An EBU Disciplinary Committee recently considered the following charges against Roew Macdonald & Brenda Macdonald (BBO names Macky3 and MacBren) at a hearing in May.
- That when they played in online games on the Bridgebase Online (“BBO”) platform organised by the English Bridge Union and at Bramhill Green Bridge Club and Brookdale Club, between 1st October and 31st December 2020 they had knowledge of some aspects of each other’s hands obtained by illicit communication with each other.
- That they took advantage of this information to make calls and plays which they were unlikely to have made had they not known the layout of the hands, to the benefit of their bridge scores in those sessions.
The defendants admitted the charges. A disciplinary meeting was held and the Disciplinary Committee found the charges proved to their comfortable satisfaction, and that the defendants’ conduct constituted an offence under paragraph 3.2(iv) of the EBU Disciplinary Rules, being unfair or dishonest play. They considered the mitigation offered.
The Committee imposed a sanction of suspension of EBU membership for a period of 2 years.
May 28, 2021