Appeals at the

2004 Spring 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 Reno

(Cases 1-24 are NABC cases with subject
indicated within the writeup) ................................................................... 1–58
(Cases 25-36 are Regional cases with subject
indicated within the writeup) ................................................................. 59–83

Closing Remarks from the Expert Panelists ................................................. 84-85

NABC Appeals Committee................................................................................ 86

Index .................................................................................................................. 87

Abbreviations used in this casebook:

AC Appeals Committee
AI Authorized Information
AWMW Appeal without Merit Warning
BIT Break in Tempo
LA Logical Alternative
MI Misinformation
NOS Nonoffending Side
PP Procedural Penalty
UI Unauthorized Information

i
 FOREWORD

This casebook marks some changes. Richard Colker, who served as editor for
the past several years, no longer assembles these cases. Under his guidance,
the casebook became what it is today – a useful tool to help improve Appeals
Committees, particularly at NABCs. Richard was more than an editor, serving
also as a commentator. The ACBL recognizes and appreciates Richard’s work
over the years.
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 comments to an expert panel. Some transitional comments
have been inserted to help with the flow. The ACBL will also continue to make
these casebooks available on its web site in order to reach a wider audience.
There were 36 cases heard in Reno. Twenty-four of them were NABC cases,
which means they were from unrestricted NABC+ events and heard by an
Appeals Committee. In most cases the appeal passed through a screener, usually
a senior tournament director. The names of the players are included in all of
these cases.
Twelve cases were from regional events; they included the regional
championship events, some side events and any NABC event that carried
masterpoint restrictions. These 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 thank everyone who contributed. This starts with committee members,
chairpersons, scribes and screeners and later on the expert panelists who
commented on the various cases. Without the time and efforts of these people
the casebook would not have happened.
You may also wish to visit our web site to view this case book or previous
ones.
1. Go to our home page at http://www.acbl.org
2. Across the top put your cursor on “Play”, then click on tournaments
3. From the next page, across a green banner at the top, 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 and educational.

ACBL Headquarters Memphis

September, 2004

ii
 THE EXPERT PANEL

Barry Rigal, 46, was born in London, England. He currently resides in New
York City with his wife, Sue Picus. A bridge writer and analyst, he contributes to
many periodicals worldwide and is the author of a dozen books, including Card
Games for Dummies and Precision in the Nineties. He enjoys theater, music,
arts and travel. Barry is an outstanding Vugraph commentator, demonstrating
an extensive knowledge of bidding systems played by pairs all over the world.
He coached the USA I team to the Venice Cup in 1997. He is proudest of his
fourth-place finish in the 1990 Geneva World Mixed Pairs and winning the
Common Market Mixed Teams in 1998 and the Gold Cup in 1991. In 2003 he
was appointed chairman of the ACBL National Appeals Committee.

Ron Gerard, 60, was born in New York. He is a graduate of Harvard University
and Michigan Law School (JD). He currently resides in White Plains, NY, with
his wife Joan (District 3 Director) where he is an attorney. Ron is a college
basketball fan and enjoys classical music and tennis. He is proudest of winning
the Spingold and Blue Ribbon Pairs in 1981. Each year from 1990 to 1995 he
made it to at least the round of eight in the Vanderbilt KO Teams; he played in
three finals (winning in Fort Worth in 1990) and one semifinal without playing
once on a professional team.

Jeff Goldsmith, 42, was born near Schenectady, NY. He has lived in Pasadena,
CA, for the last 20 years. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
and Caltech. He 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.
www.gg.caltech.edu/~jeff

Adam Wildavsky, 44, was born in Ohio and grew up in Berkeley and Oakland,
CA. He is a graduate of MIT. Since 1986 he has resided in New York with long-
time companion Ann Raymond. He is the proprietor of Tameware LLC, a New
York computer consulting company specializing in Extreme Programming.
He’s 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. His study of the laws is
informed by his study of objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand.

Bobby Wolff
Wolff, 71, was born in San Antonio and is a graduate of Trinity
University. He currently resides in Dallas. His father, mother, brother and wives,
including present wife Judy, all have played bridge. Bobby 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. He
iii
is the only player ever to win world championships in five different categories:
World Team Olympiad, World Open Pairs, World Mixed Teams, World Senior
Bowl and seven Bermuda Bowls. He has also won numerous NABCs including
four straight Spingolds (1993-1996). He served as ACBL president in 1987 and
WBF president from 1992-1994. He 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).

Staff refers to various tournament directors or ACBL staff members in the

Memphis Headquarters.

iv
 CASE ONE

Subject: MI
DIC: Cukoff
North American Open Pairs – 1st Final Session

The Facts: East explained

Bd: 17 Chris Willenken redouble as indicated. The actual
Dlr: North A K Q 10 4 EW agreement was that it showed
Vul: None 10 7 a singleton or doubleton A or
Q 10 9 4 K. NS attempted to call the
director at the end of the auction,
3 2
when the correct explanation of the
Kitty Cooper Steven Cooper agreement was offered, prior to the
J 5 9 7 6 3 opening lead. On the opening lead
A Q 9 6 5 3 of the Ace, West scored +130.
A K J 8 7 5 The director was summoned at the
J 10 8 7 5 4 A Q end of play.
Glenn Milgrim
8 2 The Ruling: West received
K J 8 4 2 unauthorized information from
6 3 2 the explanation offered by East,
K 9 6 demonstrably suggesting further
action after 3, pass being deemed
a logical alternative. The contract
West North East South was changed to 3, –150 for EW.
1 2 Dbl
Rdbl(1) 2 Pass Pass The Appeal: West felt her hand was
3 Pass 3 Pass too strong to pass 3, believing
3 Pass 3 Pass game in either NT or hearts still
4 All Pass possible. West stated that it was
common for her partner to explain
(1) Explained as doubleton A or K agreements imprecisely. EW also
felt that six tricks in the assigned
diamond contract was incorrect.
NS felt that East had shown a near
minimum, though conceded he may be showing a six-card suit. Further, the UI
suggests West try to improve the contract. The committee determined that the
redouble showed, by agreement, at most a doubleton diamond, but said nothing
about the strength of the hand.

The Decision: West had already offered to play in a partscore of 3. The
committee agreed that the UI demonstrably suggested bidding over 3 and that
pass was a logical alternative. In a 3 contract a spade lead was likely followed
by a trump switch. Declarer could then play a club to the ace, followed by a
heart finesse to secure seven tricks. However, the committee also considered
the possibility of declarer playing the opening bidder for the K and taking a
club finesse. South could then discard clubs on North’s spade winners to secure
a club ruff. The committee felt that it was not unreasonable to score seven
1
defensive tricks for down three. The committee ruled 3 minus 150 for both
sides.

Committee: Doug Doub, Chairperson, Jon Wittes, Mark Bartusek, John

Solodar and Gary Cohler.

Rigal: This was a slam-dunk. The UI arising from the MI made bidding on
more attractive and passing was clearly a LA – East’s 2 call was on as poor a
suit as I’ve seen from an expert for a long while. The 3 call over 3 strongly
suggested a good six-card suit not a pathetic five-card suit. The only point at
issue was how many undertricks to assign and the committee did a good job. I
agree with the reciprocal adjustment. There was enough discussion to make an
AWMW inappropriate, but barely.

Goldsmith: Good job by the committee until they failed to issue an AWMW.

Gerard: Look at what East overcalled with and tell me again how West was too
strong to pass 3. The club finesse seems odds against, but South might have
doubled with xx, KJ10xxx, Qxx, xx — then the club finesse rescues
down one. I’m adding “My partner frequently misexplains our methods” to my
“Yeah, sure” list.

Wildavsky: West’s contention that “It was common for her partner to explain
agreements imprecisely” seems profoundly irrelevant. First, with no adjusted
score East will have no incentive to improve his precision in the future. Second,
East’s 3 call seems to indicate that he thought the agreement was precisely the
one he stated.

This appeal had no merit.

Staff: The only possible merit here is in the play analysis. West’s argument
about the bidding is so silly though, that I find myself unable to muster any
sympathy for the possibility of –100. It seems Committees are just as guilty as
Panels of not discussing enough AWMWs.

2
 CASE TWO

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Cukoff
North American Pairs – 2nd Final

The Facts: 3 doubled was down

Brd: 15 John Stiefel
4, –1100. The director was called
Dlr: South Q 6
two rounds after the play of the
Vul: NS A 3
hand. West did not use the stop
A Q 7 3
card, North did not pause after 2,
A 8 5 3 2
East paused five to eight seconds,
Jill Meyers Ed Davis
and West doubled quickly.
9 8 7 3 2 A K 5 4
K 10 9 8 2 Q 5 3
The Ruling: The hesitation by East
K J 2 10
demonstrably suggested a double
— K Q 9 6 4
while pass was a logical alternative.
Victor King
The result was changed to 3,
J 10
–400.
J 7 6 4
9 8 6 4
The Appeal: Though the stop card
J 10
was not used, the 2 agreement had
been pre-alerted prior to the start of
West North East South
the round. EW said that North bid
Pass
after four seconds. South passed
2 (1)
3 Pass (2)
Pass
immediately. West contended that
Dbl All Pass
she was systemically obligated to
reopen with shortage when playing
(1) 5-5 in hearts and another with weak
these methods since a double by
two-bid strength
East would have been negative. NS
(2) BIT
estimated the pause after 3 at
five to eight seconds. It was only
after the round that NS worked out that –400 would be a good matchpoint score,
calling the director at that time.

The Decision: The committee determined that the 2 agreement at this

vulnerability had a range of 4 – 10 HCPs. The committee reasoned that (1) the
fast bid by North passed some responsibility to East not to bid too fast; (2) in
the context of a competitive auction five to seven seconds is the recommended
tempo; (3) the reopening double was systemically obligated in the context of
South’s fast pass, even if East had been judged to have taken a clear BIT. The
fact that the director was called two rounds after play was completed did not
terminally damage the NS case but it did weaken the contention that there had
been an obvious break in tempo. The table result was restored for both sides,
3 doubled, –1100.

Committee: Doug Doub, Chairperson, Darwin Afdahl, Mark Bartusek, John

Solodar and Barry Rigal.

3
Rigal: The TD made what to my mind was clearly the right ruling: namely when
in doubt to rule for the non-offenders and leave the AC to sort it out. This is
the sort of deal that gets a lot of people up in arms; what constitutes a break in
tempo? Does the five to seven seconds constitute a license to convey UI, because
passing in two seconds conveys no interest, and can’t be subject to penalty? I
don’t know; I’d rather we established some more definite rules here, even if I
did not agree with them 100%, if only for the sake of consistency. For what it is
worth I agree with the committee.

Goldsmith: The committee didn’t say that EW showed them system notes to
indicate that a reopening double is mandatory with shortness. Without that,
I’d reject that argument as uncorroborated self-serving testimony. Without
that argument, I don’t see EW as having a case. While five to eight seconds
is normal tempo for competitive auctions, if everyone at the table knows there
was a BIT, then there was. East’s hand suggests he had a problem, though it
was probably trying to remember system and follow-ups after methods one only
plays in Midchart events are typically not in the front of one’s memory. If East
knew for sure partner would reopen with shortness, he’d pass in tempo.

So, if EW produced system notes demonstrating their claim that the double is
mandatory with West’s hand, then there is no problem because passing is no
longer an LA. If they didn’t, then passing is an LA and is contraindicated by the
UI from the BIT, and therefore is required.

For what it’s worth, Jill and Randy Montin’s Women’s Trials announcement of
this same convention does not mention that reopening doubles are mandatory,
but they do say that responder’s doubles are negative. Since it is not the case that
negative doubles necessarily imply forced reopening doubles, we need written
notes to rule as the AC did.

Gerard: What does the opponent’s tempo have to do with systemic obligations?
If I open 1 with a 4-5-3-1 minimum and it goes 2-Pass-Pass back to me, am
I systemically obligated to reopen with a double only if RHO passed quickly?
Apparently, aggregate value theory (see Philadelphia 32, Anaheim 28) isn’t
something the Committee was acquainted with. If the Committee really believed
that business about South’s tempo, West was not systemically obligated to
bid. I think this was a case of paw-in-mouth disease and they just didn’t think
about the consequences. If the evidence upheld West’s contention about EW’s
methods, there was no LA to her double whatever the tempo of East and South.

Now, having said all that, what difference did it make? There was no BIT,
therefore no UI, and therefore no constraints on West.

Wildavsky: A pair’s claim that they “always reopen when short” should not be
accepted without additional evidence. In particular this agreement ought to be
noted on their convention card, along with details as to degree of shortness and
level. After all, their opponents are entitled to know. See my dissent from Case
Six in New Orleans.

4
I don’t understand why “five to seven seconds” is the recommended tempo
in this auction. Recommended by whom? Three to five seconds seems more
appropriate to me. If my opponent hesitated for seven seconds and it turned out
he had a poor hand and was not considering acting I’d feel put upon.

I am also troubled by West’s failure to use the Stop card.

On the facts as presented, I prefer the TD’s ruling, but I don’t think the AC
decision is necessarily incorrect. It can be difficult enough to assess whether
there was a break in tempo if the TD is called immediately. It is all the more
difficult if he is called only after a subsequent board.

5
 CASE THREE

Subject: UI
DIC: Cukoff
North American Open Pairs – 2nd Final

The Facts: 4 scored +420. The

Bd: 24 Alex Kolesnik director was called at the end of
Dlr: West 5 2 the play period. No questions
Vul: None K 5 were asked at the table. NS had no
J 10 3 2 agreement, but had discussed that
A 8 7 3 2 doubles of artificial calls show the
Lew Stansby Joanna Stansby suit bid.
K 9 8 7 J 3
J 3 2 10 9 7 The Ruling: Failure to ask
K 7 5 Q 9 8 6 4 questions does not constitute UI.
K Q J 10 5 4 The table result stands.
David Hadden
A Q 10 6 4 The Appeal: EW believed that
A Q 8 4 3 North had UI from his partner’s
A failure to ask the meaning of 3.
9 6 They felt that 4 could show a
better hand for clubs than a double
West North East South of 3. Though North had club
1NT(1) Pass 3(2) 4(3) length it was still possible, though
Pass 4 All Pass unlikely, that South had long clubs.
(1) Announced 12 – 14 The Decision: The committee
(2) Alerted, transfer to diamonds determined that NS had a
(3) Intended to show the majors documented agreement that
double of an opponent’s artificial
bid always showed length and strength in that suit. NS further explained that
after an earlier accident involving a similar artificial call they had agreed that
a cue bid would be a two-suiter not natural, regardless of whether the artificial
call might or might not show the suit bid. The committee found that NS were
under no obligation to ask questions. They found no infraction and upheld the
director’s ruling.

