Wednesday, 24 October 2001
Pietro Bernasconi died in Geneva on 2nd October 2001 after a short but terrible illness that he bore with immense courage. Pietro Bernasconi was unfamiliar to most of the bridge public but was well known to the champion players.
He was a worldclass player himself who, for many years, partnered Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, the WBF President Emeritus, as part of the Swiss national team together with the late Jean Besse.
For many years he was the custodian of master points for the World Bridge Federation. He and his computer recorded the performances of players in eighty-odd countries, and noted when they advanced in rank. Virtually none of them thanked him, or were aware of his effort.
Latterly, Pietro will be remembered for his computer wizardry. Not only was he responsible for computerizing the WBF Master Point records, but he also pioneered programs for the random-dealing of hands used in WBF tournaments and defended their integrity during the controversies that were common between mathematicians in the early days of computer-dealt hands.
Pietro was also renowned for the exceptional problems he devised for the Par Contest that was held for the first time in Geneva in 1990, and which pitted the wits of the world’s greatest bridge players against a machine. Despite his illness, he left us with new problems for the Par Contest which will bear testimony to his brilliant mind.
Carol von Linstow
WBF Secretariat
Alan Truscott wrote in the New York Times of 11th October: Bernasconi, who had the rank of World Life Master, represented his native Switzerland in five world championships and 15 European Championships. On the diagramed deal he sat West, and defended brilliantly in a match against Austria in 1974.
Dealer West. Both Vulnerable.
He led the heart five and dummy played low. East won with the king and returned the suit. When South won with the queen he felt confident. It appeared that he would make five diamond tricks, two hearts, and two tricks in the black suits. He worked on diamonds, and West held up his ace for one round.
The position was this:
Can you see how Bernasconi defeated the game?
Playing either major suit offered no hope. Instead, he led a club, giving South an extra trick in that suit. The declarer was not pleased, for his communications had been attacked with a fatal result. What could he do after winning with the club nine?
Playing a club winner would have squeezed the dummy, so he led a spade. Bernasconi promptly grabbed the spade king and led a heart, scoring two tricks at the finish with the spade ace and an
established heart.