Appeals at the

2004 Fall NABC

presented by

American Contract Bridge League

2990 Airways Blvd.
Memphis TN 38116-3847

www.acbl.org
 CONTENTS

Foreword .............................................................................................................. ii

The expert panel..............................................................................................iii-iv

Cases from Orlando

(Cases 1–18 are NABC+ cases) .................................................................. 1-47
(Cases 19–29 are Regional cases)............................................................. 48-73

Closing remarks from the expert panelists ................................................... 74-75

NABC Appeals Committees .............................................................................. 76

Index .................................................................................................................. 77

Abbreviations used in this casebook:

AC Appeal Committee
AI Authorized Information
AWMW Appeal Without Merit Warning
BIT Break in Tempo
CD Convention Disruption
CoC Conditions of Contest
LA Logical Alternative
MI Misinformation
NOS Nonoffending Side
PP Procedureal Penalty
UI Unauthorized Information

i
 FOREWORD

The casebooks are now being compiled, edited and printed by ACBL
headquarters in Memphis. The editor no longer takes an active role in the
commentary, leaving that part to our expert panel.

While the way the casebooks are developed has changed, it is hoped that their
purpose and usefulness has not. It is supposed to be a tool to help improve
Appeal Committees, particularly at NABCs. The ACBL will also continue to
make these casebooks available on our web site to reach a wider audience.

There were 29 cases heard in Orlando. Eighteen of them were NABC+ cases,
which means they were from unrestricted championship events and heard by a
peer committee. In most cases the appeal passed through a screener, usually a
senior Tournament Director. The names of the players are included in NABC+
appeals.

Eleven cases are from regional events. They include the regional championship
events, some side events and any NABC event that carried an upper masterpoint
restriction. These cases were reviewed by a panel of directors (usually three of
them). In this category, the names of the players are included only when the
event had no upper masterpoint limit

We wish to thank everyone who contributed. This starts with committee

members, chairs, scribes and screeners and later on the expert panelists who
comment on the various cases. Without the time and efforts of these people the
casebook would not happen.

One more thing, you may also wish to visit our web site to view this casebook or
previous ones.

1. Go to our home page http://www.acbl.org

2. Across the top find “Play” and under that, click on tournaments
3. From the next page, across the top is a green banner. Find and click on
“Charts, Rules and Regulations”
4. Under “Tournament specific regulations” find and click on NABC casebooks

We hope you find these cases instructive, educational and interesting.

ACBL Headquarters Memphis

May, 2005

ii
 THE EXPERT PANEL

Jay Apfelbaum: Jay Apfelbaum, of Philadelphia, is a former tournament

director, national champion and member of the ACBL Board of Directors. He
continues to be an avid player, regularly placing in the Barry Crane Top 500
list. He has won many regional events. Mr. Apfelbaum also writes a number of
bridge articles for District 4, his home district. In real life, he is an administrative
law judge presiding over unemployment compensation claims.

Rick Beye is the Chief Tournament Director based in the ACBL headquarters in
Memphis, TN.

Michael Carroad is a Tournament Director who lives in Cheverly, MD.

Ralph Cohen was born in Montreal, QC. He currently resides in Memphis,

TN. He has held several positions with the ACBL from 1971 to 1991 including
Executive Director from 1984 to 1986. Mr. Cohen has been a member of the
ACBL Laws Commission since 1984 and is currently a Co-Chairman. He is a
Vice-Chairman of the WBF Laws Committee. Mr. Cohen wrote the Ruling the
Game column for two years along with other contributions for The ACBL Bridge
Bulletin. He represented Canada in the World Team Olympiad in 1964 and has
won four NABC Championships. Mr. Cohen has been attending NABCs since
1947.

Jeff Goldsmith was born near Schenectady, NY. He has lived in Pasadena, CA,
for the last 20 years. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and
Caltech. Mr. Goldsmith is a software engineer, focusing on computer graphics
and animation and internet programming, all with a heavy mathematical
perspective. He created computer animation for JPL for several years including
the movies about Voyager’s encountering Neptune. He ice dances and plays
many other games, particularly German board games. His web site (http://
www.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff) contains lots of bridge and other material.

Adam Wildavsky was born in Ohio and grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, CA.
He is a graduate of MIT and since 1986 he has resided in New York with long-
time companion Ann Raymond. He is an employee of Google, Inc. and works
in their New York City office as a software engineer. Mr. Wildavsky has won
three NABC Championships, most recently the 2002 Reisinger BAM teams. He
and his Reisinger team went on to win the 2003 Team Trials and took a bronze
medal in the 2003 Bermuda Bowl in Monaco. Mr. Wildavsky is a member of the
National Laws Commission. His study of the laws is informed by his study of
objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand.

Bobby Wolff was born in San Antonio and is a graduate of Trinity University.
He currently resides in Dallas. His father, mother, brother and wives, including
iii
present wife Judy, all played bridge. Mr. Wolff is a member of the ACBL Hall
of Fame as well as a Grand Life Master in both the WBF and the ACBL. He
is one of the world’s great players and has won 11 World titles and is the only
player ever to win world championships in five different categories: World
Team Olympiad, World Open Pair, World Mixed Teams, World Senior Bowl and
seven Bermuda Bowls. Mr. Wolff has also won numerous NABCs including
four straight Spingolds (1993-1996). He served as ACBL president in 1987 and
WBF president from 1992-1994. Mr. Wolff started the ACBL Recorder system
in 1985, has served as tournament recorder at NABCs and is the author of the
ACBL active ethics program. Among his pet projects are eliminating both
Convention Disruption (CD) and Hesitation Disruption (HD).

Gary Zeiger is an Associate National Director living in Phoenix, AZ. He

currently oversees all Regional Appeals heard at our NABCs.

iv
 CASE ONE
Subject: UI
DIC: Cukoff
LM Open Pair 2nd Qualification

The Facts: The director, who was

Bd: 7 Albert Lochli called after the 5 bid, determined
Dlr: South AK4 that the double was preceded by
Vul: Both QJ73 an extended break in tempo of
KQ83 about 25 seconds. The STOP card
32 had been used prior to the 5
Fred Hamilton Mark Itabashi bid. NS play 15-17 1NT. NS had
 Q 10 8 7 2 J5 not discussed whether 3 was
A65 4 forcing, but both treated it as highly
— 9642 constructive. EW play DONT over
 Q J 10 8 6 AK9754 their opponents’ 1NT opening bid.
Stephen Brauss
963 The Ruling: The director ruled
 K 10 9 8 2 that the break in tempo suggested
 A J 10 7 5 doubt that the double of 5 was
— the best call. This in turn suggested
that 5 would be a more attractive
West North East South alternative for South. Pass, however,
Pass is a logical alternative to bidding
Pass 1NT 3 3 5. Hence, the result was adjusted
5 Dbl (1) Pass 5 to 5 doubled for a score of +750
Pass 5 All Pass EW.
(1) Agreed-upon BIT The Appeal: South disagreed with
the director’s finding that pass was a
logical alternative, especially against top level players.

The Decision: The Committee considered many typical North hands and
estimated that pulling the double would produce a better result than passing a
little more than half the time. However, this clearly did not make passing an
illogical alternative.

Since the slowness of tempo suggested that bidding was more attractive than
passing, the Committee determined that South must pass.

The play in 5 would easily achieve eleven tricks and no more. Therefore, the
adjustment of the result to +750 for EW was made.

The Committee determined that NS were experienced players and should have
been familiar with Law 16, Unauthorized Information, which governs situations
such as this. The Committee decided that the appeal was without merit and an
AWMW was issued.

1
The Committee: Richard Popper, Chair, Gail Greenberg, Ellen Melson, Bob
Schwartz and Larry Cohen.

Wildavsky: Good work by the TD and the AC. The TD’s wording is a little off,
though. The issue of what the UI suggested is separate from the question of
whether Pass was an LA.

Wolff: The lesson from this hand is: Bid in tempo, particularly when we make a
penalty double.
Do you think that: “Give bridge a fair shake, bid in tempo” is as effective as “If
you drink don’t drive?”

Cohen: In agreement with the ruling and decision, including the AWMW.

Goldsmith: Easy one. Good job all around.

Beye: If this hand had been played behind screens, there would be no question
about the auction and the table result. Either the 5 bid or the double could
have caused a slow tray pass. Against two pressuring opponents, and an in tempo
auction, aren’t you always bidding 5?

That being said, without the screen, North put his partner in a pickle. Pass is a
logical alternative. An AWMW may be too much for these two players playing
only their second session together.

Rigal: Very sensible ruling; the AC seemed to hit the nail on the head, down to
the AWMW. If 3 was not forcing, South’s bidding is absurd.

Zeiger: Am I the only person who dissolved in laughter upon noticing that EW
play DONT, not HAMILTON? Freddy, how could you? Easy decision. Easy
AWMW. Also correct to not mention PP, since South took a normal action.

Apfelbaum: I have no disagreement with the result, including the AWMW. I add
that North already promised at least two cards in the club suit with his opening
bid. Therefore, a pass should show no wasted values in the club suit and a double
should show wasted club honors.

2
 CASE TWO
Subject: UI
DIC: Ron Johnston
Event LM Women’s Pairs 4th Session

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 26 Kathleen Sulgrove
7NT making for +2220 for EW
Dlr: East J
after the lead of the 10. The 5
Vul: Both  Q 10 8
bid showed one key card. There
87632
was an extended pause (about
J532
30 seconds) before the 5 bid,
Cindy Sealy Patty Adamle
which happened to be observed by
KQ8532 A74
the director. East, in consultation
6 AK7
with the director and away from
954  A K Q J 10
the table after the auction was
KQ4 A6
completed, said that she thought
JoAnn Sprung
that her partner was confused and
 10 9 6
that she thought the King sixth of
J95432
spades would be enough for her to
—
justify her bidding 7NT.
 10 9 8 7
The Ruling: The director ruled that
West North East South
unauthorized information existed
2 Pass
from the hesitation and that it
2 Pass 4NT Pass
suggested that West was confused
5 Pass 5 Pass
and might have the Q, which was
5 (1) Pass 7NT All Pass
systemically denied by the 5 bid.
Applying Law 16A, the director
(1) BIT
adjusted the score to 6 making
seven, E-W +1460, per Law 12C2.

The Appeal: The EW pair acknowledged that there was a significant BIT
over the 5 queen ask. The pair also said that the positive 2 response could
be made on as little as the king sixth of spades and an outside queen. East
acknowledged that she thought her partner could be uncertain about the meaning
of the 5 bid.

The NS pair contended that the BIT should constrain EW from bidding at the
seven level. NS also pointed out that 6 could be held to six with a diamond
lead.

The Decision: The Committee determined that the BIT suggested that West’s
5 response might not be accurate and, therefore, made bidding a grand slam
more attractive. The Committee found that without the BIT there were logical
alternatives to bidding a grand slam.

Applying Law 12C2, the AC determined that the most unfavorable result at all
probable for EW was 6NT, not 6. The Committee considered that the same
rationale used by East to opt for 7NT instead of 7 would also lead East to
3
choose notrump at the six level, if a grand slam were not to be bid. Therefore,
the best result likely for NS was 6NT by EW.

Also the worst result at all probable for EW was 6NT. The contract easily makes
all the tricks for reciprocal 1470s.

Since the Committee’s decision gave EW a better score than the director had
done, the Committee did not seriously consider whether the appeal was without
merit.

The Committee: Jon Wittes, Chair, Riggs Thayer, John Solodar, Ed Lazarus,
Aaron Silverstein

Wildavsky: I prefer the TD’s ruling to the AC’s. The reasons for bidding 7NT
instead of 7 in no way apply to bidding 6NT over 6, since declarer expects
to have to lose a trick. Suppose West held something like Kxxxxx Qx xx
xxx..

Wolff: When a player’s bid asks a question and her partner’s response is negative
does it make sense to then bid the maximum? Certainly not if your partner gave
a BIT.

Cohen: Certainly East was in violation of 73F1, and the AC was right on.

Goldsmith: I don’t see why 6NT is a better choice than 6 if partner has
K109xx QJxx xx xx. There are hands on which 6NT is better, but
clearly 6 is a likely choice.

Assigning a score is interesting. Let’s say we think 6 is 50% and 6NT is

50%. Against 6, there’s a reasonable argument for the lead of any suit except
trumps, so let’s call them all one-third. The lead doesn’t matter against 6NT. So
the “probabilities” of results are:

1470 50%
1460 33%
1430 17%

By most guidelines I’ve seen, each of these results is surely at all probable, so
it’s easy to assign EW’s score: +1430. 1 in 3 is surely likely, but as a rule, 1 in
6 has been judged not to be. So NS’s score is -1460. This seems odd, since a
diamond lead against 6 is surely likely, but the parlay of both EWs getting
to 6 and North’s leading a diamond combines to drop the odds below our
threshold. Tinkering with the chances of each event could change the results and
thus the assigned scores, but these are reasonable. Note that this finding is not in
variance with the AC’s; they simply felt that 6NT was a 100% action. I disagree,
but that’s a judgment call. Their judgment seems a little black-and-white to me.

4
Let’s tinker with the odds a little, because it will demonstrate a quirk in the laws.
Let’s say, instead, that 6NT is a 60% action, and again, each lead is 1/3. Then we
get:

1470 60%
1460 27%
1430 13%

All of a sudden, no 6 result is likely. Yet 6 is definitely a likely contract. In

this case, the OS gets +1430 and the NOS gets -1470. That seems wrong to me,
but not horribly so.

East stated expressly that she violated L73 (“[I bid 7NT because I] thought [my]
partner was confused”). Since the AC didn’t award a PP for a knowing infraction
of L73, EW must have been inexperienced. The committee ought to have stated
this and explained that it was why no PP was given. The appeal would have had
merit had NS filed it, but EW’s choice was ridiculous. The AC was in a generous
mood.

Beye: Law 12C2 says that “… for a non-offending side, the most favorable score
that was likely had the irregularity not occurred or, and for the offending side,
the most unfavorable result that was at all probable.” If West could have as little
as Kxxxxx and an outside Queen, isn’t 6 the right assigned score. I like the
staff’s decision on the adjustment, rather than the committee’s.

Rigal: I can go along with the AC ruling – I think the AWM point is a sensible
one. The slow answer to a queen ask suggesting the equivalent of the queen (an
extra card perhaps) makes both the TD and AC ruling sensible enough. Even if
the hesitation simply says “Help, I do not know what is going on!” it turns the
chance of the strong hand finding the Q opposite from 0% to 50%.

Apfelbaum: I agree the hesitation demonstrably suggests to East that a grand

slam might be making. However, the EW pair stated “that the positive 2
response could be made on as little as the king sixth of spades and an outside
queen.” Given that, I question how the worst result at all probable would be
6NT. A Club lead could easily put a notrump slam at risk. Even without a club
lead, East could have the difficult problem whether to duck the second spade
(if needed to preserve communication) or play for the spade suit to break 2-2. I
have no particular problem with splitting the score and giving the non-offending
pair a -1470 in 6NT. That is a 1-in-3 proposition.

5
 CASE THREE
Subject: Claim
DIC: Cukoff
LM Pairs 1st Final

Bd: 17 Marvin Shatz The Facts: West played 4

Dlr: North AJ854 doubled with the J lead. The
Vul: None  K J 10 7 6 4 result was disputed. The last four
K cards in declarer’s (West’s) hand
4 were KQ8 and 6. The 6 was
Roger Lord Peggy Kaplan the only remaining diamond in play.
9 KQ63 South still held three clubs and the
9 Q52 10 and North held the A.
QJ643  10 8 7 2
KQJ863 A5 The play had gone: J led and
Peter Wolf won; heart to A and ruffed;
 10 7 2 Q losing toK; heart winning
A83 (declarer pitching 9); another
A95 heart ruffed by the 5, 9, and
 10 9 7 2 J; a diamond to South’s A; a
diamond ruffed by North; heart
West North East South ruffed by the A; a spade ruffed by
1 Pass 2 declarer.
3 3 4 Dbl
All Pass At this point, West put the K and
Q on the table and after a brief
pause placed the 6 and the 8
on the table sequentially. Declarer did not immediately make a statement and
a discussion arose. The director was summoned. West told the director that the
diamond was good and that he would know about the bad club break when North
failed to follow, in which case he would be unable to pick up the trump.

The Ruling: The director ruled that under Law 70D, which governs contested
claims, the play of the Club eight before the Diamond six would have been
careless or inferior, but not irrational for a declarer who had made no statement
about trumps. Therefore, the director awarded the final two tricks to NS by
forcing the lead of the Club eight at trick 12. Down four for -800 for EW.

The Appeal: EW said that when declarer put his cards on the table, South kept
stating that the losing club had to be played first and did not give West a chance
to state the order of play. So, the EW appeal was based on their perception that
South had deprived West of the opportunity to make a timely statement and on
their belief that the order in which West placed his cards on the table manifested
his intent to play them in that order.

The Decision: The Committee determined that since declarer had not made an
oral statement of claim, his actions may be decisive. The Committee believed
that declarer’s play of the cards in the order he did manifested his intent to
make his claim based on that order of play. Playing two high trumps, an off
6
suit winner, and then the final trump is sufficiently unnatural for it to manifest
declarer’s intent to base his claim on the play of the cards in that order.

Had he thought his whole hand was winners, he would likely have placed all
the cards down at once or placed the clubs down first and then the diamond.
Therefore the Committee awarded only one of the last two tricks to NS. The
result: EW -500, N-S +500.

The Committee: Barry Rigal, Chair, Michael Rosenberg, Danny Sprung, Jeff
Roman and Chris Willenken

Wildavsky: The TD’s ruling seems ill considered. The AC rectified what would
have been a grave injustice.

Wolff: A thorny situation resolved well by the committee.

Cohen: I’m with the AC on this one. On many occasions, when claiming, I will
place my remaining cards face up, one at a time, in the order I propose to play
them, in lieu of making a statement which an opponent can interrupt. This seems
to be what transpired here.

Goldsmith: The AC was right. This is a common way to make a claim

statement, though oral corroboration is best. The director really ought not to
have blown this one. Had he ruled as the AC did, an appeal of his ruling would
surely have obtained an AWMW.

Rigal: A complex example of an incomplete claim. The AC was persuaded that

declarer’s actions did not constitute an attempt to play his trump before his side-
suit winner. Since I was there at the time I guess you would not expect me to
change my mind. (Maybe there are just so many cases involving this appellant
that there would be an argument to rule against him to try to stop the flow…. But
that would not be appropriate, would it?)