EW were assigned an AWMW.

Committee: Doug Doub, Chairperson, Darwin Afdahl, Mark Bartusek, John

Solodar and Barry Rigal.

Rigal: There are a number of peripheral issues not covered by the writer having
to do with the length of time taken to give the initial ruling. Also the committee
ruling was based on one line in the system notes produced by the offenders,
which the committee interpreted to create a blanket rule covering this precise
position. The offenders detailed an earlier sequence which had led to their
creating a rule “When an opponent makes a possibly natural call, a cuebid
6
is always forcing and not natural.” Once the committee had come to that
conclusion, they had little option but to rule as they did.

Goldsmith: Theory: The committee is correct that it is not the case that a player
must ask questions. But it is the case that UI is transmitted by the manner in
which a player makes a call. To have asked or not asked about a call is the
manner in which a call is made, so failing to ask can definitely supply UI.

Practice: The UI helped NS avoid a disaster, but North’s hand alone is enough
information for North to realize that his partner probably does not have a huge
club suit and therefore 4 was probably intended as a cuebid. So while there
was UI, AI duplicated the information, and North was free to bid as he wished.
If his hand were different, an adjustment would be in order.

Could South have something like AKx Axx x KQJ109x? Yes, but not
likely. If 4 showed essentially independent clubs, then 4 would have been a
cuebid (North could not normally expect only a six-card club suit). North would
surely cater to the possibility of a misunderstanding by cueing 4, so would end
up in the same spot.

The AWMW is definitely not appropriate. There was UI, the UI appeared to
influence the opponent’s decision, and EW appeared to have been damaged by
that decision. Only after working out that North’s normal action would have
caused NS to land on their feet would I not rule against NS.

Gerard: Suppose 3 was Alerted as showing a weak 5-5 in the minors. Double
would be takeout, 4 more distributional. On all other Alerts to 3 (1NT-3
weak is not Alertable), double is natural, 4 is takeout. Therefore, South needs
to ask before doubling but not before bidding 4. Failure to ask before bidding
4 could never be UI, since there is no Alert to 3 that changes the meaning of
4.

Now suppose NS had agreed that 4 would be natural over all Alerts except
the weak 5-5. Then South needs to ask before doubling or bidding 4. But by
not asking he would be conveying club UI, not takeout UI, because the obvious
conclusion is that he assumed a normal Alert, probably even forgetting about
the abnormal one. So North would be free to bid the contraindicated 4. In
other words, the meaning of 4 depends entirely on NS’s agreement, not on
EW’s agreement. Assuming a consistent meaning for 4, there is no possibility
of UI. Assuming a variable meaning for 4, there is UI but no demonstrable
suggestion of 4. I’m amazed that EW didn’t understand this.

Wildavsky: “The Ruling: Failure to ask questions does not constitute UI.”

I’m not sure this is correct. Authorized information from partner can come
only from his calls and plays. The fact that he has or has not asked a question
is not authorized information. Would that mean that players have unauthorized
information on every deal? Sadly it would. That need not result in a tumult of
TD calls, though. Normally this unauthorized information does not suggest one
7
action over another, so partner has no special obligations under Law 73C.

That said, I have no quarrel with the rulings, though I think the appeal had merit.
I wish, though, that when the AC asserts that a pair has a documented agreement
they would tell us where and in what form that agreement is documented.
An exact quote does not seem too much to ask — then we could judge its
applicability for ourselves.

Staff: If the last two sentences of the Committee decision had been the first two,
it could have dispensed with any other analysis, except the AWMW of course. I
wish this appeal had been withdrawn during screening.

8
 CASE FOUR

Subject: Proprieties
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Open Pairs – 1st Qualifying

The Facts: After the opening lead

Bd: 3 Ron Smith (TN) of the A, 2 doubled went down
Dlr: South J 6 4 2 1, –100 for NS. With four tricks left
Vul: EW 8 5 4 to be played, West deliberating and
J 7 6 2 on lead, East said, “Lead a card.”
A 10 West led the A. The director was
Boris Baran Mark Molson called at the end of play.
A 5 3 K 9 8 7
10 9 3 2 Q J The Ruling: West’s remark was not
A K 5 4 Q 9 3 deemed to have been “directive”. The
Q 9 J 6 4 3 table result was allowed to stand.
Linda Smith
Q 10 The Appeal: NS said that at trick
A K 7 6 ten West was unsure whether to
10 8 play a diamond, necessary if South
K 8 7 5 2 had started with Kxx, AKxx,
10x, Kxxx, or the spade,
West North East South necessary if South started with five
1NT(1) clubs and no spade.
Pass 2 Pass 2
Pass Pass Dbl All Pass The Decision: All players attended
the hearing. With West on lead
(1) 10-13 at trick 10, he huddled for at least
two minutes. East said, “Lead a
card,” followed by, “It doesn’t matter what you play.” West then led the A and
another spade. At the time of the remark there were only a few minutes left in
the round with another board to be played.

The committee determined that East knew at that point that West had to hold the
A. East’s statement would have been accurate if either he or declarer held the
spade King and the long club. That was not the case. With two red winners in
dummy the quickest way to end the deal was for partner to play the A and a
spade. Thus, the committee judged that East’s comment did subtly suggest the
lead of a spade.

(See deal on next page)

Was there a logical alternative to the spade play? East’s play of his club spots
earlier in the hand clearly showed that either the declarer had the long club,
or that East was trying to tell his partner to play a spade. West had defended
less than optimally at several instances during this deal, and had taken two
minutes without leading to trick 10. A majority of the committee thought that
for a comparable player in West’s state of mind (under time pressure) playing a
diamond was a logical alternative to the winning spade play.
9
 J 6
8
J
—
A 5 3 K 9 8 7
— —
5 —
— —
Q 10
7
—
2

Nevertheless, though a diamond lead was plausible, after the play of the J
at trick nine, it could not possibly be logical for West to lead a diamond. The
committee assigned for NS the contract of 2 doubled, –100, and for EW 2
doubled –470.

Committee: Adam Wildavsky, Chairperson, Doug Doub, Scribe, Howard

Weinstein, Danny Sprung and Ed Lazarus.

Rigal: Excellent committee ruling to stamp out such behavior at the table.
The split ruling is exactly right also – it could be a poster-boy for this sort of
adjustment.

Goldsmith: I don’t buy the “subtle” inference. East’s comment didn’t say
much about his hand, just about his state of mind. He was irritated that partner
was taking forever so he basically just said, “do something.” In a sense, no card
mattered if West took another two minutes, because losing a board is expensive,
too. East was not in any state of mind to be subtle. So, West’s taking such an
inference successfully is not realistic. There was no UI. Since there was no UI,
there is no score adjustment. If the AC chose to give a disciplinary penalty to
East for his outburst, that might be reasonable, but I’d judge not to.

Gerard: Words fail me, m’lud. I can’t dignify this kind of failure of
documentation with an extended commentary. Oh, I can guess what happened,
involving West’s mishandling of the trump suit, but why should I have to. I
will say that it would seem off the chart to play East for Q10x QJ Q9x
Jxxxx whether dealing with NS or EW.

Wildavsky: This was a close case. Suppose we grant that the UI demonstrably
suggested the play chosen, and that the losing play was a logical alternative. At
the time I thought both were the case, but certainly neither is clear. Even if both
were clear I do not think we decided 100% correctly. The correct ruling depends
on how one interprets Law 12C2.

10
“When the Director awards an assigned adjusted score in place of a result
actually obtained after an irregularity, the score is, for a non-offending side, the
most favorable result that was likely had the irregularity not occurred or, for an
offending side, the most unfavorable result that was at all probable.”

This seemed clear for years, but then Howard Weinstein suggested that in a UI
case the irregularity in question might be the action that provided UI rather than
the action that failed to “carefully avoid taking any advantage” as required by
law 73C. This has been discussed in prior casebooks, but I’ll add my two cents
worth.

An action that provides UI may be an irregularity, but it is not an actionable

irregularity. A player may hesitate, make faces, or speak out of turn, but the
score will not be adjusted so long as his partner bends over backwards to avoid
taking any advantage that may accrue. If we were to decide that we ought to
adjust to a result that was likely or at all probable absent any UI we would have
to allow actions that would be chosen by a majority of players even when logical
alternatives were available. It makes no sense that law 12C2 should override the
provisions of law 16A. We’d have to start allowing players to pull slow penalty
doubles and all sorts of things that would destroy the integrity of the game.

For the “obligatory Kaplan quote” see

http://bridgeworld.com/default.asp?d=article_sampler&f=samed.html

This is a case I’ve cited before, where a player finds a dangerous and successful
balance after his partner has hesitated. It cannot be right to allow players to bid
in situations like this. Even adjusting for only the offenders would be harmful
to the game. First it would give the non-offenders less reason to summon the
TD, and we might not have the opportunity to adjust the score for the offenders.
Second it would be unjust. As Michael Rosenberg has noted, why should we
saddle the non-offenders with a worse result than they would have achieved
opposite a player who fulfilled his Law 73C obligation?

Staff: Minus 470 for EW is quite a stretch. By its own admission, the
Committee needed to find a “subtle inference” demonstrably suggesting the
spade lead. Can a subtle inference demonstrably suggest? Then they forced West
to lead a card “which could not possibly be logical.” This is too big a stretch.
Table result should stand. Procedural penalty to EW for East’s comment which
caused all the fuss.

11
 CASE FIVE

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Open Pairs – 1st Qualifying

The Facts: Both sides agreed

Bd: 16 Alexander Allen to a hesitation, though brief,
Dlr: West — prior to the double by West.
Vul: EW A Q 9 8 The director was summoned
9 5 immediately after the double.
Q J 9 5 4 3 2 On the 9 opening lead, 5
Serge Aronovich Marianne Aronovich was defeated three tricks,
A 10 7 6 3 Q J 9 8 5 4 –300 EW.
K 7 3 2 10 5 4
10 6 K 4 The Ruling: The director
AAK 10 7 determined that the break
Julie Rowe in tempo in conjunction
K 2 with East’s previous bid of
J 6 4 established UI for East,
A Q J 8 7 3 2 demonstrably suggesting that
8 6 bidding 5 would be more
successful than defending
West North East South 5 doubled and that pass
1 2 4 5 was a logical alternative. The
Dbl(1) P 5 All Pass contract was changed to 5
doubled, +550 NS.
(1) 4 – 5 second hesitation
The Appeal: EW were the
only players to attend the
hearing. They contended that four to five seconds did not constitute a BIT for
this type of auction.

The Decision: The committee had no information as to the length of the

hesitation other than “brief ”. Based on the director’s confirmation that the
double was made after four to five seconds the committee determined that no
break in tempo had occurred. The committee restored the table result, 5, –300.

Committee: Jeff Polisner, Chairperson, Lowell Andrews, Tom Peters, Darwin

Afdahl and Gary Cohler.

Rigal: See case #2. I personally agree with the determination that this was not a
BIT, but had the non-offenders been present we might have had a more contested
view about the BIT. Well, we can’t stop non-offenders from not turning up, but it
is obviously at their own risk, as cases of this sort show.

Goldsmith: There was a break in tempo. Why else did East bid 5 with a
likely trump trick and no shortness? Against 5 doubled, however, a trump lead
seems blatantly obvious. It may be possible to make 5doubled after that, but
12
it’s not real likely. Therefore, the 5 bid didn’t damage NS and no adjustment is
needed.

Wildavsky: I agree with the AC: four to five seconds ought to be the normal
tempo in this auction. A faster call would make UI available. If it were close (I
don’t think it is) I would look at the hand of the player who is alleged to have
shown that he had a problem. In fact there is nothing about the West hand to
suggest that he thought double was unclear.

Staff: Did South pause 10 seconds after the 4 bid? If not, West’s action might
arguably be considered fast! If the director found four to five seconds as the
time taken by West, no adjustment should have been considered.

13
 CASE SIX

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Cukoff
Silodor Open Pairs, 2nd Qualifying Session

The Facts: The contract was 3

Bd: 8 Fred King doubled +530 for EW. After the 3
Dlr: West Q J 2 call, East hesitated before passing.
Vul: None A J 9 5 4 2 The director was called at the time
K 4 of the 3 call. West agreed that
3 2 his partner had hesitated prior to
Chris Compton Jim Mahaffey passing. West felt his call was
8 7 6 A K 9 5 ethical based on the probability that
— K 8 6 3 his partner most likely had a penalty
Q J 8 6 5 3 10 9 double of 3.
A K Q 4 10 9 8
Alan Kleist The Ruling: East’s hesitation
10 4 3 created UI for West, Law 16A. The
Q 10 7 Director ruled that pass was an LA
A 7 2 and the contract was changed to 3
J 7 6 5 by South, +50 for EW.
West North East South The Appeal: West agreed to a
1 1 1 2 BIT by East but stated that passing
2 3 Pass(1) Pass 3 was not a consideration at
3 Dbl All Pass matchpoints. He argued that had
he passed, he would have been
(1) BIT taking advantage of the UI because
the BIT demonstrably suggested
defending. In fact, it was likely that East was considering a penalty double
rather than further offensive action. Since West did not feel he could credibly
double 3, (he referred to such an action as “cheating”), he took what he
thought was contraindicated action by bidding rather than passing. Under the
circumstances, he thought he had not violated Law 16 and no adjustment was
appropriate. West stated that he expected East to hold five spades, although he
later said that he recalled that that was not always the case.

The Decision: The committee felt that East’s BIT suggested some form of extra
values, not necessarily a pure penalty double. It did not agree that Pass was not
an LA, since it could easily produce a plus score when 3 could not be made.
That the form of scoring was matchpoints did not compel action rather than
inaction because even at matchpoints plus scores are more desirable than minus
scores. Given that the BIT suggested action over inaction, and that double would
have been an illegal suggested alternative, the committee judged that 3 was
demonstrably suggested by the BIT (especially if facing what was thought at the
time to be a five-card spade suit) and that pass was an LA.

