The ACBL Hall of Fame Committee has announced that National Tournament Directors Matt Smith of Victoria BC and Sol Weinstein of Yonkers NY have been chosen as recipients of the 2020 Blackwood Award, while Chuck Burger of West Bloomfield MI has been named as the recipient of the 2020 von Zedtwitz Award.
The Blackwood Award is given to those individuals who have contributed greatly to the game of bridge in ways other than playing expertise. The von Zedtwitz Award is given to living or deceased individuals who have achieved prominence in the game of bridge and have an outstanding tournament record but who may not have been in the limelight for a significant period of time.
Smith and Weinstein are longtime ACBL tournament directors, each with extensive backgrounds that have influenced the organization of bridge in North America.
Arguably the top player ever from the Detroit area, Burger is an 11-time NABC champion with 19 second-place finishes.
A full report will accompany the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Summer NABC in Montreal in July 2020.