Direct Line with Eric Kokish

By Mabel Bocchi

Canadian, 54 years old. Married to beverly Kraft, member of the Canadian Women team. They have a 13-year old son, Matthew, who is a very good baseball player. His Star sign is Bull. He made his début in the Canadian national team in 1974, winning two Bermuda Bowl silver medals, in 1978 and 1995. He started being a trainer/coach in 1985. He also is a journalist and a writer. Q. What is more gratifying for you, being a trainer/coach or a journalist? A. Certainly being a trainer/coach, because it opens the way for me to make friends in all parts of the world and to contribute to the improvement of world bridge. What is more: the satisfaction you get when your teams are obtaining good results is immense. Take for example the 1995 Bermuda Bowl, in which all seven or eight teams of which I had been the trainer qualified for the quarterfinals, and also the 1985 Bermuda Bowl, where my team, Brazil, reached the semifinals on my début as a trainer, after a round-robin without defeat, with Chagas not playing and where I had to make the decision to field the Sampaio brothers two days before the start of the championships. In that semifinal, we were playing a very strong U.S. team and were leading with one board to play. The audience was completely on our hand. Yet, we failed to make it into the final, but nevertheless I will never forget these really wonderful moments. Q. What would you not do again if you could start all over again? A. First of all: being a bridge player. After all, it might have been better for me to dedicate to a so-called normal job and, taking into account that I graduated in Law, it would not at all have been a bad thing had I become a solicitor instead of a bridge pro. The only other thing I regret is having got my son, Matthew, whom I adore, a little bit late.

Eric Kokish

Q. Of all your adventures, travelling around the world, which ones have impressed you most?

A. I am thinking of two occasions, but very different ones. In 1983 I went to India with the Canadian national team to participate in an international tournament. We were staying in a very luxurious hotel, but you only needed to put your nose outside the door to find yourself surrounded by indescribable misery. This unjust and disconcerting contrast I will never forget. It made me feel guilty to a certain extent.

A few years ago I was in Indonesia with my whole family. The idea was to stay there for two years, but as it happened, after six months the revolution got underway. My wife had returned to Canada a few days before to help her father who had fallen ill. My son and I, together with some 30 people who were working for me, were forced to stay in the country for another six weeks, under constant military supervision and almost completely broke: the local currency had lost more than three quarters of its value and as a consequence I could not even pay those who had worked for me.

Q. Can you describe for me what the main quality of the good player has to be?

A. To know that you have to play only one hand at the same time. You should never think about what has happened before, and even less about what might happen later.

Q. And of the good trainer/coach?

A. To know that every bridge player has his own characteristics, which should be respected. This means that it is the trainer, and not the player, who has to adapt himself.

Q. And of the good journalist?

A. To enter the mind of the player and explain the reasoning behind the choices made. He should not restrict himself to criticism only and, I should add here, he should be able to take himself not too seriously.

Q. You have three adjectives to define yourself.

A. Fat, smiling, sympathetic.

Q. What would you change in the bridge world?

A. I would rise the age limit for the seniors to 65 and I would also forbid juniors to play in Junior events once they made their début in the Open Series. Furthermore, I would sweep away all this complexity of regulations that contributes to making bridge more and more inhuman and illogical.

Q. Your ideal woman.

A. She should have brains, she should be physically attractive, share my way of thinking at least as far as the most important things are concerned and she should always be smiling.

Q. Bridge and love go well together?

A. When you are in love it is very difficult to play well: a few times it will happen, but normally it is a disaster. In fact, during important international competitions it is much better that wives and fiancées stay at home.

Q. When you shave in the morning and look in the mirror, what do you think?

A. That after all I am not bad inside, but distinctly fat outside.

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