Therefore, for EW it disallowed the 3 bid and adjusted the result to 3,
14
down one. It analyzed NS’s defense to 3 to determine whether it constituted
failure to continue playing bridge, since the non-offenders had the opportunity
to profit from the irregularity (defeating 3 rather than going down in 3).
Although the defense had not been optimal – North had won the opening heart
lead (declarer discarding from dummy) and plunked down the king of diamonds
and a diamond – it was not deemed to be egregious since it might have been
necessary to cash diamond tricks before they were discarded on clubs. In
addition, the defense was very complicated and not subject to precise analysis.
As a result, the committee agreed with the NS adjustment to 3, –50.

Committee: Ron Gerard, Chairperson, Bill Passell, Mark Bartusek, Aaron

Silverstein and Marlene Passell

Dissenting opinion from Aaron Silverstein: With the current language of the
Laws, I do not believe that the hesitation suggests anything. Looking at a
heart void partner might very well be thinking of a penalty double with heart
values, the most likely hand to make it wrong to bid on. If no alternative is
demonstrably suggested, and extra values is only one of the hands that may be
suggested, then there is no basis for an adjustment.

Rigal: At the time I felt little sympathy for EW. I’ve modified my position a little
but I still felt that East’s BIT pointed West towards some sort of action, and in a
professional/client relationship, I believe the committee made a reasonable call.

Goldsmith: When given this hand in Reno, I thought the committee had lost
their collective minds. Not only would I bid 3 without thinking there is an
alternative, it’s obvious from my hand that partner was thinking of doubling 3,
so I am not constrained to pass 3; in fact, the UI that I have suggests passing
over bidding, though only mildly. This was essentially West’s argument and he
was right.

Gerard: West thought the BIT suggested “Defend”. We thought the BIT
indicated “Do something.” The specific something would depend on West’s
hand. Since double was out no matter what the BIT indicated, Pass was tainted
if you agree with West, 3 if you agree with us. If you can’t figure out what the
BIT indicated, nothing is tainted. The one thing all the non-Wests of the world
should be able to agree upon is that “Pass is not a consideration” was not a good
place for the discussion to start.

Wildavsky: The TD ruling leaves out a step. To adjust the score he must also
find that the UI demonstrably suggests the action taken. I’m not sure it does.
This was a difficult case — I have great sympathy for West’s contention that his
3 bid was required by Law 73C.

Far from constituting a “failure to play bridge” North’s diamond switch was
his best chance to defeat the contract. After three rounds of diamonds ruffed by
North with a spade honor declarer must play very well to take nine tricks. On the
lie of the cards the contract was makable on any defense.

Staff: Why not a player poll? Wouldn’t most players of this caliber compete?
15
 CASE SEVEN

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Hubert
Silver Ribbon Pairs, 2nd Qualifying

Bd: 17 Debbie Gailfus The Facts: After the 4 call, North

Dlr: North 9 hesitated prior to passing. The stop
Vul: None K Q 5 card was not used. The director was
Q J 5 4 3 called after North’s Pass of 4.
J 8 7 6 5 failed by one trick, –50 for EW.
Gail Bell Gila Guttman
A 10 8 6 5 4 2 K Q J The Ruling: North’s BIT
2 A J 9 8 4 3 constituted UI, demonstrably
9 8 10 7 suggesting action when pass was a
K Q 4 10 2 logical alternative. The result was
Alan Gailfus changed to 4, +420 for EW.
73
10 7 6 The Appeal: NS were the only
AK 6 2 players to appear. North contended
A 9 5 3 that the BIT was no more than
20 seconds as she needed time to
understand the auction, which to
West North East South
this point had been rapid. When
Pass 1 Pass
she finally realized that South still
1 Dbl Rdbl(1) 2
had a call coming, she passed.
4 Pass(2) Pass 4NT
South felt he had no alternative to
5 All Pass
bidding, given his strong holdings
in both of partner’s suits. He felt
(1) Support for s the pause was no more than 12 to
(2) BIT 15 seconds. The appeal form
indicated that EW estimated the
BIT at 30 seconds.

The Decision: Despite the peculiarities and speed of the auction the committee
determined that North had paused considerably longer than necessary, creating
UI from that BIT. The committee felt this BIT demonstrably suggested bidding.
Pass was considered a logical alternative for South, although possibly a minority
action. The committee upheld the director’s ruling changing the score to 4
+ 420 for both sides.

The appeal was found to have merit.

Committee: Bart Bramley, Chairperson, Steve Garner, Chris Willenken, Jon

Wittes, and Ed Lazarus.

Rigal: The decision was clear here, the AWMW question less so. I wonder
whether if this had been the Blue Ribbons rather than the Silver Ribbons if the
view might not have been taken that passing was not an LA. I also feel that
16
looking at North’s hand she was obviously simply out to lunch – which makes
me feel more sympathetic towards South. Perhaps it should have been stated that
West’s 5 call was a reasonable action that in no way broke the chain.

Goldsmith: I’m surprised North didn’t simply say, “I waited ten seconds for
the skip bid and that’s it.” Certainly her hand doesn’t suggest that she had a
problem. But everyone knew she did have a problem, so there was UI, which the
AC correctly diagnosed. What does the UI suggest?

I have no idea what sort of hand it should show. With any hand which would
even vaguely consider acting here, North would have bid 2NT the first time, not
double.

Upon reflection, I don’t think the UI demonstrably suggested anything other than
North probably didn’t realize it was her turn to bid. Logically, she can’t have a
problem; she is incredibly unlikely to have any call other than pass. If the UI
doesn’t demonstrably suggest anything about North’s hand, South is on his own.
In fact, he was about to go for 500. Table result stands.

Wildavsky: I think West caused the problem in large part by her failure to use
the Stop card. That said, I have no quarrel with the rulings.

17
 CASE EIGHT

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Hubert
Silver Ribbon Pairs, 1st Final

The Facts: 3 made three, +140 for

Bd: 12 Raymond DePew
NS. The director was called at the
Dlr: West A Q
end of play. EW felt that North’s 3
Vul: NS A Q 10 6 4
call had been suggested by the slow
A 9 7 5 4
tempo of partner’s 3 bid.
6
Barbara Sartorius Larry Lerner
The Ruling: The BIT did not
9 10 8 7 6 5
demonstrably suggest one action over
K 9 2 J 7 3
another. The table result was allowed
Q 6 3 J 8 2
to stand.
A K J 8 7 3 Q 4
Judith Argento
The Appeal: All four players
K J 4 3 2
attended the committee hearing.
8 5
EW said that the tempo break (of
K 10
undocumented length) may have
10 9 5 2
influenced the 3 bid. Once play
was over and EW realized that North
West North East South
didn’t have great hearts, or six hearts,
1 2NT Pass 3 (1)
they called the director. They felt
Pass 3 All Pass
that North had several calls available
with this hand: 3, 4, 4, and
(1) BIT
3. North chose the call that was
suggested by the BIT. NS stated that
they play good/bad 2NT, never medium. With the good hand they always bid
again.

The Decision: The committee determined that the NS agreement, good/bad

2NT, was documented with their notes available to the committee. South’s notes
stating in part, “…either <11 or 14+, but never in-between.” The committee
felt that this agreement made bidding over 3 was a 100% action. As to what
action, the committee felt that North was not aware of the possibility of bidding
a black suit. Additionally, it was not clear that a slow 3 call implied equal
length in the red suits (usually it would imply bidding more). Had the system
notes been made available to the director and the appellants this appeal would
have been judge to be without merit.

Committee: Larry Cohen, Chairperson, Judy Randel, Mike Passell, Ed Lazarus

and Eddie Wold.

Rigal: Excellent TD ruling in a non-obvious position. This was a case where

once the notes were made available at the meeting maybe EW might have been
asked if they wanted to consider withdrawing their case – and if not they should
have been in jeopardy of an AWMW.
18
Goldsmith: Personally, I think passing is a LA, but most players who play split
range Unusual 2NT wouldn’t, so I’ll accept the AC’s finding there. What does
the hesitation suggest? In my experience, this particular hesitation strongly
tends to suggest weakness, that no action is particularly palatable to advancer.
That means that the hesitation only suggests passing over other LAs, not any
distinction between them.

Having equal length in the two suits isn’t a common reason for a difficult
decision; usually it doesn’t matter which suit is chosen in that case, so few
players dither over that choice. Thus, the committee’s ruling is pretty much on
target, though they claim that advancer’s hesitation probably suggested strength
(“bidding more”) which is the more common reason for a hesitation, though not
in this auction, I believe.

Wildavsky: I disagree with the ruling and AC decision. By the numbers:

Was UI available? Yes.

Did it demonstrably suggest one action over another? Yes.

Can I demonstrate it? That’s easy. A priori South is unlikely to have equal length
in both red suits. A hesitation makes that much more likely, since with disparate
lengths South would often have nothing to think about. If South holds equal
length in both red suits then 3 is likely the best call, since it shows extra values
without increasing the level. Many players would bid 3 with the North hand,
and in fact with careful play 4 can be made on the lie of the cards. That said,
we would not credit North with such careful play when adjusting the score.

Of the likely results absent the illegal 3 bid, which is the most favorable for
EW? +100 against some four level contract.

Of the at all probable results absent the illegal 3 bid, which is the most
unfavorable for NS? I’d say the same, -100, though I would not quarrel with
–200 for 4 doubled down one.

Staff: Were the system notes not available during screening? This appeal should
have been avoided.

19
 CASE NINE

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Hubert
Silver Ribbon Pairs, 1st Final

The Facts: 4 was down 1, +50

Bd: 22 Sam Wilson for EW. The director was called at
Dlr: East 10 South’s third call. South estimated
Vul: EW K 10 9 8 3 2 that he hesitated eight seconds after
J 10 5 2 the 2 call, EW estimated the
5 2 hesitation at one minute. At the
Harry Ross Suzi Ross conclusion of play EW called the
A J 7 6 9 8 5 4 2 director back to the table.
J 6 5 4 Q 7
7 Q 8 6 3 The Ruling: Based on Laws 16
A Q 6 4 10 9 and 73 the staff ruled that pass was
John Jeffrey an LA The contract was changed to
K Q 3 2 EW, +110.
A
A K 9 4 The Appeal: NS appealed.
K J 8 7 3 They maintained that North is an
aggressive player and selling out
West North East South to 2 isn’t a winning matchpoint
Pass 1 strategy. The 2 bid could have
Pass 2(1) Pass Pass been much lighter.
Dbl P 2 Pass(2)
Pass 3 Pass Pass Statements by the other side: EW
3 Pass Pass 4 didn’t attend.
All Pass
The Decision: The BIT was not in
(1) Alerted, weak dispute. Did a slow pass suggest
(2) BIT one action over another? Typically
(and certainly on this auction) it
isn’t likely that the slow passer was
considering a penalty double. It’s also unlikely South was considering 3 since
he didn’t bid it over 2 on the previous round. Therefore, it is likely he was
considering competing to 3.

For a group of North’s peers (6000 masterpoints), the committee felt that 30% of
them would pass. Passing follows the rule of “once you’ve preempted, don’t bid
again.” Perhaps North should hope EW are cold for a spade game. Once South
huddles, that is less likely and makes bidding more attractive.

Two committee members knew the North player and said he is very aggressive
and he was likely not to pass. Still, the committee considered that the LA by his
peers was the standard to apply.

Since it was close, the committee thought the appeal clearly had merit.
20
The play in 2 was analyzed, but the committee didn’t think it at all likely that
nine tricks would be made so they upheld the director’s ruling of 110 to EW.

Committee: Larry Cohen, Chairperson, Judy Randel, Mike Passell, Bill Passell
and Eddie Wold.

Rigal: Far closer to an AWMW than to anything else. If your hand is worth a
second call then don’t make the weak jump shift in the first place. It is far from
clear to me that NS are not due –140. On the A lead and a top trump shift, the
defense might let a trick get away.

Goldsmith: Right ruling. Not so right about failing to give the AWMW,
however. I don’t think the decision is at all close. There’s no way that South
took only eight seconds. That’s normal tempo for him.

Wildavsky: I see no merit in this appeal.

Staff: Sorry. This one is not nearly as close as the committee would have us
believe. Did the UI demonstrably suggest bidding on? Of course it did. Was
pass an LA? You bet. Sometimes opponents do miss games, especially when
your side opens the bidding and takes up space. An AWMW should have been
issued.

21
 CASE TEN

Subject: MI
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Mixed Pairs, 1st Qualifying

The Facts: 3NT was alerted

Bd: 32 Vicki Laycock as gambling though the actual
Vul: EW 9 2 agreement was 25 – 27 HCPs
Dlr: West 10 6 5 with a balanced hand. This
Q 10 8 4 partnership had no assigned
J 7 6 3 conventional agreement to the
Doris McGinley William Epperson 4 call. The Director was
K J 8 A Q 7 6 5 called after the 4NT bid was
J 4 2 A K 7 made. East took 12 tricks in
J 9 7 5 A K 4NT, plus 690 for EW after the
10 9 8 A Q 4 lead of the 3.
Don Laycock
10 4 3 The Ruling: The alert and
Q 9 8 3 explanation were UI for East.
6 3 2 The staff determined that 4NT
K 5 2 was demonstrably suggested
by this UI. The contract was
West North East South changed to 4 making five for
Pass Pass 3N(1) Pass +650 EW.
4 Pass 4N All Pass
The Appeal: NS made the
(1) Alerted and explained as gambling point that there were several
continuations after 4, and
that 4NT was not the only option. East felt that 4NT was the only logical call
over 4. East was clear, and was supported by external evidence, that 4 was
neither Stayman nor Gerber. EW play no conventional calls after 3NT openings
or overcalls.

The Decision: The committee considered, in the absence of any other

agreement, that 4 would be natural and forcing. East would treat his hand
as superb for play in clubs, certainly not stopping short of slam. Since East
had taken advantage of the UI and there were alternatives to a 4NT call the
committee had to award an adjusted score.

For EW, the adjusted score would be the most unfavorable score that was at
all likely and for NS the most favorable score that was at all probable. The
committee considered several assigned scores. After some discussion 6NT, –100
EW was assigned to both sides. It was because it was considered that South
would not have led a heart against 6NT that the score was adjusted the way it
was.

Additionally the committee assessed a one-fourth board procedural penalty

against East for having taken advantage of the UI and assessed an AWMW.
22
Committee: Barry Rigal, Chairperson, Bill Passell, Jerry Gaer, Darwin Afdahl
and Jeff Goldsmith.