Apfelbaum: The Committee got this one just right. I have to wonder if the
Directing staff got the same facts. Any player who puts his or her cards on the
table in the manner suggested by the write-up must be showing the intended
order of play. What possessed North-South to call the director in the first place?

7
 CASE FOUR
Subject: UI
DIC: Cukoff
Event LM Pairs Final Session

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 19 Wayne Stuart 4 by East making four for EW
Dlr: South  J 8 7 4 +620 after the 2 opening lead.
Vul: EW K876 The director was called at the end of
 J 10 the hand.
 Q 10 3
Ralph Katz Michael Rosenberg The Ruling: The director ruled
KQ2  A 10 9 6 5 3 that since passing 3 doubled was
AJ  10 5 not a logical alternative, the result
542 K7 would not be adjusted, even though
A8762 KJ4 there was unauthorized information
Wafik Abdou available to South.
—
Q9432 The Appeal: Only East attended
AQ9863 the hearing. East’s contention was
95 that a pass of 3 doubled was a
logical alternative: if North’s 3
West North East South bid showed clubs, then South had a
Pass good hand for playing clubs.
1 P 1 2NT (1)
Pass 3 Dbl 3 Furthermore, East said that his
Pass 3 (2) 3 Pass double of 3 was a card-showing
4 All Pass double, not a penalty double.
Therefore, according to East, South
(1) Explained as for the minors. could not tell from the auction that
(2) South explained as red suits. North did not have a hand of a 4216
pattern. Hence, on the basis of the
auction, pass was a logical alternative.

The Decision: The Committee tried to discover what the NS partnership

understanding was. From what the Committee could determine from the
screening director and East, NS had neither system notes nor convention card
marks indicating the precise meaning of the 2NT bid. If South felt that his
2NT bid was clearly for red suits per partnership understanding, then North’s
explanation of 2NT constituted UI for South. If this were the case, then passing
3 might have been a logical alternative.

However, at the pre-hearing screening, South stated that he always meant to bid
3 to show the red suits if North were to bid 3. Therefore, the Committee
found that passing 3 doubled was not a logical alternative. The Committee
also felt that it was unlikely that North would have a club suit worth bidding at
this point since he did not pre-empt clubs over West’s opening club bid.

The Committee asked its chair to counsel the NS pair about full disclosure of
8
their agreements since this appeal would not have been made if North had said
that the 2NT bid was for the minors but correctable to being for the red suits.

Dissent (by Aaron Silverstein): I believe that without evidence that the
conventional agreement for NS is that with red suits they show minors and
convert (which the offending side never even claimed), the 3 bid must be
treated as natural. For that reason, the contract should be changed to 3
doubled, down eight. Without the explanation it is possible that the final contract
would have been 3 doubled. On a trump lead down eight is the natural result.

South’s testimony that he would always convert 3 to 3 is self-serving and

should be discounted. No matter how much one believes and respects South, his
professed state of mind is irrelevant.

The Committee: Jon Wittes, Chair, Ed Lazarus, John Solodar, Aaron Silverstein
and Bill Passell.

Wildavsky: The improbability of North’s holding a club suit must be tempered

by the fact that he did in fact bid 3. Most players would pass 1 with
4=2=1=6 shape.

I agree with the dissent.

Wolff: EW were unduly bloodthirsty to want +2000 in 3 doubled. +620 is all

they should ever get even if the committee would award down eight. Then only
NS should go -2000. Protect the Field (PTF) should always be a motto of an
appeals committee.

Cohen: I have read on the web a plethora of comments this case has perpetrated.
There is no doubt there was UI. When South called over 1, NS could have
three distinct calls available for takeout- Double,1NT and 2NT. Double could
have been an agreement showing a semi-unbalanced red two-suiter, 1NT might
be a fully unbalanced two-suiter (at least 5-5), and 2NT might be an unbalanced
minor two-suiter. The 1NT and 2NT agreements might be flip-flopped.

Because of the UI, South cannot be allowed to bid 3 over the double of 3.
Pass is a logical alternative, and no self-serving comment by South, as the
dissenter states, is acceptable.

My adjudication is NS -2000.

Goldsmith: This one has been the subject of a long debate over the internet. It’s
a hard one to decide. Not surprisingly, the AC didn’t have a firm grasp on the
major issues. We may never have one.

Was 2NT for the red suits? North vehemently stated it was minors. South loosely
suggested that it was either minors or reds. We don’t have evidence to know, so
we must assume that it is the reds as is most commonly played, and as South’s
hand suggests; Law 75 tells us to assume misexplanation without very strong
9
supporting evidence to the contrary.

North’s claim, no matter how sure he is, is insufficient. Written notes should
routinely be available at nationals. So I think we should assume that South had
UI from a misexplanation. Written system notes saying “2NT is for the minors,
but once in a while could be red suits; the 2NT bidder will correct later in the
auction if so” would have given NS a strong case. They didn’t have these notes, so
even assuming that such a claim (had it been made) were true, we can’t accept it.

An important datum is the systemic meaning of 3 assuming that 2NT was for
the red suits, now that we assume it was. My system notes expressly state that
it is strong, artificial, and forcing. If that is the NS agreement, passing is not a
logical alternative, and the obvious call is 4. Given that South chose not to bid
4, we can infer that the meaning of 3 was either unknown or undiscussed.
In that case, it could be natural and partner will know what to do if South passes.
That makes passing an LA, which will lead to a contract of 3 doubled, down
eight.

East’s claim that the double was a card-showing double is (a) irrelevant, since
South couldn’t know that at the table, and (b) dubious given that the double was
not alerted at the table. This is not to say that EW are not believable characters,
but when table evidence contradicts possibly self-serving testimony, the
testimony ought normally be disregarded. This is a very common occurrence;
in committee players will often state that a call means something unusual
and that meaning supports their case. System agreements are not normally
considered self-serving if they are clearly documented. Very often such a call
will be unaccompanied by an alert. In those cases, it is very hard to accept the
agreement as fact.

The committee’s request about full disclosure is a fine thing in general, but has
nothing to do with this hand. If, in fact, 2NT were normally the minors and
South judged to try it with the red suits, that’s his business. In any case, such
an approach is so common that the opponents hardly need to be notified. For
example, after the auction (1)-Pass-(2)-Pass; (Pass)-?, 2NT as either the
reds or the minors is normal (though not clearly best).

Rigal: The cause celebre of the event – much ink was subsequently wasted by
me to try to persuade my colleagues not to let this sort of ruling occur again.
I agree with the dissent – though I wish he had worked harder at trying to
persuade his colleagues of his rationale. Without the double I might have felt
differently, but here I think partner can act or pass as appropriate when the
double comes back to him. You only pull in front of him if you know from UI
that he has misunderstood your action.

Zeiger: Let’s see. My partner just explained my bid as showing the reds. Way
to go pard! Now why did he bid 3C? He surely isn’t cue bidding. Is it natural?
Hmm. Hey Mr West, what’s the double? Oh, it’s cards, not penalty? OK pard. I
got a great dummy for you, all things considered. Pass. But I really hope you
correct!
10
The dissent is correct. PP to South!

Apfelbaum: A majority of the Committee decided to believe South. I understand

the dissent chose not to, but there is no requirement to disbelieve him. Once
the Committee accepted South’s statement as true, there was no reason to do
anything but allow him to bid 3.

I also agree that it is logical to believe that North could not have a sufficiently
strong club suit to play at the three level, considering that North passed over the
opening 1 bid.

11
 CASE FIVE
Subject: UI
DIC: Bates
Open BAM 2nd Qualifying

Bd: 24 Bryan Maksymetz The Facts: The final contract

Dlr: West KJ9 was 6 by East making six for
Vul: None 76 +920 for EW. The opening lead
 Q 10 7 4 was not recorded. The director
8543 was called at the end of play.
Daniel Dennison Mary Lou Dennison He ruled that passing was not
 10 6 5 4 2 A3 a logical alternative for East.
K93 A Therefore, there could be no
986 AKJ5 adjustment under Law 12.
A6  K Q 10 9 7 2
Lars Andersson The Appeal: NS appealed on
Q87 the grounds that passing 5
 Q J 10 8 5 4 2 was a logical alternative and
32 should have been the adjusted
J result on the board.

West North East South Other Facts: The case was not
Pass Pass 2 3 screened and EW could not
Pass Pass 4 Pass be located to be notified of the
5 (1) Pass 6 All Pass existence of the appeal. The
screening director was even
(1) BIT of approximately 30 seconds agreed unable to identify the parties
sitting EW. The table director
reported that East made no
statements as to their methods while West said that the pass of 3 showed some
values, but West was unsure about whether 4 was forcing.

The Decision: The Committee found that there was a BIT. The BIT did convey
UI. The UI did suggest bidding 6. The Committee reasoned that the BIT
certainly did not suggest that West’s choice was between bidding and passing; it
reflected West’s uncertainty about what to bid. The Committee decided that since
most of the bidding options other than 5 suggested a greater likelihood of the
success of a 6 bid by East, 6 was demonstrably suggested by the BIT.

The AC believed that while passing would likely not be a good matchpoint
result – bidding on in a BAM team game was also problematic. Therefore, the
Committee found that pass was a logical alternative to bidding 6 and the
contract reverted to 5, making six for +420 for EW.

The Committee: Bob Schwartz, Chair; Gary Cohler, Ed Lazarus, Eddie Wold,
Darwin Afdahl.

Wildavsky: The AC improved a poor TD ruling. TD ought to conduct a poll

before ruling that there is no LA to a call. It was poor form to force the NOS to
12
appeal.

Wolff: Very harsh on EW. The important thing is consistency and in my view
West had an unusual problem when his partner bid 4. I would have allowed the
6 advance by East.

Cohen: Since the TD considered whether pass was an LA after the 5 bid, he
must have determined there had been a BIT. On what basis did he decide “pass”
was not an LA? There are a lot of holes in the East hand for a 2 opener, and
certainly West would be expected to bid over 3 if he was to fill enough gaps
necessary to make a 6 a contract that was a favorite to succeed.

Huzzahs for the AC.

Goldsmith: Good job AC. There was a BIT, there was UI, the UI suggested
bidding over passing, and the bid damaged the NOS. So we adjust. And why
can’t 5 simply be the right spot? If partner does not have the A or a heart
stopper, 3NT will be awful.

Rigal: I can buy into the committee reasoning – 5 making scores better than
6 down one. It certainly seems reasonable to argue that as 5 is the weakest
option a slow 5 demonstrably suggests doing more.

Zeiger: EW should have been the appellants. Was West’s pass alerted as value
showing? Slam dunk. 5 making six.

Apfelbaum: Law 16A requires that the extraneous information demonstrably

suggest one action over another. It is certainly possible that 5 suggests West
was considering stronger action. I would prefer to have a more detailed analysis
so that I could be certain the committee fully explored and understood the EW
methods. If West is correct that the 4 bid is not forcing, then the hesitation
before West bid 5 does not demonstrably suggest anything.

13
 CASE SIX
Subject: UI
DIC: Cukoff
Blue Ribbon Pairs 2nd Qualifying

The Facts: The contract was 3

Bd: 21 Judi Radin by West down one for +50 for NS
Dlr: North AJ95 after the 9 lead. The director
Vul: NS 97 was called when the dummy came
A952 down and again at the end of play.
A96 When called originally NS said,
Xiaodong Zhang Peter Sun according to the director, that they
 K Q 10 7 862 “sensed a hesitation after the 2
KJ8 Q6 bid above and beyond the required
Q4  K J 10 7 skip bid pause.” They claimed that
KQ54  J 10 7 2 the BIT was 10-20 seconds beyond
Valerie Westheimer the required pause. West denied the
43 hesitation and East acknowledged a
 A 10 5 4 3 2 “slight break in tempo.”
863
83 The Ruling: The director ruled that
UI existed and therefore applied
West North East South Law 16 -- the UI clearly suggested
1 Pass 2 (1) action and pass was clearly a logical
Pass Pass 2NT Pass alternative. Therefore, the contract
3 All Pass was adjusted to 2. On the lead
of the K, 2 can be made. That
(1) Weak jump shift was a likely lead, so the score was
adjusted to + 110 for NS and - 110
for EW.

The Appeal: East did not appear at the hearing and West claimed that his
hesitation was no more than two seconds.

The Decision: The Committee found as fact that the BIT was unmistakable
at the table and that it suggested bidding to East. Pass, however, was clearly
a logical alternative. 2 making and 2 down one were judged to be likely
results and no other results were even probable. The adjustment of the score to +
110 was therefore made.

Since it seemed extremely obvious to everyone except EW that the disputed BIT
occurred and that they were experienced enough to know better, an AWMW was
issued.

The Committee also found that East’s bid of 2NT was blatant misuse of UI.
Therefore, a one-quarter board PP was issued to EW. NS were reminded to use
the STOP card in the future.

The Committee: Jeff Goldsmith, Chair, Bob Schwartz, Riggs Thayer, Marlene
14
Passell and JoAnn Sprung.

Wildavsky: I presume 2 was alerted. The write-up doesn’t say.

Good work by the TD and excellent work by the AC. The TD could also have
assessed a procedural penalty.

Wolff: I agree only because of the very light balance by East. EW must learn not
to break tempo.

Cohen: A fine job by the AC, including the PP. The TD fell down on the job not
assessing the PP.

Goldsmith: The cards made any dispute over whether there was a BIT easy to
resolve. Obviously there was one.

It seems odd that anyone would care, however, since EW look cold for 3NT. Was
there really much difference between the other scores?

Beye: Wait a minute – how can an unmistakable hesitation only be ‘sensed’

after the dummy comes down. She ‘sensed’ a 20-second hesitation beyond that
required by the skip bid pause? That’s a long time. A procedural penalty … and
an AWMW too! Something must be missing from this committee write-up.

Rigal: Although a committee rarely should do this, in this case the East hand is
prima facie evidence of West’s BIT. EW deserve the book thrown at them – the
PP is entirely appropriate.

Zeiger: Since EW pretty much disputed the tempo break, why did the
Committee find “as fact” the break occurred? Was it because they hated the
2NT call? Given the warp speed at which North plays, if West had really broken
tempo 10 to 20 seconds BEYOND the required break, she wouldn’t have merely
“sensed” a tempo break. She would have had time for a smoke while waiting!
Maybe there was a break. Maybe there wasn’t. The write-up suggests there
wasn’t a Committee. There was a lynch mob which had its verdict, and didn’t
need a hearing. The PP was gruesome.

Apfelbaum: It never fails to amaze me that experienced, top-flight players will

try to justify the use of extraneous information by saying it was very brief. UI is
UI. Congratulations to the committee!

15
 CASE SEVEN
Subject: Played Card
DIC: Cukoff
Blue Ribbon Pairs 2nd Qualifying

The Facts: In a two-card

Bd: 6 Marjorie Michelin ending with South holding the
Dlr: East AJ76 J4 and East the K10,
Vul: EW A72 North led the 6. NS stated
62 that East played the 10 and
8763 South won the J. EW said
Pirkko Savolainen Svetlana Gromenkova that East played the K and
 10 9 8 2 5 South played the J under it.
J54 K93
85  K Q 10 9 7 3 The Ruling: The director
QJ54  A 10 2 ruled that with no agreement
Gerald Mindell of the facts regarding which
KQ43 card was played, Law 85
 Q 10 8 6 applied and awarded the trick
AJ4 to neither side, resulting in the
K9 scores of N-S -50 and E-W
minus 420.
West North East South
1 1NT The Appeal: NS appealed the
Pass 2 Pass 2 ruling.
Pass 4 All Pass
The Decision: The only
dispute was the order of the cards played at tricks twelve and thirteen. Since
East had shuffled her cards by the time the director arrived at the table, the
Committee awarded the disputed trick to NS under of Law 65C and D.

Committee: Jeff Roman, Chair, Bill Passell, Ralph Cohen, Danny Sprung and
Ed Lazarus.

Wildavsky: I see no basis in Law 85 for the TD’s ruling. The AC ruling seems
reasonable.

Wolff: The double minus score is great for getting the opponents to decide and
because of the petty argument is probably deserved.

Cohen: The write-up of this case is very deficient in detail on what transpired
at the AC hearing. The two sides were totally at odds as to what East had played
at trick 12. They did agree that South had played the J, and no one denied that
EW had returned their cards to the board, and that NS’s cards were still in quitted
trick order when the TD arrived at the table.

The floor TD appeared before the AC. When asked by the AC if he had tried to
apply Laws 65D and 66D to the case, he replied that in his long experience he
had never seen it applied to tricks 12 and 13.
16
There is nothing in the Laws that restricts the application of these Laws to the
first eleven tricks, and the AC, based on what it heard, properly awarded the trick
to NS.

An A+ for the AC, a C- for the TD.

Goldsmith: Seems easy enough. The director ought to have ruled as the AC did
and encouraged EW to appeal.

Rigal: An obscure law by which to divide up the Solomonic baby. Somehow it

seems wrong for EW even to be trying to get this trick here.

Apfelbaum: Law 65D states that “a player should not disturb the order of his
played cards until agreement has been reached on the number of tricks won.
A player who fails to comply with the provisions of this Law jeopardizes his
right to claim ownership of doubtful tricks or to claim a revoke.” Kudos to the
committee for getting this one right.

17
 CASE EIGHT
Subject: UI
DIC: Henry Cukoff
Blue Ribbon PairsSession 2nd Qualifying

Bd: 6 Michal Kwiecien The Facts: The 4 contract made

Dlr: East AJ76 four for +420 after the K opening
Vul: EW A72 lead. 2 was Stayman. It was
62 determined later by the AC that
8763 Stayman, for this pair, promised at
Ole Jonny Tosse Martin Andresen least one four-card major. The NS
 10 9 8 2 5 pair play that the bid of 2NT shows
J54 K93 both majors in non-competitive
85  K Q 10 9 7 3 sequences.
QJ54  A 10 2
Piotr Bizon Here, 2NT was not alerted and
KQ43 NS disagreed as to the meaning in
 Q 10 8 6 this sequence (in competition) and
AJ4 discussed it in a foreign language
K9 after the hand.

West North East South The Ruling: The director ruled that
1 1NT since South already had authorized
Pass 2 2 2NT information that North held at least
Pass 3NT Pass 4 one four-card major, he should be
Pass 4 All Pass permitted to bid relative to that
knowledge. The failure to alert 2NT
was not substantially different from the knowledge that South already had.

The Appeal: EW contended that 3NT should be treated as an offer to play and
that pass is a logical alternative to going on to four of a major. If North had
wanted to insist on playing in a suit, he would not have bid 3NT.

South argued that with his lack of side Aces, even a double diamond stop would
not give him enough time to establish all his tricks in notrump. Therefore, it was
clear to remove to the safety of a trump contract.

