Rulings in Bridge Bulletin

rulings
Situation	Date	Further description	Ruling
13 card suit	2003.07	one hand had 13 clubs, another 13 hearts, players suspected a fix	director had players reshuffle and for 1st table to replay; should have inquired whether cards were shuffled at 1st table, and, if so, play the hand. If the deal was fixed, procedural penalty for quilty party
15-17 NT	2004.03	why the range of all NT openings needs to be announced	consistency and clarity; there cannot be UI by asking or looking at convention card
L40; 3rd seat weak 2	2003.09	is 3.K107532.109765.4 legal	yes; 5-5 rule no longer in effect; Law 40
alertable X	2004.02	1C X 3H X (no alerts and no inquiries), 2nd X not intended as penalty, and partner passed; 3H bidder claimed could have made contract if he knew 2nd X was not penalty	no adjustment since only X's with highly unusual meanings require alerts; 3H bidder should have asked
Alerts	2003.10	which available calls in potential support X auction are alertable	only the support X; pass, etc. not alertable
correct explanation	2004.02	1C 2C correctly explained as Michaels and so marked on convention cards, but 2C bidder had clubs; opponents claimed injury	no basis for adjustment if explained correctly and so marked on convention cards; if not marked, should assume misinformation
correction	2003.03	December 2002 comment on frequent 2S psych response to weak 2 opening	previous statement that 2S must be alerted not correct; this is a psychic control & is illegal
declarer lead from wrong hand	2003.08	one defender points out irregularity and other defender accepts lead	defender that accepts lead prevails unless director convinced that other defender had rejected lead
declarer makes opening lead	2003.06	declarer mades opening lead; LHO faces his hand as dummy	no rule to cover this, so cancel board and give both sides average
declarer's intent	2003.12	in 3 card ending, KJ of D in dummy, and declarer calls for D; J is led and covered by Q; declarer says she meant to play K	director should require play of J unless clear evidence that declarer intended to play K
forgot Drury	2004.01	P.P.1S.2C.X(alert as drury).2D(for lead after correct explanation).AllPass; but X bidder forgot drury and X was T/O. 2D scored -200 and players asked for redress	as long as player who doubled continued as if he had negative X (did not take advantage of fact that he forgot system), no adjustment
GCC	2003.03	Is Meckwell defense to 1N allowed?	allowed under GCC; up to club for club games
GCC	2003.05	can odd/even carding be used when following suit?	not allowed in games covered by ACBL GCC; clubs allowed to decide
Gerber	2004.10	is 1H P 4C (Gerber) alertable?	yes; but Gerber in 2nd round or later is alerted at end of auction
hesitation	2003.06	had with QJ74.10083.J53.A104 bid balanced with 3S after partner hesitated after P.3H.hesitation	based on facts reported; would adjust contract to 3H, making likely number of tricks
hesitation	2004.12	are there rules re hesitations?	no; but must try to bid as if there had been no hesitation (and call may not have been suggested by the hesitation); to always pass could also be a law violation
high level calls	2004.10	conventional calls at 4NT or higher	legal to ask about calls, but probably better to wait until end of auction if all you are going to do is pass
L12C1	2003.12	North pulled wrong traveler and saw result of board not yet played	North/South get A-. EW get A+
L15, L12, L90	2004.07	EW pair skipped the sitout table, and played a board twice	EW gets score for 1st time played; if board was completed, assign A+ for 2 nonoffending pairs; if auction not complete, try to get valid result if identical auction
L16A	2004.10	defender inquired about the meaning of a correctly alerted bid after auction over; player making the alerted bid did not respond	redress onlyl if misinformation; question is UI for partner
L23	2003.02	player X's at his partner's turn to bid	if call not accepted; offender's partner must pass, offender does whatever, consider adjusted score
L24	2003.03	strong 2C opener exposed card just before his rebid	honor card means partner must pass for one round; no penalty if not an honor card
L25A, Law25B	2004.06	director allowed player to change 4S to 4NT (ace asking) after partner had passed	director had mistakenly applied Law 25A; would have issues applying Law 25B if LHO had not called
L25B	2003.10	N passes, E passes, and S passes (presumably because of chatter between W & S)	if slip of mind allow correction if S willing to accept A-; if inadvertent, e.g. mechanical error) allow change without penalty
L25B	2004.12	fourth seat does not see partner's opening bid and starts to return cards to bidding box, then sees bid and says he wants to bid	allowed to make a call provided that he agrees to accept score of no better than A- (other score gets normal score)
L36 L26	2003.09	auction continues X pass X	2nd X is cancelled; replaced by natural call, and partner must pass for rest of auction; may be lead penalty for offender's partner at his first turn to lead
L40	2003.03	defender complains that opener bid 1D with 15-17	no penalty for forgetting, miscounting, or deliberately departing from agreements; this is not a significant irregularity
L40	2004.04	1S.P.2S.P;P.2N.3S.AllPass; 2N explained (correctly) as minors, but 2N bidder had red suits	no adjustment; allowed to deviate from agreements at own risk (provided explanations are correct)