Rigal: I love this committee ruling as much as I hate the TD ruling (though to be
fair this seems more a sin of omission than commission on their part). Still, you
would have hoped someone might have spotted the point. Most of the discussion
revolved around whether EW should get –200 or worse.

Goldsmith: We were generous. 6 down three was, in my opinion, at least

at all probable; I wanted to award NS 6NT down one and EW 6 down three.
When it was pointed out that there wasn’t a significant difference between those
scores, I went along with the rest of the AC.

Gerard: I would have opted for 6, –200. +650 doesn’t seem to be a possible
ruling, based on EW’s methods.

Wildavsky: A very fine decision. Kudos to the AC.

Staff: Was it, in fact, EW who appealed? (Editor’s note: yes it was EW who
appealed.) If I had been NS, I would have appealed –650. Either the write-up is
in error, or the committee misread Law 12.C.2. For the offenders, it’s the most
unfavorable result that was at all probable. For the non-offenders, it’s the most
favorable result that was likely. I wish the committee had included the projected
auction to 6NT in its decision. If EW made 12 tricks at the table, how could
the Committee be sure 6NT would go down. Just how did the actual defense go
anyway?

23
 CASE ELEVEN

Subject: MI
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Mixed Pairs, 2nd Qualifying

The Facts: 5 doubled made

Bd: 27 Bill Passell
five for +550 for EW. The opening
Vul: None 8 7 5 2
lead was the 2. The director
Dlr: South K 10 8
was called after the dummy came
Q 9 8
down. South had inquired about
J 4 2
the 2NT call right after the 3
Judy Randel Bruce Cobb
bid and was told “top and bottom.”
— K 10 6 4 3
The actual agreement was two
Q J 9 5 4 A 6 3
lowest, diamonds and hearts in this
A K J 10 5 2 7 6 4
case. West had never corrected the
A Q 8 5
incorrect explanation.
Karen Allison
A Q J 9
When the director individually
7 2
polled North, then South, away
3
from the table to determine what
K 10 9 7 6 3
actions they might have done
differently, North said “nothing.”
West North East South
South stated that she would have
1
doubled 3.
2NT(1) Pass 3 Pass
5 Dbl All Pass
After the play was over, North
claimed that if his partner had
(1) 2NT explained as top and bottom
doubled 3, he would not have
– actual agreement was hearts and
doubled 5 since South’s defensive
diamonds tricks would have been devalued
due to his spade length. The
director ruled that MI had been
given, and under Law 40C he removed the final double. Thus, the score was
changed to 5 making five for +400 for NS.

The Ruling: NS had been given misinformation and it was too late to adjust
the call (Law 21(3)) at the point it was corrected. Law 40( C) led the director
to adjust the score as per 12C2. The Directors determined that the contract for
both sides would be 5 undoubled, since South had been influenced by the
misinformation. The score changed to 5, +400.

The Appeal: EW appealed the director’s ruling. North initially did not attend
the hearing but showed up later near the end of the questioning. EW claimed
that North knew what was happening at the table and would still have doubled
with his defensive assets. Even if South had doubled 3, North would still have
doubled 5.

South claimed that their partnership opens light with shapely hands and that she
24
would clearly double 3 if given the correct information about the 2NT bid (but
it was clearly dangerous to double if West indeed had spades). North could then
visualize South’s shapely black suit hand and avoid doubling the final contract.
There was also some disagreement over when the director was initially called.
EW claimed it was after the auction was over, while NS claimed it was after the
opening lead and when dummy was known.

The Decision: The committee had eventually questioned North and determined
that he had strongly suspected what was happening prior to making the opening
lead. Thus, the timing of the director call and the impact of the MI upon North’s
opening lead was deemed irrelevant to the case. The committee determined
that MI had indeed been given and that it had adversely affected South’s bidding.
South would very likely have doubled 3 given the proper information.

Thereafter, the discussion centered upon the table director’s failure to address
West’s jump to 5 in light of the presence of the UI. East’s attempt to play
3 would seem to imply some hand pattern o the order of 7=2=1=3 which
would seriously impact the playing strength of West’s hand. The committee
believed that UI demonstrably suggested that East’s hand was more balanced
and supportive of a red suit contract. Thus, a 4 bid would be much more
appropriate than a 5 bid. Therefore, East would very likely cuebid the heart
Ace resulting in a final contract of either 4 or 5.

Since both contracts would make, EW were given the score for 5 making five,
+400. The committee also believed that North would not double the final 5
contract if South had doubled 3. Thus, NS were given the reciprocal score.

EW were given an AWMW for bringing a case deemed to be without merit.

Finally, West was awarded a one-quarter board PP for the 5 bid in the presence
of the UI.

Committee: Mark Bartusek, Chairperson, Ellen Melson, Bob Schwartz, Tom

Peters and Ed Lazarus.

Rigal: I do not agree that NS would be less likely to double 5, but I can
see where the committee was coming from. The procedural penalty is entirely
appropriate and to my mind we need more not less of them.

Goldsmith: The NS argument is total baloney. If I were South and I knew that
LHO had the reds and the opponents were considering playing in the only spot
I can beat, it wouldn’t occur to me to double. I suspect South didn’t think the
problem through when taken away from the table. It’s just natural to say you’d
do something different when asked, if there’s any reasonable different thing to
do, because you feel as if you are likely being robbed where you are now. That’s
not rational thinking, but it’s natural. And generally to the non-offending side’s
advantage.

I think the committee was generous about the score adjustment, but was right
on with the PP and AWMW. I think it’s surely at least at all probable that EW
25
would end up in spades sans UI. It’s not ridiculous for West to pass 3 (what if
partner has Q J109xxx xx x xxx?), though most would bid 4. After
4, what should East do? Partner says she has a good 6-5, say something like
AQxxx Kx AKJ10xx —. 4 isn’t enough; he’ll cue 4 and there
they’ll lie. Is it at all probable that West would pass 3? I think so. E/W –300
in 3. Is it likely? No. If West bids, I don’t see getting anywhere but 4. So
N/S get –450 and North won’t double that.

Gerard: If East bid only 3 opposite a top-and-bottom 2NT, he would not

cuebid the A over 4. Therefore the E/W score should have been adjusted to
4, –150. That’s not likely enough for NS, so they remain with –400.

Wildavsky: Another thorough job by the AC.

It seems likely that the TD would have considered the UI. The write-up ought
to say whether or not the TD addressed the UI aspect of the case, and if so what
reasoning he used to adjust to 5.

Staff: For what technical reason did the committee believe North would not
have doubled 5 if South had doubled 3? I bet a blind poll of North’s peers
would have resulted in a unanimous vote for double, especially if the pollees
knew about the explanation, which just had to be bogus. West should have been
hit with a PP by the table director for her 5 bid, but NS were advantaged by it,
since otherwise EW would have stumbled to 4. Table result stands. PP to EW.
Forget the AWMW.

26
 CASE TWELVE

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Mixed Pairs, 2nd Qualifying

The Facts: The director was called

Bd: 17 June Pocock after the 3 bid. There was a 90-
Dlr: North 10 7 3 2 second hesitation before the 3
Vul: None 9 8 bid agreed to by all parties. The
A 10 9 8 7 2 opening lead was the Q and the
3 result was down one for +100 for
Reha Gur Muffie Gur EW.
K 6 5 9 4
3 2 K Q J 5 The Ruling: The director ruled that
K Q J 5 4 3 the result stood. The auction tells
9 6 4 2 A KQ 10 5 partner of doubleton heart.
Michael Yuen
A Q J 8 The Appeal: North reproduced
A 10 7 6 4 South’s reasoning for his 3 call.
6 South had heard an auction with
J 8 7 North having at most two clubs,
at most six diamonds and clearly
West North East South no more than two hearts. Thus, he
Pass 1 1 probably had four spades.
2 Pass Pass Dbl
2 Dbl 3 Pass The tempo break only implied
Pass 3 Pass Pass doubt about whether to leave in
Dbl 3(1) Dbl 3 3, not what to remove it to.
Pass Pass Dbl All Pass
The Decision: The committee
(1) BIT of 90 seconds – agreed agreed that no UI was conveyed
by a slow 3 bid. Although the
hesitation implied doubt, it was not clear that North was not considering playing
3, a contract that only goes down because partner is unnaturally short of
diamonds.

Thus, since a slow 3 bid did not demonstrably suggest spades, South was free
to do what he wanted and the result stands.

The appeal was deemed with merit by a majority.

Committee: Barry Rigal, Chairperson, Jeff Goldsmith, Jerry Gaer, Darwin

Afdahl and Bill Passell.

Rigal: The discussion here took quite some while but it was nonetheless close
to an AWMW. The lack of ‘demonstrable suggestion’ of the slow 3 call was
in context obvious (note that had South delivered anything like a normal double

27
of 2, 3 would have been cold, so passing was clearly an option here). Had
South been present we would have been happier at assigning our bridge logic to
him.

Goldsmith: Right. The only real problem is the AWMW. Players are expected
to file appeals reasonably quickly; there isn’t a whole lot of time to figure
out details of subtle auctions. AWMWs go to obvious cases, cases where we
definitely do not want to see an appeal. This one was tricky, so no AWMW.

Gerard: There is no such thing as an appeal deemed with merit by a majority. If

it’s a non-insane minority of one, it’s still deemed with merit.

Wildavsky: Good work all around.

28
 CASE THIRTEEN

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Mixed Pairs, Second Qualifying

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 14 Bill Epperson 5 doubled by West making five for
Dlr: East A 10 8 7 5 2 a score of –550. The opening lead
Vul: None 10 8 6 was the A. The director was called
— after the 5 bid by East. As noted,
Q 8 6 3 the stop card was not used. The BIT
Carol Rynders Dan Kasture was 10 to 15 seconds agreed at the
K J 9 table at the time of the call.
Q 5 3 A K 9 2
A K J 9 8 5 3 2 The Ruling: Law 16A2 and 12C2.
5 4 2 A K J 9 7 The texture of West’s hand suggests
Doris McGinley that the break in tempo was “just
Q 6 4 3 enough” to suggest values and that
J 7 4 clearly made action over inaction
Q 10 7 6 4 more likely to succeed than a pass.
10 The ruling given was not noted on
the appeals form, but presumably 4
West North East South undoubled down two (or three) rather
1 Pass than the table result of +550 to EW.
1 2 Pass 4(1)
Pass(2) Pass 5 Dbl Statements from the Screening
All Pass Director: At the table, NS had
called the director after the 5 bid
(1) stop card not used and claimed that West had taken 10
(2) BIT to 15 seconds before passing 4.
EW agreed that there had been a
noticeable pause before West passed. During screening, the director used a
watch to get a better estimate of the time that it took West to pass. EW were
both sure that it took nowhere close to 15 seconds. They thought that the elapsed
time before West’s pass was about eight to ten seconds.

Additionally the committee found that this was the first day that EW had ever
played together. As already noted, South did not use a stop card before bidding
4.

The Appeal: West did not like passing 4, but it sounded as if the opponents
had a lot of shape, and her spades were badly placed. She did not have enough
length in either minor to justify a 5 or 5 bid.

East had a good hand and was short in the opponent’s suit. On hands of less
than game going strength, his partner would have bypassed diamonds to bid a
four-card major if she had one, so he thought there was a reasonable chance of
finding her with long diamonds.
29
NS were not present at the appeal.

The Decision: The committee accepted the screening Director’s finding of

an eight to ten second pause before West’s pass as fact. If you are at the table
waiting for someone to bid, a pause of eight to ten seconds probably does seem
like 10-15 seconds to most players. Since a pause of eight to ten seconds over a
skip bid does not constitute a break in tempo, East was free to bid as he judged
best. The table result of 5 doubled making five was allowed to stand.

Additionally, the committee thought that when a close call as to whether or not
a break in tempo occurred, there should be a slight tendency to rule against the
side that failed to use the stop card. Had South used a stop card, West could
have anticipated the 4 bid, collected her thoughts, and had a couple of extra
seconds to decide on her action while the 4 bid was being made.

The committee made a point to make clear to EW the importance of pausing

over a skip bid, whether or not a stop card is used and whether or not the player
to bid has a problem. By doing so consistently, you give yourself the extra time
you need to think when you really do have a problem, without passing an UI to
your partner.

The appeal was judged to have merit.

Committee: Doug Doub, Chairperson, Michael Huston and John Lusky.

Rigal: The asides regarding the failure to use the stop card are absolutely
in point – I’d like them enshrined as proper procedure. Whether or not the
committee made the right decision their logic was more than reasonable.

Goldsmith: Why was this judged to have merit? I don’t believe much testimony
about exact lengths of time of hesitations; it’s obvious to everyone that West had
a problem. In fact, she did have a problem. East didn’t have a problem. How
can he bid 5 now if he couldn’t bid 3 the last round? Because he had UI
which clearly suggested that passing 4 was wrong.

The contract has to be returned to 4 undoubled and either down two or down
three is likely. Therefore down two is given to each side for +100 and –100.

Wildavsky: The ruling is unsatisfactory. It claims that “The BIT was 10 to 15

seconds agreed at the table” but that obscures precisely what we need to know.
Ten seconds would not be a BIT at all – a faster pass would in fact be a break in
tempo, since a ten second pause is mandatory. The TD, who apparently found
that there was a break in tempo, must tell us why. In cases where there is any
doubt, the TD would do well to ask each player to duplicate the hesitation, as the
screening director did. The TD has a better chance of learning the actual tempo,
since he’s called while the events are still fresh in the players’ minds.

West sounds as though she’s saying “Certainly I hesitated – look at the problem I
had!” I would have no trouble believing that “normal” tempo for this West is two
30
to three seconds, and that 10 seconds did in fact constitute a break in tempo for
her.

In the end I have no quarrel with the AC decision or with their justification. If
the TD had done a more complete job, though, the appeal could have gone the
other way and might have been judged to lack merit.

