ALTRINCHAM BRIDGE CLUB

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BIDDING PROBLEMS - DIRECTOR'S RULINGS.

TRY YOUR HAND AT THE FOLLOWING THREE PROBLEMS:- APRIL 2002

1. The bidding went as follows:

north east south west

pass pass 1C pass

pass pass

It turned out that north, holding 9 points, did not respond with a bid when partner opened 1C, but passed. South had 16 points. The traveller showed that most north/south pairs were going down in 3NT, whereas 1C made easily and gave this pair a top.

The question asked me was whether north was allowed to pass when he had 9 points. What is your answer? (see below)

 

2. Do you agree that the following bidding is all perfectly legal ?

First in hand, partner opens 1NT ( 12-14 points ) and the next player passes. You have a miserable two points with no five card suit and you are 3,3 in the majors. Playing against good opposition, you are bound to get doubled if you pass , leading to a large (1100/1400) penalty. Instead, you bid a Stayman two clubs. If the next player bids, you are out of danger and all is well. Assuming, however, that the next player passes, your partner will respond to your Stayman & you now pass regardless of what the opposition does. (see below)

3. North is the dealer but, before he can bid, West places a stop card on the table. Before West can continue, North pipes up and tells West that he has bid out of rotation ie. it is not his turn to bid. The director is called and he ruled that, first of all, West must complete his bid. North objects to this saying that a) under no circumstances would he now accept the finished bid from West (one of his options) and b) now that West has been told about his bid out of turn, North/South could well be damaged by West making an unusual bid which would not occur at the other tables. As the Director, how would you have ruled? (see below)

This happened in a County Competition & there was more to it than I have outlined. However, it went to appeal and the appeal committee ruled on it.

 

 

 

ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS:

1. North is always allowed to pass, regardless of the number of points he has. In this case, it would have been poetic justice if 3NT had been made by all the other north/souths!

There must be no collusion of any sort between the north/south pair. North must not have any reason to believe that south has anything other than an opening 1C bid. If north passes with 9 points, then he is making a legal "underbid" & stands a great chance of cutting his & his partner's throat & not reaching game – especially if south had 16/17/18 or 19 points. In the example above, he was rather lucky to get a top because: a) game could have been on or, b) the other north/south pairs could have been in a major suit or notrump part game (scoring better than 3C )

If north had been my partner & I had 19 points, I would not have been very pleased with him passing !!

2. Players sometimes think that the use of Stayman & its response is written on tablets of stone. This is not true, as long as the partnership has no hidden agreements. Let us be clear; you do not have to have a 4 card major, nor do you need 11 or more points to initiate a Stayman sequence. The bidding sequence above is perfectly legal.

The (hopeful) principle behind this particular example is that it is much harder for the opposition to judge what is happening and hence they are much less likely to double you in your 2D or 2H or 2S. Hopefully, they will bid their own suit(s) & even if they bid and make a game, it will not be as bad as a 1100/1400 penalty.

Should they double you in your 2-level contract – well that's a different story ! You have played with the odds and you cannot win them all.

3. Did you think the Director was correct? There seems to be no mention in the Law book that a bid has to be completed once a stop card goes down on the table. It is obvious that if North had not have spoken when he did, THEN west would have completed his bid and there would have been no problem for the Director. He could apply Law 31B (bid out of rotation)

I obtained a ruling and was told that you can never force anyone to make or finish a call. Hence, when someone puts a stop card down it is unauthorised information to his partner but no call is made. Therefore. the bidding reverts back to the dealer with no penalty to anyone.

Peter Dawson ( 20th April 2002)