Link to Announcing and Alerting Summary

Pity the poor director.  A busy person at your club who has to decide what movement is going to be played, keep time to make sure you finish in time and deal with matters of law.  Oh, and at most bridge clubs he has to play too!

When something clear goes wrong, for example a revoke, or a lead or call out of turn, the director’s play is interrupted and he goes to resolve the issue.  Imagine how difficult the director’s life would be if he was also called to the table when something MIGHT have gone wrong.

This is why people sometimes ‘Reserve their Rights’.  All they are saying is that they think there MIGHT be a problem which the director MIGHT need to look at later and they are reserving the right not to call him immediately.  Nobody is being accused of any malpractice; nobody should feel intimidated in any way.  All that is being done is making the director’s life easier because, at the end of the hand, the people who reserved their rights often decide that the director does not need to be involved.  As such, reserving your rights should be standard practice at all bridge clubs which have playing directors.

Suppose, for instance, that you hesitate during the auction and pass, then your partner bids.  It is perfectly permissible for partner to bid after a hesitation, but partner must make every effort not to take advantage of the hesitation.  Your opponents should reserve their rights in case, at the end of play, they think the director needs to look at the hand.  At the end of the hand, they might decide not to involve the director, however, if they do call the director, they are not accusing anybody of doing anything wrong.  What they are doing is asking the director if, in his opinion, most people would bid with partner’s hand.  If the director decides they would, nothing further is done; if the director decides some people would pass rather than bid, he might adjust the score.

Obviously, a system that avoids calling the director immediately for POSSIBLE problems is desirable because the director’s time is saved and he can carry on playing instead.

Here are a couple of easy things that you can do that will help save time during the evening.

1)   If you are on opening lead, get on and make the opening lead.DO NOT FILL IN YOUR SCORECARD FIRST.If you do, you are keeping three players waiting, including declarer who is keen to see the dummy.The time to fill in your scorecard is when dummy is being put onto the table and declarer is making a plan (see Terry’s Tip, 23^rd December ’15) of how the hand might be played.

                 Suppose it take 30 seconds to fill in a scorecard.  If everybody makes the opening lead first, 12 minutes will be saved during the evening.

2)      If you are playing a Howell movement, take the time before round 1 starts to see where you are going to move to.  When you know this, make a note of who is sitting there: you will be following this pair round the room.  Wherever they are sitting, that is where you are going for the next round.  I am always surprised by people who have to check the guide cards every round to see where they are going: it’s much easier and quicker to follow a pair round the room.

How to speed up your play and still enjoy your bridge.

We know that one of the difficulties faced by new players is feeling that they are always under time pressure and everyone is waiting for them.  We want to encourage everyone to play and enjoy duplicate so we hope that this advice will be helpful to less experienced players.  More experienced players can help by following the same good practice and gently advising new members when they have time problems.

On average you only have about 8 minutes to play a board and it is easy to get behind the clock and have the Director chasing you to speed up.  Here are some tips to help you avoid wasting time. 

