The adjacent tournament Hotels, the Marriott and Hilton, offered excellent playing space and meeting rooms. The table count was a disappointing 13,712. The current yearly selection process starts with nominations from the Hall of Fame committee. There are two nomination categories, living and deceased players. Living nominees must be at least 60 years old.
Ballots go to the top masterpoint holders, journalists, and administrators.
The top vote getter in each category is elected. The nominating committee also selects two Hall of Fame inductees - the recipients of the von Zedtwitz and Blackwood awards. The selections for the von Zedtwitz and Blackwood awards were announced last November, and were Meyer Schleifer and George Rosenkranz, respectively. The living members elected this year are Sidney Lazard, and our own Ira Rubin . Deceased members elected are Lou Bluhm, Charles Soloman, and NY's Harry Fishbein .