Bridge Blog

The Vineyard Trophy

The Vineyard Trophy

            The Vineyard Trophy has, without my being aware of it, become a very serious thing.

            It began as a shorthand way of saying which of the duplicate players had the best off-Island tournament. On the ferry home, or perhaps at the Tuesday bridge game the next week, we would ask one another, “Who won the Vineyard Cup?” It may have been Hugh Knipmeyer who coined the phrase “Vineyard Cup” or “Vineyard Trophy.” There was in those days no trophy at all. Bridge players, being competitive types, were just comparing master points to see who had been the best at that particular tournament. It was all very friendly, and the “winner” was always warmly congratulated by the others. We enjoyed each other’s successes, and while winning the imaginary cup was a goal, it was not the main goal.

            Going to off-Island Tournaments, at least in the numbers that often go now, is a relatively new phenomenon. Twenty or thirty years ago, Margaret O’Neill used to go (she was, I believe, the first year-round Vineyarder to make Life Master), and Betty Sabin, Eileen O’Neill, Rita Moniz, perhaps a few others. Starting about ten years ago, it was Art Flathers who made the expeditions what they are today, when as many as 14 players descend on Newton, Hyannis, Falmouth, or Cromwell, Conn. Tournaments are social events as well. Large groups of players often go out to dinner together, gather for a nightcap after the evening session, or breakfast together. Always with the ubiquitous hand-records and score-cards: “What did you bid on Board 29?”

            About four years ago the idea surfaced that maybe there ought to be a real Vineyard Trophy. I may be wrong about this, and somebody can correct me, but I remember the conversation at the Saybrook Fishhouse (near Cromwell) as very light-hearted, something like, “Wouldn’t it be funny if there were a trophy we could present at the next club game?”

            Bill Blakesley volunteered to make a trophy, and Hugh Knipmeyer provided a Barbie Doll liberated from one of his granddaughters. You can see a picture of it where you click on this blog. It’s delightfully funny and kitsch. I think it perfectly captures the spirit of the friendly, tongue-in-cheek competition for top honors. I was happy to display it in my house when Nancy and I won it. It gave our guests a chuckle because it’s really a kind of parody of serious hardware.

            However, the trophy comes with a set of rules. Because Bill made the trophy, he also made the rules. New rules are added from time to time. If there were meetings to vote on what the rules should be, I missed them all. Perhaps there is a “mermaid’s cabinet” to decide such things. Perhaps Bill does it ex cathedra, as it were.

            At Sturbridge this month Claus Buchthal was the top point-getter in the Vineyard gang with 9.58 master points. This is remarkable for two reasons: first, Claus will be 95 years old this summer; second, he played several sessions with pick-up partners. Winning with a stranger for a partner is hard. Winning consistently is amazing. I like to think that in the days before there was a physical Vineyard trophy, we’d have gathered on the ferry and rejoiced in our congratulatory way that Claus had won the mythical cup this time.

            However, one of Bill’s rules is that the winner, who must be a Vineyard year-round or seasonal resident, must play at least one session with a Vineyard partner or teammate. I’ve tried to think why there is such a rule, and I conclude that it is to prevent someone like summer resident Barbara McLagan, who plays often with a team of her off-Island friends and usually does very well, from winning the trophy when she wasn’t part of the gang that traveled together, ate together, and originally invented the idea of a Vineyard trophy. One could argue about whether Barbara perhaps should be the winner anyway, or whether she would even care if she were passed over, but that’s not the point here.

            Under Bill’s rules, Claus is disqualified and the winners of the Vineyard Trophy were Gail Farrish and Dottie Arnold with 9.14 master points. This was Gail’s fifth time winning. Yes, five times! More than any other winner, by far (next frequent are Bill and Knip). I was surprised to learn that this was Dottie’s first win. She plays often with Gail at tournaments, but I guess the other four times Gail snuck off and won some points with somebody else. Way to go Dottie this time.

            On Tuesday night last week Gail and I conspired to vote Claus the Vineyard Trophy. Neither of us consulted Dottie, and for that I am sorry. If we had, I’m pretty sure she would have agreed with us, but we didn’t. Neither did we consult Bill.

            Well, it turns out that the vote was illegal. The Vineyard Trophy is not democratically awarded. Bill Blakesley decides what the rules are and whether there will be exceptions. He has ruled that Gail and Dottie are the winners after all, and that Claus is only an honorary recipient (sort of like a “lifetime achievement” award).

            So be it. Bill made the trophy, he gets to make the rules. Now I think I liked the imaginary trophy better.

            Nancy and I are off to Alaska on Monday. No bridge blog for at least two weeks.