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EBU Blue and White Books

The EBU has published 2023 updates to the White Book and the Blue Book.  The Blue Book now includes regulations and interpretations for online events.  trowBRIDGEclub  runs its online events in accordance with these regulations except that the club does not allow Undo's in bidding or play. There are also some changes to alerting and announcing regulations. 

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Tournament Director's Tips
Bidding after a Hesitation

Question.   My partner paused for a long time before he passed. Do I have to pass at my turn?  

Answer.  No. Make exactly the same call that you would have made if your partner had not hesitated. You must be very careful not to draw any inference from your partner's hesitation and must try to bid/play as you would have done if there had been no hesitation. Please never bid based on partner’s hesitation, reasoning, “Partner paused, so I thought he had something, so I felt safer to bid”. This reasoning is not part of bridge.  Don't be upset or worried if the opponents call the Director, he will decide if Unauthorised Information has been available and may make a judgement based on what other players at your level would do under the circumstance. And by the way, it is nearly always a better thing to make a call rather than to pass after you have hesitated. Passing after a hesitation makes it more likely the director will award an adjusted score.

Other Points to Remember.

•  ALWAYS count your cards before looking at them and never take another players cards out of the board once the hands have been returned. 

•  A player must refrain from “commenting or acting during the auction or play so as to call attention to a significant occurrence, or to the number of tricks required for success (Law 74C4)".  So whilst you may (and it is good practice) to ask partner if they “Have None?” when they do not follow suit: when you yourself do not follow suit you should not state “Having none!”.

•  Dummy must not participate in the play nor may they communicate anything about the play to the declarer (Law 43)  but they may try to prevent any irregularity (Law42)".   So dummy may stop declarer if they see them starting to play from the wrong hand but dummy is not allowed to indicate at every turn to play whether the lead is in dummy by for example putting their hand on the table when the lead is in dummy.  

Law 7A requires that the board being played remains in the centre of the table, correctly orientated, throughout. This is to reduce the risk of cards being returned to the wrong slot, which spoils the play of the hand at subsequent tables. If you have to move the board please be extremely careful to return it in the correct orientation, before replacing the hands.

•  Do I need to alert a "splinter"? It depends, you should alert artificial suit bids on 1st round of bidding (for this purpose the first round of bidding is the opening bid and three subsequent calls, not necessarily the first four calls. Pass is a call but it is not a bid). So 1S-P-4C and P-P-1S-P-4C alert the 4C bid but  1H-P-1S-P-4C - don't alert the 4C bid.   

If  you are sitting out and want to look at the boards you would have played be VERY CAREFUL to put them back in the right pockets.  If you get confused call the Director.  Better to look foolish than spoil the next players bridge.

Only the Director may take a board out of play, so if you run out of time to play a board call the Director and he will tell you what to do.

Both players of a partnership must have identically completed system cards. The cards should be available for inspection at the table, and offered to opponents each round to enable them to see what system and conventions you are playing.

Once a card has been turned over only the Director may authorise it to be turned face up so if you suspect (or know) there has been a revoke don't turn any cards over and call the Director.

• Bridgemates. North should enter the Contract and lead card at the beginning of play rather than at the end of the hand but if North is Dummy he should lay out his cards before entering the contract on the Bridgemate. If North is "on lead" lead the card first and then put the Contract into the Bridgmate.

• Hesitating.  Law 73D2 says "A player may not attempt to mislead an opponent by means of remark or gesture, by the haste or hesitancy of a call or play (as in hesitating before playing a singleton), the manner in which a call or play is made or by any purposeful deviation from correct procedure."

•If you would like an explanation of an Alert or Announcement ONLY do so when it is your turn to bid and then ONLY if you need clarification before deciding whether or not to bid.  If you have no intention of bidding but need to know what a bid, alert or announcement means then wait until the end of the bidding and ask before the opening lead is faced.

•The Opening lead must be made face down and leader’s partner offered the opportunity to ask questions, before the lead is faced

•Do not ask questions unless the answer is likely to affect your action

•Select your opening lead before writing the contract on your score card, or entering it into the Bridgemate

•Score cards must not be left open on the table

•Always shuffle the cards before returning them to the board; particularly important after passing the hand out

•If something goes wrong call the Director before the situation gets worse and give them the information requested to enable the problem to be resolved

•In a Howell movement both pairs should check that they are at the correct table, with the right opponents and boards. The information is on the Movement Card and the Bridgemate screen

•Do not leave the last result showing on the Bridgemate screen when moving away from the table

•The Stop Card should be placed on the table before the bid to which it refers, and the Stop procedure adhered to

•When partner makes a conventional bid of 3NT or below, Alert it straight away, even if you are not sure of the precise meaning, or need time to think about it

•When making a claim do so in a manner which ensures that your opponents will understand how you propose to make the tricks claimed

•Unless you are the last person to call in an auction always put down a Pass card rather than tapping the table to indicate that you do not intend to bid

•If, however inadvertently, you hold up play at the start of a new round, please remember to make a polite apology for keeping your opponents waiting

•Never ask “Is that bid conventional?” if it has not been alerted. To do so risks giving Unauthorised Information to partner and waking up the opposition. Assume it is natural and call the Tournament Director at the end of the hand if you feel you may have been damaged

•At the end of a game, please leave tricks laid out until all players have agreed the score. Once cards are gathered up it will be impossible to resolve any disputes.