Fitch Taylor Tournament

Congratulations to the following Overall Winners
Overall Winner	Year
Bob Esser	2007	32 players on a Sunday afternoon; the first repeat winner
David Raitt	2006	32 players on a Sunday afternoon; an unusual movement; we used the Yellow Card as revised in January 2006 by the ACBL
Brian Carlson	2005	28 players on a Sunday afternoon
Rich Nordeng	2004	28 players on a Sunday afternoon
Bill Higbee	2003	35 players on a Sunday afternoon
Nick Barnett	2002	No one told me anything about this event
Bob Esser	2001	A good turnout for a Wednesday night game, and we all used a new version of the Standard American Yellow Card, a definite improvement of the SAYC
Caryl Selchert	2000	The first holding of this tournament. A GREAT turnout! 11.5 tables

The first instance of this annual tournament was on Sunday, August 6, 2000 at 12:30 p.m. at the Madison Bridge Club, 2818 Todd Drive, Madison, WI. It is an individual event, not very common today, perhaps because of the proliferation of other types of events by the ACBL. However, it should be exciting, because players face different partners on every round, and sometimes style differences can greatly affect the results!

Because everyone plays only one round with almost everyone else, it is necessary that we all play "almost" the same card. There simply is not any other way (if you think about this, you will easily figure out why this is true). So, we will start with the "Standard American Yellow Card." A great BIG version of this is on the bulletin board on the south wall. For each round, however, partners may agree to a few minor "variations" or "treatments" for various items which are not pre-defined for the Yellow Card.

But, only a few types of changes are allowed. For instance, a pair may NOT agree to play Precision, Weak Notrumps, Flannery, and/or other conventions/systems where opposing partnerships need to have agreements as to defense. Variations that are allowed are of the nature of "What does a suit response to 2C opening mean," "What are length leads versus NT (attitude or 4th best)," and so forth.

psychs: psychs cannot be prohibited according to the Laws. However, they MUST be reported in this event so that the director can take appropriate action if a second psych occurs. A player that psychs more than ONCE is going to be in BIG TROUBLE. (And, if you have not figured this out already, psychs are strongly discouraged; we do not need this in a memorial tournament.) The event is intended to be a means where players can demonstrate their abilities with new partners with an (almost) predetermined convention card; not an event where a player can gain an advantage with bids that mislead everyone at the table, even if one of them is partner.

Fitch Taylor was a loved and respected member of the Madison Bridge Community, and it would be very gratifying for all if we had a tremendous amount of support for the first holding of this tournament in his memory.