by Daniel Windsor
I had the pleasure of playing against Kantar once. He was part of the Malcom Brachman team that had just won the Bermuda Bowl. It was at the Spingold in LasVegas 1984 I think. We were the lowest seed and they were the #1 so we met for 64 boards in round 1. There were at least 30 kibitzers at our table (none of them to watch me sadly).
The match was quite even when this hand came up.
What would you do if you were South? I didn’t want to double for a club lead. Much worse a heart lead. Is there some way I could get my partner to lead a diamond? Plus, we were vulnerable, one slip and they make four or five tricks. So I just bid Three Notrump knowing where all the points were would help.
This is when Kantar the comedian, took over. He turned and stared at me and asked:
“What did you bid, kid?” No silent bidding or bidding boxes in those days.
“Three Notrump – do you want to double?”
All the kibitzers were giggling now and it attracted more watchers. He put his cards down on the table, got up and took off his Jacket. He walked around the table a few times, then sat down and asked my partner, Richard Hunt, “what does the bid mean”. Richard said,“He wants you on lead and not me”.
He takes of his glasses,rubs his eyes and says “Do you know who I am?”
I said “yes, in fact I have a couple of your books I’d like you to autograph for me after this, but please bid”.
The kibitzers were now all laughing and the director had to request silence.The play was anti-climactic. After the match was over, he told me that in all his years of playing bridge, he had never come across an auction like that