The Decision: The Committee determined that the failure to alert 2N gave
South UI, that North’s hand might not be as good for notrump as the bid should
indicate. Thus, the UI demonstrably suggested moving from 3NT to a major.
The Committee considered several North hands with which North would find
notrump more attractive with the knowledge of two four-card majors in South.
Hands with one weak major and strong secondary club values would offer
notrump opposite South’s likely 4=4=3=2 (in that order) shape, e.g.  A J x x
 J x x  x x  Q J 10 x or  J x x x  J x  x x  A Q J 10 x would
make 3NT and fail in 4. Therefore, pass was a logical alternative for South.

In 3NT, nine tricks was the likely result on any plausible sequence of play and
defense. Therefore, the result was changed to 3NT making three, plus 400 to NS
18
and minus 400 for EW.

The Committee: Bart Bramley, Chair, Peggy Sutherlin, Aaron Silverstein,

Michael Rosenberg and Jon Wittes.

Wildavsky: This was a close case. I like the AC’s ruling better than the TD’s, but
it could have gone either way.

Wolff: Very tough ruling on NS. It is true that an alert might have been given,
but on another hand that may have tipped off something to partner. I think
the committee was biased against NS and should have allowed 4 to be the
contract. After all, ostensibly no one was disadvantaged. Let’s not go out of our
way to create discord.

Cohen: I’ll buy the AC decision, but am not convinced I would rule the same
way. Knowing there is an eight-card major suit fit, at matchpoints, playing in
notrump may be a top or bottom type situation. The TD may have been correct.

Goldsmith: Simple judgment call: is passing 3NT an LA? I’d say, “no,” but
obviously there is room for disagreement. Most of the hands which would want
to play 3NT after hearing about two four-card majors in South’s hand would not
have bid 2 in the first place (including one of the AC’s examples), so passing
3NT looks like a pretty deep view, particularly at matchpoints.

In my opinion, passing would be an LA under the “seriously consider” guideline,

but I don’t think a significant number of players would actually do it. Add
another queen to South’s hand, making it a maximum, and 3NT then has a fair
bit more to be said for it. But as I said, this is a judgment call, so if the AC feels
that passing 3NT is reasonable, their ruling works.

Rigal: Good AC ruling, questionable TD decision though I can understand

where they were coming from. I could see this one go either way, but I think I
prefer the AC decision – and maybe in a case of doubt the initial ruling might
have gone to the non-offenders?

Zeiger: Committee correct. The UI did NOT duplicate the AI. This should have
been the table ruling.

Apfelbaum: The committee discussion did not consider whether North would
have bid Stayman holding either of the example hands. Or what inference South
was entitled to take from this authorized information. The committee decision
may be correct, but I would hope for a better analysis to justify that decision.
Personally, I believe that South is entitled to know that North wants to play in a
major suit based on the inference that North would not bid 2 otherwise.

The above written, I will not criticize the committee absent knowledge whether
it considered this argument.

19
 CASE NINE
Subject: MI/Misbid
DIC: Henry Cukoff
Event: Blue Ribbon Pairs 1st Semifinal

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 21 Pirkko Savolainen 4 making six for +170 after
Vul: NS AK97 the Q lead. The director was
Dlr: North  10 4 2 called at the end of the round. It
4 was determined that East gave an
 J 10 8 6 2 incorrect explanation of “transfer”
Connie Goldberg Wafik Abdou of the 2 bid. The EW system
Q6 J43 notes do not support transfers
J9865 AKQ73 over two suited overcalls of a 1NT
 K J 10 5 3 Q98 opener.
5 Q4
Svetlana Gromenkova The Ruling: The director changed
 10 8 5 2 the contract to 4 making five for
— +650 per Law 12.C.2. This was the
A762 most favorable result for the non-
AK973 offenders without the irregularity
and the most unfavorable result at
West North East South all probable for the offenders.
Pass 1NT (1) 2 (2)
2 (3) 3 3 Pass The Appeal: EW appealed and
Pass 4 All Pass were the only ones to appear at the
Committee meeting. They produced
(1) 14+ to 17, announced two identical (one photocopy, one
(2) Alerted as Clubs and a higher suit original) convention cards. Both
(3) Announced as a transfer showed “system on over 2 and
artificial doubles.” Abdou described
his partnership methods and indicated that West had simply forgotten them.

Other findings: EW are an irregular partnership playing their second national

event. They have a system file distilled from West’s manifold sets of notes. East
had completed the convention card and had given it to West. EW practiced some
on the internet.

The Decision: While rulings of this sort might normally go against the
offenders, the AC had no doubt that the convention cards had been properly
completed to reflect the actual EW agreements and that West had simply misbid.

EW had dramatically “fixed” their opponents with the 1NT opener, the misbid,
the raise (to stop East bidding 3 over 3 in the balancing seat). That was not
illegal, simply lucky. There is, as yet, no law against that. The AC was surprised
in the context of the identical and properly completed convention cards that the
TD had determined MI and not a misbid. They restored the table result of +170
to NS.

20
The Committee: Doug Doub, Chair, Ed Lazarus, Bill Passell, Eddie Wold and
Barry Rigal, Scribe.

Wildavsky: Like the AC, I do not understand the TD decision. It seems to ignore
the evidence.

Wolff: Convention disruption strikes! I’m for the ruling since CD is very
difficult to recover from.

Goldsmith: A little good and a lot not so good.

The good: the finding of a misbid looks right.

Not so good: West abused UI by passing 3. If 2 was, indeed, natural, 3 is

a huge super-accept for hearts, showing hearts roughly like what East actually
had. She must bid 4. Lucky for her, however, she’d reach a reasonable spot.
But an unlucky one — it goes for about 500. So -170 is not a possible result.
What would happen if she had bid 4? That’s very hard to tell, but at that point,
it seems to me that North is trapped into doubling, figuring two top spades and a
ruff, and partner’s card should beat it one, maybe two.

Someone who was willing to play only 3 is unlikely to bid 5 now. From
East’s perspective, 4 shows 5-5 or 5-4 in the majors, so he has an easy pass.
That means 4 doubled is the likely contract. Now West will announce that 2
was not a transfer, giving the defense a chance.

The defense against 4 doubled is still not easy, but after giving it out as a
problem, I judge that getting 500 is likely. The diamond shift at trick two looks
clear-cut. The hard part is deciding between cashing partner’s K or your K
at the end. Partner’s diamond spots are such that declarer can make it really
tough for a second suit preference signal.

At worst, though, that’s a 50/50 guess, so 500 is likely. I don’t think NS’s getting
to 4 or 5 is at all probable (they were probably never getting there regardless
of the opponents’ problems; their methods and the 1NT opening pretty much did
that), so award reciprocal 500s.

Beye: So where were these convention cards and notes during the first session?
Wouldn’t you think this pair could just take their convention cards to the event
DIC and get this straightened out during the afternoon session, rather than
inconvenience nine or 10 people at midnight?

Rigal: Amazing fluke by EW (not the first one either?) but just because they are
lucky does not mean we should take their good fortune away.

Zeiger: Perhaps the table director should have been summoned to the hearing
and asked why his findings were different than the Committee’s.

21
Apfelbaum: Granted the committee accepted the East-West convention card as
correct, there is no violation of law and no basis to make any score adjustment.

I am curious what happened at the table when the tournament director arrived. I
assume that East-West had a convention card to show him or her. I would have
liked that fact documented in the discussion.

22
 CASE TEN
Subject: MI
DIC: Henry Cukoff
Blue Ribbon Pairs 1st Final

Bd: 3 Peter Bizon The Facts: The final contract

Dlr: South  J 10 4 was 3 down two for –100
Vul: EW J85 for NS after the A lead. The
 J 10 4 2 director was called at the end of
AJ9 the hand.
Ai-Tai Lo Alan Schwartz
A6 KQ753 East inquired before his final
 10 4 2 9 pass about the 3 bid and was
AK93 Q75 told that it was constructive with
K654  Q 10 3 2 six trumps. South felt that their
Michael Kwiecien agreement was that the bid was
982 preemptive. South said that he
AKQ763 informed the opponents of the
86 MI before the opening lead. EW
87 insisted that he had not. East said
he would have balanced with 3
West North East South if he had known that 3 was
1 preemptive.
Pass 2(1) Pass 3 (2)
All Pass The Ruling: The director ruled
that North’s explanation of the
(1) 2 was a constructive raise, no alert 3 bid was MI and adjusted the
(2) See Facts contract to 4 EW +650 per
Law 21.

The Appeal: NS appealed and all four persons appeared at the Committee
meeting. NS stated that South corrected his partner’s explanation of 3. North
had told East that it was a game try (which it would have been if spades were bid
instead of hearts, i.e., 1 2 3). South believed his 3 bid was preemptive.
South accepted some responsibility for not speaking louder (he has a very soft
voice and a significant accent), but he thought that awarding EW +650 was too
generous.

Statements by the other side: Over 3, East was considering some action,
either 3 or double, when he asked North about the 3 bid. North’s incorrect
explanation made it less attractive to balance, and thus helped NS get a better
score. EW did not hear South’s correction of his partner’s misexplanation of 3.

Other findings: NS had not actually discussed the meaning of 1 - 2 - 3.

Thus they had no agreement and North’s explanation was misinformation. NS
have been playing together for only a couple of months.

23
The Decision: The Committee ruled 3 making five and -200 for NS.

A Player is responsible for making sure that his opponents are aware of all
alerts and explanations. Although South told the opponents that his partner’s
explanation was incorrect, he was not forceful enough to make sure that they
heard. Thus, NS were guilty of misinformation.

East has three plausible choices at his second turn to call: Pass, double or
3. The MI clearly makes pass more attractive than the other alternatives.
3 figures to work far more often than double. East does not have a good
defensive hand, nor does he wish to hear his partner bid 4 or 4. As a
matter of percentages, there is a strong possibility that West will have three
spades, making a contract of 3 EW’s best spot to compete in. The Committee
considered a 3 bid by East attractive enough to allow that bid.

Would West raise a 3 balance to 4? East is bidding much of West’s high
cards when he bids 3, though probably not all of them. However, East is
probably also hoping to catch some spade length in West’s hand and West does
not have it. West will keep in mind that his partner already passed over 2,
limiting his hand. If East has a nice, fitting hand such as  Q 10 x x x x  x
 x x x  A x x, it may require a successful spade guess just to make 3. The
Committee thought that few players would “hang” their partner with a raise to
4, and thus assigned a contract of 3 to EW.

How would the play go? The defense would start with two rounds of hearts.
Declarer would ruff and play a club to the K and A. After ruffing a third
round of hearts, declarer would play a spade to the A. With spades 3-3, he
could cash out for nine tricks. However, it is fairly attractive to take the club
finesse while dummy still has a trump to prevent the force. This would result
in 11 tricks for declarer. The Committee considered that play likely enough to
assign that result to both sides.

Dissenting (Ed Lazarus): The Committee unanimously felt there was MI given
by NS in the explanation of the 3 bid. The Committee then analyzed the
possible bidding by EW had NS correctly related that 3 was competitive and
felt unanimously that more than one of six persons in the East seat would bid
3. The majority of the Committee felt that less than one of six persons in the
West seat would then bid 4.

I disagree for the following reasons:

1. West has three hearts. East most probably has a singleton heart
2. The K is well-placed with the opening bid by South
3. East is probably not bidding 3 vulnerable versus not without both length
and high cards in the spade suit

I feel that more than one out of six Wests would bid 4. Hence, the result of
the Committee should have been that the contract is 4 by EW making five for
–650 NS.

24
However, the Committee never discussed a split decision for NS and EW.
Had the Committee agreed that more than one of six would bid 4, further
discussion might have resulted in a split decision.

The Committee: Doug Doub, Chair, Ed Lazarus, Howard Weinstein, Tom Peters
and Bob Schwartz.

Wildavsky: This was another close case. The TD ruling and AC decision were
both reasonable, as was the ruling proposed in the dissent. I do not understand
one point made by the dissenter. If he thought a split decision was appropriate
why didn’t he speak up?

Wolff: Again Convention Disruption peeks through, causing uncertainty for the
opponents. Proper ruling,

Cohen: The AC was correct in assigning +200 to EW. However, it should have
seriously considered -650 for NS, and probably assigned it. See Law 12C2.

South was the primary culprit. Under Law 75D2 at the conclusion of the
auction-before the opening lead- he was obliged to call the TD and inform EW
of the MI. This would have allowed the TD to cancel East’s last pass and reopen
the bidding had he thought it appropriate under the circumstances. East might
have actually bid 3, and a table result of EW+200 achieved.

Goldsmith: Good job by the committee. I don’t think very many players would
bid 4 with West’s hand, so I agree with the failure to give a split score.

Rigal: I could buy into either the majority or the dissent here. I think West’s
doubleton spade might persuade me to give a split score with NS getting the
worst of it in 4.

Zeiger: If Ed Lazarus argued for EW +650 during deliberations, surely someone

should have thought a split score might be in order. Was any blind polling done
by the event TD? Would have been a great help here. My own guess is EW +200,
but why should I have to guess?

Apfelbaum: The dissent covered the real issue on this board. South had an
obligation to make certain that EW knew about the MI. The majority correctly
analyzed the play, but not the bidding problem facing West after East balances
with 3. East is balancing at the three level at unfavorable vulnerability. It
must be clear that EW hold at least 23-24 high card points, and that there are
no wasted heart honors. Such combinations frequently make game. I agree with
the dissent that at least one in six would find the spade game. The question is
closer for the one-in-three analysis that applies to the non-offenders. I could be
persuaded either way on that point.

25
 CASE ELEVEN
Subject: MI
DIC: Henry Cukoff
Blue Ribbon Pairs 1st Final

Bd: 19 Russell Samuel The Facts: The final contract was

Vul: EW AQ76532 5 making seven for +640 to EW
Dlr: South J86 after the Q lead. The director was
 Q 10 called at the end of play.
3
Alan Schwartz Ai-Tai Lo The Ruling: The director
94  J 10 determined that EW did not have
KQ975 A an agreement on the meaning of the
3 A9842 double. No adjustment was made as
 K Q J 10 7 A9852 NS were not misinformed as to the
Harry Tudor meaning of the double. This is not
K8 one of the common situations which
 10 4 3 2 partnership are expected to discuss.
KJ765 Laws 40A, 40B, and 40C.
64
The Appeal: NS appealed and all
West North East South persons attended except South.
2 (1) North indicated that had he known
2 2 Dbl (2)
Pass the double was not penalty, he
3 Pass 3 Pass would have led the A and
4 Pass 5 All Pass would have bid 3 or 4 over
the 3 call. NS are not a regular
(1) Weak 2 bid partnership. They treated 2 as not
(2) When asked was told “I don’t know” forcing (and their convention card
was so marked).

Statements by the other side: EW had not discussed the meaning of this
double. They have played as a partnership about six years. They play snap
dragon doubles (confirmed on their card) but both agreed this applied only after
opening one bids.

The Decision: No member of the AC had discussed the meaning of this double
with his partner. Since this was true, it was judged normal for any partnership
not to have discussed the call.

The Committee determined that there was MI because of West’s inability to

explain East’s bid.

The Committee determined that even if North bid 3 or 4 over 3, 5

would still be the final contract. The result was not adjusted because (1) North
did not call the director immediately. Some directors might have sent West away
from the table so that East could explain his own bid, (2) South did not double
3, a clue that suggested a diamond lead might not be best, and (3) EW did not
bid 3NT suggesting neither had much in spades.
26
The Committee felt that lack of information about the meaning of the double did
not cause NS’s result. The contract of 5 making seven for a score of EW +640
was left in place.

North was faced with an unusual situation and the Committee felt North’s appeal
had merit.

The Committee: Richard Popper, Chair, Chris Willenken, Chris Moll, Darwin
Afdahl and Mark Feldman.

Wildavsky: Reasonable rulings all around. The committee’s comment regarding

North’s reputation for bringing appeals, though, is profoundly irrelevant. The
committee is called upon to decide whether the appeal before it has merit. The
merit, if any, lies in the appeal in and of itself. Any suggestion otherwise is ad
hominem.

Wolff: I would be in favor of forcing partnerships to discuss the meanings of

doubles. Since the modern game seeks more ways to transmit AI, doubles need
to be understood by partnerships and then explained properly to their opponents.
Without this we are an accident waiting to happen and harms our game. Even
though I doubt North would lead a spade anyway, the point is that he should
know what is going on.

Cohen: No problem with the AC decision. I do have a problem with the AC

statement that there was MI because of West’s inability to explain East’s double.
EW had no agreement and so informed the opponents. To do otherwise would
have been MI.

Goldsmith: The committee got it right, but I don’t see any law supporting the
relevance of their statement, “This is not one of the common situations which
partnership are expected to discuss.” The laws don’t require partnerships to
discuss anything. If so, emergency partnerships would be illegal. There are
situations in which an unscrupulous pair might gain an advantage by claiming
to have no agreement when in fact they do, but those cases can be handled by
disciplinary measures and by the AC’s simply disbelieving incredible testimony.

In any case, it seems as if East thought that his double was artificial, based on an
extension of some other agreement. He ought to have told NS at the conclusion
of the auction what he thought his double meant. Something like, “the statement
that we have no agreement is undoubtedly correct, but I thought we played ...
in this position. Upon reflection, we do not.” The reason he must make such
a statement is that to fail to do so is to use UI. Other than the explanation and
failure to alert, how does he know that his partner didn’t judge that the double
meant exactly what East originally thought it was? Would that affect the final
result? I don’t see how. North would lead a diamond and the table result would
have been achieved.

For the second case in a row, the AC forgot to consider the UI implications
in an MI case. East had UI that his partner didn’t know what the double of
27
2 was. That means he now knows that his partner has real clubs, not just a
(perhaps forced) preference on a doubleton. Is stopping below game an LA,
then? It’s probably close, but I’d say that three aces and a stiff opposite partner’s
unfavorable two-level overcall is going to drive to game, and doing so in one’s
best suit after getting support looks right. Still, the auction takes on a completely
different character sans the UI, so if an AC were to rule +190 for EW, they would
not be totally out of line.

Rigal: I agree that EW had no obligation to know the meaning of this sequence
– since I have no agreement with my partner either. I agree there is merit,
however tired one might be of seeing North in committee pursuing marginal
appeals.

Zeiger: MI? What MI? West said they had no agreement. The Committee
determined they had no agreement. So where, pray tell, was the MI? Lack of an
agreement is not MI, as long as each partner believes there is no agreement. No
infraction. No adjustment. No merit.