31
 CASE FOURTEEN

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Mixed Pairs, 2nd Qualifying

The Facts: 6 by West made seven

Bd: 3 Jane Segal after the lead of the J for a score
Dlr: South 6 3 of 1460. The director was called
Vul: EW J 10 8 2 after the 6 bid. The 5 bid had
4 shown two key cards without the
K J 8 6 5 4 trump queen. The BIT was agreed
Judith Weisman John Solodar by everyone and later estimated
K J 9 8 2 A Q 4 to be between 20 and 30 seconds.
K 9 7 4 A Q NS believed that the BIT had
A J 6 2 K Q 9 8 encouraged West to bid on.
— Q 9 7 3
Richard Morgen The Ruling: The director ruled
10 7 5 5 making seven. Law 16A2 and
6 5 3 Law 12C2. West had shown a club
10 7 5 3 control and two key cards. There
A 10 2 isn’t anything more that East could
need to bid the slam himself after
West North East South partner has opened the bidding.
Pass West has given proper description
1 Pass 2 Pass of her hand (although she might
3 Pass 3 Pass have redoubled 4) and cannot
4 Dbl Pass Pass continue since pass is an LA after
4 Pass 4NT Pass partner signs off (Q may be
5(1) Pass 5(2) Pass critical).
6 All Pass
The Appeal: EW appealed the
(1) 2 keycards without the Queen director’s ruling. They claimed
(2) 10-30 BIT that normally West would have
no option other than pass unless
she had undisclosed values. Such
values which might allow her to continue on to six could include either an
additional key card after an erroneous 5 call or an undisclosed void. NS
maintained that the BIT implied the trump queen, extra values, and sufficient
key cards to permit a slam.

The Decision: The committee determined that EW were an occasional

partnership for the past five to seven years who did not have any systemic
agreements to show a void over the 4NT bid. The 3 bid did not guarantee
extra values and the 4 bid showed specifically first round control. Both sides
agreed that the BIT was almost 30 seconds. The committee decided that West
had fairly described her hand and had no reason to bid on over partner’s 5 bid.
Thus, the contract was rolled back to 5 making seven for both sides.

32
Additionally, an experienced player such as East should have realized that he
could not win this case and therefore, an AWMW was awarded to EW (although
the Chairperson believed this to be a close decision).

Committee: Mark Bartusek, Chairperson, Tom Peters, Ellen Melson, Ed

Lazarus and Bob Schwartz.

Rigal: I agree with both the TD and committee, reluctantly. Even the AWMW
seems right. I think East must have simply lost focus in a situation where in a
more rational moment he might have appreciated the weakness of his case.

Goldsmith: Right. AWMW justifed. A PP for bidding 6 would have been

reasonable but borderline.

Gerard: The Chairperson is wrong, this is not close. EW were wrong about
West’s ability to continue. If West discovered an extra keycard after East’s BIT,
my view and I think prevailing opinion is that the extra time is UI and she is not
entitled to find it. See Vancouver Case 2, Cincinnati Case 3 and Washington
Case 11. And West didn’t have an undisclosed void anyway. With everything
else, playing professionally involves certain educational responsibilities.
Pursuing an appeal like this fails to live up to that standard.

Wildavsky: I agree that there was no merit. I do not agree that it was close. I am
surprised that EW chose to appeal.

Staff: This was an automatic AWMW. Why did the Chairman think this was a
close decision?

33
 CASE FIFTEEN

Subject: Tempo, UI
DIC: Cokoff
NABC Mixed Pairs, 2nd Qualifying

The Facts: 5 doubled made five

Bd: 6 Marc Nathan for +650. The opening lead was
Dlr: East 8 5 the diamond 10. East called the
Vul: EW 8 director at his third turn to call. The
K J 9 8 7 director was called back at the end
A 5 4 3 2 of the hand. There was a hesitation
Kamla Chawla Simon Kantor by North over 5. A 20-second
— A 6 4 hesitation was agreed on at the
Q 10 9 7 6 5 4 2 A J time.
10 6 Q 5 4 3 2
Q J 8 K 9 6 The Ruling: The director ruled 5
Cathy Nathan by West down 1 for +100. South
K Q J 10 9 7 3 2 did not have a 5 call opposite the
K 3 hesitation (Law 16 unauthorized
A information).
10 7
The Appeal: NS appealed. South
West North East South said that she would always bid 5
1 4 over 5. She stated she had a
5 Pass (1)
Pass 5 powerful suit and could not possibly
Pass Pass Dbl All Pass be set more than the value of the
opponent’s game. She was annoyed
(1) BIT because she claimed that a director
told her that she was barred from
bidding further after the hesitation. Additionally, EW could have gone plus if
West had found the winning club lead.

East thought that the South hand had enough defensive potential that it was not
automatic for South to save in 5. It was pretty clear that North was thinking
about bidding 5 and that made it more attractive for South to bid 5.

Other important facts that were discovered: South had used the stop card before
bidding 4 and West had waited 10 seconds before bidding 5. It was likely
that a director had told South that she was barred from bidding 5 with the
hand that she held. North that he might not have hesitated for 20 seconds but it
was at least 15.

The Decision: North clearly broke tempo over 5. During the 10-second skip
bid pause, the only bid by West that could give North a problem was 5 so
North had plenty of time to make up his mind what to do without passing UI to
his partner.

What did North’s hesitation suggest? He was thinking about raising spades
34
(South’s hand was too strong defensively for North to have been considering a
double). A hand that contained no tricks would pass since the opponents would
either double 5 for 800 or bid on to a successful slam. (The 4 bidder would
be assumed to have seven offensive tricks and one defensive trick.) With one
trick, North would be inclined to raise to 5, expecting it to cost less than the
value of the opponent’s game, but could hope to set the opponents at the six
level. With one and a half to two tricks, North would be in between bidding as a
save and passing, hoping for a set.

South had a much better than average 4 bid, both offensively and defensively.
However, double is not attractive, both because of the questionable value of the
heart King, and because the hand lacked the A. The choice is between pass
and 5.

Without the hesitation, pass would be a logical alternative to bidding 5.

Partner might have one or no spades, so South could take a spade trick on
defense, while 4 was going down. Further, it would not be surprising if many
other EW pairs defended 4. If a significant number of other pairs are allowed
to play 4, going down, then South would automatically lost to these players by
bidding 5. On the other hand, she has a chance to beat those pairs by passing
if 5 can be defeated.

When North hesitates before passing, South knows he can be counted on for at
least a couple of spades and a trick or two. Thus, 4 was very likely making,
and South will automatically lose to those allowed to play 4 if she passes.
Therefore, the hesitation demonstrably suggests that pass is a losing action by
South and that 5 is more than likely to be successful. Since pass is a logical
alternative to the suggested 5 bid, the contract was changed to 5, down one
on a spade lead.

It is quite possible that most other players of South’s experience and ability
would automatically bid 5 without considering the hand’s defensive potential
or likely contracts at the other tables. Nevertheless, in a national event players
are expected to be at least close to the standard of the event when considering
logical alternatives.

The appeal was found to have substantial merit.

Committee: Doug Doub, Chairperson, Michael Huston and John Lusky.

Rigal: Once North has hung his partner, the ruling has to be made the way it
was. Yes, many would act again with the South cards, but pass is an LA.

Goldsmith: “Substantial merit?” That’s a new definition of “substantial” for me.

“Zero” is closer. NS made four statements in their appeal. The first, third, and
fourth are irrelevant. The second was mistaken and misses the point that 5
isn’t necessarily making. None of them are even vaguely reasonable arguments.
“I’m annoyed” is about the lamest excuse for an appeal I can think of. The AC
let them get away with this?
35
Gerard: Too many trees. All that analysis is too precise, since pairs don’t
have those kind of narrow mathematical agreements. And double is clearly an
alternative, what with South’s uber maximum and potential for anywhere from
one to three defensive tricks. In fact, to an expert there is no such auction as
4 and 5 — with weakness you pass, with extras you double. However,
double was not the standard of this player, her peers or the event (sorry about
that). Absent a double, pass was clearly an LA so I’m on the same page as the
Committee. I just got there a lot quicker and more directly.

Wildavsky: I agree with the TD and AC decisions. I do not see any merit in the
appeal.

Staff: It’s tough to tell a player with that South hand she must pass 5. White
vs. red no less. I’m not sure that pass is actually an LA for players at the table.
This case really cries for a blind poll of players. A Regional Panel might have
been better suited for this hand. I agree with the committee that pass is an LA.
I just have a very queasy feeling about the likelihood of actually passing at the
table.

36
 CASE SIXTEEN

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Mixed Pairs – 1st Final

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 26 Daniel Friedman
2 doubled down one for a score
Dlr: East A Q 2
of –200 for EW. The opening lead
Vul: Both Q 3
was the heart ace. The director was
A J 5 3 2
called during the auction. Both
5 4 3
sides agreed on a slow pass as
Gail Greenberg Jeff Hand
indicated. NS said 25 seconds, EW
K J 6 4 3 8 7
said 15 seconds.
A 8 J 7 6 4
K 9 Q 10 6 4
The Ruling: The director removed
A K 7 6 Q 8 2
the double citing Law 16 logical
Linda Friedman
alternative and giving EW a score
10 9 5
of +100.
K 10 9 5 2
8 7
The Appeal: The appealing
J 10 9
side felt that doubling 2 was
automatic. They stated they had
West North East South
them on the run, so they had to
Pass Pass
punish them. Also, the doubler
1 2 Pass Pass
either has three plus hearts or
Dbl Pass Pass 2
substantial extra values, so 2
Pass(1) Pass Dbl All Pass
should be going down. They stated,
also, that they needed a top to win,
(1) BIT
so it was a good time to take a shot.

The Decision: The hesitation was agreed. All felt that the UI from the BIT
suggested doubling over passing. We all would have passed, oddly, for several
different reasons. For example, one felt they would run somewhere. Another
thought 2 doubled was making, so getting to play anything undoubled was an
improvement. The infraction led directly to the NS’s bad result so the score must
be adjusted. The only other result even slightly probable was 2 down one
undoubled so that was awarded to each side.

All members of the committee felt that doubling was attractive enough that may
players might see no alternative, so they judged that the appeal just barely had
enough merit to not award an AWMW.

Committee: Jeffrey Goldsmith, Chairperson, Tom Peters, Bob Schwartz,

Howard Weinstein and Chris Willenken.

Rigal: Some sympathy for EW – the arguments made about the extra values
being marked here are indeed reasonable. But given how little East has in high-
cards for his penalty pass one can hardly deny that passing 2 is an LA.
37
Goldsmith: Nothing more to add.

Gerard: Please do not tell me what you all would have done. This East player
didn’t think 2 was making, so his peers didn’t think they should play anything
undoubled. Did any of you really think that 2 was making, with South’s hearts
limited by his original pass? As for running, where? What were they going
to use for tricks in 2NT or 3? I suspect Intelligence Transfer — failure to
recognize that East and his ilk were into red meat. Plus that North hand is what
certain players overcall with these days — maybe the first board of the round
gave some indication of that. And it could easily enough be determined on
what round this hand occurred and the status of EW’s score at that point. You
all may have passed, but to the players that you were supposed to be taking into
consideration pass was not an LA.

Wildavsky: Good work all around.

38
 CASE SEVENTEEN

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Mixed Pairs, 2nd Final

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 12 Carolyn Sullivan 5 making six for +620. The
Dlr: West J 4 opening lead was not recorded.
Vul: NS A K Q 3 The Director was called after
A 10 8 4 2 South’s 5 bid. West said that
9 6 North hesitated “a lot longer” than
Marcia Masterson Godfrey Chang 10 seconds before doubling. North
A 8 5 3 2 K 10 9 7 6 said she didn’t think it was overly
J 9 6 5 2 T 7 long. South claimed it was at most
Q 9 7 three seconds. The stop card was
3 K J 7 4 2 used.
James Sullivan
Q Additional Findings: The screener
8 4 said he timed 15 seconds for the
K J 6 5 3 players and North said she didn’t
A Q 10 8 5 take nearly that long. West’s
estimate of what constituted 15
West North East South seconds was fairly accurate
Pass 1 1 2
4 Dbl(1) Pass 5 The Ruling: The score was
All Pass adjusted to 4 doubled down two
for +300 for NS (Law 16A2). Pass
(1) BIT was considered to be a logical
alternative for South after UI from
North.

The Appeal: North said the hesitation was not “overly long.” South said he
thought North’s hesitation was “at most three seconds.” North admitted she is
normally a fairly rapid bidder, but she always hesitates 10 seconds over a jump
bid. North also admitted that she did not know whether the 2 bid was forcing.
North said she doubled 4 because she had tricks and a bidding partner, and
she thought she could beat it but if her partner wanted to bid, that was fine.

South said he bid because he had a very offensive hand and didn’t like his
defensive prospects. South said his partner was not asked about the duration of
her hesitation with reference to 10 seconds, but only asked a general question
about the duration of the hesitation.

West said the hesitation took longer than 10 seconds. She noted that South’s
spade queen was a possible defensive trick.

The Decision: There are two major issues in this case, both of them UI issues.
First, there is the tempo problem and second, there is the non-alert of 2.
39
Tempo: Law 16A makes reference to “unmistakable hesitation.” This is not
the same as a minor change of tempo. For some people, the recommended
10 second pause after a skip bid is a “bridge eternity” while others might
misestimate the time on the long side.

In this case, West’s testimony was generally credible, but totally uncorroborated
by anyone else (her partner said nothing at the table and was not present at
the hearing). South’s incredible table statement that North took at most three
seconds was modified at the hearing to a more credible statement that he didn’t
notice any undue hesitation. North said she thought she took about 10 seconds,
maybe a little longer. The screening director’s test revealed that North thought
she took six to eight seconds. Faced with these representations and East’s
absence, the committee decided there was no “unmistakable hesitation,” and
therefore no unauthorized information from tempo.

North’s failure to alert South’s 2 bid (inverted minor, by partnership

agreement) does constitute unauthorized information. However, the committee
found that it did not demonstrably suggest (per Law 16A) a line of action to
South in the context of this bidding sequence. Specifically, the failure to alert
did not demonstrably suggest that bidding 5 would be more successful than
passing the double. Therefore, the committee found no reason to adjust the table
result.

The appeal was deemed to have merit.

Committee: Michael Huston, Chairperson, Aaron Silverstein, Ellen Melson, Ed

Lazarus and Danny Sprung.

Rigal: The TDs this tournament have done a pretty fine job of penalizing
the offenders. This too was a good example of “When in doubt smack the
offenders.” At a different vulnerability passing might have been an option but not
here. Everything about the South hand screams ‘bid!’

