Talk:Bill Root (bridge)

International competition
I deleted this from the lead
 * He played professionally and represented the United States twelve times in international competition, including the Bermuda Bowl in 1967.

The World Bridge Federation playing record for William S. Root shows three appearances of all kinds. One as a member of team North America in the 1967 Bermuda Bowl. One for team USA in the 1968 World Team Olympiad. One on a team led by Edgar Kaplan in the 1986 Rosenblum, which is open (pay the entry fee). Nor is there any distinct WBF record for Bill or plain William Root. This meager WBF record for Root fits that for his longtime partner Richard Pavlicek, two appearances (and nothing but subsequent Junior Teams play by his son credited to any other Pavlicek).

Perhaps there were other international competitions in which played on some teams of Americans, or even some "United States" teams. Such as Pan-American games and championships in other sports (I don't know of bridge). Or events hosted by Goren cruises --where [ref name=ACBLhof] says Root was a teacher fill-in (for Charles Goren?) so early as 1956. Or occasional competition within North America such as a match between USA and Canada teams.

For players from North America, World Bridge Federation competition is nearly equivalent to international competition in recent decades. We should generally cover and say 'world' competition and should not say 'international' in another sense without full explanation.

--P64 (talk) 17:58, 20 December 2014 (UTC)

Jettison hand ?
Why is the Jettison hand in the article? Did Root create or play the hand? What is its relevance to a biography of Root?

Inadequate biography
Also, there is much more to say about Root's biography,

including:

growing up in Brooklyn and his family's business on Coney Island;

his methods of bridge teaching (large groups) and hiring youngsters (such as Augie Boehm) to set up the hands in the bidding trays (mentioned by Boehm in his autobiography);

Root's moves to Washington DC and then to Florida;

his partnerships with Al Roth and then with Richard Pavlicek;

his appearance on To Tell the Truth, in which all four on the panel figured out his identity, as he was the only contestant who answered all their questions correctly.