Apfelbaum: I agree with the result, but not the analysis. The tournament
directors got this exactly right. Sometimes there is no agreement about the
meaning of a bid. Law 40A states “a player may make any call or play, without
prior announcement, provided that such call or play is not based on a partnership
understanding.” I also agree this is not the sort of situation where a pair must
have had an understanding. This sort of thing happens frequently, and we as
players are required to use our respective imaginations to find a solution to
whatever problem we may face.

On another note, the committee does itself a disservice by mentioning that South
has pursued marginal appeals in the past. It does not matter who takes an appeal.
An appeal either has merit or it does not.

28
 CASE TWELVE
Subject: UI
DIC: Henry Cukoff
Blue Ribbon Pairs 1st Final

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 1 Piotr Bizon
4 doubled down one for +100 to
Vul: None 2
EW after the K lead. The director
Dlr: North  A 10 9 7
was called at the end of play.
K76543
93
The Ruling: No adjustment was
Nikolay Demirev David Yang
made. Pass of 3 was not thought
K65  A 10 8 4 3
to be an LA for East. Law 73F1.
KQ643 J82
 Q 10 2 AJ8
Other Findings: The screener
K6  10 2
determined that West asked about the
Michal Kwiecien
2 bid and South’s 3 bid and then
QJ97
thought for a significant amount of
5
time before passing over 3.
9
AQJ8754
The Appeal: NS appealed and are
the only ones who attended the
West North East South
hearing. They thought that West’s
Pass Pass 1
questioning and break in tempo could
1 2 2 3
have helped East make the winning
Pass (1) Pass 3 4
decision to bid 3.
Dbl All Pass
The Decision: The Committee
(1) BIT agreed
determined that West’s break in
tempo suggested extra values, but
did not point toward 3 versus double. East held a three-card limit raise. The
AC judged that at matchpoints and no one vulnerable, very few players would
seriously consider passing 3 with the East hand.

Since the break in tempo did not suggest bidding rather than doubling, the AC
allowed East’s 3 bid to stand and thus the table result was upheld.

The appeal was judged to have merit.

The Committee: Doug Doub, Chair, Ed Lazarus, Howard Weinstein, Tom Peters
and Bob Schwartz.

Wildavsky: Fair enough. I’d have liked to have seen some discussion of the EW
overcall style though. Opposite a partner who overcalls light or with four-card
suits it is dangerous to bid on with the East hand.

Wolff: Agree with most everything that was said. Also I agree with the question
marks and would be in favor of an AWMW for NS.

29
Cohen: In agreement with the decision. Certainly East had a lot in reserve for
his 2 call, and pass was not an LA.

Goldsmith: Reasonable choice. I’d double with the East cards and go -470.
Shows what I know.

The write-up was a little garbled, but it looks like the AC got it right.

Rigal: It is far from clear to me that NS were not entitled to either 3 making,
or something similar. Where an infraction has taken place we do not have to give
EW the best of it. Certainly a split score (EW landed with 3 making while NS
keep the table result) is far from unreasonable. After all with a ten-count we do
not all go on to the three level with an eight-card fit facing an overcall – unless
partner tells us to?

Zeiger: Would North or South ever have passed out 3 with East’s cards? No
merit again.

Apfelbaum: I agree that East has a limit raise opposite an opening bid, but not
an overcall. The break in tempo suggests that West has extra values. Those extra
values guarantee that either 3 or double must be right and that pass must be
wrong. The committee needed to analyze East’s choices based on West having
a minimum overcall at the one level. Some players, for example, will overcall
four card suits at the one level when not vulnerable. Others might make the same
overcall without the K and Q. Competing to the three level opposite either
of these hands could be disastrous.

30
 CASE THIRTEEN
Subject: UI
DIC: Steve Bates
Reisinger Teams 1st Qualification

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 9 Peter Weichsel 6 making six for +980 for NS
Vul: EW KQ2 after the K lead. The director was
Dlr: North K8543 called at the end of play although
742 EW noted the break in tempo before
73 the opening lead.
Magnus Lindkvist Peter Fredin
74 8 NS said South took 8-10 seconds
 Q 10 9 J762 before bidding 4. EW said longer.
KQJ8  A 10 9 6 3
Q984  J 10 6 The Ruling: The contract was
Alan Sontag changed to 4 making six for
 A J 10 9 6 5 3 +480. Law 16, UI. The hesitation
A suggests bidding over 4 and pass
5 is a logical alternative.
AK52
The Appeal: NS appealed and
West North East South stated they thought that 5 was
Pass Pass 1 (1) automatic. North, East and West
Pass 1 (2) Dbl (3) 2 (4) were present at the hearing.
Pass 3 Pass 4 (5)
Pass 5 Pass 6 Statements by the other side: EW
All Pass thought bidding 5 was an error.
They are experienced big club
(1) artificial 16+ players and stated they would have
(2) artificial 0-8 passed 4.
(3) Diamonds
(4) Game Force Other Facts Discovered: If North
(5) BIT had bid 3, it would have been a
double negative. 3NT by South over
3 might or might not be artificial.

The Decision: This was purely a matter of bridge judgment. If passing 4

is a logical alternative, the 5 bid is not allowed and the director’s ruling
must stand. All the members of the Committee felt that this case was near the
borderline; most felt that bidding was about an 85% action. One member stated
that the presence of such an action disallowed any possible other LA and his
position of Chair of the National Laws Commission gives his claim substantial
weight. The Chair disagreed.

The Committee based its feelings on (1) North was super maximum for 1, so
no silly slams would be reached, (2) South heard the double of 1, so he doesn’t
have soft diamond values and a marginal hand, and (3) most players seem to
overbid the North cards at their tables.
31
After two hours deliberation and a vote of 4-1, the Committee voted to allow the
5 bid and thus the 6 bid and therefore the table result of 6 making +980
was ruled to stand.

The appeal was judged to have merit and no AWMW was issued.

Dissent (Jeff Goldsmith): An informal poll of three experienced big club

players was made after the hearing. All passed, one without much thought, and
the other two reluctantly. This confirms that passing is indeed an LA and the AC
got it wrong. In any case, if wrong, it is not far wrong, however.

The answer may depend on the definition of LA. If the “seriously consider”
criterion were used, passing would obviously be an LA. If Edgar Kaplan’s 75%
rule were in effect, it surely would not be. Our current rule is somewhere in
between. Where exactly? There appears to be room for judgement.

The Committee: Jeff Goldsmith, Chair, Gary Cohler, JoAnn Sprung, Ralph
Cohen and Chris Moll.

Wildavsky: To me it’s clear that pass is a logical alternative. Many players would
pass with the North hand. Opener eschewed a chance to make a slam try below
game and going to the five level risks a minus. Partner could hold, for instance,

 A J 10 9 x x x  A  Q x x  A K or  A J 10 9 x x  A  Q x x  A K Q

While these hands may not be likely there’s little to be gained by bidding on,
since South would almost surely have found a try with a hand similar to the one
he holds. The actual 4 call was a serious underbid.

The dissent confuses the issue by mentioning a “75%” rule since no such rule is
in effect. For Kaplan’s most accessible writing on the ACBL Law Commission’s
definition of a Logical Alternative I will once again cite:
http://www.bridgeworld.com/default.asp?d=article_sampler&f=samed.html

The LC has made other pronouncements on LAs since then, but so far as I know
none of them counteract this one.

Wolff: As is so often the case when high-level pairs are dealt with, the
committee puts on their best bib and tucker and tries to match wits with them.
Once Sontag bid only 4, theoretically he says no more, but since he did it
slowly Weichsel thought he was worth a try. A real fly in the system since all
players, no matter how respected, should be treated the same.

When a player signs off, but does so slowly they must be held to a very strict
standard of, unless partner was tactically doing something that is obvious to all
then it is over. It should have been but it wasn’t. Sad, but true.

Cohen: This was a real close case. As the auction evolved, a pass was not an
LA, at least in the eyes of the AC. Maybe the AC should have had at least some
32
forcing 1 bidders on it, and perhaps a different conclusion would have been
reached.

Actually, the auction that occurred was equivalent to that of 2/1ers, or Eastern
Scientific auctions, that might have gone (without interference) 2 (strong
artificial and forcing)-2 (waiting); 2-3; 4.If presented with this auction,
would the AC have considered pass an LA, or would it have allowed 5? I think
the AC would have allowed the 5 bid: at least I would in the circumstances I
heard on the AC.

Goldsmith: EW were robbed. After discussing the hand with many players
since, I now believe that 5 is such a clear infraction that I’d give it a PP. The
“room for judgment” claim was overly kind to the rest of the committee. The AC
lost its mind.

Beye: I disagree; this is not a matter of bridge judgment. UI is available. This

pair has all the tools you could hope for. South had several calls, cue bids, and
(probably) asking bids available. After two hours of deliberation (isn’t bridge
a timed event) how can this auction be allowed to go beyond 4? Sadly, this
committee bent over backwards to allow North to bid on. The staff got this one
right, as did the dissenter.

Rigal: I think the dissenter has a good case. It is obviously a close call, but I
believe when in doubt we should try to punish the offenders, and the way to do
it is obvious. Again a split score might have been a possibility here? I think I’d
stick with the TD adjustment for both sides.

Zeiger: NS said South took 8-10 seconds to make his call. For this South, it was
an agonizingly long BIT. Some documentation is missing. What would other
possible rebids by South, over 3 have meant? OK, 3NT is unclear. What about
the other four-level bids? These inferences are critical to proper resolution of this
case. Put me on the fence until you give me more information.

Apfelbaum: I have long thought that “seriously consider” meant that a

significant number of players of the same skill level would actually take the
action. In this case, then, my question is whether a significant number of North
players of the same skill level would actually pass South’s 4 bid. I believe the
answer is no. To start, North has two spade honors opposite a hand that could
unilaterally set the trump suit. Second, North has a heart control. Third, North
has a doubleton club. I expect that North’s length in hearts will prove important
if South has short clubs, and North’s doubleton club will provide a ruff or two if
South has length in clubs. A final point is that the five level must be safe.

So, would many players wonder if they should pass? Of course. Good players
must carefully evaluate the pluses and minuses of any action. However, I do not
believe that a significant number would actually pass.

33
 CASE FOURTEEN

Subject: UI
DIC: Gary Zeiger
NABC Swiss 1st Qualifying

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 22 Judy Nassar
4NT by West making five for a
Dlr: East  J 10 9 3
score of EW +660 after the lead
Vul: EW J94
of the J. The director was called
 Q 10 5 3
after the dummy was faced.
J9
The 3 bid was a transfer to
George Retek Phil Silverstein
spades. EW have played together
K84 AQ765
about five to 10 times a year for a
 A Q 10 6 32
few years and this is the first time
K7 A9
they have played transfers, usually
AK85  10 6 4 2
preferring Gladiator. West was
unfamiliar with any “super-accept”
Tony Ames
bids after the transfer. EW’s range
2
for a 2NT opener is 20-22. There
K875
was an unmistakable hesitation
J8642
before the 4NT bid – about 12
Q73
seconds. The opening lead against
4NT was the J and the result was
West North East South
EW making 5, plus 660 EW.
Pass Pass
2NT Pass 3 Pass
The Ruling: The director who
3 Pass 3NT Pass
presented the case to the Committee
4 Pass 4NT (1) All Pass
said that the staff ruled that there
was no logical alternative to passing
(1) 12 second BIT agreed
4NT. Therefore, in spite of the UI,
there was no infraction of Law 16.

The Appeal: South did not attend the hearing. North said that she thought that
the West hand valued at 20.5 hcp in support of spades and that if East had bid
in tempo, West might well have answered RKC, thereby committing the side to
slam, since all controls were present.

Statements by the Other Side: East said he intended 4NT as RKC. West felt
that the 4NT bid was “quantitative in nature” since his partner was limited by
being a passed hand and having offered 3NT as a playing spot. West was also not
used to playing transfers as he ordinarily plays two-way Stayman over 1NT and
Gladiator over 2NT.

The Decision: The Committee first decided that answering RKC was a logical
alternative. In most normal circumstances, when one’s partner asks a question,
answering it is a logical alternative. The limitations on East’s strength, noted
by West, are altogether rational and might convince many to agree with him in
34
his judgment, especially considering his sub-20 hcp opening bid, but passing
remains a logical alternative.

However, the Committee then visited the question of whether the hesitation
“demonstrably suggests” passing to West. Since West was already aware of
authorized information that his partner did not have an opening bid and that his
partner would have been content to play 3NT if West had only two spades, the
Committee found that any unauthorized information from the hesitation was
effectively duplicated by authorized information.

Furthermore, East’s deliberation over his bid could easily have suggested that he
did not know whether 4NT was the best way to advance his hand towards slam
(he may have been thinking about bidding 5). On this basis, the Committee
decided that the hesitation did not demonstrably suggest passing any more than
the already present authorized information did. Accordingly, the table result of
4NT making five for plus 660 E-W was allowed to stand.

The appeal was judged to have merit and no AWMW was issued.

Dissent (Danny Sprung): I feel that the slow 4NT did demonstrably suggest
pass would be more successful. While partner is a passed hand some shapely
maximum non-openers could become worth a move towards slam once the eight-
card fit comes to light. West’s unfamiliarity with transfers suggests he probably
wouldn’t have cue bid along the way with a maximum and three spades.

Since the Committee clearly felt that responding to Blackwood was a logical
alternative, West’s sub-minimum (in hcp) notwithstanding, I would assign
reciprocal 100’s for 6 down one.

The Committee: Michael Huston, Chair, Gail Greenberg, Ed Lazarus, Ellen

Melson and Danny Sprung.

Wildavsky: The TD made the right decision for the wrong reason. Bidding over
4NT is surely an LA. I agree with the AC majority — the UI did not suggest one
call over another.

Wolff: I don’t think East picked West up but rather since they were not used to
transfers they screwed up but NPL took care of them (bad trump break). I would
have allowed the pass and I think it is a stretch to make West bid.

Cohen: The dissenter is right that responding to 4NT is an LA. However, there is
a second factor that is necessary under Law 74E1 before adjusting the score: The
bid selected must have been chosen as a result of the UI. In this case there was
so much AI, that West was privy to, he was entitled to exercise his judgment and
settle for 4NT.

Goldsmith: What was West really thinking about? Probably trying to decide if
East’s sequence was a slam try, as many play it if also playing Texas transfers. If
so, he was going to bid slam. East probably thought that he was just putting the
35
contract into partner’s hand and saying nothing about slam. When East bid 4NT,
West knew something was wrong, but didn’t know what. Since slam seemed out
of the question, he simply did the prudent thing and passed before some disaster
ensued. The BIT had nothing to do with anything. Result stands. AWMW is
indicated.

Beye: I was walking through the playing area when the staff was first considering
this ruling. I was certain the ruling was going to be 6–1 (I am a 5 bidder or
whatever shows three key cards). To see if my game is still improving I gave the
West hand, and the auction, to four players (five NABC+ titles) and three TDs of
various experience levels. All seven answered key card, with three mentioning
that partner was going to love the K.

The slow 4NT can be a couple of things: (1) Well, maybe partner forgot transfers
– this is the first time we have ever played them. Partner must really have hearts
and can’t figure out how to get out of this mess. Is pass one way to escape?
(2) Maybe partner has some goodish passed hand (but not nearly as good as
his real hand) and has decided to make one more forward move, albeit a slow
move. Missing that jack or queen certainly makes it easier for West to pass 4NT.
Demonstrably suggested? (3) Partner was thinking of blasting to 6 (already
having forgotten to open the hand) and just decided to make one more check on
the way. Missing that jack or queen makes it easy to pass here too.

No logical alternative to passing? Didn’t partner already ask me if I wanted to

play in notrump? We have a spade fit, we are in an NABC+ event and this is IMP
scoring - we are playing in spades. One thing 4NT cannot be is quantitative.
We aren’t playing notrump here. The dissenter has this case right, low marks to
everyone else involved.

Rigal: One of the rare cases where I buy into the majority decision and reject
the dissent. The situation is unusual but I think the majority made a decent fist of
getting to the bottom of the tempo and AI issues.

Apfelbaum: The authorized information shows East to have a maximum passed

hand with five spades. I fail to understand how the extraneous information
provided by the break in tempo is in any way different from the authorized
information already available. Perhaps the committee decided to not assess an
AWMW because of the dissent. After all, a committee member believed the
appealing side should win. I would have awarded an AWMW despite the dissent.

36
 CASE FIFTEEN

Subject: MI
DIC: Steve Bates
Reisinger Teams 2nd Semi-Final

The Facts: The contract of 4

Bd: 9 Steve Weinstein
doubled was down one and –100 for
Dlr: North J9
NS after the 8 lead. The 2 bid
Vul: EW KJ632
was for takeout. South asked West
4
after dummy came down about
A7643
the double and was told, “penalty,
primarily.” The director was called
Barry Piafsky Jessica Piafsky
away from the table after the play
 10 8 6 5 3 K2
was completed.
874 A95
86  A K J 10 7 3 2
The Ruling: The director ruled that
KQ5 2
there was no misinformation and,
Robert Levin
therefore, no adjustment.
AQ74
 Q 10
The Appeal: NS argued that
Q95
“penalty, primarily” was
 J 10 9 8
misrepresentative when West
knew his partner had little or
West North East South
nothing in trumps. They said that
Pass 1 Pass
a better answer would have been
1 2 3 4
“undiscussed.” South was worried
Pass Pass Dbl All Pass
about losing to the KQ doubleton of
clubs and/or suffering a spade ruff
if West held the A.

EW said that they had discussed these situations and that most four-level doubles
were penalty, to be pulled only with unexpected offense or negative defense or
both. They said the double should have been readily understood as an “extra
high-card double.” They did not have system notes.

The Decision: The Committee thought that this was a good example of the
“trick question,” unlikely to shed any more light that the questioner already had,
but possibly yielding an answer that might be perceived as defective in some way.

The Committee noted that the hands cited by South were virtually impossible
on the auction. East was almost certain to hold the A, which meant that West
almost certainly held at least one club honor for his one-level response. The
Committee thought that all of the above should have been sufficiently clear to
NS that they should have known not to bring the appeal.

The Committee declined to adjust the table result of 4 down one NS minus
100. Further, the Committee assigned an AWMW on both North and South.

37
The Committee: Bart Bramley, Chair, Lowell Andrews, Aaron Silverstein,
JoAnn Sprung and Tom Peters.

Wildavsky: I don’t understand the AC’s reasoning. West explained the double
at the table as “penalty, primarily” but in committee he said the double should
have been readily understood as an “extra high-card double”. Surely there’s a
difference. Why didn’t West describe the call that way at the table? South did not
readily understand the meaning of the double — that’s why he asked about it,
as is his right. I hope I’d have asked about the double too, since knowing what it
means is crucial to the play of the hand.