Goldsmith: North’s double just shows values; it’s not penalty. South’s choice
to bid only 5 is an underbid, but given the UI from the failure to alert
2, it seems like the right choice. In fact, 6 is a pretty good spot. Sans
misunderstanding/UI, NS ought to probably get there.

We definitely need to have 10-second timers on stop cards. A player places the
stop card and the timer starts. When ten seconds go by, it turns green. When ten
more seconds go by, it turns red, so we have clear knowledge of whether or not a
bid was too fast or an unmistakable hesitation. Such timers made in quantity are
quite cheap. For NABCs, the expense seems unquestionably justified.

Gerard: The Committee’s incredible statement that 5 was not demonstrably

suggested was wrong. If North can make a penalty double opposite a weak raise
with almost certainly no more than two spades (thanks again to rote reliance on
the Law of Total Tricks), NS must be on for at least 5. Therefore, the score
should have been adjusted to 4 doubled for both sides. Was it
40
possible that North would lead a non-heart to trick two? Not if NS led third and
fifth. And not if NS led fourth best, since there would be no way to shut out
the fifth heart for down one if East’s red suits were reversed. So the director’s
adjustment was correct, although for the wrong reason.

Wildavsky: As the AC noted, South’s contention that North hesitated for three
seconds was “incredible.” I would thus discount South’s testimony entirely.
North conceded that she had hesitated “maybe a little longer” than 10 seconds.
West’s testimony was not uncorroborated, it was corroborated by the table
director, who had the opportunity to speak with all four players and found that
UI was present.

I agree with the TD ruling and disagree with the AC decision. While the AC
can and should engage in fact finding, its primary role is to exercise the bridge
judgment necessary for proper application of the laws. The table director has the
advantage of being on the spot, and the AC ought to defer to his findings of fact
when they have no compelling reason to do otherwise.

In private correspondence, a member of the AC explained to me that they had

reasons to doubt the TD’s findings of fact. If special circumstances apply I can
only hope they will be reflected in the writeup, and none were mentioned. My
comments, as usual, address the case as it was written up.

Staff: Are we beginning to notice how many tempo cases are arising after skip
bids? Do we doubt for a moment that part of the problem is how frequently they
are ignored by so many? Now if someone waits a full 10 seconds, invariably
somebody screams for the director. I have a draconian cure, for NABC events
anyway. How about automatic PP’s for anyone who acts immediately over a skip
bid? Fun huh? OK, we can exclude 1NT-Pass-3NT. The more feasible option
may be to rule that any pause for less than one minute does not pass UI. I know
some of this seems silly, but we really do have a spreading epidemic here.

41
 CASE EIGHTEEN

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Open Pairs II, 2nd Qualifying

The Facts: The final contract

Bd: 25 Jo Morse
was 3 down one for –50 and
Dlr: North 6 2
the opening lead was the K.
Vul: EW A Q J 73
There was an out of tempo pause
A 10 8 5 4
after the 2 bid of approximately
3
(according to NS) eight seconds.
Erez Hendelman Shirley Matthews
West said his partner is new to
J 9 7 4 3 K 5
NABC events and was playing
K 9 6 8 4 2
more slowly than normal. NS
9 K Q J 6 3
said the first and second doubles
10 9 4 2 A K Q
were easily made actions. North
Haig Tchamitch
said she was competing over 2
A Q 10 8
but would pass if West passed.
10 5
The director was called after the
7 2
double of 3.
J 8 7 6 5
The Ruling: The director ruled
West North East South
that there was a break in tempo
1 Dbl 1
and (Law 16A) pass over 2
Pass 2 Pass(1) 2
was an alternative action. A
2 3 Dbl 3
contract of 2 by West was
All Pass
assigned (Law 12C2) down two
for –100 for EW. [Noted by the
(1) BIT committee: EW were vulnerable
so down two would be –200 for
them.]

The Appeal: West thought that it was normal to bid 2 over 2. He had
already passed over 1, thus limiting his hand. The opponents rated to have an
eight or nine card heart fit, while his side had at least eight and quite possibly
nine spades. He thought that there was a good chance that his RHO had psyched
1. West also stated that it was impossible to make any reliable inferences
from his partner’s hesitations.

NS thought that it would be reasonable for West to pass 2. The little that he
had featured a doubtful King of hearts in front of the heart opener. Had West
passed, there was a good chance that NS would have played in 2, making two.
North only bid 3 over 2 as a competitive bid and she would have passed had
West not bid 2.

Other Information discovered: East was playing in her first NABC and was
very nervous. Her tempo varied considerably and did not reliably indicate
anything. West is a very experienced player from Israel. He has tried to
42
stress the importance of having support for the unbid suits (especially majors)
when making a takeout double (and shortness in the suit doubled), but East
occasionally lapsed and made inappropriate doubles. The break in tempo at
East’s second turn to call was agreed by all. It took East about eight seconds to
pass. All other calls in the auction were normal tempo.

The Decision: Although eight seconds is not a long time to take to bid, it was
long enough so that it was clear to the table that East had a problem over 2.
Thus, the committee ruled that there had been a break in tempo.

What did it suggest? East probably had more than minimum values for her
double, but did not know how (or whether) to express them. Perhaps she had
good diamonds and did not know whether double would be takeout or penalty.
If that were the case, then a 2 bid was not likely to be successful. If East had
made an off-shape double that she occasionally could not resist, then a 2 bid
would work out very badly. Further, if East had a normal takeout double pattern
with extra values, North would likely pass the preference to 2, and East could
then double for takeout. The committee decided that East’s hesitation was as
likely to be based on good diamonds as it was on a hand with close to 4-4-4-1
distribution and extra values. Therefore, it did not demonstrably suggest West’s
2 bid, and the table result could not be adjusted.

The appeal was deemed with merit.

Committee: Doug Doub, Chairperson, Ed Lazarus, Gail Greenberg, Jeff

Goldsmith and Mark Bartusek.

Rigal: I agree with the TD ruling though I could have understood it going the
other way. The committee nailed this one. West (a good player) has a clear-cut
2 bid here, but the tempo of the pass of 2 does not make it more attractive,
if anything it points the other way.

Goldsmith: This is a strange case. The committee felt that the most likely
reason that East was hesitating was that she had good diamonds and was
considering what her double would have meant. (Answer: undefined in the
partnership.) This does not suggest bidding 2 over passing, so West was free
to bid 2. If that inference was taken, however, bidding 2 looks unwise,
so maybe the committee should have judged that West based his action on his
partner’s mannerism, regardlessof whether it was, in fact, suggested by the UI.

I wonder why North bid 3. Unless her partner had psyched 1, she knows
that LHO is likely offshape from the hesitation, thus probably has diamonds.
With the opponents probably in a six- or seven-card fit breaking badly, bidding
what could easily be LHO’s main suit is asking for trouble. NS were lucky not
to be doubled in 3.

Gerard: 1-4-4-4 was not a possible distribution for East (1-3-5-4 is the closest I
can come), but North was the culprit. I would call 3 egregious by a player of
North’s caliber, so there was no chance of a NS adjustment. I agree with West
43
and the Committee about the randomness of 2.

Wildavsky: East’s break in tempo suggested that she did not hold an
undistinguished minimum. West could thus conclude that the danger of going
for 200 or 500 in 2 was reduced. A pass by West was certainly a logical
alternative, so I disagree with the AC decision.

As for the TD decision, I do not understand it. If he rules the 2 bid illegal then
it seems unlikely that the final contract would be 2. Perhaps he envisioned
a reopening double which West would convert to 2, NS then subsiding. If
he judges this is both the most favorable result likely for NS and the most
unfavorable at all probable for EW he should say so, otherwise we have no
reason to believe the laws have been applied.

Staff: The Ruling paragraph makes no sense. If pass over 2 was deemed
an unsuggested LA, why would a contract of 2 be assigned? If the 2
bid is allowed, why is North released from bidding 3? Something is very
screwy here. Either the table ruling, the appeal form, or the write-up, or some
combination, is in error.

[Editor’s note: According to the appeal form, the director disallowed the 2
bid, but then projected over pass pass East would double again and now West
would bid 2.]

I hope the table ruling was not 2 down 2 for EW minus 200. This would be
unsupportable by either logic or law. I guess I don’t really care, but NS will
likely beat 2 by three tricks. I agree with the Committee’s final decision.
Both North and South have enough experience to know that a nervous East’s
tempo is unreliable.

44
 CASE NINETEEN

Subject: MI and UI
DIC: Cukoff
NABC Women’s Pairs, 1st Qualifying

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 20 Jacqueline Sincoff 3 making three for +110. The
Dlr: West 10 6 5 3 opening lead was the 6. The
Vul: Both J 8 2 director was called at West’s final
10 8 7 3 pass. 1NT was intended as a
A 3 sandwich NT (5-5 in spades and
Connie Goldberg Sylvia Moss clubs) but explained by North as
K 8 2 9 strong. Away from the table, West
A 9 6 Q 10 7 5 3 indicated she would have made a
Q 9 6 5 A K 4 2 support double if she’d been alerted
K 9 6 Q J 7 that 1NT was conventional. South
Eunice Portnoy blurted out before the lead was
A Q J 7 4 faced that 1NT was conventional.
K 4
J The Ruling: (1) South’s hand did
10 8 5 4 2 not match North’s description so
there was misinformation. South
West North East South violated Law 75D2 by commenting
1 Pass 1 1NT(1) before the end of play.
Pass Pass Dbl 2
Pass Pass 3 All Pass
(2) EW were entitled to reach 4
on the auction 1 -P -1 -1NT;
(1) intended as sandwich, explained as dbl -P -4 all pass had they had
strong a correct explanation (Law 40C3).
The contract and result were
changed to 4 making four for +620 (Law 12C2).

The Appeal: North claimed that if West had made a support double and East
bid 4, she would have known to bid 4. Upon questioning, South defended
her 2 action by admitting she didn’t want to play 1NT doubled with partner
unaware of the takeout nature of her hand. EW were not present at the hearing.

The Decision: Since North didn’t realize that partner had black suits until her
partner improperly announced it at the end of the auction, the committee saw
no reason to believe that an EW contract of 4 would have caused North to
sacrifice in 4. While South might have led a club against 4, NS didn’t offer
any such argument.

The committee thought South’s bid of 2 was highly inappropriate in light

of the failure to alert. Some consideration was given to the possible results in
1NT doubled. While there are plausible lines of play that would result in –800
or –1100, South could get five tricks with cautious play. Nevertheless, South’s
blatant taking advantage of the UI was grounds for a procedural penalty.
45
The contract was changed to 4 making +620. NS were penalized one-fourth
of a board.

The appeal was not deemed to have merit and an AWMW was assigned.

Committee: Bart Bramley, Chairperson, Ron Gerard, Jerry Gaer, Mark

Feldman and Darwin Afdahl.

Rigal: I have less strong feelings about South’s decision to pull 1NT than the
committee. I’ve yet to see anyone EVER sit for 1NT doubled and get anything
but a complete zero. The PP makes sense though, in the context of the offending
side bringing this appeal. I’m not sure I would have done it but I approve of the
philosophical approach.

Goldsmith: The director was called after West’s final pass? Huh? The first
sentence of the ruling is false. This case is a mess. Did no one ever determine
NS’s actual agreement? We don’t know if there was misinformation or not.
There surely was UI.

A quarter board is letting South off easy. 2 was a blantant foul. If 1NT
doubled had been a good result for EW, that’s where the board would have been
played. If the agreement about 1NT had been strong, then 1NT doubled down
two would have been the right ruling.

The AC really also needed to judge if EW’s damage was significantly due to
East’s 3 underbid subsequent to NS’s infractions. I think it’s close, but bidding
3 will probably get EW to 3NT going down, after which, of course, EW would
get an adjusted score, so their bad result was not caused by later misbidding.

Upon reflection, Adam has convinced me that 1NT doubled is the right spot. It
is surely likely that declarer will try to make the contract by winning a heart lead
or shift, crossing to the A and taking a spade hook. That leads to 10 tricks for
the defense (one spade, four hearts, three diamonds and two clubs). Reciprocal
1100s must be awarded.

Wildavsky: Good work by the AC. The TD might have assessed a procedural
penalty as well.

The normal incentive to avoid choosing a logical alternative suggested by UI

is that the player will keep a bad result if he achieves one, and will receive an
adjusted score otherwise. Where there is little downside to the illegal call a
procedural penalty ought to be considered. That’s the case here where due to the
UI South knows that 1NT is almost surely going for a number,

As for the adjusted score, how would the play go in 1NT doubled? Were I
declaring at matchpoints with a heart lead, I’d try to make it since there’s no
reason to believe that 4 is cold. This would result in 1100 to EW. Since that is
one of the likely results I believe it is the proper adjustment for both sides, along

46
with the procedural penalty and the AWMW. Even if it’s not a likely result it’s
surely “at all probable,” and I certainly see no reason not to assign –800 to NS.

Staff: Slam dunk. Too bad –800 wasn’t really possible.

47
 CASE TWENTY

Subject: Played card

DIC: Cukoff
NABC Women’s Pairs, 2nd Qualifying

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 16 Bonnie Bagley 4 making four for +420 for NS.
Dlr: West A Q 10 8 6 The director was called at trick 11.
Vul: EW K 5 Declarer had two small spades (both
10 9 8 good) and a small club. Dummy
J 8 2 had the 10 5 4. At this point West
Jean Groome Barbara Nist had the Q, the 9 and the J.
J 7 4 3 2 Declarer played her club and stated
10 2 A J 9 4 3 she said up. Dummy played the
A J 6 4 3 2 7 5 10. West says the declarer said
Q 9 7 6 K 3 club and played her 9 immediately
Toshiko Yingst and then objected when declarer
K 9 5 claimed she had said up. East
Q 8 7 6 stated that declarer hesitated then
K Q mumbled something.
A 10 5 4
The Ruling: The director could
West North East South not be sure which card was played,
2 Pass Pass Dbl but thought it was likely that there
Pass 3 Pass 4 was some confusion at the table.
All Pass The director awarded the trick to
EW, allowing the play of the queen
making it 4 down one for +50 to EW.

The Appeal: NS believed that the 9 had been played since they had both
clearly seen that card over the table.

West said that though she had started to play the 9, she had caught herself in
time to play the queen instead.

