Evening star., 1932-01-11
Contest Trying to Lenz.
Due to Adversary's
Dilatory Tactics.
BY SIDNEY s. I-ENZ.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star
NEW YORK, January 11-For five
| weeks I have matched cards and
| illnesses against Culbertson, fate and
| distribution. I have loSt-fairly and
| honestly-and will not ask the card
playing public to listen to any alibis
from me, although they can hardly
| hope to escape the modest and subdued
eXaltationS of the winner.
This long match was rather trying,
| owing to the dilatory tactics of my ad-
verSary. In brief: A player of his
| unquestionable brilliancy should really
not require minutes and 20 seconds
to decide whether a simple fineSse
should be taken or not. And think
of the ignominy of guessing wrongly.
as Ely did on the longest wait of the
20 sessions Of play!
Again, it was not quite pleasant to
wait a number of times every rubber
for Ely to return to the playing room,
as he insisted upon his right to leave
the game and visit with the gentlemen
of the press. He invariably jumped up
at once whenever he was the dummy,
and on the completion of the, hand
there was a wait of from two to five
minutes before he could be induced to
return to the game.
Refused to Waive Rights.
Under the official rules. was forced
to ask. every time his partner re-
nounced, whether they had none OF
the suit, or no penalty for possible
revoke could be claimed. Culbertson
refused to waive his legal rights in this
respect
i played the greater part of the
match with Oswald Jacoby and much
has been said in reference to his
psychic bids.
A number of people seemed to think
that Jacoby was not out to win or that
he was not giving me the best support
that he was capable of. Any such i'm
preston was unfair and wholly uncalled
for
There is no better card player In
the country than Oswald Jacoby or one
in whom I have more implicit conf
dence His honesty is beyond reproach
and he was fully as eager to win the
match as I was. 1t is true that We did
not hit it off as we'll as we might, but
it is quite likely that the fault was
mine more than his The bluff bids
that he favorS have proven to be sue
ceSsful with other partners he has
played with and l should have devoted
more study to that line of strategy
than I did.
Bad Breaks on Errors.
We had the worst possible breaks
on the slightest errors that cropped up
on our bidding or on our play, While
the adverSarieS' errors were either en-
tirely unproductive to us or cost them
but so or 100 points at most.
Ossie is a fine boy and was perfectly
justified in withdrawing from the match
when he did, but he did not withdraw
at my solicitations, and I would have
continued on with him to the finish had
he SO desired.
Comdr. Liggett, who finished the
match, needs no praise from me. "Lig"
is always an ideal player, tolerant of
the errors and idiosyncraSies of his part
mel or his adversaries. He came into
the match at a moments notice, when
it appeared to be hopeless, and by steady
and consistent play succeeded in win
ming back 1850 points in seven sessions
of play.
This match was not won or lost on a
bidding system or the play Of the cards.
The system I employed worked per-
fectly
All players, good. bad or Indifferent,
make errors in judgment and in play.
Even the aces and kings are not the
all-important things that count in con-
tract bridge. Distribution is the greatest
f. ctnrt