Claiming that declarer ought to have gone right anyway is poor form. Many
players respond with weak hands nowadays, and even if he ought to have made
it the EW score should be adjusted if they committed an infraction which
contributed to damage.

NS could have made a better case, though. West is obliged only to explain his
side’s agreements, not what he can conclude from the cards he holds.

The AWMW was unwarranted. This is a case that could easily have gone the
other way with a different committee.

Wolff: Best judged hand of the tournament by the committee. Sock it to NS for
bringing this action.

Cohen: This is not the first time this South has asked the “trick question.” At the
four level in competitive auctions, at match points, the message is almost always
“I doubt that you will make your contract”. I’m with the AC.

Goldsmith: If there were a way to be more harsh to NS, I’d choose it. Edgar
would have found one. This is exactly the sort of appeal that the AWMW system
is supposed to prevent.

Rigal: Entirely appropriate ruling here; no sympathy for NS for the trick
question and what followed on from it.

Zeiger: One of my heroes, Pete Seeger, said it best. “When will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?”

Apfelbaum: I disagree with the reason for the tournament director’s ruling, but
agree with the result. The committee got this one just right, including awarding
the AWMW. We should never forget our obligation to play bridge. South has to
know that West holds some values for his response. In due course, he will find
out about the K and A. The only cards left for West to hold are club honors.

38
 CASE SIXTEEN
Subject: MI
DIC: Steve Bates
Reisinger Teams 1st Semi-Final

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 15 Adam Wildavsky
3NT making three for +600 after a
Dlr: South  10 9
spade was led. When asked about
Vul: NS  K J 10 9
the 2 bid, East said Hearts. West
A85
said he was unsure but that over
A632
pass (instead of double) it would
Larry Cohen David Berkowitz
be pass or correct. The director
AQ8652 7
was called after the round ended.
6 Q87542
K76  10 4 3 2
The Ruling: The director decided
K94 J8
that EW did not have an agreement
Doug Doub
as to the meaning of the 2
KJ43
bid resulting in MI. This is not
A3
an unusual auction and EW are
QJ9
expected to have discussed it.
 Q 10 7 5
Damage to NS resulted so the
score was adjusted to +630, Law
West North East South
75C.
1NT (1)
2 (2) Dbl (3) 2 (4) Pass
The Appeal: EW presented their
2 3NT All Pass
system notes. The notes did not
cover this situation. East said he
(1) 12-14
told North that it was for hearts
(2) Hearts or Spades
because that is what he held.
(3) “cards”
(4) See Facts
Statements by the other side: If
South had been told by West that
the 2 call was a suit rather than a pass or correct bid, he could have passed the
J through East at trick two and easily make four. Since he did not have that
information, he feels he should be entitled to keep +630 that had been awarded.

Other information: The line of play was:

6 to the 9
A unblocking the seven
2 to the J, Q and K
9, 6, a heart pitch, 10
4 to the Q
A cashed
exit a spade (North pitching a diamond).

The Decision: The Committee changed the contract back to 3NT making 3 for
+600 for NS and –600 for EW.

39
Under the conditions of contest, a pair is responsible for knowing when their
methods apply in probable (to be expected) auctions. “A pair may be entitled to
redress if their opponents did not originally have a clear understanding of when
and how to use a convention that was employed.” The committee found that the
double of 2 was a probable auction covered by the conditions of contest. South
was entitled to a clearer explanation of the 2 call.

However, there were two considerations that, together, caused the committee
not to award the redress to NS. 1. South should have made ten tricks even
without complete information, and 2. South had, by ACBL regulations, had an
affirmative obligation to seek clarification of 2 when West told him he was
unsure of the meaning. South’s ignoring his obligation to protect himself should
not accrue to his benefit. South could have called the director when dummy
came down, explained his need for clarification, and gotten it from East. These
two considerations caused the Committee to let the table result stand.

EW were in violation of the regulation that specifies the obligation to know the
application of their conventions in reasonable expected situations. Therefore, the
Committee decided to apply a one-fourth board procedural penalty to EW.

The appeal was judged to have had merit and no AWMW was issued.

The Committee: Michael Huston, non-voting Chair, Mike Passell, Danny

Sprung, Eddie Wold, Jeff Roman and Chris Moll.

Wildavsky: The AC ruling is inconsistent. If EW committed no infraction then

no procedural penalty is warranted. If EW did commit an infraction then they
cannot be allowed to keep a score that they achieved partly as a result. The basis
for adjusting their score but not the NS score is Law 72b1.

As for whether the declarer’s actions were so poor as to deny his side redress I
don’t think they were, but I may be too close to the case to be objective on that
point.

Wolff: It is somewhat confusing as to what David Berkowitz meant when he

said “hearts.” Was he saying that his partner had hearts (how would he know?)? I
think he thought he was showing a suit not a pass or correct deal. If declarer only
made nine tricks I agree with the 600 score. As long as the 1/4 board penalty is
there for EW, I would prefer +600 both ways. When the punishment feels right
for the offenders, try and use the actual bridge result if possible. Such is this
case.

Goldsmith: Declarer had correct information; there was no agreement, and he

was told that. The director was confused.

The correct ruling is result stands, no PP. The Conditions of Contest (CoC)
allegedly in play are illegal. I assume that the CoC quoted by the AC are correct,
though I don’t know that to be the case. It is reasonable for those CoC to be used
in international qualifying events; they don’t have to be bridge events, because
40
they are used to pick our international teams. Similarly, a qualifying event in
which the winners may be chosen by fiat after play rather than by score is not a
bridge tournament in a sense, but the “winning” criterion is surely acceptable.
The Reisinger, however, is, or at least ought to be, a real bridge tournament.
The laws of bridge are therefore in force, so any CoC which contravene them are
irrelevant and cannot be used for making rulings.

Why is this rule illegal? It is possible that the PP can be awarded under Law
90A, but that requires the OS’s behavior to be an “offense,” presumably against
the laws. Their behavior was not one, so Law 90A does not apply. Law 90B8
says a PP may be awarded if a contestant fails to comply with tournament
regulations (the CoC). Websters says “comply” means “to conform one’s
actions...to a rule.” “To conform” implies obedience, suggesting that compliance
needs to be voluntary, which certainly is the normal meaning of the word.
Therefore, inadvertent failure to comply with tournament regulations (perhaps
through ignorance) is not subject to penalty under Law 90B. Of course, it may be
subject to disciplinary penalty, but that’s a different kettle of fish. So, best I can
tell, the CoC are illegal and must not be followed by an AC.

Ought this CoC (aka “convention disruption is illegal”) be legal? No, of course
not. We allow players to enter the Reisinger regardless of skill level or strength
of partnership. Common sense says that if we allow them in, we shouldn’t be
penalizing them for what is going to happen to them normally. Let’s say a player
gets sick just before the finals. His partner finds a replacement (allowed by
whatever CoC rules apply). They have no time at all to discuss methods, agree
on “2/1, strong notrump, Roman Key Card,” and start playing. Some simple
question comes up, and, of course, they don’t have a firm agreement about their
methods. Does this mean that their opponents ought to get score corrections in
their favor as a result? Of course not. Nor ought the players be penalized.

Is this rule even reasonable in any case? I think it isn’t. It’d be almost reasonable
if there were a piece of paper given to players well in advance of entry listing
all the sequences to which they must have express agreements. That hasn’t been
done; indeed, it’s nearly impossible. So to allow some group of players to judge
what are probable auctions and penalize other players for not having express
agreements about them is patently unfair. Moreover, the laws provide redress to
players when they have been damaged by misinformation from the opponents.
This is surely sufficient. If a pair decides to flaunt the laws and claim “no
agreement” about many common auctions, than the laws have a solution. A pair
may claim no agreement as long as they don’t use any concealed information.
If they do use such information, they are subject to score correction, and the
NOS will get redress. And the violators will go to Conduct and Ethics if their
violations are frequent or blatant. We don’t need more. CD is not illegal, nor
ought it be.

Beye: Sometimes the auction just speaks for itself. I see no infraction here.

Rigal: The committee seems to have investigated the matter thoroughly. The
ruling is reasonable, the PP harsh (I think we do not give enough but I’m really
41
not convinced one was appropriate here — or if one was given, maybe a tenth of
a board). Let him who is without sin cast the first stone, I say.

Zeiger: Maybe declarer should have taken 10 tricks anyway, but it would
have been much easier if he knew what was going on. If his play severed the
connection between the infraction and damage, shouldn’t we have a split score?
NS +600 EW -630.

Apfelbaum: I agree with the Committee. South had the means to protect
himself, and chose not to.

A point of technique. After winning the opening lead in dummy, declarer should
be taking finesses through East because West is the danger hand. With two aces
in dummy, there is no risk of losing the heart suit. The best finesse to take first is
the heart finesse. Any minor suit play risks exposing an entry to the long hearts.

42
 CASE SEVENTEEN
Subject: MI
DIC: Gary Zeiger
NA Swiss 1st Final

Bd: 18 Claire Tornay The Facts: 3 made three for

Dlr: East  A Q 10 5 EW +140 after the lead of the
Vul: NS KQ5 A. The director was called
Q865 after the play of the hand.
J2
Ken Stuckey Marshall Miles Playing behind screens, after the
KJ63 42 3 bid North asked about the
A832  J 10 7 agreement of 3 and was told
K7 AJ32 natural. She then asked if 3
965  A Q 10 8 would be forcing and was told
Paul Morris no. She then asked again about
987 3 and East quoted their system
964 notes as proof – 3 is natural,
 10 9 4 not a help suit try.
K743
The Ruling: The director
West North East South originally ruled the table result
1 Pass of 3 making stood. After the
1 Pass 2 Pass round, EW produced system
3 (1) Pass 3 All Pass notes clearly stating a new suit
by responder would be a help
(1) Disputed meaning, see text. suit game try. Thus the result was
changed to 3 down one –50 for
EW. The director felt he should
protect the non-offenders unless EW could offer clear and convincing defense
for their action.

Other Information: The director explained that the initial ruling relied on the
ACBL’s definition of length as being at least three cards when the suit is a minor.
The revised ruling was based on the EW system notes in combination with the
directing staff’s belief that a holding of three small was consistent with a help
suit game try but not with a standard game try.

The Appeal: EW appealed and explained that although they had voluminous
system notes, they were in fact a new partnership and that this was the first
event they had played together. Since each had sent the other a set, they actually
had two sets of system notes and it was not clear to either of them which set, if
either, they had agreed to play.

East showed the Committee a hand-written list of sequences he had discussed

with his partner where he disagreed with the treatment in the notes he had been
sent. He explained that he would never have agreed to play a treatment such as
“help suit game tries” when the partnership did not yet know whether it held an
eight-card fit.
43
West explained that part of his reason for bidding 3 was that he hoped to
attract a spade lead.

Statements by the other side: North explained that had she been informed that
EW were using help suit game tries, she would have made a different lead.

The Decision: Based on two differing sets of system notes and the EW
testimony, the Committee determined that EW did not have any agreement
about the 3 call. They found that East, while perhaps trying to be helpful, did
provide MI to North by representing that EW had a firm agreement.

The Committee discounted West’s testimony that he had simply chosen to make
a deceptive call since he had apparently not mentioned such intent either at the
table or in screening.

The Committee determined that an infraction had been committed and examined
Law 40C: “If the director decides that a side has been damaged through its
opponents’ failure to explain the full meaning of a call or play, he may award an
adjusted score.”

They then considered what information was passed by the actual explanation of
“length” as opposed to the proper explanation of “no special agreement.” The
Committee felt that without any special agreement, both North and East would
expect West’s 3 bid to deliver at least three clubs. Given the ACBL’s definition
of “length” they concluded that the information conveyed from the incorrect
explanation was substantially the same as the information that would have been
conveyed by a correct explanation. Therefore, NS were damaged by an unlucky
opening lead rather than through their opponent’s infraction. The table result of
EW making 3 for +140 was allowed to stand.

Since the director’s assigned result was adjusted, the appeal clearly had merit.

The Committee: Adam Wildavsky, Chair, Mark Feldman, Doug Doub, Chris
Willenken and Chris Moll.

Wildavsky: I found this case annoyingly difficult. In retrospect, I agree with

Ralph Cohen. I think we ought to have considered adjusting only the EW score,
on the basis of Law 72B1.

Wolff: One of the oldest ploys available is psyching to try to stop a lead and it is
done here, in my opinion. It worked and probably should be policed or at least
recorded but we don’t shine with investigative matters. Edgar would not have
liked EW losing since he always thought that a person has the right to psych
anytime he wants. However, there are two sides to this question and I’ll accept
this ruling.

Cohen: I’m not sure that my teammates were entitled to +50, but I believe that
EW were not entitled to +140.A split score, EW -50 and NS -140 seems correct.
From the testimony at the hearing, there was no partnership agreement about
44
their actual agreement, but that was not the message conveyed to North at the
table.

Goldsmith: This is a tricky one, so let’s do it step by step. Was there MI? Yes.
East told North that West had a club suit, not just three small, something akin to
what he actually held himself. That was not the actual agreement. It appears that
the actual agreement was “disagreement.” Did the MI damage the NOS? That’s
the hard part. Surely it is more attractive to lead a spade once the other three
suits had been bid naturally than it would have had North been told that 3 was
a help suit game try. Much more so---had North been given correct information,
it’s likely she would have led a club.

I think that in order for the NOS to be damaged by an infraction, it is simply

necessary for it to have been likely that they would have achieved a better score
had the infraction not occurred. That is surely the case. Therefore, they were
damaged. Did the infraction lead directly to the NOS’s bad result, or was North’s
perhaps wild gambling spade lead the cause of it?

The AC states that the lead was “unlucky,” which is enough evidence to me
that it didn’t break the chain of causality between the infraction and the NOS’s
bad result. I can’t tell, but I expect that a club lead would lead to NS +50 as the
director ruled. EW -50.

Actually, I think common sense makes this less close than carefully following
the bridge laws. East misexplained his methods in a way that caused his side to
gain. It wasn’t intentional, but that’s what happened. So NS get redress. Simple
enough.

By the way, the ACBL “rule” that three cards in a minor makes bidding the suit
“natural” has nothing to do with hands like this. It’s only used for convention
charts, to help define what the ACBL has decided is a legal convention. The
ACBL has no jurisdiction whatsoever over what a player deems is appropriate
for a natural call (except 1NT opening bids with fewer than 10 HCP and opening
bids at the one level with a king or more below average strength).

Rigal: Sensible adjustment by the AC though I like the initial TD ruling that
forced the offenders to appeal.

Apfelbaum: I am unsure of the difference between a help suit game try and a
standard game try. Nor do I understand how that difference would have guided
North away from the spade lead she chose. The tournament director analysis
should have included an explanation to justify the ruling.

I agree with the committee. North’s choice of opening lead was unfortunate, but
was not influenced by the explanation. Granting the misinformation, there is no
causal connection between the misinformation and the opening lead.

45
 CASE EIGHTEEN

Subject: MI
DIC: Gary Zeiger
NA Swiss Final

Bd: 8 Jeff Schuett The Facts: The final contract was

Dlr: West 32 3NT down one for a score of NS
Vul: None  A 10 8 5 +50 after the Q lead. The director
 10 9 6 was called after the play was over.
 Q J 10 9
Jim Griffin Pat Griffin Three other players were consulted
J965 AK4 and all bid 3 with the correct
Q9 K764 explanation.
7532 AKQJ8
K87 3 The Ruling: EW were damaged
Kerry Smith by an incorrect explanation of
 Q 10 8 7 CRASH. With the consultation
J32 with and input of expert testimony,
4 the non-offenders were assigned
A6542 the most favorable result likely
5 making five and the score was
West North East South changed to EW +400 (Law 40C and
Pass Pass 1 (1) 1 (2) Law 12C2).
Pass (3) 2 (4) Dbl (5) 2 (6)
2NT Pass 3NT All PassThe Appeal: NS appealed. They
felt that Law 12C2 should not lead
(1) Artificial 16+ to an EW recoup of the full benefit
(2) two suits same color on West side of of playing 5.
screen, Majors or Minors on East
side Statements by the other side: East
(3) 5-7 HCP assumed South had both majors
(4) pass or correct with 6-4 shape, for example, for the
(5) Shows strong hand (or takeout of 2 call.
hearts)
(6) 2 confirms blacks to West and The Decision: The AC felt that
Majors to East there was clearly MI. It had
damaged EW. East might have been
more tempted to bid 3 instead of 3NT had she been properly informed.

The discussion among the Committee members focused on West’s 2NT bid
and East’s decision to bid 3NT instead of 3. While EW might have ended
up defending 2 doubled instead of bidding 2NT, his decision was hardly
unreasonable. The AC thought less of the 3NT bid. However, while it seemed
better to bid 3 instead of 3NT, there was no feeling by the majority that the
call was bad enough to sever the connection between the MI and the damage.

One member of the AC did feel that the combination of the 2NT and the 3NT
bid was enough to sever the link. However, the majority felt that given the level
46
of East and West, both calls were reasonable actions. Therefore, the adjusted
result assigned by the director of 5 making five stands.

Given the position of one member and the relatively uncommitted position of a
second, no AWMW was issued.

The Committee: Barry Rigal, Chair, Doug Doub, Mark Feldman, Chris Moll
and Chris Willenken

Wildavsky: This appeal had no merit.

Wolff: Convention Disruption again and again it is penalized. Hooray, and

especially in a Swiss Teams event where the field is not affected.

Cohen: Based on Law 12C2, the AC came up with the correct ruling. You gotta
know your agreements and explain them properly or pay the price.

Goldsmith: Blech. Nice survey staff, if you want to show a good example of
how not to do one. So what that everyone polled having the right information
bid 3? Everyone having the wrong information would also bid 3.

Result stands. East knew that the explanation was wrong. South corrected
2 doubled to 2. That means he must have spades and some minor. On a
good day, even I can tell that it’s probably not diamonds. So the explanation
was irrelevant except that it told East that NS were having a bidding
misunderstanding. The MI had no bearing on the NOS’s bad result, so there’s no
reason for an adjustment.

Rigal: Anyone who forgets their strong club defenses and confuses the
opposition does not come to ask for equity with clean hands – and should not
expect to get the best of it in a close case. Neither East nor West did enough
wrong to stop playing bridge, to my mind.

Apfelbaum: This hand shows more than most exactly why appeal committees
are a vital part of the bridge appeal process. A majority of the panel had to
first agree about East’s skill level before it could decide whether her action
was reasonable. I respect its judgment that her skill level is such that bidding
3NT was a reasonable choice. Committees are supposed to make this sort of
judgment. The members play bridge at a high level, which requires (among other
talents) the ability to read the actions of the opposition and correctly interpret
them. The members were there and heard what was said. We were not there.