• Before you move after the first round, check to see where you are going and see who is there. Every round after that you will be following that same pair, so you do not need to worry about where to go as long as you check where the pair you are following is sitting before each move.  
• All players should check who is dealer as the first thing you do. Nothing will happen until Dealer bids – we have all had to wait for someone to say ‘Oh, is it me?’   
• Try counting your points as you pick your cards up. It helps to decide quickly whether you are likely to bid. However, even if you have a very poor hand, don’t bid too quickly at it can give a clue about your hand. Take about 5 seconds and try to always bid in tempo. You can think a long time if you then bid, but thinking and passing can give out unauthorised information!  
• If you are not the dealer, don’t just sit there! On most hands either partner or the opponent will bid 1 of a suit or 1NT. Before they bid, decide what you might do to all these cases. For instance, if partner opens 1NT will you transfer or bid Stayman?  You may not have enough points to open yourself but if the opponent bids, will you overcall? There are about 10 bids per hand – if you all save 6 seconds a bid it can save a minute a board – or 24 minutes during the evening!  
• When the opposition are bidding and you have no intention of bidding, do not keep asking what bids mean. It slows the bidding down and may give away unauthorised information. You can ask at the end before the first lead if you are on lead, and if not on lead you can ask as soon as the lead has been played face down. You can ask to have the auction repeated and what any bids mean.  You often get a clearer picture of the hand if you hear it all in one go.  
• The best part of playing bridge is playing the hand. This is not the time to rush as you may well get a bad score.  Just try to concentrate and make sure you know where the lead is and play calmly.  
• With wireless scoring there is no need to keep a card, but if you do, please make sure that you lead to the first trick before writing down the contact.  
• Dummy, who has plenty of time, should put down their hand before they write down the contract.  
• It is best if North puts in the contract on the Bridgepad before the lead is made and then enters the lead as soon as it has been made – we have all heard the question at the end – ‘What did you lead?’ and then the hand is taken out the board to find out, wasting time.  
• Once the hand is finished make sure you agree the contract (was it doubled?) and result before the cards are picked up so if there is any argument, the result can be checked, by the Director if necessary.  
• Don’t worry about working out the score – the Bridgepad will do it for you as long as the contract and result are right.  
• East (or West) should check the contract and result carefully. It wastes time to have to change this afterwards.  
• When you have played all the boards, arrange them in the correct order and place them in the middle of the table ready for the next move.  
• If you need to leave the table for any reason, try to do it on a round when you finish early.

Article reproduced with permission of Northampton BC

THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DUPLICATE PAIRS AND TEAMS

Suppose you and partner are N/S.  When you play Pairs, you are playing against all the other N/S pairs.  When you play Teams, you are playing against the N/S pair who have your hands when they play against your teammates, i.e., you are playing against only one other N/S pair.  You are also playing for IMPs, rather than matchpoints.  IMPs are calculated by comparing your N/S score and your teammates’ E/W score with the the scores of the other N/S and E/W pairs who hold your cards.  If you did better than they did, you gain IMPs, if you did worse, you lose IMPs.

Suppose you make a game for +420 and your E/W teammates beat this game and score +50.  You will do well on this hand.

Suppose you are vulnerable and bid 3S and make 10 tricks, you will score +170.  If the other N/S pair with your cards bid and make the game, they will score +620 so they have done better than you and you will do badly on this hand.

In the Bidding

The basic advice is: if you are thinking about bidding game but are not sure, bid it, especially if you are vulnerable.

At Pairs, the difference between 600/400 for 3NT= and 620/420 for 4S= is crucial.  At Teams, these 20 points count for little, so bid the safer game.

If you are thinking about bidding a small slam, you should be fairly certain that it will make and you should think about whether or not your opponents will bid it when they have your cards.  It is very frustrating to go one off and give away a lot of IMPs because your opponents bid only game. If you are going to bid a slam, you should choose the safest slam you can.  Suppose you have a choice between 6S and 6NT.  At Pairs, 6NT gets 10 extra points and that makes a difference.  At Teams, these 10 points don’t matter; what matters is that you choose whichever slam that is more likely to make: if one slam is 80% and the other is 70%, bid the 80% slam at Teams and whichever is worth the higher score at Pairs.

Years ago, Jonathan and I lost a cup final by bidding a grand slam that had about an 82% chance of making.  We went one off and lost the cup.  Had we bid only a small slam, we would have won the cup: the moral here is clear.

Contesting part score contracts is different too.  At Pairs, if you go one off  undoubled vulnerable in 3D, you lose 100 points.  If your opponents can make 2S they would score 110, so the 10 points you save make all the difference to your score.  At Teams, these 10 points make no difference at all, so if you think you might defeat your opponents’ part score contract, let them play in it.  Don't bid on unless you are fairly sure your part score will make.  If you do bid on, look confident.  You are unlikely to be doubled in a part score contract at Teams because of the risk of being doubled into game; this is especially true if you have good trumps.

