Reese's 1965 appearance in the Buenos Aires Bermuda Bowl was marred by an accusation that he and his partner Boris Schapiro were communicating illegally (i.e. cheating). At a hearing held at the tournament site in Buenos Aires, the World Bridge Federation (WBF) judged Reese and Schapiro guilty of transmitting finger signals to each other indicating how many hearts each held. The WBF banned them from the remainder of the Bermuda Bowl and ordered the forfeit of all matches in which they had participated up to that point; further punishment was left uncertain at that time.
An important factor in the Buenos Aires procedure was that the pair had not been given an adequate opportunity to defend themselves. The British team captain had agreed with the accusation
before discussing the matter with the players. The British Bridge League subsequently convened their own enquiry into the matter in a manner which did allow the players to defend themselves.
After many months, and taking testimony from a number of eyewitnesses, bridge analysts, and character witnesses, the "Foster Enquiry", as it was called, concluded that Reese and Schapiro had not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore acquitted them. Several factors must have played a part in this decision, especially the fact that little or no connection could be made between the claimed signals and the results at the table. Reese and Schapiro had not played especially well in Buenos Aires; Reese commented later that no pair were likely to cheat in a way that did not help them win. A simple system to signal whether a player was good or poor for his bid would be almost certain to bring good dividends.
In his 1966 book
The Story of an Accusation, Reese went through every single hand presented by the 'prosecution' and showing that the bidding was clear by the principles of the Acol system they were using, and several occasions when they might have used information about the heart suit had it been available. Truscott also wrote his account, concentrating on the observations and reaching the opposite conclusion.
Neither side changed their opinions, and a considerable rift developed in the bridge world. In fact, there were other cases of accusations at the highest level, in one of which members of the famous Italian Blue Team were accused, again by members of the American team. The solution to this unsatisfactory situation came at last with introduction of bidding boxes and the system of movable compartments ('screens') which prevent players from seeing their own partners during bidding (a system only used at tournaments of the highest rank).
Flint's account
One other member of the British team, Reese's then main partner Jeremy Flint, gave a lengthy account of the accusation. Flint starts by mentioning some facts that were known at the time, but may be forgotten now. The results of the BBL trials was: 1 Reese...Flint; 2 Konstam...Schapiro; 3 Albert Rose...Ralph Swimer. The BBL then announced the team, omitting Swimer and substituting Maurice Harrison-Gray. Gray was still a great player, but it was no surprise that controversy followed. Eventually, Swimer had to be content with being non-playing captain. In addition, Reese and Schapiro were hardly on speaking terms at the time; Reese's decision to form a partnership with Flint had been decided in 1962, and the pair co-operated to develop the Little Major bidding system.
Flint makes two main points (over and above points made by Reese) as follows:1. The bitter quarrel between Reese and Schapiro "was surely not the perfect background for alleged dishonest complicity".2. When Flint was playing with Reese in the closed room, Geoffrey Butler (BBL official) and Waldemar von Zedwitz (senior American master) came to watch. After the session Flint said to Reese:
- "Terence, you realise we were being watched."
- "Good gracious," he replied "Do you think so?"
- "I suppose they must be considering banning the Little Major," I ventured.
"Reese is considered a fool by no-one [yet] according to his accusers he continued to exchange signals for the next seven days".
Later accusation
A later claim was made, by a bridge player and publisher, to the effect that Reese had made a confession to him forty years previously. This claim was made public after the deaths of both Reese and Schapiro. There is no corroboration to support this account.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-buenos-aires-affair-card-tricksters-490277.html