47
 CASE NINETEEN
Subject: Claim
DIC: Tom Whitesides
Senior Pairs 1st Session November 19, 2004

Panel: Charles MacCracken

Bd: 23 North
(Reviewer), Chris Patrias, Roger
Dlr: S 54
Putnam, Matt Smith and Terry
Vul: Both J2
Lavender
 J 10 7 6 5
9763
The Facts: The contract was 2
West East
and the J was led to the A.
 J 10 9 8 7 2 6
Declarer led the 2 to the 6
 A K 10 9 Q864
and South’s Q. South cashed the
A9 KQ842
K and led a heart, which West
J Q85
won with the Ace. He led the J
South
to the king and won the second
AKQ3
heart with the K. West led the
753
10 to the A pitching a heart
3
from dummy. South led a heart to
 A K 10 4 2
dummy’s Q and declarer claimed
without making a statement, in the
West North East South
following end position.
1
1 Pass 1NT Pass
2 All Pass

—
—
 10 7 5
96
987 —
 10 —
9 KQ8
— Q8
3
—
—
 A 10 4 2

The Ruling: Since declarer made no statement about the outstanding trump he
must lead the K, losing a trick to the outstanding trump (Law 70C) for a result
of 2 by West, making two.

Statement from the appealing side: West led trump at every opportunity.
Although he claimed with one trump outstanding, it is totally unreasonable for
him to have miscounted spades and he should not be forced to lead a diamond
rather than ruffing a club to his hand to draw the last trump.

48
Statement from the other side: Declarer had no idea there was an outstanding
trump.

The Panel Decision: Law 70A states that the director shall adjudicate a
contested claim as equitably as possible to both sides, but any doubtful points
shall be resolved against the claimer. The majority of the Panel believed that
while the appealing side has a good argument, it is possible that West did not
notice North’s failure to follow suit the third time trumps were led (thus creating
a “doubtful point”).

Since declarer made no mention of the outstanding trump at the time of his
claim, and since a trick could be lost to that trump by careless, but not irrational,
play, the declarer must lead a diamond, allowing South to ruff. The Panel ruled
2 by West, making two (Law 70A, 70C).

Two members of the Panel, MacCracken and Smith, dissented. They believed the
possibility that declarer might not have noticed North’s show out in trumps on
the third round did not rise to the level of a “doubtful point.” When at trick seven
declarer played the 10, he proved that he had knowledge of two outstanding
trumps (otherwise why would he lead trump just to knock out the ace?). Since
that was the culminating point to his line of play, it is unreasonable to suggest
that he would not pay attention to what the North hand played. Law 70C refers to
the adjudication of claims made with an outstanding trump.

The director is instructed to award a trick to the other side if the claimer did
not mention the trump, if it could be lost by any normal play, and if “it is at all
likely that claimer at the time of his claim was unaware that a trump remained in
an opponent’s hand.” (Law 70C2) The dissenters believed that declarer’s line of
play to the point of the claim made it clear that he was aware of the outstanding
trump.

As an analogy, declarer has K Q 10 x x opposite A 9 x x and claims needing five

tricks in this suit. Had he played the K or Q before claiming, he would be given
all five tricks. When he doesn’t, directors are taught that the Ace has to be played
first. Thus, if the Jxxx is sitting behind the K Q 10 x x, the defense gets a trick. If
the J x x x lies under the K Q 10 x x, the claim is valid. On this hand the declarer
has proved he knows there are two trumps outstanding by his previous play, so at
the key point of his line of play he is just as likely to be watching both hands as
is the declarer with the nine card fit above.

Since part of the Panel did not concur in the ruling, the appeal was judged to
have merit.

Players Consulted: None

Wolff: While I do not feel strongly one way or the other I do believe the
committee was totally on point, but I will suggest the following: This case
should, at least, begin precedent setting on what constitutes a valid claim
and what does not. Here the committee decided three to two that the claimer
49
forfeited his right to draw the last trump by not so announcing. So be it, but the
three panel members who voted one way should be named, leaving the other
two to also be named. Until we get a consistency of individuals getting into
what they are doing and desiring to be accountable we will be lacking in moving
forward. To worry about someone looking bad is a lame excuse for reporting
what happened and who thought what about what.

Also on this case everyone was a trick off in the reporting. Declarer, even with
the forfeited trick, still made eight tricks in spades and not seven. Perhaps, if we
deemed these panels as important as they should be, this would never happen.

Cohen: Based on Law 70C, the majority is correct. This is in accord with
precedents established by the Laws Commission.

Wildavsky: The case seems to miss the point. The laws require the declarer to
make a statement, but do not impose a time limit. If he has not made a statement
by the time the TD arrives at the table then the TD should require him to make
one then and there. There’s no indication here that that happened. In fact the
write-up does not tell us what happened. With the information given there is no
basis on which to make a decision.

Beye: Is it any wonder club directors hate to take these claim rulings. It is just
so easy to state a simple line of play and save everyone the trouble. The panel
had to decide if this was a bad claim or a badly stated claim. These are always
difficult.

Zeiger: Clearly the most important of the Regional cases. We have begun a
swing, in the last two years, towards examining the entire line of play, rather than
just assuming a “forget.” Some would argue this trend is long overdue.

In this case, it is no more possible for declarer to be unaware of the trump

situation, than in the dissenters’ example. If the Panel decision is correct, then
the defense should get a trick in the hypothetical case, regardless of the location
of the trump Jack. After all, a declarer who claims while still missing Jxxx might
certainly be silly enough not to notice a show out.

Nope. I’m a recent convert, but I’ve become a true believer. The cards speak.
The dissenters are correct.

Apfelbaum: One of my problems with commenting on this sort of hand is the

absence of any knowledge of the skill level of the players involved. In hands
such as these, where the skill level of the player can be crucial, this lack of
knowledge could render any comment completely inane. I believe that the
tournament directors owe the readers an assessment of the skill level of the
player(s) involved where the laws on claims require us to consider a player’s
skill. By this, I do not mean some conclusive statement that tracks the law. I
mean a substantive assessment. That is the only really effective way to defend a
decision where we must consider the skill level of a player.

50
In the absence of that assessment, my comments will be based only on the line
of play chosen by the declarer. This declarer played trump at every opportunity.
This declarer was careful enough to play a low spade to the six in dummy. It is
incomprehensible to me that a declarer who played this hand this way would fail
to return to hand with a club ruff to draw the rest of the trump.

51
 CASE TWENTY
Subject: UI
DIC: Olin Hubert
A/X Pairs 1st Saturday Afternoon Nov. 20, 2004

Bd: 16 Bill Schreiber Panel: Matt Smith (Reviewer),

Tom Whitesides and Ron
Dlr: West J6
Johnston
Vul: EW Q987432
Q6
The Facts: The table result was
92
6NT by West making seven, EW
Kenneth Hilbrich Wayne Clay Whalen
+ 1470 after the lead of the 9.
 A K 10 5 3 2
The director was called after the
AJ65 K
6NT bid. The players agreed to
7  A K J 10 9 8 3 2
the director that East said “huh”
A73  10 5 4
in apparent surprise before
Gene Freed
bidding 5. NS made no claim
Q9874
that East took fast or slow action
 10
in bidding 5.
54
KQJ86
Director’s Ruling: The director
ruled that “huh” as a sound of
West North East South
surprise does not demonstrably
1 3 5 (1) Pass
suggest that 6NT (or any other
6NT All Pass
call) would be more or less
successful (Law 16A). The table
(1) East said “huh” before bidding 5
result was therefore allowed to
stand.

The Appeal: NS appealed the ruling. North, East and West attended the
hearing. North had 4300 masterpoints, South 26,500, East 2360, and West
225 (although he had played many years while not a member and he estimated
that he had the equivalent of 2200 points). All players agreed to the facts as
described by the director. North and West also agreed that “huh” sounded like
an expression of surprise by East upon seeing the 3 bid. North said that after
the hand East explained his “huh” as surprise since he originally believed that
he had the AK, so the UI suggested a high heart card thus making 6NT more
attractive given the lack of a diamond fit. West argued that opposite a vulnerable
jump to 5 his hand justified a 6NT bid and that in retrospect the UI suggested
heart shortage if anything.

When asked by the reviewer about the possible differences between this auction
and one that had East starting with 4, both East and West stated that 4
would not have been forcing. Their convention card made no note of this and
both players said that this is what they thought it would mean, but they had not
specifically discussed it. The reviewer told East that he should avoid doing or
saying anything that may give extraneous information to partner and that doing
so risked an unfavorable score adjustment and/or a penalty.

52
The Panel Decision: The panel consulted four experts and four approximate
peers of West. The experts were asked if any unauthorized information from the
exclamation of a surprised “huh” by East might have suggested any particular
direction for West to take. Two thought the “huh” gave no useful information to
West. Another expert thought it was not particularly suggestive of anything, but
if forced to guess what it meant he said he thought it would indicate a stronger
rather than a weaker hand. The fourth said he thought it did suggest a stronger
hand and it suggested that West should bid more rather than less.

The peers were asked what call they chose in the auction without any mention
made of the UI. Two bid 6, one bid 5NT, and the other was torn between 5NT
and 6NT. When they were later told of the UI, none of the peers thought that any
information available from East’s “huh” was suggestive of any particular action
by West.

Based on the input from the peers, the Panel decided that East’s actions did not
demonstrably suggest any action to West so he was free to choose any call he
wanted (Law 16A). Due to the conflicting opinions of the experts, the appeal
was found to have merit.

Players consulted: Fredrik Nystrom, Fulvio Fantoni, Claudio Nunes, Mark

Itabashi, and four peers of West.

Wolff: In some respects this is a ho-hum case, but in a rather important aspect it
illustrates something worth addressing. I certainly concur with the finding that
“Huh” is unlikely to have influenced anything and even if it had, who is to know,
even now, what should have been bid by partner.

What stands out to me is that NS were interested in getting all they could from
whatever they could. 6NT is indeed a very risky contract and if the partner of the
preemptor would have had the Qxx in diamonds the hand would have gone down
a bunch. What I am so against is for a pair, not having done anything noteworthy,
to be in a double shot situation so that if 6NT goes down they accept their top,
but if 6NT makes they try and get an adjustment. Sometimes, in the event of
some blatant offense, a double shot may be warranted, but in this and many cases
we should try and discourage players from trying for something for nothing.

Here, at least an admonishment from the committee stating that they should not
have brought this action, would help to get them from bringing future actions.
Even a procedurial penalty (small) as a reminder would be appropriate. The TD’s
should accept the responsibility of not only policing the game, but making it a
more ethical one. If we ever start doing this I will be the first one to jump for joy,
knowing that the result will be great for the game.

Cohen: If a 4 bid would not have been forcing - as the write up states - then
the 5 bid did not have to be quite as strong as it actually was. Perhaps the
“huh” was not as innocent as EW made it out to be, and might have convinced
West to carry on the auction.

53
I don’t see any consideration by the panel of the foregoing. The panel seems
reliant on the consultants for its decision. But were the consultants told that the
4 bid would not have been forcing?

Wildavsky: I agree with the decisions, but not with the panel’s methodology.
As much as I like polls, in and of itself a poll regarding what the UI suggested
cannot be sufficient to adjust the score. Per Law 16.

“After a player makes available to his partner extraneous information that may
suggest a call or play, as by means of a remark, a question, a reply to a question,
or by unmistakable hesitation, unwonted speed, special emphasis, tone, gesture,
movement, mannerism or the like, the partner may not choose from among
logical alternative actions one that could demonstrably have been suggested over
another by the extraneous information.”

The key word is “demonstrably.” The poll is useless unless the players polled are
willing and able to demonstrate how the UI suggested the action chosen.

Zeiger: The expert consultants who thought the “huh” meant anything were
throwing spaghetti against the wall, hoping something would stick. Nonsense.
This appeal had no merit. Since East had 2300 mps, I wish he had been hit with
a PP by the event TD.

Apfelbaum: The committee got this one right. “Huh” could mean just about
anything on this auction. With no demonstrable suggestion, West could do
anything.

54
 CASE TWENTY ONE
Subject: Tempo
DIC of Event: Janet Case
Senior Pairs 1st Session - Nov. 22, 2004

Bd: 25 North Panel: Bernie Gorkin (Reviewer),

Matt Smith and Su Doe
Dlr: North 83
Vul: EW 42
The Facts: The contract was 6 by
 J 10 6 2
East making six, EW +1430 after
 10 7 6 4 3
the lead of the A. The director
West East
was called after the 6 bid and
AKQ7 J64
again at the end of play. The players
A876 KQJ53
agreed that East hesitated noticeably
9873 Q
before bidding 5.
A K852
South
The Ruling: The director ruled that
 10 9 5 2
there was a break in tempo. East
 10 9
could have had more high cards
AK54
outside the heart suit and thus be
QJ9
missing two key cards. Thus pass
is a logical alternative and the
West North East South
hesitation demonstrably suggested
Pass Pass Pass
bidding on. The score was changed
1 Pass 1 Pass
to 5 making six, EW +680 (Laws
4 Pass 4NT Pass
73F1 and 16).
5 (1) Pass 5 (2) Pass
6 All Pass
The Appeal: EW appealed the
ruling. All four players attended the
(1) zero or three key cards
hearing. West (275 masterpoints)
(2) Hesitation (10 seconds, agreed)
stated that her teacher had explained
that in these situations of zero or
three key card responses (or one or four) that you are supposed to bid on when
holding three or four. Thus, she felt her bid was automatic.

The Panel Decision: The panel decided that an unmistakable hesitation had
occurred and that it demonstrably suggested bidding the slam (Law 16). Five of
West’s peers were given her hand to bid with no mention made of the UI. Four of
the five passed while one bid 6. This made it clear to the panel that pass was
an LA to bidding 6. Using Laws 73F1, 16, and 12C2 a result of 5 making
six EW +680 was assigned. An AWMW was discussed. Based on the players’
inexperience and the belief that their teacher had told them to bid on, no AWMW
was issued.

Players consulted: Five peers of West.

Wolff: OK and the only sane way to rule. Is it possible that we are too gentle on
the perpetrators? After all, they violated “Hesitation Blackwood?”

55
Cohen: Did the panel find out who the bridge teacher was so that a copy of this
case can be mailed to the party? I hope our accredited bridge teachers are better
acquainted with the Laws than this case indicates.

Wildavsky: If East was confident that her partner would bid on with three key
cards then she’d have had no reason to hesitate before bidding 5. Once East
does hesitate before signing off West has no option but to pass.

I don’t think that the agreement that a player will invariably bid on with the
higher number of key cards is a good one. If a pair has that agreement, though,
they can avoid the problem EW encountered here by noting the agreement on
their convention card.

Apfelbaum: A perfect example of hesitation Blackwood. West is right that

holding three controls, she is supposed to go on to slam. However, East does not
have the right hand to use the convention. Frankly, there is no hand West can
hold that is consistent with the bidding and which holds no controls. East needed
to know which controls West held, not how many.

East hesitated because she did not know what to do over West’s 5 response.
Her hesitation meant that West could never bid slam and hope to keep a good
result. I suggest that every player who uses Blackwood decide in advance what
he or she will do over each response. At least then Partner will be free to pass or
bid on without worry of a director or committee taking the board away.

56
 CASE TWENTY TWO
Subject: MI
DIC of Event: Mary Duncan
Side Pairs Monday Afternoon Nov. 22, 2004

Panel: Bernie Gorkin (Reviewer),

Bd: 4 North Charlie MacCracken and Gary Zeiger
Dlr: West
 10 6 4
Vul: Both
AQ952 The Facts: The contract was 3 by
Q2 West making five for EW +200 after
 10 8 2 the lead of the 4. The director was
West East called after the change for the next
AK52 J873 round.
864  10 7
AK954 J73 When West asked about the redouble,
9 AQ76 he was told “10+ HCP”. East looked
South at the convention card and saw that
Q9 the box for redoubles after takeout
KJ3 doubles was marked as implying no
 10 8 6 fit. He asked about it at his turn and
KJ543 EW both said that North confirmed
that this redouble denied a fit. NS
West North East South said that North repeatedly stated that
1 1 Dbl Rdbl (1) the redouble said nothing about a fit
3 All Pass in hearts. East said to the director that
if South had 10+ HCP and no fit then
(1) Both West and East asked about the an EW game in spades was unlikely.
redouble at their turns
The director ruled the table result
to stand. He did not think it clear that misinformation existed so no score
adjustment was warranted (Laws 75, 21, 40C).

The Appeal: EW appealed the ruling. Only East and West attended the hearing.
East had 2380 masterpoints and West 5000. EW reiterated the facts as stated
by the table director. East felt that if there was no heart fit by NS, South might
overruff hearts and game was therefore unlikely.

The Panel Decision: The panel addressed two issues. First, was misinformation
given at the table? The answer to this was unclear. Second, if there was
misinformation did it contribute to any damage suffered by EW?

The panel polled five peers of East to see what they would bid in the auction up
to 3-P. All of them bid 4 and when asked they all said the meaning of the
redouble was irrelevant to them. Law 40C states that: “If the director decides
that a side has been damaged through its opponents’ failure to explain the full
meaning of a call or play, he may award an adjusted score.” The responses of the
players consulted convinced the panel that any damage was not a result of MI
even if it did occur (rendering the resolution of the first issue irrelevant).

57
As to whether this appeal had substantial merit, the panel felt that in light of the
overwhelming sentiment of the consulted players it did not. Even if East was
convinced his argument had merit, West with 5000 masterpoints should have
known not to pursue the case. An AWMW was issued to EW.

Wolff: Good decision complete with an AWMW citation. Perhaps some specific
guidelines for AWMW should be drafted. Language such as “unduly taking up
the committee’s time” and/or lack of respect for the process could be used as
general reasons.

Cohen: Panel got it right on the button. East, with 2380 master points, should
know better than to look under “takeout doubles” to learn what a redouble means
over a “negative double.”

Wildavsky: I think the appeal had merit. NS may indeed have supplied
misinformation, and East gave a cogent reason as for the link between the MI
and his decision to pass. If there was MI then even if we allow the EW score to
stand the NS score should have been adjusted under Law 72b1.

Zeiger: We are beginning to see a trend, which accelerated in Pittsburgh, of utter

disagreement about facts in Regional Appeals cases. This is very troublesome. I
wish I had an answer.