Other facts discovered by the Committee: When declarer said “up,” dummy
detached the 10 and placed it at the edge of the table. West thinking that
declarer said “club” (meaning small club), removed the 9 from her hand and
started to play it. She demonstrated to the Committee how she had held the
card. It was roughly three to five inches past the edge of the table (over the
table) and tilted very slightly forward (perhaps 5 to 10 degrees from vertical).
Upon noticing the 10 at the edge of the table on her right, West quickly pulled
the 9 back into her hand and played the queen instead (saying “whoa” or
something to that effect).

South demonstrated what she recalled seeing. The card was held in the same
location but tilted forward slightly more at perhaps a 25 degree angle from the
vertical. In neither case was the Committee (sitting across the table from the
48
player) able to see the card that was held.

The Decision: For a card to be considered played, it must be held or placed in a

position so that partner could have seen it. Based on the demonstrations to the
committee, the 9 had not been played. The Q won trick 11 and 4 was
down one.

The screening director had explained to NS the rule regarding a played card.
It is not unusual for an opponent to be able to see a card you hold, while your
partner cannot see it.

The laws state that declarer should name the suit and rank of the card to be
played, but make allowance for other designations such as “hi,” “low” and “win.”
The Committee suggested that North refrain from using “up” to call for a high
club, because the word nearly rhymes with “club.”

The Committee thought that NS should not have proceeded with the appeal after
the screening director had explained the rule regarding a played card, especially
since the situation had been brought about because of declarer’s nonstandard
form of designation. NS were assigned an AWMW.

Committee: Doug Doub, Chairperson, Ed Lazarus, Gail Greenberg, Jeff

Goldsmith and Adam Wildavsky.

Rigal: Excellent ruling on as money-grubbing and pettifogging an appeal

as I’ve seen for a while. Why do people try to get something for nothing in
situations where their own behavior at the table has generated the problem in the
first place? Do you really want this trick that badly?

Goldsmith: Nothing more to add.

Wildavsky: Were I chairing the AC I’d have explained that we would have
allowed West to change her play even if the Q had been placed face up on the
table.

The designation “Up,” so easily confused with “Club,” ought to have no place
in the game. If one must use the word, then the phrase “Go up” does not risk
misinterpretation.

Directing Staff: Wait a minute. Who cares what declarer said? How could
the 9 ever be right? This nonsense about what declarer said is an irrelevant
smokescreen. If West was asserting she might have scored two club tricks, with
declarer calling dummy’s card prematurely, then she had lost complete touch
with the hand. My guess is she simply pulled the wrong card out of her hand.
Was it legally a played card? Who knows? I wasn’t there. My guess is that it
was, but the Committee’s procedure was correct. Based on the Committee’s
investigation, the ruling was correct.

Unless the table director explained the relevant law correctly, the AWMW seems
heavy-handed.
49
 CASE TWENTY-ONE

Subject: Played card

DIC: Bates
NABC Open Swiss, 1st Final

The Facts: The contract was 3NT

Bd: 12 Robert Heitzman down four for a score of –400 for
Dlr: West K Q 7 6 5 2 NS. Opening lead was the Q.
Vul: NS 6 3 The play went queen to South’s king
A 5 and then the Q to East’s king. A
9 3 2 low heart went to West’s jack who
Claudio Nunes Fulvio Fantoni shifted to a low club that went to
10 9 8 4 East’s queen. South played the 5,
Q J A 9 7 5 4 2 then attempted to change it to the
10 9 7 3 K 8 4 K. At this point the director was
A 10 8 7 4 Q 6 called. He had declarer demonstrate
Keith Garber his play of the 5 detached
A J 3 from hand and touching or nearly
K 10 8 touching the table.
Q J 6 2
K J 5 The Ruling: The director ruled
that the 5 was a played card (Law
West North East South 45C2) and the final result was 3NT
Pass 2 Pass 3 down four.
Pass 3 Pass 3NT
All Pass The Appeal: No statements noted.

The Decision: The committee upheld the director’s ruling.

The committee noted that all four players agreed that South extracted the 5
from his hand and held it some inches from the table in a position where all three
players could and did see it. The length of time that the card was visible was
short but not instantaneous.

The application of the word “held” in Law 45C2 was deemed to cover the
situation encountered at the table. The 5 did not emerge accidentally from
South’s hand. South did not observe that East had not played the A and thus
had to pay the penalty for his distraction.

No AWMW was awarded. A minority of the committee believed that the

interpretation of the law was sufficiently challenging as to merit an appeal.

Dissent on the finding of merit: Doug Doub. All four players demonstrated how
they saw Declarer’s placement of the 5. Although the amount of time that the
card was exposed varied a bit, in each case the card was face up, roughly one
to three inches above the table, with the face tilted toward declarer’s partner.
According to the law, it was clearly a played card and NS should not have
appealed the Director’s ruling. The committee should have found no merit and
50
assigned AWMW to the appealing side.

Committee: Barry Rigal, Chairperson, Gary Cohler, Doug Doub, Danny

Sprung and Aaron Silverstein.

Rigal: I can’t remember but I think I was neutral on the issue of the AWMW at
the time. I think it was the interpretation of the Laws that took us some time to
decide. That being so there seemed to be some merit. I am not so sure I feel that
way now; I could be persuaded either way by the rest of my committee.

Goldsmith: I agree with the dissent. While the played card rules are not well-
known and are a bit arcane, NS could have simply asked a director to explain
them. The failure to do so made them eligible for an AWMW. Ignorance of the
law is no excuse.

Gerard: Where’s the rest of them? One person filed a dissent, a minority
thought the law was unclear. What about the other two? I don’t see anything
uncertain in the law and agree with the dissent about an AWMW.

Wildavsky: I’d have liked to learn why NS thought the ruling should be
changed. That said, I agree with the dissent. I see no merit in the appeal.

Staff: The dissent is correct.

51
 CASE TWENTY-TWO

Subject: MI
DIC: Bates
NABC Open Swiss, 1st Final

Bd: 1 Mike Levinson The Facts: 6 was down one for

Dlr: North 7 5 3 +50 for NS after the opening lead
Vul: None 6 3 of the A. 5 was explained
A Q 10 8 4 3 as a strong slam try in diamonds
10 7 that said nothing about clubs.
Marti Malcolm Chuck Malcolm The director determined that this
K Q 8 4 A J 10 9 6 was misinformation and no such
Q J 9 8 7 4 2 A K 10 agreement existed.
K
K J 7 5 2
5 2 The Ruling: The director ruled
Paul McDaniels that the result stood. East doubled
2 6 and West pulled. This
5 broke the connection between
9 6 misinformation and result (Law
A K Q J 9 8 6 4 3 40C).

West North East South The Appeal: EW felt the MI had

2 2 5(1) made West’s decision to sacrifice
5 6 Dbl Pass more attractive.
6 Pass 6 All pass
Other facts discovered by the
Committee: NS had played 5 as
(1) MI
the hand type described by North,
but had recently switched to using
4NT for this purpose. NS play EHAA (2 showed five to nine diamonds with
any suit quality).

The Decision: The table result stands.

The committee had a great deal of sympathy for West who had taken out
reasonable insurance. However, his decision was not based on the MI. East had
heard South make a strong slam try and had still doubled. Had East simply held
the AK would this be enough to double? The committee felt it was not.

The random nature of the 2 call meant that if South had properly alerted West,
she would have expected North to hold five to nine diamonds and perhaps a
club fit. Again the decision to sacrifice and overrule partner would have been
a reasonable act. West had taken that decision, however, and even though the
Committee could sympathize with it, EW were not entitled to redress.

Committee: Barry Rigal, Chairperson, Doug Doub, Gary Cohler, Aaron

Silverstein and Danny Sprung.

52
Rigal: This was tough on West; we understood where she was coming from
but we felt her decision to overrule her partner had broken the chain. As to the
length of North’s diamonds: North’s diamond length was described as five to
nine cards. Not playing EHAA I can’t dispute this. If West had heard South bid
a natural 5 and North bid 6 over that, the nine-card suit might have been a
live possibility.

Goldsmith: Right. What about an AWMW? I don’t see any merit.

Gerard: If South doesn’t promise diamond support North would need an

unusual hand to bid 6. I agree as to substance. West trusted her opponents
more than her partner and has to pay the piper.

Wildavsky: Kudos to the TD for citing the law under which he ruled. That said,
both the TD and the AC noted that the damage was subsequent to the infraction
rather than being a direct consequence of it. They therefore ought to have applied
Law 72B1 and adjusted the NS score while leaving EW with the table result.

Staff: If West had known NS had no such agreement, he would never have
taken out insurance. The auction itself would have told him NS were having an
accident. If his 6 bid wasn’t egregious, as the Committee seems to be saying,
then he must be allowed to pass 6 doubled, with correct information, because
he would have!

Regardless of EW’s fate, NS would never have avoided disaster if not for their
infraction. They cannot benefit. Their result must be 6 doubled. My guess
is down four, plus 800 EW. I can’t help feeling part of what happened here,
although unstated, is the Committee felt EW should never have bought into the
explanation. I hope I’m wrong, since I know from experience that NS have a
multitude of unusual agreements.

53
 CASE TWENTY-THREE

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Bates
NABC Open Swiss, 1st Final

Bd: 16 Leszek Rabiega The Facts: The final contract was

Vul: EW 7 3 2 2 by West making + three –140
Dlr: West 9 7 4 3 2 for NS. The opening lead was
10 7 4 3 the 10. The director was called
10 after West’s call of 2. A BIT
Morrie Kleinplatz Andrew DeSosa was agreed to be about 15 to 20
J 9 8 5 4 K Q seconds.
10 6 A K 5
9 8 2 A Q 6 The Ruling: Law 16A2 – West
A 7 6 J 9 8 4 2 has a logical alternative of pass.
Jaroslaw Plasecki However, the director felt that East
A 10 6 would take another call over 2
Q J 8 and that the contract would have
K J 5 been 2 or 3 making three.
K Q 5 3 Therefore, no damage resulted
from the BIT.
West North East South
Pass Pass 1 1NT The Appeal: The appellants felt
Pass 2(1) Pass(2) 2 that the agreed upon BIT created
2 All Pass UI and that West’s 2 bid was a
result of the UI. The appellants
(1) Transfer felt that pass was a LA for West at
(2) BIT this form of scoring (IMPs) and
the unfavorable vulnerability.

The non-appealing side said that East is always very slow and deliberate in all
his bids and that the slowness of his partner’s pass had no effect on his actions.
Upon questioning by the Committee, they were told East’s opening bid was
made in approximately five seconds.

The Decision: This case presented some serious problems for the Committee
because of the ruling that was made at the table. (The directors ruled that East
would have bid again resulting in a contract of 2 or 3 and therefore no
damage to NS.) The Committee felt that it was not at all probable that East
would act again in the auction. The Committee ruled that the contract would be
2 by South. The Committee discussed numerous lines of play and decided the
most probable result would be down one.

The Committee then discussed a PP for West for blatant misuse of the UI. There
was strong sentiment for a PP except for the fact that the director’s ruling created
the jeopardy for the “non-offending side.” If the director had ruled against EW
and EW had brought this appeal to Committee, they would have received a PP
that would have been richly deserved.
54
A question for thought: Can the “non-offending” side ever be subject to a
PP? The appealing side always has the option of dropping their appeal during
screening if they feel that the risks of sanctions are high. We have no similar
escape mechanism for the “non-offending” side.

Committee: Doug Doub, Chairperson, David Berkowitz, Riggs Thayer, Ed

Lazarus and Aaron Silverstein.

Rigal: This was the last night of the tournament I believe. It is hard to find any
other excuse for the TD ruling. After the event a colleague persuaded me that
a PP might theoretically have been in order even for a non-appealing side. If
that were so, one might have been given here. As to whether we could find a
convincing enough line to let 2 make – we did try hard. As I recall, I thought
we should have given a non-reciprocal ruling to let it make for the offenders, but
I was outvoted.

Goldsmith: This seems right; while East would like to bid something, I don’t
see anything that makes sense. In 2, is making it at all probable? Even after
trump, spade shift won, high club, declarer is still down one. Reciprocal –50s
should be awarded.

Yes, the EW pair can be subject to a PP. ACs are not a court of law; there are no
laws which protect anyone from their own wrongdoing. While an appeal case
has an appealing side and a nonappealing side, that only matters in the procedure
of who gets to speak first. The AC has complete rights to enforce the laws as
they see fit. If one is put in a position whereby one needs to appeal in order to
get a fair score, but knows that doing so may cause one to have to pay a larger
penalty as a result, then that’s just too bad.

If the other side does not get its score corrected as a result, the field suffers
mildly. Perhaps, therefore, one can arrange not to be subject to any penalty if
one appeals and claims only to want to have the other side’s score adjusted. If
so, however, the AC must not adjust said appealing side’s score. That’s not
currently legal.

Gerard: Here’s the escape mechanism: Don’t take blatant advantage in the first
place. No one EVER withdraws his or her appeal because of the warning. If
they tell you they would, it’s just another self-serving statement like “East is
always very slow and I swear on a pile of weapons of mass destruction I was
always going to bid 2.” Besides I don’t know if the warning extends to the PP
as well as the AWMW. It should but we assign them even if it doesn’t.

A question for thought: Which does a greater disservice, failure to achieve the
correct rankings because of an incorrect decision on appeal or failure to make
a record of bad actors (which could also affect the rankings) because of an
incorrect ruling?

55
Wildavsky: The TD seems not to have applied the laws. The write-up says “the
director felt that East would take another call over 2” but the laws do not
require the TD to speculate. He needs to enumerate the results that were likely
absent the illegal 2 bid, and then add the results that were at all probable. He
may have judged that Pass by East was not even “at all probable,” but unless
he says so explicitly we have no reason to believe that he applied the laws as
written.

Correctly faulty bridge judgment by TDs is one of the primary purposes of the
AC, and they did a fine job. I sympathize with their unwillingness to impose a
PP on the non-appellants, and I’d have liked to see the TD assess one at the table,
the more so since he chose not to adjust the score.

Staff: Did the floor director poll any players as to what they would do after
2-P-P? What is East’s level of expertise? I submit that only very strong, and
perhaps very weak, players would pass. The Committee’s procedure was fine.
I’m just not sure I agree with its judgment. I think the intended question refers
to “the non-appealing side.” My answer is yes, depending on the attitude. If
a player immediately admits a misdeed and shows contrition, a PP would be
inappropriate. Otherwise I wouldn’t hesitate to issue one.

