SUMMERTOWN BRIDGE CLUB
POINTS OF LAW, ETIQUETTE AND PROCEDURE
This list is prepared
mainly for the benefit of new members, particularly those who are relatively unaccustomed
to playing in a club affiliated to the English Bridge Union. Whilst most
existing members will already be aware of the majority of these points, we hope
that the list will provide a useful reminder. More experienced players are
asked to be tolerant of those who are still learning their way around the
intricacies of duplicate bridge and to provide gentle help and guidance where
necessary.
General procedure and keeping to time
These points help to make
sure that play continues at a reasonable speed and that there are no mechanical
errors, e.g. cards getting mixed up between hands.
·
Always count your cards
before looking at them. If you don’t have 13 cards, call the Tournament Director
(TD).
·
Leave the board in play on
the table, pointing in the right direction, until the hand is finished. This
makes it much more difficult to put the hands back in the wrong slots
afterwards!
·
Please enter all players’
EBU numbers into the BridgeMates as soon as requested by the TD or Scorer.
·
North (or South) should
enter the board number and contract/played by into the BridgeMate as soon as
bidding ends (but after making his lead if on lead).
·
If on opening lead, make it
face down before putting your
bidding cards away or writing the contract on your score card. Similarly, if
you’re dummy, after the opening lead has been faced, put your hand down first,
then put away the bidding cards and write down the contract. (See also opening
lead item in Bidding/Play section.)
·
Try not to take too long
over calls or when playing a card. Our club uses a Bridge Timer. A single long
beep signals time to move for the next round. Four short beeps indicate that
there are four minutes left until the end of the round. If you have not begun
bidding the last board, do not play it but call the TD. One member of each pair
should try to keep an eye on the time and warn the others if time is running
out.
·
It is discourteous and
unfair to keep your opponents and those following waiting. Players should leave
the table (e.g. to make coffee) only when dummy or sitting out, rather than
between rounds, unless absolutely necessary. If opponents are late arriving,
that is the wrong time to wander off; it just increases the delay.
·
Unless dummy has left the
table, declarer should never touch dummy’s cards, even to rearrange them. This
avoids arguments about whether a card has been played or not.
·
As declarer, if you can
clearly see that all the remaining tricks are yours, claim them rather than
play on. You must specify clearly your line of play, including a statement
about drawing any remaining trumps.
·
At the end of a board, make
sure that all players are agreed on the result before putting the cards away.
North (or South) should enter the score into the BridgeMate, and East (or West)
should check and if correct, accept it. East (or West) should do this with the
BridgeMate turned round in such a way that all players can see the subsequent
percentage and results if desired.
·
Don’t spend time talking
about a hand until you have finished all the boards in that round. And if you
do want to discuss a hand at the table, do it very quietly (otherwise people who haven’t yet played it might hear
you).
·
It is North’s
responsibility to make sure that boards are passed on to the correct table (or
relay as appropriate) at the end of each round.
·
When playing a Howell
movement, both pairs should check
the Howell card at the beginning of each round to make sure that they are
playing at the correct table, against the correct pair, and using the correct
boards.
Bidding and play
These points help to make
sure that everyone bids and plays as fairly as possible. Using bidding boxes at
least stops us from using our tone of voice to indicate whether our partner
should bid on or pass - but it’s still all too easy to pick up inferences,
known as ‘unauthorised information’, either from an unguarded comment, from a
facial expression, or even from the speed at which someone bids or plays. You
are perfectly entitled to try to take advantage of this if your opponents do
it, but NOT when it’s your partner – and, of course, you should try to avoid
doing anything yourself which might give away any information of this sort.
Calling the Director
Finally,
do call the Director at any time if there’s a problem during the bidding or the
play – he or she is there to help, so don’t try to sort things out yourselves.
The Director has been trained to help you when something goes wrong and will
use the guidance set out by the English Bridge Union to make sure that any
problems are dealt with fairly and consistently. Please call the Scorer if you have
a problem with your BridgeMate or spot an error.