While the Panel decision is clearly correct, I wonder about the AWMW. If polled
peers were explicitly told the redouble denied a fit, would they still bid game?
Sure, the consultants said any information was irrelevant, but this wasn’t the
information they expected to hear. Can you say, “support redouble?” Since I was
on the Panel, I guess this is buyer’s remorse.

Apfelbaum: Great committee decision, although I disagree with part of the

analysis. I wonder whether East-West would have appealed if the Q and Q
were exchanged. The odds of losing no trick in an eight card fit missing the
Queen and Ten include 40% of the 3-2 breaks (67.83%), for 27.13%. The odds
also include 20% of the 4-1 breaks (28.26%), for 5.65%. The odds of losing
no trick in a suit total 32.78%. The odds that at least one of these two suits will
break favorably come to 54.81%. From this, we have to subtract those times
when the other suit breaks 5-0, which reduces our odds to 52.67%.

There is nothing unreasonable in East passing West’s 3 bid.

Turning to the question of misinformation, I agree with the committee there was
none. The NS agreement is that the redouble promised at least ten-high card
points and, apparently, implied no fit. East is entitled to believe the redouble
implied no fit, but is not entitled to believe that it guaranteed no fit. Most
partnerships use a redouble, followed by a raise, to show a limit raise with only
three card support. This is precisely the meaning that was explained to East.

No one can get every game invite choice correct every time. I resent EW for
trying to get from the committee something they did not get at the table. I would
have considered not only the AWMW, but also a procedural penalty.
58
 CASE TWENTY THREE

Subject: Tempo
DIC of Event: Jeff Alexander
Morning KO’s Bracket 3 1st Session Nov. 22, 2004

Panel: Bernie Gorkin (Reviewer) and

Brd: 23
Charlie MacCracken
Dlr: South North
Vul: Both Not Recorded
The Facts: The contract was 6NT
by East making seven for EW +
West East
1470 after the opening lead of a low
 A Q 10 x x Kxx
diamond. The director was called
Qx AKJx
when the play was over.
AQx KJx
Kxx  Q 10 x
Both EW convention cards showed
that 3NT over a major opening was
South
a 13-15 point spade raise. 4 was
Not Recorded
intended as Gerber. NS stated that
the hesitation before the 3NT bid was
West North East South
several minutes. EW agreed to some
Pass
hesitation, but said it was nowhere
1 Pass 3NT (1) Pass
near as long as NS claimed.
4 (2) Pass 4 Pass
6NT All Pass
The director ruled that the table
result would stand. He found that an
(1) BIT (duration disputed). Alerted.
unmistakable hesitation occurred, but
(2) Prior to 4 bid, NS allege that
that it did not demonstrably suggest
West started to pull pass card.
any action over another (Law 16).
Disputed by EW.
The Appeal: NS appealed the
ruling. All players except North attended the hearing. All players at the table
had between 600 and 970 masterpoints. The reviewer confirmed the table
director’s statement of facts (and the disagreement about them) with the players
in attendance. South felt that the hesitation indicated a hand out of range of
the agreement and that pass was an alternative to 4 with the West hand. The
reviewer confirmed that the EW convention cards showed 3NT as a 13-15 spade
raise.

The Panel Decision: The panel agreed that there had been an unmistakable
hesitation before the 3NT bid. The panel then focused on whether that hesitation
demonstrably suggested action over inaction to West, and whether any actions by
West before bidding 4 might have resulted in the use of UI by East.

Five peers of West were given his problem over 3NT. All bid on over 3NT, and
four of the five reached slam. When they were later asked what a hesitation
might suggest, all of the peers said they did not know.

With this input from the consulted players, the panel decided that pass was not
59
a logical alternative and the hesitation did not demonstrably suggest any action
over another (Law 16).

As to West’s possible transmission of UI from his use of the bid box, the panel
decided that even had it occurred, it did not play a role in EW reaching slam. The
score of 6NT by East making seven, EW +1470 was ruled to stand. The panel
decided that the appeal had merit.

Players consulted: Five peers of West

Wolff: Again a good decision, but the basis of appeal seems worth one of those
AWMW things.

Cohen: NS should have been been assessed an AWMW. East can take all the
time he wants at his first turn to respond so that he can plan likely future bids
- particularly when the auction might be quite complex. This may enable East to
make subsequent bids in tempo rather than with BITs. This is somewhat akin to
preplanning your rebids when making a 4NT ace asking bid.

Wildavsky: Fair enough. I don’t understand why NS thought that West should
pass an artificial forcing raise.

Zeiger: Why do I have a feeling EW each forgot system? I wish the Reviewer
had pursued West’s rationale for his auction. Was 4 actually a RKC response
or just a sign off? I think the Panel’s decision was correct, primarily because the
UI did not demonstrably suggest one action over another, but documentation
could have been better.

Apfelbaum: There is something missing in the committee analysis that could

prove important: was East-West a partnership of long standing? For example,
a married couple might be much better attuned to the exact meaning of the
extraneous information provided by East’s break in tempo before the 3NT bid. I
am inclined to trust the committee, but if there was the slightest indication that
EW were an experienced partnership I could easily go the other way.

I have no problem with West’s 4 bid. My problem is that West leapt to slam
after East bid only 4. If 4 is ace asking, then East showed only two aces
(of five) and did not promise extra values. If 4 is a general slam try, then East
denied any slam interest with the retreat to 4.

60
 CASE TWENTYFOUR
Subject: Tempo
DIC: Dianne Barton-Paine
Stratified Pairs 1st Session, Wednesday Nov. 24, 2004

Panel: Gary Zeiger (Reviewer),

Bd: 14 North Mike Flader and Ron Johnston.
Dlr: East  K 10 9 7
Vul: None 942 The Facts: The table result was
932 6NT by East made six, EW +990
652 after the 7 lead. The director was
West East called after the auction. The 4
AJ Q5 and 5 bids were Gerber. 5NT was
Q63  A K J 10 8 to play, but East contended that his
 Q J 10 8 6 AK7 partner could not know that he was
K93  10 7 4 at the top of his range with a good
South five-card suit.
86432
75 The Ruling: The director ruled
54 that an “unmistakable hesitation”
AQJ8 had occurred, that it demonstrably
suggested bidding on, and pass was
West North East South a logical alternative (Law 16A). The
1NT (1) Pass score was adjusted for both sides
4 Pass 4 Pass to 5NT made six, EW + 490 (Law
5 Pass 5 Pass 12C2).
5NT (2) Pass 6NT All Pass
The Appeal: EW appealed the
(1) 15-17 ruling. All players attended the
(2) Slight but noticeable break in tempo hearing. North had 1935 points,
(agreed) South 1850, East 1500, and
West 1100. The players were
unclear about the length of the tempo break. All agreed that it was slight but
noticeable. EW said that 5 did not guarantee all four aces and that 5NT was
non-forcing. East said he went on to six because he had a super-maximum and
a five-card suit, neither of which West knew about. NS stated that in an ace
asking sequence, even a small tempo break is significant. West’s break in tempo,
however slight, suggested bidding on.

The Panel Decision: Four peers of East were consulted. When given the
auction without any mention of UI, two passed 5NT and two bid on (one
bid 6 and one bid 6NT). This established pass, within the confines of the
stated agreements, as an LA (Law 16A). The panel found that there was an
“unmistakable hesitation” (Law 16). The UI demonstrably suggested bidding on.
Pass was an LA not suggested by the UI. The panel assigned a result of 5NT by
East making six, EW +490 (Law 12C2). The appeal was found to have merit.

Players consulted: Four peers of East.

61
Wolff: The facts are clear. West used ace asking and then confirmed with partner
that the partnership had enough aces to make slam. After asking for kings he
hesitated and signed off. Should East be able to overrule? He had the hand for
it, but to what extent did partner’s hesitation bar him? I would let him do it. 1.
because of his hand 2. it was a 50-50 slam and if he would have gone down he
would be paying for it. Perhaps allowing +990 but with a 3 MP (1/4 of a board)
procedural penalty for the UI should be given. Again as previously mentioned in
case 20, NS made use of a double shot and normal playing luck should dictate
-990 for NS. Appeals committees should never be candy stores, but rather
correctional instituitions.

Carroad: Even though a hesitation demonstrably suggests bidding more, so

does the secondary 5 Gerber bid. Once the responder bids 5, the opener
knows they are not off two aces and with his max, can bid a slam with that
AUTHORIZED info.

Cohen: What was the merit? What did the EW pair bring to the panel that the
screener had not advised them about?

Wildavsky: The poll was useful here. I agree with the TD and AC rulings.

Apfelbaum: In Case 21, I chided the use of “hesitation” Blackwood. Now, we

have “hesitation” Gerber. Please, people! Decide in advance what you will do
over every response. That way, your partner will be free to do whatever he or she
thinks is right without fear that a director will give back a good result.

As for merit, I find none in this appeal. West took total control of the auction
with the Gerber bid. The final choice of contract was West’s and West’s alone.
East has a maximum, but is within the promised range. The only reason East has
for bidding is the lack of certainty that West showed before bidding 5NT.

Can we please stop coddling these people and give them the AWMW they
deserve? They have over 1,000 masterpoints each. It is not as if they are new to
the game.

62
 CASE TWENTY FIVE
Subject: UI
DIC: Jay Albright
Open Pairs 1st Session Tuesday Afternoon 11/23/04

Bd : 16 North The Panel: Tom Whitesides

Dlr: West AJ832 (Reviewer), Gary Zeiger, Bernie
Vul: EW 2 Gorkin and Su Doe
753
AJ94 The Facts: The table result was 5
doubled down two for NS +500 after
West East the lead of the 6. The director was
95  Q 10 called after the break in tempo over
A75  Q 10 9 8 4 3 the 4 bid.
 J 10 8 4 2 AKQ9
 Q 10 3 8 The Director’s Ruling: Law 73F1,
South 16A2. Pass by North is a logical
K764 alternative. The slow pass could show
KJ6 something extra and demonstrably
6 suggests that 4 will be more
K7652 successful. West’s 5 call was not
so egregious as to sever their right to
West North East South protection. The 4 call is disallowed,
Pass 1 Dbl 3 (1) and the contract was rolled back to
Pass 3 4 Pass (2) 4 undoubled +100 for NS.
Pass 4 Pass Pass
5 Pass Pass Dbl The Appeal: NS appealed the ruling.
All Pass North and South attended the hearing.
North had 1800 mp and South had
(1) Bergen Raise 10-11 points, four 1650. West had 1500 and East had
spades 2100. North and South felt that either
(2) Agreed BIT they had a great fit for 4 and would
make or that 4 was a make and they
had a great save. They felt 4 was
an automatic call by the North hand. They also felt strongly that 5 was such a
horrible bid that the opponents should be stuck with the result.

The panel decision: Four players having between 1500 and 2000 masterpoints
were consulted. Three of those felt 4 was automatic, one felt it was absurd.
Since one in four would have passed, the ruling was upheld. Because of the
strong feelings of some of the players consulted the appeal was found to have
merit.

Players Consulted: Four peers of North

Wolff: OK ruling according to our procedure. However, should something be

noted (for posterity) that if the bridge is hopelessly bad after UI is given all of
the bad bridge is wiped off the slate. If this is correct, it might help the next
committee.
63
Cohen: When deciding a call is an LA, I am uncomfortable when a panel bases
its decision on only one vote from a consultant group. I would like to have a
concurrent agreement from another consultant to ensure that the single vote in
favor of the LA was not an aberration.

While I agree with the panel’s decision, I am not sure that if we polled eight or
10 of North’s peers that we would find another player who would pass 4. What
say we to future panels?

Wildavsky: I agree with the TD and AC rulings. All the talk of whether 5 was
an egregious error is beside the point. Once North bid 4 there was no way EW
could do as well as the -100 they’d have scored had he passed.

The panel’s note that “Since one in four would have passed, the ruling was
upheld” is potentially misleading. There is no “one in four” standard, nor indeed
any proportional standard, in the ACBL.

Beye: These types of appeals border on the need to give bidding lessons to
players (1800 and 2100 masterpoints) who should know better than to bid and
know how to evaluate hands and bid in tempo.

Zeiger: True confession: I was on this Panel. I know we considered whether 4

undoubled might go two down. I confess I can’t recall our reason for deciding
otherwise. For me this was the most interesting aspect of the case.

Apfelbaum: Law 16A restricts a choice when there is a logical alternative and
the extraneous information demonstrably suggests the action taken. What action
does the break in tempo demonstrably suggest? I suggest that South’s break
in tempo probably suggested something in hearts. If so, then the extraneous
information suggests the opposite of what North chose to do. I fail to see how
South’s break in tempo could demonstrably suggest interest in North bidding on.

A point about West’s 5 bid. I have no problem with the choice, although I
believe it to be against the odds. East really overbid his hand by doubling and
then bidding 4. He has a simple 2 overcall.

64
 CASE TWENTY SIX

Subject: MI
DIC: Terry Lavender
Mixed Pairs, 2nd Thursday Evening, Nov. 25, 2004

Panel: Doug Grove (Reviewer),

Bd: 4 North
Matt Smith and Patty Holmes
Dlr: West 2
Vul: All  J 10 8 7 6 4 3
The facts: The table result was 4
96
by West, making six, EW +680.
AJ2
The Opening lead was the J and
West East
the director was called after trick
 K Q J 10 8 5 A763
two. Before his opening lead, North
5 Q
asked the meaning of the 3 call,
 K J 10 4 3 A875
and was told by East that it was
 10 Q653
a suit, and showed more than a
South
minimum opening bid. He asked if
94
it could be short, and was told only
AK92
in the instance that the shortness
Q2
was a singleton ace.
K9874
North asked the same question
West North East South
twice. The degree to which the
1 Pass 2NT (1) Pass
answer was qualified by “in my
3 (2) Pass 4 All Pass
opinion”, or “it should be…” is a
matter of dispute. Before South
(1) Alerted, Jacoby
led to trick two, she repeated her
(2) not alerted
partner’s question, and was given
the same response. West did not
enter the discussion at either time. South continued hearts at trick two.

In the director’s presence, East said that the partnership had not discussed Jacoby
2NT responses, and that any response did not have to be a singleton. West said
that she thought it could be a singleton.

At the hearing, West confirmed that they had agreed to play Jacoby 2NT, but had
not discussed responses, but that she was playing it the way she played it with
other partners. This partnership has played together approximately six sessions,
and states that a Jacoby auction had not arisen previously.

The Ruling: The director determined that West did not amend partner’s
explanation before the opening lead was made. While she may not have had a
specific agreement that her 3 call showed shortness, she needed at least to
advise the opponents that the sequence was undiscussed (75D2). The director
determined that damage had occurred as a consequence of East’s explanations,
and changed the score to 4 by West, making five, EW +650 (40C, 12C.2).

The Appeal: EW appealed the ruling. All players attended the hearing. North
65
has about 1000 points plus significant additional international experience;
South, 16,000; East, 6000, and West, 300. North and South maintained that
East had not qualified his answers. East maintained that he made very clear that
he qualified the answer with “In my opinion …”. West stated that East used the
words “should be…” in his answer. South defended her trick two lead by stating
that the answer made it safe to adopt a passive defense at a time when breaking
any of the other suits posed a significant risk of costing a trick.

The Panel Decision: The panel determined that EW had not discussed the
responses to Jacoby, that East described a very unusual Jacoby response
structure in a manner that implied an agreement did exist, and that West failed to
amend partner’s explanation. (Law 75D2) The panel also concluded that EW had
violated ACBL policy as expressed in the ACBL General Conditions of Contest
– Pairs, subsection Play, #5, which states that a partnership is responsible for
knowing when and how their conventions apply in probable auctions.

Two experts were consulted in the role of the South player at trick two, and
provided with the explanation given at the table. Both experts immediately
realized what had surely happened. One expert stated that he would have
returned a trump at trick two, accepting the risk of pickling partner’s Qx holding,
because he believed that a singleton heart on his left was more likely than the
resolution of a possible trump guess. He reasoned that partner could have Jack-
Ten seventh of hearts and out and chosen not to preempt over one spade. The
other expert assessed the risks in the opposite manner and said he would have
continued hearts. Both experts believed South’s play was reasonable with the
information provided.

The panel concluded that (by Law 40C and 12C2) the score should be changed
to 4 by West making five for a score of EW +650. The panel concluded
unanimously that the appeal was substantially without merit, and so advised the
appellants. By a two-to-one vote, the panel declined to impose an additional
procedural penalty expressed in matchpoints against EW for violating Law
75D2.

Players consulted: Jim Murphy, Eric Kokish

Wolff: Especially good ruling for me since I love your application of “partners
are expected to know the bare essentials (at least) of their conventions.” Perhaps
as a follow-up we need to advertise this more in the Bulletin so that class B
players on down will realize their responsibilities and not responding will
subject them to penalties.

Cohen: Agree with the panel’s bridge decision of EW +650. However, a PP of

1/10 of a board would have been a learning experience for West.

Wildavsky: I agree that the appeal had no merit.

66
Zeiger: The only reason I can live without the PP is West has only 300 mps. If
he had over 1000, I would ask for his head on a platter.

Apfelbaum: The central question here is whether East-West have an

understanding of the responses to a Jacoby 2NT forcing raise. If East
misexplains West’s 3 bid, West has to clear up any such misexplanation prior
to the start of the play. East did not fix anything by inserting the phrase, “in my
opinion” in his second answer.

I find it interesting that West has so few masterpoints. I think the committee
would have done better to educate West on her obligations and not assess any
AWMW.

67
 CASE TWENTY SEVEN

Subject: UI
DIC: Bernie Gorkin
2nd Fri Daylight Open, First Session

Panel: Doug Grove, Patty Holmes

Bd: 19 North and Susan Doe (Reviewer)
Dlr: South A
Vul: EW K982 The Facts: 5 made seven for
AK9 +440 for NS after the 7 opening
 J 10 9 8 7 lead. The director was called at
West East the end of the play. South did not
 Q 10 9 7 3 KJ86 clarify the 3 explanation before
QJ6  A 10 7 4 3 the opening lead. West said that had
 J 10 5 4 32 she heard “invitational” she would
6 Q4 not have bid 3. North countered
South that he would then have bid 3NT.
542 North also said that South should
5 bid 5 because North could not
Q876 hold a hand where 5 would not
AK532 make.
West North East South The Ruling: The director ruled that
Pass the explanation of “weak” was UI
Pass 1 1 3 (1) for South that suggested bidding
3 4 Pass 5 with her values since 4 was non-
All Pass forcing (Law 16). The contract was
changed to 4 making seven and
(1) West asked for an explanation of +190 NS (Law 12C2).
3. North responded “weak” then
“but not all that weak.” Both North’s The Appeal: NS appealed the
and South’s convention cards ruling. East and West stayed at the
marked invitational. hearing briefly and said they had
nothing to add to the appeal form
they had read. North said that South should bid 5 because he could not hold
a hand where it would not be right to bid with South’s hand. NS agreed that 4
was non-forcing.

