bridgetalk.com forums :: Laws & Rulings

Ray Crowe

hesitation ( 09:43:28 TueJul 29 2003 )

Country: New Zealand

Dealer: East
Vul: E/W

East; A732, A2, AQT43, 82.
South; Q865, KT98, 92, J75.
West; 94, J64, KT6, K9643.
North: KJT, Q753, 875, AQT.

The bidding,
East South West North
1D p 1NT X
p 2H p* p
3D all pass.

* an agreed hesitation of at least 20 seconds.

Do you allow East's bid of 3D?

Thanks,

Ray.

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Re: hesitation ( 21:49:30 TueJul 29 2003 )

Certainly. The laws don't provide for disallowing it. They do provide for adjusting the score if

a) Unauthorized Information (UI) was conveyed to a player
b) That player chose from amongst logical alternatives one that could have been demonstrably suggested by the UI
c) the opponents were damaged thereby.

The slow tempo of West's pass suggests that he was considering some other action. Given his previous bidding, it seems to me it suggests that he has some support for diamonds, but is concerned about East's holding in that suit. So for East, bidding diamonds seems to me to be "demonstrably suggested", given his good five card diamond suit. Does East have a logical alternative to 3

? Seems to me pass fits that bill. So two of the three criteria are fulfilled. Were N/S damaged by the bid? I dunno. What happened when it was played out? If, as seems likely from the posted hands, E/W made 3

, while N/S can make 2 or 3

, I'd say yes, they were damaged. So I'd adjust the score to 2

making 3, +140 to N/S. Laws 73F1, 16, and 12C2. Also, Law 83 requires the players be notified of their right to appeal.

bluejak

426 posts
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Re: hesitation ( 01:51:09 WedJul 30 2003 )

Ed's right, of course, but it is a generally accepted piece of slang to talk of disallowing a call when it is meant that the TD disallows it afterwards when ruling.

Otherwise I agree with Ed, subject to two provisos.

First, the hand has two

Ts and no

J. If the

J is actually with opener then he is getting closer to having an obvious bid of 3

- but I do not really think so. I expect it does not affect it.

Second, if this is in a place where Law 12C3 is enabled then I believe that my ruling would be

.. 70% of NS +140
+ 30% of NS +110

The trouble wiht this is that I have seen writing by the NZ CTD which suggests that while NZ does use Law 12C3 they do not follow the rest of the world: they just pick a random score. So perhaps the correct ruling in NZ only is NS +130. :sad:

---
David Stevenson <laws2@blakjak.com>
Liverpool, England, UK
http://blakjak.com/lws_menu.htm

Ray

Re: hesitation ( 05:25:39 WedJul 30 2003 )

Country: NZ

West has KJ6 of diamonds
East has AQT43 of diamonds

Thanks for your comments.

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bluejak

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International Bridge Laws Forum

If you need help with the Laws or rulings from any country in the world, this is the place!Hosted by David StevensonSenior Consultant DirectorEnglish Bridge Union

If you need help with the Laws or rulings from
any country in the world, this is the place!

Hosted by David Stevenson
Senior Consultant Director
English Bridge Union