Advice given to me years ago was, ‘Don’t sacrifice at Teams when your opponents bid game.’  Obviously, it’s not always true, but it’s a good basic rule to follow.  Pleased with their score of +620 for making a game, your teammates are never pleased doing the scoring at the end and they find that you have scored -800 on the same hand.

When Declaring a Contract

Your objective, above all others, is to make your contract.  Unlike Pairs, when they are crucial, overtricks are not very significant at Teams, so DO NOT JEOPARDISE YOUR CONTRACT BY TRYING TO MAKE OVERTRICKS UNLESS YOU ARE CERTAIN YOU CAN MAKE THEM AT NO RISK.

When Defending

Your objective is to beat your opponents’ contract.  Suppose your opponents reach 4S

1S        2D

2S        4S

Your opponents seem to have good hands and this will be a ‘standard’ contract, certainly one you would expect your teammates to reach!

Your hand is:

A43

K8

Q3

986432

Playing Pairs, your main objective is to avoid giving away overtricks, so you would look for the safest lead that you can find (probably the C9 or C8).

Playing Teams, you would like to beat this contract if you can, so you are willing to risk giving away an overtrick in favour of going on the attack by leading the HK.  On a good day, you will find partner with the HA and your side wins HK, HA, a ruff and SA to set the contract.  This is too risky at Pairs when leading the unsupported King is likely to give away an overtrick.

Additional detail and examples can be found in the relevant sections.

Here are the three most important things about asking questions:

(1) YOU MAY ASK ONLY WHEN IT IS YOUR TURN TO CALL OR PLAY

(2) During the auction, if you are intending to Pass, just Pass.  Don’t ask then Pass.  You do not need to know the meaning of a call if you are going to Pass

(3) You may not ask questions for your partner’s benefit.  It is up to partner to ask his own questions

And four things for giving an explanation:

(1) The call is explained by the caller’s partner, not by the caller (but see 4).

(2) The opponents are entitled to a full explanation of what a call or a play (e.g., a lead or a discard) means

(3) If you have no partnership agreement for the call or play, say so but DO NOT SPECULATE ABOUT ITS MEANING.  Doing so will give your partner unauthorised information and you might be wrong, thereby misinforming your opponents

(4) If you can’t remember what a call or play means, say so but DO NOT SPECULATE ABOUT ITS MEANING (see 3).  To resolve this problem, the director might ask you to leave the table so that your partner can explain the call or play during your absence

DEFINITIONS

The Auction Period starts for your side when either partner withdraws his cards from the board.

The Auction ends when:

(1) All four players pass.  The hands are returned to the board without play.

or

(2) One or more players having bid, there are three consecutive passes in rotation subsequent to the last bid.

The Auction Period ends when the opening lead is faced.

The bit between the end of the Auction and the end of the Auction Period is called the Clarification Period.

The Play Period starts when the opening lead is faced.

ASKING QUESTIONS

This falls into two separate sections:

(1) During the Auction Period, which includes both the Auction and the Clarification Period.

(2) During the Play Period

(1) During the Auction Period

You can ask the meaning of any call, whether it has been alerted or not and you ask the caller’s partner what the call means.

EXAMPLE (E/W are using the multi-2D)

W        N         E          S

2D^{*                                                      *} = Alert

Only North can ask now about this call.  South must wait until it is his turn to call before asking.

North should ask ONLY IF HE NEEDS TO KNOW because he is thinking of making a bid or double; if he is going to Pass regardless, North should not ask.

North asks and receives an explanation from East of what the bid can mean.  In the case of a multi-2D, this is quite a lengthy explanation.  The auction continues:

W        N         E          S

2D^*      P         2H^*       P                      ^* = Alert

2NT      P        3C^*       P

3D^*       P        3NT      P

 P         P

The Auction is over and the Clarification Period has started.  North is now on opening lead against 3NT by West.  If North needs any further information about the auction, he can ask questions before selecting the opening lead.  Note that it is North’s turn, so South must not ask any questions during the Clarification Period until North has placed his lead card face down on the table.

North decides not to ask anything further about the auction, selects his opening lead, places it face down on the table and says to his partner, ‘Any questions?’

