ACBL has changed the alert procedure for transfers beginning January 1 (please see Page 35 of the January 2021 Bulletin for complete details).

For those playing transfers, it is no longer appropriate to simply say “transfer.” The correct procedure will be to actually name the suit to which you are transferring. So if Partner opens 1NT and you wish to transfer to Spades, the correct announcement is “Spades”. Go figure. You are unlikely to get your hand slapped if your announcement is “transfer to Spades,” redundant though it may be.

But if you are actually playing what are technically “relays,” that is, a 1NT – 2S sequence in order to elicit a 3 Club bid which will either be passed or corrected to 3 Diamonds, then an Alert, rather than an announcement is required. Essentially they are no different while we are playing online. But when we return to face-to-face, the distinction between an announcement and an alert will once again become important.

In the weeks that follow I will be highlighting various aspects of illegal bids, which some of you are forgetting. How low can an opening bid be? Or, what makes a NT opening illegal? How about rules related to strong 2C openings? These are things we will cover one at a time. While we don’t have frequent or worrisome problems related to these at our club, it won’t hurt to provide a little tune-up for those of you playing in open games at other clubs.