| Calling the Director. |
On occasion, players complain afterwards about some occurrence at the table, complaining "they should not do that", or "I don't think that's right". Instead of letting such incidents go and complaining later, the right thing to do is call the TD, who will explain the law and deal with the matter in a fair and timely manner. This reduces the possibility of any unpleasantness.
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| Claiming |
Did you know that if it's clear that you can make a certain number of tricks (often all the remaining tricks, but not necessarily) then it is right to lay down your cards and make a claim? Not to do so is possibly illegal, and definitely rude. The advantages are that it speeds up the game, and prevents the opponents expending brain power in a futile attempt to wheedle out the impossible extra trick.
The important point about 'making a claim' is that you explain how the tricks are to be made. Defenders should either agree the claim or, if declarer has erred, the TD should be called to sort it out. Obviously in the latter case time will not be saved, so declarers should be sure of their ground and clear in their description of the play.
Sometimes in the club, a defender will ask declarer to "play it out", Declarer is recommended to refuse this request and summon the director if declarer does 'play it out' then declarer can play as (s)he wishes not needing to follow the stated plan and the result of the play will stand.
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| Psychic bids |
Psychic bids can cause a lot of grief, especially when a player or side feels they have been "cheated" by an unfair bid. However, Warrington Bridge Club abides by the Laws of the game, which states that psychic bids are allowed. Whether one might recommend it for the sake of partnership confidence is an entirely different matter.
However, should such action occur, it is advised to call the director, and certainly not to comment at the table, or get into an argument. While the occasional psych is quite in order, we can advise people who may be employing this weapon too often.
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| Unauthorised Information |
In bridge, the only correct and legal way to convey information to partner is through the bidding and the play of the cards. It is not allowed, for example, to indicate that you want partner to lead a  saying ‘please lead a heart’ or (worse) by putting your hand on your chest. The latter is worse because it’s a secret signal intended for your partner to recognise, and not to be picked up by the opponents. Such behaviour is cheating, and will never be tolerated. There are ways of indicating legally during the play of the hand what suit you would like partner to lead; there is quite a market in appropriate play conventions such as McKinney: these are quite legal and proper, provided that it's open and above board, and opponents are free to know what system you are using.
Bridge is a complicated game, and sometimes you are unsure as to the best play, and pause to think. This pause tells your partner you have a choice to make, and this information does not come from the play of the cards; it’s what's known as UI (unauthorised information). It is quite proper for you to have a little think when you have a hard decision, but the Law says your partner must be careful not to make use of the UI.
David Burrows recounts an example: he was playing in the pairs at the Bolton Bridge Club weekend congress. He had a hand with no points but a 7-card  suit. Opponent opened with a pre-emptive 3 , and partner had a good long think, and passed. It was clear to David that his partner had a good hand, but didn't want to double as she had not many spades, and couldn't bid NT because she had no stop. David deduced (correctly) that we would do well playing in 4 , but had to pass, because partner's long think was UI, ie information he was not allowed to use.
This hand is from another club, and the director there asked David Burrows for an opinion. The bidding goes 1 X 2 3 ? The opener now had a ponder, and eventually passed, whereupon his partner bid 3 . The other side called the director. This is the hand: 10 7 3 2 A 9  K 6 5 4  10 6 2 You are vulnerable, partner opens 1S, opponent doubles, you bid 2S, opponent bids 3H, passed back to you – are you bidding on? Its actually not an easy decision, and it's not certain that the player would not have bid on to 3 without his partner's long pause for thought. However, it's likely that many people would pass, especially being vulnerable. In this case the TD should give a score for 3 by the opposition, if that is better for them than they get for defending 3 . The key is that if partner pauses for a long think, you must NOT use that pause to guide your choice of bid.
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| I realise I've revoked - what to do? |
A revoke is when you don't follow suit to the card led, when you do have one or more cards in that suit still in your hand.
If you realise what you have done before your side play to the next trick, you should own up straight away, and play can be wound back and the revoke corrected.
However, if it's later in the play that you realise that you've revoked on an earlier trick, then as a defender you should keep quiet. That's because if you speak up now, you're telling everyone you still have a card or cards in that suit, including your partner, which could cause problems. When you do come to play a card that reveals the revoke, then it's OK to draw attention to it then.
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| Start of Play |
Players must not look at cards before the TD calls start of play. Perhaps the movement is not yet settled, and the boards on your table might not be the ones you will be using for round 1. If boards need to be moved to another table, then if you have started play, there could be a problem - for example, if there's an arrow-switch movement, you might well have seen an opponent's hand.
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| When has a bid been made? |
If you fiddle with the cards in the bidding box before picking one out, your actions leak unauthorised information (at best). Instead, decide on your bid and then reach for the box, pull out the card and place it on the table in one smooth motion.
When the cards have been pulled out of the box, the bid is made, and should not be changed without permission of the TD. If you pull out a card different from the one intended, and explain this to the table, then although the TD 'should' be summoned, it is not unknown for players to accept that you can simply make your intended bid. However if you simply push the cards back in the box, then opponents have no option other than calling the TD to sort it out.
David Burrows recounts an example: he had a good 6-card spade suit, and was trying to convince himself to open 2 (weak), but eventually decided the hand was that little bit too good and opened 1 . Partner bid 2 , and, still thinking about the weak two opening bid where a change of suit would be non-forcing, David pulled out the PASS card. He realised his error pretty much straight away, and in the bidding system PASS is not allowed here anyway. However, but in the Laws of the game it was too late to change - he had pulled out the card he intended at the time, and the Law provides no option to correct. Hopefully he completed his call without a flicker! |
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| Run the Clubs please! |
When playing bridge, it's usually not allowed to change your mind after you have made a move - similar to touching a piece in chess. So when you call for a card from dummy, that counts as making a move, and you can't change your mind even if the lead should have been from your own hand! (Though in that case the opponents can, of course, refuse to accept the lead from the wrong hand and require you to lead from the correct hand).
When you say "run the clubs", it's a bit like making a standing order at the bank - you are entitled to cancel the order before you run out of money (clubs). You might have intended to cash all the clubs, but find you are squeezing yourself, and need to do something else before going back. That is allowed in the rules, as bridge is played one trick at a time. If you do change your mind part way through, however, it is in theory possible that opponents might consider your statement of intention (to run all the clubs) has misled them, and if they have been damaged by this, then rectification is available - ask the TD.
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| Thinking ? |
This article is copied from BridgeClubLive, and several BCL members have greeted it with acclaim, and copied it for their club notice boards.
He who hesitates ... at the bridge table, when he has nothing to think about, can cause problems for himself, his partner and the opposition, and sometimes it leads to bad feeling. If you have nothing to think about then please try to play in normal tempo - neither too fast, nor certainly not very slowly, giving the impression that you are thinking.
Should you have a singleton, play it at your normal speed and give nothing away. Should you hold xxx in front of dummy's KJx, then any speed other than your normal speed of play is very bad form. When you have nothing to say in the bidding, then pass at your normal speed, thereby not implying that you might have had something to say and it was a close decision. This is not poker, where 'anything' goes; our game is the beautiful game of bridge, where unethical deception is not allowed.
If you do need time to think about what action you want to take, that is fine. It is then up to your partner not to use the information that you had a close choice of actions.
He who doesn't hesitate ... will have much more fun, because there will be very little cause for anyone at the table to get upset!
Enjoy
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