The Panel Decision: The Panel examined three aspects of this case by
polling players. Might West’s action over 3 have been affected by a correct
explanation of 3? If so, might North’s action after 3-3 have been different
if the bidding had proceeded 3-P? Finally, could the UI South had from the
erroneous explanation have affected her choice of actions after 4-P?

Six of seven of West’s peers bid with either explanation of 3 (“weak but not all
that weak” as opposed to “invitational”). The comment by West that she would
not have bid 3 was made after the hand was played (she should have called
the director when dummy came down if she believed her call would have been a
68
different one). Because of both these factors, the Panel decided that MI had no
effect on the hand.

Since this finding rendered the player poll on North’s action over 3-P moot,
the Panel then focused on South’s UI with the table auction including the 3
bid. South’s peers (players with 2000 to 3100 points) were consulted about her
bidding problem after North’s 4 bid. When told their agreement on 3 was
invitational, four of the five passed; the fifth chose 5 but considered a pass.
The panel considered that South knew from her partner’s explanation of 3 that
he did not expect such a good hand. North could have chosen 3, a stronger
more forward-going bid.

Passing the non-forcing 4 was deemed an LA to bidding 5 and the UI

demonstrably suggested bidding 5 (Law 16). The contract was changed to 4
making seven for a NS score of +190 (Law 12C2). The appeal was found to have
merit.

Players Consulted: Seven peers of North, seven peers of West, five peers of
South

Wolff: I probably would have allowed the 5 bid since “not all that weak”
together with invitational on the card was enough AI to allow South to bid 5.
Also West’s raise was rub of the green and would be made by most partnerships
whether or not 3 was weak or invitational. The emotion that continues to
puzzle me is that committees can be very hard on small blips, but possible evil
intent (like double shots) are shrugged off.

Cohen: Panel job well done!!

Wildavsky: This appeal had no merit.

Zeiger: What merit?

Apfelbaum: There are a number of peers consulted on this case. I have to

wonder: how are peers selected and using what criteria? There are lots of players
of about the same age with similar masterpoints. Yet there could be a great
difference in their skill level. I cannot say whether such is the case here. What I
can say is there is a question for which the analysis has no answer.

Turning to the case, I agree that the explanation for South’s 3 bid is
not accurate. The wrong explanation demonstrably suggests that North is
undervaluing South’s hand. That makes it easier for South to bid 5. With a
proper explanation of South’s 3 bid, it is not clear to bid 5. The singleton
heart is a plus, but three small spades is a minus. Overall I rate acceptance as a
favorite (just seven losers), but not so lopsided that pass is no longer a logical
alternative.

69
 CASE TWENTY EIGHT

Subject: Dispute of Number of Tricks Taken

DIC: David Cotterman
2nd Friday Seniors 1st session November 26, 2004

Bd: 8 North Panel: Doug Grove, Patty

Dlr: West J86 Holmes, Gary Zeiger and Susan
Vul: None Q9 Doe (reviewer)
Q765
A432 The Facts: The director was
West East called after the play, the cards
 10 3 2 Q75 were mixed and the players were
 10 8 2 J63 disputing the score. East and West
K82 AJ943 thought that dummy had agreed
K875 QJ with them that the contract was
South down one. Dummy and declarer
AK94 disagreed, saying that the
AK754 contract had been made. All had
 10 shuffled their cards and, with the
 10 9 6 director assisting, they could not
reconstruct the play.
West North East South
Pass Pass 1 2 The director could not determine
Pass 2 Pass 3 how many tricks had been taken
Pass 3 Pass 4 by either side and awarded a split
All Pass score: For NS 4 down one,
- 50; for EW, 4 making four,
- 420 (Laws 66D, 79A, 12C2).

Tricks 1 through 6 were agreed to by both sides:

A (lead), Q to A, Q, A, K discarding a club from the North hand,
7 discarding another club from North and East winning the trump 5, a low
diamond won by West’s K and a club played by south.

Trick seven was disputed. West contended that at trick seven he led the K and
set the contract. South said that maybe he intended to lead the club, but in fact,
led the 2.

South listed the last tricks as: 2 to the Q and A, 4 to the 8 finessing
the (marked) ten, the Q discarding the 10, the remaining spades, and the
last heart.

The Appeal: EW appealed the ruling. All four players appeared at the hearing.
EW contended that dummy agreed with them on the number of tricks taken and
they, therefore, mixed their cards and returned them to the board. EW based
their appeal on this assertion and their conviction that West did cash the K.

70
Declarer and dummy thought dummy agreed to declarer’s statement that she
made the contract.

The Panel Decision: The Panel considered that while South gave a coherent
line of play, neither South nor West was able to give compelling evidence to
resolve the doubt about the order of all 13 tricks. For not agreeing to the number
of tricks taken before the cards were mixed, both sides were deemed to have
been in violation of Laws 66D and 79A. Therefore, the Panel awarded a score
that considered both sides offenders: for NS, 4 down one, - 50; for EW, 4
making, - 420 (12C2). The appeal was found to have merit.

Players consulted: None

Wolff: I love the resolution and only suggest one improvement. If the ruling
could be given to all four players (in either the case of no firm resolution as to
how many tricks were taken by whom or if, in the opinion of the director, both
sides were battling for position and neither would budge), then the double ruling
would be enforced for NS –50 and EW -420. If, however, the table could come
to a believable result the director would probably accept it.

Cohen: Similar to Case 25, except both sides were guilty of mixing their cards
- so a plague on both pairs.

Wildavsky: Good work in citing and applying the relevant laws.

Zeiger: This case drove us nuts. We spent at least two hours on it, listening to
the tape of the hearing several times. I have no idea if our final decision was
correct. I’m certain it was legal, another element we discussed at length. I submit
that any expert panelist who “knows” which side was right is either deluded or
the “Amazing Kreskin.”

Apfelbaum: The committee got this one exactly right, although I wonder
whether the appellants were of sufficient skill that they should have known better
than to appeal. An analysis of the skill and experience level of the appellants
might have been appropriate as part of considering that issue.

71
 CASE TWENTY NINE

Subject: Tempo
DIC of Event: Kathy Whidden
Side Pairs 2nd Saturday Evening Nov. 27, 2004

Panel: Matt Smith (Reviewer),

Bd 28 North Doug Grove and John Ashton.
Dlr: West
63
Vul: NS  Q 10 4 2
 10
The Facts: The contract was 5
 K Q 10 9 7 4 doubled by East down one, NS
West East +100. The opening lead was not
QJ87 942 recorded. The director was called
K653 AJ987 after the 5 bid and again at the
AJ983 K762 end of play. The players agreed to
— A the director that North hesitated
South noticeably before doubling 4.
 A K 10 5 West told the table director he bid
— 5 to make.
Q54
J86532
Director’s Ruling: The director
West North East South ruled that an unmistakable
Pass Pass 1 Dbl hesitation occurred, that it
Pass 3 Pass 4 demonstrably suggested the 5
4 Dbl (1) Pass 5 bid chosen by South, and that pass
5 Dbl Pass Pass was an LA for South since he held
two defensive tricks (Law 16A).
(1) BIT (agreed) The NS score was changed to 4
doubled making four, NS –590.
EW were assigned the table result of 5 doubled down one, EW –100.

The Appeal: NS appealed the ruling. Only North and South attended the
hearing. The appeal was legally timely but it was filed after East and West
had left the playing area, so they were unavailable to the reviewer. North had
1120 masterpoints, South 1480, East 3400, and West 14,000. North and South
agreed that a noticeable hesitation occurred before North’s double of 4. North
estimated that the pause was 10 seconds, while South thought it was about 15
seconds. South said he saw no alternative to bidding 5 given his unexpected
club length and his weak defensive hand in light of his previous actions. NS
were a new partnership with no unusual agreements in this kind of auction.

The Panel Decision: The panel agreed that the pause NS agreed to represented
an “unmistakable hesitation” (Law 16A). The panel then consulted two experts
and three peers of South on his bidding problem after partner’s double of 4.
One of the experts thought it was obvious to pull the double. The other was torn,
but thought he might pass the double. Both agreed after finding out that there
was a hesitation before the double that it suggested pulling.

The three peers (two of whom disagreed with South’s 4 bid—they would
72
have passed) all passed the double in the given auction (one with reluctance).
They also all agreed that the hesitation suggested pulling the double. With this
input, the panel ruled that pass was an LA and that the hesitation demonstrably
suggested not passing (Law 16A). Since nothing West did after South’s 5 bid
could result in his side getting as good a score as if South had not bid 5 (and
since 5 was a winning action in the given auction), the panel assigned the
score of 4 doubled making four EW +590 to both sides. The appeal was found
to have merit.

Players consulted: Steve Robinson, Haig Tchamitch, and three peers of South.

Wolff: I agree with the ruling. The case should be used as a precedent to show
that after a BIT even though partner had six-card support for his partner’s jump,
the BIT served as a bar to allow a takeout of the double. This would serve as a
commercial for proper tempo, especially in decision making positions.

Cohen: The TD was wrong in his ruling. If EW were non-offenders - as both the
TD and panel determined - they were entitled to +590 under Law 12C2. NS were
stuck with the reciprocal. The panel got it right.

Wildavsky: Good work in citing and applying the relevant laws.

Zeiger: The only question here is why were EW not the appellants? Surely
they deserved +590. What was the director’s rationale for sticking EW with the
table result? Was the reason documented on the appeal form? I lied. I had three
questions.

Apfelbaum: I sympathize with South, but agree with the committee. South
has an enormous trump fit. In fact, the real value in the South hand is in that
enormous fit. On the other side, South has two defensive tricks. North promised
a trump stack with the double. I rate pass as a second choice, but going on to 5
is not so clear that pass is no longer a logical alternative.

There is a reasonable chance that ten tricks in clubs will be the limit, and that
nine tricks will be the limit in hearts. For example, change a small spade to a
small diamond to the North hand and place the J with West.

73
 CLOSING COMMENTS

Wolff: I hope the TD’s will talk about the necessity to spot double shots (and
note the people who are trying to get them) and treat them no better than all the
other players (in match points) who hold their cards. They don’t deserve any
special consideration since possibly others would not consider, depending on the
gravity of why the director was called, summoning the director under the guise
of protecting themselves, but in actuality are really trying to get something for
nothing.

Goldsmith: We’re seeing the same people in committee over and over again.
The AWMW system needs to be given more teeth. Out of 18 appeals, there are
72 players involved. Nine were duplicates, or 12.5%. That’s way too high, and
that’s not counting the half dozen or so we’ve seen at every nationals in the last
few years. We need to put some teeth into the AWMW program.

The write-ups are bad. It’s possible that the scribes are writing illegibly and/or
extremely poorly, but the huge number of errors in the diagrams suggests the
problem is caused by carelessness on the part of the staff. This needs to be fixed.
Maybe it’d help if the scribe actually typed in his report. How about we put the
form into a Word template and supplied computers to the scribes? Then the staff
would only be responsible for getting the hands right; they ought to be able to
handle that. On the other hand, they haven’t been.

The ACs did a generally poor job this time around. Why are they still forgetting
to note UI issues on MI cases? They got burned again, as they typically do
roughly once per nationals. I count five clearly blown cases out of 18, or 28%.
There were two more judgment calls I think could have gone either way, so five
out of 16 is really atrocious. We need to do better. And this isn’t just bad ACs
doing their typical bad jobs; some very strong ACs blew some of these cases.

What can be done to improve AC’s performances? I don’t know, but I can say
for certain that it is very hard for an AC to do as well in the heat of the moment
as we can with lots of time afterward. Things seem a whole lot clearer on paper
a couple of months later. The players introduce so much nonsensical testimony
that it is very hard to stay focussed. I suspect a few of the blown calls were
reactions to players clearly lying to the committee. Helpful hint to the player:
being honest and straightforward to an AC helps. Even if you are right, lying to
the AC will increase the chance that they’ll rule against you, perhaps wrongly.
Behaving helps, too; ranting and raving works against the player. Then again,
one of the blown calls was against a pair who were the epitome of decorum. The
other side behaved as well, so that was a wash that time.

Rigal: We should be encouraging the committees to look more closely at split

scores. Quite a few instances arose where at the very least one maybe should
have been considered.

74
Should the panel have strict guidelines on when a minority of the people polled
will allow them to treat an action as an LA? If they already have them, what are
they?

Wildavsky: ACs heard 18 cases in Orlando, up from the 13 cases brought to

ACs in New York. The AC ruled as the TD did in seven cases. In the remaining
11 cases, I judged that the AC improved the TD’s ruling four times (Case Three,
Five, Seven and Nine) and worsened it three times (Case Two, Thirteen and
Sixteen). I found that Case Eight, Ten, Eleven, and Seventeen were too close to
call.

Panels heard 11 cases, down from 20 in NYC. They decided as the TD did in
10 of them. In the one remaining case, Case Twentynine, I judged that the panel
improved the TD’s ruling.

The trend in the total number of appeals continues downward as it did all during
2004.

My data can be found at

http://tameware.com/adam/bridge/laws/nabc_casebook_summaries.html

Panels did well in Orlando, though their cases were more straightforward than
those brought to ACs. It’s plausible to suppose that players in NABC events are
more likely to appeal rulings that are incorrect or close and less likely to appeal
correct rulings.

In my judgement ACs in Orlando improved more rulings than they made worse,
but only just. Unfortunately, I have no special insights into how to improve
matters beyond the suggestions I’ve made in previous casebooks.

I do notice that in all cases where I thought the AC worsened the TDs ruling they
negated the TD’s adjustment and restored the table result. I suggest that ACs
should be extra careful in such a situation. When an adjustment is warranted,
failure to adjust can encourage future infractions. That’s bad for the game and
bad for ACs.

Apfelbaum: I thought the committee decisions were reasonably good, but often
missed a point that were important to the ultimate decision. I do not believe any
committee failed to consider a critical point. I do believe the written analysis
needs greater care.

Some of the points that needed more attention in the written analysis include
an evaluation of the skill level of the relevant players and what constitutes a
“peer.” I did not mention this as part of any particular comment, but I would
also like to know exactly what was told to each peer when his or her opinion was
solicited. I have long known that the exact wording of the question can greatly
affect the answer. By this, I do not suggest that anyone is asking a question any
particular way to get a particular answer. I do suggest that a completely innocent
missphrasing of the facts can render the answer meaningless.
75
 NABC APPEALS COMMITTEE
Director Chairman
Alan Le Bendig, Los Angeles CA Barry Rigal, New York NY

BLUE TEAM WHITE TEAM

Team Leaders Team Leaders
Michael Huston, Joplin MO Doug Doub, West Hartford CT
Bart Bramley, Dallas TX Richard Popper, Wilmington DE
Vice Chairman Vice Chairman
Jeff Goldsmith, Pasadena CA Karen Allison, Las Vegas NV
Team Members Team Members
Ralph Cohen, Memphis TN Jon Brissman, San Bernardino CA
Lynn Deas, Schenectady NY Larry Cohen, Boca Raton FL
Aaron Silverstein, New York NY Mark Feldman, New York NY
Abby Heitner, Wheaton MD Jerry Gaer, Phoenix AZ
Mike Passell, Dallas TX Gail Greenberg, New York NY
Michael Rosenberg, New Rochelle NY Ellen Melson, Chicago IL
Danny Sprung, Philadelphia PA Chris Moll, Metarie LA
John Solodar, Palm Beach Gardens FL Tom Peters, Grapeland TX
Riggs Thayer, San Diego CA Judy Randel, Albuquerque NM
Howard Weinstein, Sarasota FL Robert Schwartz, San Pedro, CA
Jon Wittes, Claremont CA Steve Weinstein, Glen Ridge, NJ
John Lusky, Portland OR Chris Willenken, New York NY
Guest Member Guest Member
Joann Sprung, Philadelphia PA Kathy Sulgrove, Twinsburg OH

RED TEAM
Team Leaders
Mark Bartusek, Santa Barbara CA
Ron Gerard, White Plains NY
Vice Chairmen
Jeff Polisner, Walnut Creek CA
Adam Wildavsky, New York NY
Team Members
Darwin Afdahl, Virginia Beach VA
Lowell Andrews, Huntington Beach CA
David Berkowitz, Old Tappan NJ
Dick Budd, Portland ME
Gary Cohler, Miami FL
Ed Lazarus, Baltimore MD
Jeff Meckstroth, Tampa FL
Bill Passell, Coral Springs FL
Marlene Passell, Coral Springs FL
Lou Reich, Wheaton MD
Becky Rogers, Las Vegas NV
Eddie Wold, Houston TX

76
 Index – Orlando NABC Appeal Cases

Case No. Subject Event Type Event AWMW

1 UI LM Open Pairs 2nd Qual NABC Yes

2 UI LM Womens Pairs 4th Session NABC
3 Claim LM Pairs 1st Final NABC
4 UI LM Pairs Final Session NABC
5 UI Open BAM 2 Qual nd
NABC
6 UI Blue Ribbon Pairs 2nd Qual NABC Yes
7 Played Card Blue Ribbon Pairs 2nd Qual NABC
8 UI Blue Ribbon Pairs 2nd Qual NABC
9 UI/Misbid Blue Ribbon Pairs 1 Semi st
NABC
10 MI Blue Ribbon Pairs 1st Final NABC
11 MI Blue Ribbon Pairs 1st Final NABC
12 UI Blue Ribbon Pairs 1st Final NABC
13 UI Reisinger Teams 1 Qual st
NABC
14 UI NA Swiss 1st Qual NABC
15 MI Reisinger Teams 2nd Semi NABC
16 MI Reisinger Teams 1st Semi NABC
17 MI NA Swiss 1 Final
st
NABC
18 MI NA Swiss Final NABC
19 Claim Senior Pairs – 1st Session Regional
20 UI A/X Pairs 1st Sat Afternoon Regional
21 Tempo Senior Pairs 1 Session
st
Regional
22 MI Side Pairs Monday Afternoon Regional Yes
23 Tempo Morning KO Bracket 3 Monday Regional
24 Tempo Strat Pairs Wednesday 1st Sess Regional
25 UI Open Pairs Tuesday 1 Sess st
Regional
26 MI Mixed Pairs Thursday 2nd Sess Regional Yes
27 UI Daylight Open 2nd Friday Regional
28 Number Tricks Senior Pairs 2nd Friday 1st Sess Regional
29 Tempo Side Pairs 2 Saturday 2 Sess
nd nd
Regional

77
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