J M Shah Memorial Tournament

In the death of J M Shah two years ago, Indian Bridge lost one of its strongest players in the last few decades. Many of us have a plethora of tales to tell about him, be it about some sharp play of his at the table that was the ruination of us or some incredibly sweet gesture of his off the table, both short and long term.

Bridge From Home, along with a host of friends and followers of J M Shah , humbly present this tribute to his memory in the form of an event where we hope all of you will participate in large numbers. We present below an extract from various tributes to his memory made last year and welcome more to add to this list.

• Someone suggested I should learn from Mr. JM Shah, the legendary five or six time National master and one of India’s top players. The very thought petrified me! Apparently this news went to JM’s sharp ears and he approached me saying  “Madam I can coach you. We play three times a week and while playing you can pick up the game!” I gently uttered “Ok sir I will let you know”, but he said “Madam tomorrow at 12pm at the Willingdon club.” Sometimes there would be a piercing yell-  his eyes would glare, cheeks puffed red, with hair raised! The whole field would look at us and I desperately wanted to crawl under the table. Ten minutes later he would bring me a hot cup of coffee with his guilty sweet smile. I thought that was a rather sweet gesture! Mrs. Hema Deora
• When in 1988, I took to bridge  again at a near novice level I ran into  JM at a small tournament. He recognized  me and said "Why dont we restart  a Partnership". When I humbly protested  pointing  out the gulf between  our levels he said "Don't worry I will teach you in 3 months what many won't  learn in 10 years.".With due modesty  I must state that over the space of next 5 years we went on .to become  one of the most successful  pairs in India. But JM always remained humble. K.R. Venkataraman
• JM was an indomitable spirit  with a never say die attitude. A man of simple tastes with a weakness for gutka. - SIMPLE LIVING AND HIGH THINKING. He was fiercely independent and stood his ground on principles. Was gifted with a strong constitution and would walk around for miles with boundless energy. Archie Sequeira
• He was not only technically superb, but he had a very sharp bridge nose. I would say, I found him more dangerous as opponent compared to most of the other big names. Kaustabh Nandi
• JM was passionate about the game. Discussions with him were quite intense. He sort of believed that playing DEMICOMA, we could bid every slam. There was a slam we didn't manage to bid in the final of the RUIA trophy. I had a hard time convincing him that there was no way to bid it with conviction and the argument continued weeks after the final was over! The other thing I remember is his ideas about competitive bidding. Although we had a different box of tools, and were pretty imaginative in using it, our bidding was sort of passive, linear, of the kind that remained the same irrespective of the form of the game, or the type of opponents, or the position of the bidder. JM forced me to rethink. JM impressed upon me that bids such as 2NT after weak 2H-X, for one example, needed to have some meaning if you wanted to compete effectively. Bridge against or with JM was always a quality game. Indian Bridge will miss that great passionate mind. Dr. Prakash Paranjpe

The JM Shah Memorial Tournament will feature two events.

• Swiss Teams - which will be played from Thursday, 5th May to Monday, 10th May. Schedule and Registration.
• IMP Pairs - which will be played from Saturday, 9th May to Sunday, 10th May. It will have two elimination and a two session final. Schedule and Registration.

Guaranteed Prizes of Rs. 50,000 on offer

(This is a BFI Category 2b Event)

The event will be played on RealBridge.

Supplemental Conditions of Contest

 

• Teams of up to 8 people are permitted
• Availability of Video and Audio is Mandatory for all players. Failure to be visible and audible will attract penalties.
• Withdrawals mid way through the tournament will affect the whole event and therefore not allowed.
• Entry Fee : Rs. 2,300 per team
• Early Bird Entry (by 30th April) : Rs. 2,000 per team

Pay Entry Fee and Register

 

The Event will be played as per the following schedule.

The event shall be played on RealBridge.

Entry Fee : Rs. 750 per pair.

Trios are not allowed.

Attractive Cash Prizes*

* Video and Audio Mandatory to be eligible for prizes

Pay Entry Fee and Register

 

 

We thank our sponsors for their support.

Teams:

Swiss League

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

 

Pairs:

IMP Pairs Elim 1 Session-1

IMP Pairs Elim 1 Session-2

IMP Pairs Elim 1 Consolidated

IMP Pairs Final