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In the past, there has been a considerable problem with unauthorised information caused by breaks in tempo, even behind screens. There was an important decision rendered in Lille in 1998 (Appeal 22, Netherlands v USA: full details available here ) where a North American player delayed the passing of the tray beyond the normal tempo of a normal auction. His intention was merely to normalise the tempo to that of the actual auction which was slow throughout, but his Dutch opponent on the other side of the screen felt there had been a tempo break and acted ethically by following Law 73C, and missed a slam. The Appeals Committee granted the slam.
The point was that the method of normalising tempo was being practised in North America at that time but not elsewhere. Now it has been adopted for WBF tournaments. In a simple auction there is considered no tempo break when the tray returns within fifteen seconds. So it is desirable to adjust the tempo so that it does take fifteen seconds. If there are two quick calls, then it helps to wait some time before pushing the tray. Thus the players the other side of the screen receiving the tray after fifteen seconds do not know whether either of the players had a problem, or which of them, or whether the tray was just delayed.
Note that this helps even when only one side is bidding, the other passing throughout: if the tray returns every time after fifteen seconds, then the other side of the screen still cannot distinguish between a tempo break, and a deliberate delay of the tray. Players should get in the habit of not returning the tray until fifteen seconds have elapsed.
Fifteen seconds exactly? No, that would be difficult, and then it would still be possible to tell when a return was out of tempo. The official approach per regulation and the Code of Practice is that the time should be randomised. Thus if the tray comes back after ten or twenty seconds there is still no idea what is going on and most "Screen Huddles" are eliminated.
In high-level competitive or slam auctions it would be normal to keep the tray back for longer, say until twenty to forty seconds have elapsed. This will not be considered a tempo break either. So the decision at Lille might easily have been different if this policy had been official then. However the Dutch player would not have felt constrained by a tray returning slowly from the other side.
Some people bang their calls down on the tray so they are audible the other side of the screen: this is very unfortunate, doing away with much of the good that this approach embodies. So, when you are playing, please place your calls quietly on the tray, randomising the time the tray takes to return, and remembering that any time around fifteen seconds means nothing, and longer if it is a complex auction.
Editor's note:
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