Release 2.19p
Address of this website

www.claygate.club

President — Mary Blundell

REMOVE: never
/cbc/eminence/

Your Committee

Chairman — Gavin Wilson 

Treasurer — Rowena Austin 📧 rowena@claygate.club

Secretary — Fay D'Abo

Membership — Pauline Harris 📧 pauline@claygate.club

Refreshments  Julie Minards 📧 juliem@claygate.club

Refreshments  Vicky Bevan 📧 vicky@claygate.club

REMOVE: never
/cbc/committee/
The Director team

The Director team comprises:

  • Rowena Austin
  • John Murtagh
  • Gavin Wilson
REMOVE: never
/cbc/directing/
The Scorer team

The Scoring Team comprises:

  • Gavin Wilson

Claygate now uses a wireless scoring system called BridgePal, which runs on smartphones and tablets.  Further information about BridgePal can be found here.

Laws of Duplicate

Did You Know that ...?

 

 

 

Before the Auction

  • Every player is responsible for counting his or her cards face down before looking at them. [Law 7B2]

Bidding Irregularities

  • During the auction, any player can draw attention to an irregularity — such as an insufficient bid, or failure to use the STOP card before a jump bid — whether or not it is his turn to call. (Unless prohibited by another law.) [Law 9A1 and Blue Book 3ZB]

Forgetting your Partnership Agreement

  • If you forget your agreement and make the wrong bid, that is just bad luck for your opponents, provided your partner correctly explains what your system card says your bid should mean. [Law 75]
  • If you provide an incorrect explanation of what your partner's bid means, neither of you can correct this until the end of the auction (if you end up as Declarer and Dummy), or the end of play (if you end up as defenders). If the Director judges that you have gained an advantage from this misinformation, he will adjust your score. [Laws 20F5 and 21B3.]
  • If it is not clear whether your partnership's error is in the explanation you have given or in your partner's understanding of your agreement when she made her bid — typically because you do not have a system card — then the Director must presume the error is in your explanation. [Law 21B1(b).]

Reviewing the Auction

  • During the auction, you can only ask a question about an opponent's call when it is your turn to call. And the reply must come from the partner of that opponent. [Law 20F1]
  • You can ask for a restatement of the auction up to the point that you play a card to the first trick. [Laws 20C2 and 41B]
  • You can ask for an explanation throughout the play period, at your turn to play. [Law 41B]
    • Unless you are dummy. [Law 43A1(c)]
  • If you want an explanation of an opponent's bid after the first trick, you have to remember the bid and then ask. No-one is allowed to help you remember. [Laws 16B1 and 40B2(d); Corollary to Law 41B]

Alerting and Announcing

  • You should not alert any bid above 3NT unless it is an artificial suit bid made before opener's rebid. So 4NT, for example, should never be alerted, because it is not a suit bid. [Blue Book 4B4]
  • You should not alert when your partner doubles an artificial suit bid to show that she has the suit — for example, 1NT : Pass : 2♣ Stayman : Dbl showing that the doubler has clubs. [Blue Book 4B2(d)]
  • You should not alert partner's take-out double when you intend to pass it for penalties. [Blue Book 3H3 and 4B2(a)]
  • At the two-level, only natural bids are announced. An artificial 2♣ must be alerted, as must an artificial or relay 2♦ response. [Blue Book 4B4]
  • Announcements only apply to openings and responses, so no rebids are announced — not even in the sequence 2♣ : 2♦, 2NT. [ ]

Once the Auction is Finished

  • The defender who is on opening lead must face that lead before recording the contract on his scorecard and/or entering the contract on his BridgePal or Bridgemate handset. [Laws 74A2 and 90A]
  • You should not remove any of your calls (bids) from the table until the opening lead has been faced. [Blue Book 3ZC]

Dummy

  • Dummy and declarer must not have an agreement in which dummy places the suit led in a particular position on the table. Nor can they have an agreement that dummy will place an important suit from the auction in a designated position. You can lay out the suits in alternating colours; you can place two suits of the same colour next to each other in NT contracts (but you should tell the opponents that this is what you are doing); and of course, dummy must place the trump suit to his far right. [Laws 40A1(b), 40B2(d), 41C and 41D]
  • Dummy is allowed to ask declarer if he is out of a suit when he has failed to follow suit. [Law 42B1]
  • If dummy believes declarer is about to lead from the wrong hand, he is allowed to prompt his partner to prevent this irregularity. [Law 42B2]
  • Dummy may not call attention to any irregularity — for example, a revoke — during play. [Law 43A1(b)]
    • But dummy can draw attention to any irregularity after play is concluded. [Law 42B3]
  • Dummy may not call for the Director unless another player has drawn attention to an irregularity. [Law 43A1(a)]

Penalty Cards

  • Only defenders can have penalty cards. No card of declarer's or dummy's hand can ever become a penalty card. [Law 48A]

After an Irregularity

  • If you have more than one option after an irregularity, you must make your selection without consulting your partner. [Law 10C2]

After the Hand is Scored

  • Each player is responsible for shuffling their 13 cards before returning them to the board. [Law 7C]

Director

  • The Director is duty-bound to rectify any irregularity he becomes aware of at your table, even if you haven't noticed or lodged a claim for damage. [Law 81C3]
  • The Director should explain all the options available after an irregularity, before asking the player to choose one. [Law 10C1]