership, and Bill Root-Billy Seamon.
To make things tougher for the underdogs, the conditions of contest specified that an additional eight boards
were to be played in the semifinal and
final rounds.
Our popularity was really increasing. I was getting lots of kibitzers, many
because of our underdog status, but
more so from my appearance. Even in
1970, the bridge world was stunned by
my appearance, particularly with our rise
through the ranks.
Shockingly, the semifinal match was
totally anti-climactic. Roth-Stone were at
each other's throats. As great a pair as
they had been, their huge egos did get
in their way from time to time.
(They both became very good friends
of mine. I played a few years with Roth in
the mid-'70s, which was very informative
for me. He was a genius and had great
ideas about the game.)
We destroyed them: The match was
over after three quarters. We were up
over 100 IMPs and won by 129. I have to
reiterate that we were not that good, but
our methods were superior. For example:

Dlr: North ♠ A K 6 2
Vul: None ♥ A 5
♦-
♣KQ87542
♠8
♠Q54
♥J874
♥ K 10 6 3
♦ J 10 9 4 3 2
♦K865
♣AJ
♣96
♠ J 10 9 7 3
♥Q92
♦AQ7
♣ 10 3
North
Weichsel
1♣
2♠
3♣
4♠

South
Smith
1♠
2NT
3♥
Pass

16 Bridge Bulletin September 2020

Roth
1♣
2♥
4♠
6♠

Stone
1♠
3NT
5♦
Pass

For Weichsel and Smith, 1♣, of
course, was strong, artificial and
forcing. The 2♠ raise was a "TAB" (a
trump-asking bid), and 2NT showed a
five-bagger, but without any of the top
three honors. 3♣ asked about responder's club suit, and the 3♥ response
showed third-round control (the queen
or a doubleton). Knowing that he was
missing the ♠Q and the ♣A, Weichsel
decided that slam was iffy, so he settled
for the spade game. This turned out to
be the right view when the ♠Q turned
out to be protected and offside. Smith
took 11 tricks for plus 450.
Roth and Stone got to the slam, but
even with the favorable ♦J lead (a
heart would make things more difficult), Stone still finished down one.
This was an 11-IMP pickup for the
Precision boys.

of the Precision Team and the fame of
the Aces made the contest standingroom only.
The five-handed team was playing
some of the best squads on the planet,
over several days, with extra boards.
Weichsel and Altman had played
almost every set, yet Weichsel said that
fatigue wasn't a factor. The youth of the
squad shielded them from becoming
overtired. According to Weichsel, "We
were young and anxious to play. For
me, I was feeling fresh as a daisy."
There was some psychological
excitement for Weichsel as well, as he
had just beaten one of his heroes and
mentors (Roth), and next he would play
against his most recent mentor, Eisenberg, whose expert training group at
the Player's Club Weichsel had been
a part of, along with other top young
players, such as Alan Sontag.
Weichsel believes that the inexperience of their team may have caused
some opponents to be overconfident.

Overconfidence can be problematic;
on the one hand, you know you're supIt was surreal. Our first national
posed to win, but on the other hand, it
together, and we'd made it to the final.
may take away from your intensity. I think
To add to the drama, Joel
this may have contributed
had never even played in
to our string of upsets. I had
a Spingold. We had just
made something of a reputabeaten three of the very best
tion by now, but the rest of
teams in North America:
the team was not nationally
Who could be left? Oh right,
known at this point, other than
the Aces! What could be
Steve. As previously menmore dramatic? The first two
tioned, Altman was known to
all-professional teams in the
be a very good player and
country, head-to-head in the
had actually reached the final
final of the Spingold. We were
of a national KO in 1968. But
in total disbelief. On the one
I'm sure that our last three
Weichsel, 2019
hand, we couldn't imagine
opponents were very happy
being in this position, and on
to see us, rather than our justthe other hand, we had been gaining
vanquished counterparts.
more and more confidence with each
Eisenberg wanted to start against me.
and every win. To be clear, however,
I'm sure he felt he had a psychological
this was a daunting task. The Aces, the
edge and was hoping to take advantage
defending Spingold champions and No.
of that and get a lead right out of the
1 seed, would go on to win the 1970 and box. But by the summer of 1970, I had
1971 Bermuda Bowls and become the
total confidence in my game and was
presumptive best (honest) team in the
not about to be intimidated. To that end,
world.
Tom, who had played well, other than
the aforementioned debacle, had more
The match, held on vugraph, drew
confidence in me than I did. He thought
a crowd of viewers in addition to the
I was the best player in the world, or was
mob of kibitzers who watched the
going to be. That certainly helped me
match in person. The Cinderella ascent along.

September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2020