South has a poor hand but refrained from asking about any of the calls during the auction because was not going to bid or double.  However, he wants to know about the other calls and asks about them.  2H is a relay bid which West would pass if he had a weak 2 in hearts, 2NT shows 20-22 points, 3C is Stayman and 3D shows no 4-card major. South signals that he is ready and the Clarification Period finishes.  North faces his opening lead, the Auction Period finishes and the Play Period starts.

Note that North has asked about the 2D bid and Passed.  When South is on lead, he needs a good bridge reason to lead a diamond.  Furthermore, the fact that North has asked means that he has a hand that was thinking of taking action, i.e., he has some points/length.  South is not allowed to use this fact during the play, BUT DECLARER CAN, so asking and Passing helps only the opponents.

WHAT TO ASK

If you decide to ask about the meaning of a bid, you should ask a question such as, “What does that mean?”  This might seem obvious, but........

EXAMPLE (E/W are using Lucas Twos)

W        N         E          S

2S^{*                                                       *} = Alert

If you (North, obviously) ask something specific like, “Is that weak?” East can answer, “Yes.”  If you ask, “What does that mean?” East will tell you that West has 5+ spades, 4+ cards in another suit and between 5-9 points.

Another question to avoid is the naming of a convention:

W        N         E          S

1S       P        4C^{*                              *} = Alert

South asks, ‘Is that Gerber?’ and West replies, ‘No.’  None the wiser, South asks, ‘What does the 4C bid mean?’ and is told, ‘It shows at least an opening hand with at least four trumps and either a singleton or a void in clubs.’

WHAT TO EXPLAIN

When explaining the meaning of a call, do not just give the name of a convention; the asking player is entitled to a full explanation of the meaning of the call.  There are two reasons for this:

(i)         W        N         E          S

            2H^{*                                                                          *} = Alert

You (North) ask, ‘What does that mean?’ and are told, ‘It’s a Muiderberg two.’  You are probably none the wiser than before you asked the question.

(ii)        W        N         E          S

           1D      2NT^{*                                                     *} = Alert

You (East) ask, ‘What does that mean?’ and are told, ‘It’s the Unusual No-Trumps.’  Most people know what this is, but there is more than one way to use this convention.  Some play that it shows the two lowest ranked unbid suits; here, that would be clubs and hearts.  Others play that it shows the other minor and one of the majors; here, that would be clubs and either hearts or spades.

When appropriate, your explanation should include distributional constraints and high card points.

(2) During the Play Period

The defenders and the declarer (but not dummy) retain the right to request explanations of bids and cards played throughout the play period, each at his own turn to play.  For declarer, his turn includes playing from dummy.

Before you play your first card, you can request a review of the auction.  Once you have played a card, all you can ask regarding the auction is what the final contract is.

The most common question during play is asking what a discard means.  As when explaining a call, the explanation given must provide details of your system; it is not enough to say, e.g., ‘We play odds and evens.’  This means different things to different people.

AND FINALLY

I’m going to finish with a cautionary tale.  Years ago, I played in a tournament.  With me sitting South, we had the following auction:

W        N         E          S

          1C        P          1S

P        3S        P          4S

West’s opening lead, a club, was faced and I made 9 tricks.  ‘So what?’ I can hear you thinking.  Well, what actually happened is that after the 1C bid, East asked me if it was natural.  I had neither alerted nor announced the 1C so, obviously, it was natural.  I sent for the director.  The director ruled that other leads were available to West and that the lead of a club had been influenced by East’s question.  He also cautioned East/West about their future conduct.  East was sitting with AKxxx in clubs and was desperate for a club lead!  The score was adjusted to me making 10 tricks, one of my club losers being discarded on a long suit in dummy.

The moral of the story is, “DON’T ASK QUESTIONS DURING THE AUCTION IF YOU ARE NOT THINKING OF BIDDING OR DOUBLING BECAUSE YOU MIGHT MAKE LIFE AWKWARD FOR YOUR PARTNER.”