Billy Rosen - 1928-2019
William Albert Rosen, 90, of Highland Park, IL, beloved husband of Eunice, passed away in April.
Billy started playing bridge when he was a student at DePaul University in Chicago. He and partner, Milton Ellenby, were featured in the August 1953 edition of Life magazine as the youngest winners of the von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs.
His restless spirit, analytic mind, and gambler’s heart propelled him to victory at the 1954 Bermuda Bowl World Bridge Team Championship at the age of 25… the youngest player to achieve such a title and a record he held until 1981.
In a bridge column in September, 1954, in Playboy Magazine, Billy was quoted as saying, “The game holds a beguiling interest to most people because it is undoubtedly the most challenging of all card games, combining skill in bidding, play of the hand, and also, the subtle art of gamesmanship.” The New York Times called him one “of the greatest names in the game.”
Billy was inducted into the ACBL Hall of Fame in 2014 as a recipient of the von Zedtwitz Award. He will be remembered as a brilliant gentleman at the table, missed sorely by those whose lives he touched.
Richie Schwartz - 1941-2019
We were saddened to hear of the death of Richie Schwartz on Thursday, February 7, 2019. Richie was a regular at USBF events, and represented the USBF in the 2012 Senior World CHampioinship, where his team won the Silver medal.
We'll all miss you!
Eligibility Rules for 2019 USBCs
At its meeting on January 28th, the USBF Board clarified and finalized the eligibility rules for players in the Mixed and Senior USBCS. The rules are:
1. No player who has qualified for the 2019 Bermuda Bowl is eligible to enter the 2019 Mixed or Senior USBC.
2. A player who has qualified for the 2019 Venice Cup is eligible to enter the Mixed and Senior USBCs.
3. A player who has qualified for the 2019 Mixed Teams is eligible to enter the Senior USBC
4. If a player who has qualified for the 2019 Venice Cup subsequently qualifies for the 2019 Mixed or Senior Team World Championship, she must resign from the Venice Cup team and may only resign from the Mixed or Senior team for a good reason that arose after the selection event.
5. If a player who has qualified for the 2019 World Mixed Teams subsequently qualifies for the 2019 D'Orsi Senior Bowl, that player must resign from the Mixed Team and may only resign from the Senior team for a good reason that arose after the 2019 Senior USBC
6. If a player or players resign from a team that is qualified for any event at the 2019 World Championships, the team will remain eligible so long as it has at least 4 eligible players (2 men and 2 women for the Mixed Team). An eligible player must have played 50% of the boards in the selection event.
7. If a team is no longer eligible, it will be replaced by the last eligible team that lost in the selection event - "eligible" for a replacement team means having a majority (3 of 4 or 5, 4 of 6) of the players from the selection event on the WC team.
8. If a team that qualified for the Mixed or Senior Teams is reduced below 4 players because one or two of its players are competing in the Venice Cup or Mixed Team on a replacement team it remains eligible so long as a majority (3 of 4 or 5, 4 of 6) of the players from the selection event will be on the WC team.
I hope this is clear. If you have any questions, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I'll try to answer them.