L40	2004.08	players asked opponents to not alert their bids	L40 applies; alerts should be made; call director if alerts apparently are made to alert partner, not opponents
L41D,L64B,L64C	2003.01	card covered in dummy; dummy ruffed when had card in that suit	no revoke because dummy is a faced hand, but score should be adjusted to what would have happened if card was visible
L43	2004.08	dummy's rights	must be timely re commenting on pointing of tricks won or lost, and on leading from wrong hand; can try to prevent irregularity, not point out irregularity once it occurs
L44B,L74.B.3	2003.02	declarer places card face down before playing from dummy at trick 1	inappropriate
L49	2003.10	defenders card falls to floor and LHO is only person to see card	if director convinced that defenders partner could not see card, put card back in hand; otherwise penalty card
L55A, L45B	2004.10	dummy did not play called card when lead was in declarer's hand; defender accepted lead	defender may accept the lead; calling the card is playing the card
L5A	2003.10	pair changed directions during session	not allowed without directors permission
L66D,L79C	2004.10	can director interfere if not called? How to resolve confusion re tricks won	director has right to interfere; agreement as to tricks won can be changed if within correction period
L73F.2	2003.01	when is hesitation with singleton unwarranted	determine whether there is a demonstrable bridge reason; if not, adjust score
L88	2004.05	player announced too loudly the result of a board, next pair to play given average	pair to play should receive A+, offending player subject to procedural penalty
L90	2003.01	defender leads out of turn, dummy first to comment	dummy should not be first to comment; procedural penalty may be appropriate; declarer may be precluded from selecting option suggested by dummy
L90.L90A,L90B3,L90B7,L90B8	2004.09	pairs discussing boards that both have played (during the game)	forbidden by ACBL regulations
LawsCommission	2003.04	player made call after both he & next player tapped table (did not see a bid)	generally allowed; only verbal "pass" or green pass card placed on table constitute a pass
leads	2004.12	are Rusinow leads alertable?	no, but suggest pre-alert before each round
MidChart	2003.04	Is 2D opening allowed as way to show strong spade opening	only allowed in MidChart events and written defense must be provided
missing card at trick 13	2003.08	no revoke on prior trick, and missing card would have won trick	score as if missing card won trick
natural cue	2003.07	auction of 1D.P.1H.2H (not alerted).3D.X; no inquiries about 2H; because of no alert, director adjusted score to 3H making	whether to do so depends on the deal; this ruling corrected in August column
natural cue	2003.08	auction of 1D.P.1H.2H (not alerted).3D.X; no inquiries about 2H	cue bid of responder's bid is not alertable; only direct cue bids need to be alerted (correction of July column)
no trump range	2003.09	is 10-14 range for 1N opening legal	yes with no restrictions; fewer than 10 or range > 5 prohibits conventional responses
penalty card not led	2003.11	declarer accepted the lead of another suit when leader had a penallty card	director should have been called, but declarer accepted lead; penality card is still a penalty card
Precision auction	2004.02	2C P 2H (or 2S) nonforcing; is this alertable	new suit response is alertable if natural and nonforcing
rulings forum	2003.02	see link at right for FAQ about rulings at the ACBL website; the location of discussion mentioned in this article apparently no longer exists	https://www.acbl.org/clubs_page/club-administration/club-directors/rulings-faq/
slow play	2004.03	pair has note on card that they play slowly	still subject to laws re hesitations
strong 2 bids	2003.05	are strong 2 bids alertable?	Yes, if intermediate strength or better
super accepts after 1N transfer	2004.10	are super accepts alertable? Is failure to super accept alertable	only alert if a new suit showing shortness is a super accept
support X	2004.09	which calls are alertable?	only the support X; pass, etc. not alertable
Texas transfer forgotten	2003.11	1N P 4D P 5D P 5H; opponents thought 5H was not allowed	unless 5D has a meaning for the partnership; the 5D call indicates that partner forget and 5H is allowed
UI from answer to question	2003.05	auction is 1N-partner overcalls-3rd hand makes bid-4th hand suspects bid is unalerted transfer; can 4th hand ask?	If 4th needs to, yes. The question and answer are unauthorized information for both your partner and the dealer
UI from failure to alert convention	2004.01	auction is 1N P 3C (GF raise) requiring opener to bid 3D with a stiff & good hand; partner alerted as WSJ	responder required to ignore explanation & continue as if partner has given proper explanation; opponents may be entitled to protection
UI from insufficient bid	2003.12	replaced by pass and partner barred. What are lead restrictions?	After initial restrictions, if barred player later wins a trick; information from insufficient bid is still UI
UI or bid out of rotation?	2004.10	player starts to bid, but then realizes it is not his bid, and returns bid to bidding box	UI for partner unless card on table or nearly so; then it is a call out of rotation; If UI, continue hand and call director at end of hand