Blum on Bridge Cincinnati Nationals - 2000
	For ten days this month the 43rd Spring North American Bridge Championships were held in Cincinnati. Although I don't know the exact figure, there were probably more than 10,500 tables in play during the length of the tournament. As usual, a number of humorous happenings were reported and appeared in the daily bulletins. I thought I would repeat a few in this week's column. Aaron Cohen of Lakehurst, N.J., likes to tell stories. This one occurred at a bridge club in Westchester, N.Y. Arsen Kazanjian, who had played in the afternoon session, noticed that every table but one was finished. So he sauntered over to see what was going on. As he stood watching, a woman at the table turned to him and said, "I wish you wouldn't stand there like that. You make me nervous and I can't concentrate." When Kazanjian regained his composure, his response was "but you're the dummy." G. Seghar of Winnipeg, Canada, ran into Fred Hamilton the other day and they got to talking about the convention which, depending on which part of the country you live in, is called "Hamilton" or "Cappalletti" (for competing when the opponents open 1NT). Seghar asked the person Hamilton what was the difference between the convention "Hamilton" and the convention "Cappalletti". "Well," mused the former world champion, "if they open 1NT and you overcall two clubs (showing a one suiter) and you go for a number, it's 'Cappelletti.' However, if you get a good result it's definitely 'Hamilton.'" At the Scottsdale Bridge Club in Arizona, you can actually bid "Zero Tolerance." Yellow ZT cards are in the bidding boxes, and they have a positive influence on behavior. Players are asked to flash a ZT card to an offending player (or players) when they feel intimidated or abused. Of course, if the bad manners continue, the offending players can call the director and get a ZT ruling. "There are too many new players who are simply afraid to call the director when unruly behavior occurs," said Jan Bricklin, owner of the club. "So these cards can be very useful. I think they are a good reminder." I believe that at every large event something will be brought up about the late Bobby Goldman, whose recent death still has many of his good friends, including me, stunned. Several years ago when we roomed together he gave me a gift, a copy of his paperback "Winners and Losers at the Bridge Table." First printed in 1979, the concept of the illustrated book is to make specific aphorisms or small pithy statements about winners and losers. Each page covers no more than a couple of sentences plus an illustration of the intent of the author. I'll complete today's article with some of Bobby's to the point truisms. A "winner" makes decisions; a "loser" criticizes the decisions he has left for his partner to make. A "winner" attempts to play against the strongest opponents he can find, knowing that is the surest way to improve his game; a "loser" prefers to play against the weakest opponents he can find, believing that is the surest way to win. A "winner" occasionally asks weaker players to be his partner; a "loser" only pursues stronger players as partners and he resents it if they decline. A "winner" views his partnership as a duet; a loser views his partnership as two soloists. A "winner" delays making a critical decision as long as possible while he gathers useful information; a "loser" has no patience and feels that the quicker a decision is made, the sooner he will know the outcome. A "winner" uses an "end play" to avoid a finesse; a loser uses a peek." A "winner's" postmortem ends when he has made his point; a "loser's" goes on until he has blunted his point. A "winner' realizes above all else, that it is only a game that he is playing; a "loser" believes that the game he is playing comes above all else. All in the bridge world who knew Bobby Goldman also knew that when he sat at the table he exemplified all of the traits he wrote about in his book. Bobby was a "winner."