Alfred (Freddy) Sheinwold (January 26, 1912 – March 8, 1997)[citation needed] was an American bridge player, administrator, international team captain, and prolific writer.
After Edgar Kaplan purchased The Bridge World, Sheinwold became one of four expert members on the rotating directorship of the Master Solvers Club, from 1967 to 1980.
During World War II, Sheinwold interrupted his bridge career to serve as chief code and cipher expert in the U.S. Office of Strategic Services.
To cater for a 4-2 break in both red suits, Sheinwold initiated a ducking play at the second trick and led dummy's ♦2 to be won by East with the ♦Q.
[clarification needed] It was particularly unfortunate, then, that an American newspaper reporter saw one member of an Italian pair, Facchini and Zucchelli, tapping his partner's feet with his own in a suspicious manner.
In protest, the American team threatened to withdraw from the tournament – the final[clarification needed] – if forced to play against the Italian pair, unless ordered to do so by the ACBL.
When the ACBL Board learned of that decision, it removed Sheinwold from a panel of future captains and publicized its action in a fashion that many at the time found petty.
Sheinwold was vindicated in 1977 when, during an affair involving cheating allegations against an American pair, Richard H. Katz and Larry T. Cohen, Mathe spoke in public regarding supposedly secret negotiations.
But he also prepared the AutoBridge hands and discussions, and wrote Five Weeks to Winning Bridge, which sold more than a million copies – phenomenal sales for a book on a card game.