56
 CASE TWENTY-FOUR

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Bates
NABC Open Swiss, 2nd Final

Bd: 16 The Facts: The final contract was

Dlr: West Richard DeMartino 6 by West making six for a score
Vul: EW Hand Not recorded of –1430 for NS following a diamond
lead won by South’s ace. There was
M.Cappelletti, Sr John Morris a BIT of 20 to 25 seconds before the
K J 8 7 4 2 A Q 9 5 bid agreed by all at the table. At
A Q 8 7 K J 9 4 the conclusion of the auction, West
10 K Q 9 said he didn’t know what 5 showed,
K J A 9 6 but that it had to be forcing.
John Stiefel
Hand Not recorded The Ruling: Law16 UI – If East had
bid 5, that clearly would have been
West North East South a sign off in hearts and West would
1 Pass 2 Pass not be able to bid on. 5 in this
2 Pass 3 Pass auction is highly unusual and BIT
3 Pass 4NT Pass does not suggest that any particular
5(1) Pass 5(2) Pass call is more likely to succeed than
6 All Pass another.

(1) shows one or four key cards The Appeal: The North, South and
(2) BIT East players attended the hearing. NS
appealed. They felt that EW could
have been off two key cards and that
pass was an LA after the BIT. East stated he bid 5 because he knew it was
forcing and he was looking for more information. He further stated he was
offering 5 as a choice of slams since he had gone past 5 and hearts had been
bid and supported.

Other facts discovered by the Committee: The Committee asked East about
follow-ups to keycard in some other auctions. For example, they asked about
1–3; 4NT–5; 6? East stated that this was undiscussed and he didn’t
know what it meant.

The Decision: The committee allowed the table result to stand, 6 making six.
EW were not a regular partnership and the Committee believed that they had no
agreement. East bid beyond the trump suit (hearts) and this did not suggest he
was trying to sign off since he could have used a 5 bid to do that.

The Committee judged the appeal to have merit.

Committee: Doug Doub, Chairperson, David Berkowitz, Riggs Thayer, Aaron

Silverstein and Ed Lazarus.

57
Rigal: I can’t decide about this one. On balance I think a reasonable decision,
but arguably the tempo did point towards this call not being a sign-off. Was
passing ever an LA? I think it might have been.

Goldsmith: Again, we see a generous failure to give an AWMW. NS are strong

players. They should know better. This wasn’t Hesitation Blackwood.

Gerard: If 5 were natural, West had the right to reevaluate his response
because of the auction, not the tempo. I don’t see the merit. NS brought nothing
to the table, other than a stubborn refusal to recognize 5 for what it was.

Wildavsky: 5 was a thoughtful bid, catering to something like

K J x x x x
A x x x
X
K Q

The time for thought, however, was before using Blackwood. It should not be
asking too much for the 4NT bidder to plan his auction over the likely responses.

While the TD was certainly correct that the 5 bid was unusual, it ought to be
obvious that a slow 5 suggests that the side is not off two key cards. Suppose
East held this hand (provided to me by the appellants):

Q 10 9
K J 9 x
K Q
A Q x x

He’d have been able to bid 5 in tempo then. In fact this hand seems more
likely than the hand he held, since on the actual deal he could have found the
best slam simply by asking for the Q.

Staff: Curious. EW had no agreement on follow-ups to RKC as the Committee

discovered. Still, the Committee accepted that 5 was clearly forcing. Dicey.
Seems to me that West did not think 5 was forcing. He went on because he
now thought he had one more key card, the K. East’s failure to bid 5 to
find out about the Q seems telling. Dicier. East might have thought he could
count exactly 11 tricks in either major suit contract, and chose the longer fit.
Diciest. There are too many questions. 5 making six, plus 680 for EW.

58
 CASE TWENTY-FIVE

Subject: UI
DIC: Ron Johnston
Flight A/X Pairs 3/20/04

Panel: Gary Zeiger (Reviewer), Bernard Gorkin, Matt Smith, Su Doe

Bd: 20 Magy Mohan The Facts: The final contract was

Dlr: West A K J 7 2 4 making four after the Q lead.
Vul: Both 8 The director was called after the 3
5 bid. All agreed that South paused at
K Q 6 5 4 2 least 20 seconds prior to bidding 3.
Eugene Chan Lilly Lachter
10 8 6 5 4 3 The Ruling: The result stands. UI
A Q 7 10 6 5 from South’s hesitation does not
A K 8 7 6 Q J 9 2 demonstrably suggest North’s 4 bid
8 3 A 10 9 (Law 16A).
Mark Kennedy
Q 9 The Appeal: EW appealed the
K J 9 4 3 2 ruling and all players attended the
10 4 3 hearing.North had 3000 masterpoints
J 7 (plus international experience
representing Mexico), South had 465,
West North East South East had 1165 and West had 1650
1 2 2 2 masterpoints. West said that North
Pass 2 P 3(1) had an obvious 3 bid over 3. He
Pass 4 All Pass said that the 4 bid seemed odd and
could only have been bid because of
(1) Agreed BIT information conveyed by the break
in tempo. NS said that they play 2
as forcing. North said that 3 in
response to 2 would have been a splinter. 3 in the given auction was non-
forcing. North said she didn’t bid 4 over 2 because she was afraid it might
be interpreted as a “maxi-splinter”. She knew that her actual auction could not
be misunderstood.

The Decision: The panel consulted seven experts regarding North’s action over
3 and what information the hesitation may have conveyed. All seven would
have bid 3. As to what the hesitation before the 3 bid might suggest, one
saw a connection between the UI and the 4 bid. He successfully described
South’s likely hand type for a slow 3 bid (“bad hearts and honor doubletons in
the black suits”). When two experts were asked what 3 over 2 would have
been, they both said it should logically be a splinter.

Despite this, the panel was swayed by the rest of the expert opinion. One thought
the break in tempo might show values, but he saw no connection to the black suits.
Another agreed that the BIT didn’t help North and thought her 4 bid was an
indication that she didn’t trust her partner to bid game with the right hand.
59
Four others said that the BIT and the 4 bid were totally unrelated. One said
that South’s BIT might have been due to holding an under strength hand with
a diamond card, hardly indicating 4. The two who were asked agreed that a
direct 3 bid over 2 should logically be a splinter.

The panel decided that there was an unmistakable hesitation by South before
bidding 3. This created UI, but it did not demonstrably suggest 4 (Law
16A). No violation of law occurred, so the panel ruled the table result stood.
Since EW had provided no conceivable connection between the BIT and the 4
bid, and since they were told that the success of their case hinged on this factor,
they were each assessed an AWMW.

Players consulted: Jill Levin, Bobby Levin, Kyle Larsen, Marc Jacobus, Fred
Hamilton, Dan Morse, and Magnus Lindqvist.

Rigal: This appeal was well decided and the AWMW entirely appropriate. The
grounds for appeal were at best tenuous and seemed to be close to “if it hesitates,
shoot it!”

Gerard: Don’t agree with the AWMW. First they brought the case, they don’t
need to articulate the connection. Second, one of the consultants could see it,
he presumably disallowed 4. Third, this is a matter for consultation. The only
person consulted on the issue indirectly said the appeal had merit. That makes it
unanimous among those who were consulted that the AWMW was wrong.

Wildavsky: The panel’s decision to assess an AWMW is beyond the pale. One
consultant practically described South’s hand card for card – he could not have
done so without the UI. EW are owed a board and an apology.

Can I demonstrate that a slow 3 suggests 4 over 3? I don’t think it’s
difficult:

3 is not forcing, so a slow 3 suggests doubt that 3 will be the best

contract.

Doubt that 3 will be the best contract suggests both poor hearts (hearts will
play poorly) and honors in one or both of partner’s suits (a black suit will play
well.)

Black suit honors suggest that the best contract will be 4 or 5 rather than
3 or 4.

One consultant had the right idea when he suggested that 4 implied that
North did not trust South to bid game over 3 with the right hand. All that
was missing was to add that due to the hesitation North could have strongly
suspected that South did indeed hold the right hand.

How long do you suppose South would have taken to bid 3 if he held
xx K Q J 10 xx xxx xx?
60
 CASE TWENTY-SIX

Subject: Tempo - UI
DIC: Peter Knee
Stratified Open Pairs 1st Session 3/23/04

Panel: Bernard Gorkin (Reviewer), Gary Zeiger, Ron Johnston

Bd: 18 Q 10 8 5 3 The Facts: 4 made four for a

Dlr: East 8 3 score of +420 for EW after the
Vul: NS 8 6 4 3 opening lead of the 4. The
J 8 director was near the table during
K J 2 7 4 the auction and he witnessed the
Q 10 9 7 4 2 A K 6 5 break in tempo. All agreed that
2 Q J there was a hesitation. East told the
10 9 3 A Q 7 6 4 director that he bid 4 because he
A 9 6 thought 4 might make and he was
J not vulnerable. The director ruled
A K 10 9 7 5 that the hesitation demonstrably
K 5 2 suggested that bidding could be
more successful than passing,
West North East South and that East had shown his hand
1 1 with 3, so pass was a logical
1 2 3 4 alternative (Law 16A). The score
Pass(1) Pass 4 All Pass was changed to 4 by South
making four, NS +130 (Law 12C2).
(1) 20 second BIT
The Appeal: EW appealed the
ruling and all but West attended the hearing. North and South had over 1300
masterpoints while East and West each had fewer than 5. East said that letting
the opponents play 4 was a losing action and 4, if it went down, would not
be down more than 100. He thought the only time bidding 4 would lose was
when both 4 and 4 were going down. NS stated that they thought East had
already shown all of his values and that pass was an option.

The Decision: The panel polled players of different experience levels regarding
East’s action over 4-P-P. Of the three experts polled, two would have passed
and one would have bid 4. Of the six flight C players polled, two passed and
four bid 4. Several novices were polled and all bid 4. The panel decided
that East’s bridge knowledge was at least at the level of Flight C players despite
his limited masterpoint holding, so the input of the novices was not given
consideration as a peer group. The panel’s conclusion was based on two factors.
During the hearing East’s stated reason for bidding 4 matched that of the
one expert who bid 4, and EW played variable no trump openings based on
vulnerability.

Therefore, based on the player input, the panel decided that pass was an LA for
East. The panel also determined that there was an unmistakable hesitation and
that it demonstrably suggested not passing (Law 16A). The panel ruled 4
61
making four for NS +130 (Laws 16A, 73F1, 12C2). The appeal was judged to
have merit considering the mixed responses of the polled players.

Players Consulted: Jim Murphy, Keith Garber, Dennis Lesage, six flight C
players, and several novices.

Rigal: Excellent ruling and panel decision. I would personally have given the
AWMW but I entirely approve with the panel’s decision to rely on the sample
selected, even though I do not agree with it.

Wildavsky: I see no merit in the appeal. Pass must be an LA for a player who
bid only 3 at his previous turn.

62
 CASE TWENTY-SEVEN

Subject: UI
DIC: Olin Hubert
Wed Strat Open Pairs 1st Session 3/24/04

Panel: Susan Doe (Reviewer), Millard Nachtwey, Michael Carroad

Bd: 29 9 5 The Facts: The final contract was

Dlr: North J 9 3 3 making three for a score of EW
Vul: Both J 8 7 +140 after the opening lead of the
K J 10 5 2 9. The director was called after
8 7 K 6 3 2 the opponents had left the table
Q 10 5 4 2 A 7 6 (after the next board). NS told the
A 10 4 2 K Q 5 3 table director that East had visibly
A 7 9 3 flinched when West described his
A Q J 10 4 3 bid as 14-15 points with heart
K 8 support. They said they did not call
9 6 earlier because they did not want it to
Q 8 6 4 appear that they were accusing their
opponents of cheating. They asked
West North East South the director if West was allowed to
Pass 1(1) 1 pass under the circumstances.
2(2) Pass 3(3 All Pass
The director found the EW pair
(1) Precision, 11-15 HCP, 2+diamond after the next round and confirmed
(2) Alerted, non-forcing all of the facts except that they did
(3) Alerted, asked and explained as not agree that East had reacted to
support for hearts with 14-15 points the explanation. The director ruled
that unauthorized information had
occurred. After polling some players,
the director determined that West’s pass of 3 was demonstrably suggested
by the UI when a logical alternative (4) existed (Law 16A). The score was
changed to 4 down one for NS +100 (Law 12C2).

The Appeal: EW appealed the ruling and all players but East attended the
hearing. North and South each had fewer than 150 masterpoints; West had
195 and East had 1195. NS reiterated that East had flinched after his partner’s
explanation of the 3 bid. West described his partner’s facial and body
language as one of “superiority” at the point of the explanation. He said that
2 promised “nothing” systemically. East had told the table director that it was
merely non-forcing.

The Decision: The panel believed that West’s statement to the reviewer
indicated that he perceived some sort of reaction to the description of 3
(“superiority”), so by a preponderance of the evidence the panel ruled that UI
had occurred (Law 16A). The panel also believed that such a reaction would
demonstrably suggest a pass by West, so the panel gave West’s hand as a bidding
63
problem over 3-P to five players with 200-300 masterpoints. All chose to bid
4. One experienced player (3000 points) gave the same answer. Therefore,
the panel ruled that pass was demonstrably suggested (by the UI) over 4 and
could not be allowed (Laws 16A and 73F1), so the score was adjusted to 4
down one for NS +100 (Law 12C2). Since the player involved had only about
200 masterpoints, an AWMW was not given.

Players consulted: Five with 200-300 masterpoints, and one with 3000.

Rigal: A messy case. The panel had to decide on the facts in a situation where
someone was going to be very upset at the conclusion. For what it is worth I
agree with their decision based on what I read. I think one had to be there to
have any feel for what was going on, but the mere fact that the TD was called
at all adds credence to the NS case. Once that was decided the decision seems
clear. Agreed no AWMW, of course.

Gerard: “Superiority” implies “smirk”, not “flinch”. Does “smirk” mean “You
dodo, what are you thinking?” or “You idiots, what else could it be?” The Panel
didn’t make the connection for us, other than by their conclusion. I don’t know
which it was, maybe West could have helped. In any case, East sounds like a
sheer joy to play with.

Wildavsky: If an AWMW was not awarded it ought to have been because the
facts were in dispute, not because of the expertise of the appellants. There is no
rule restricting an AWMW to Life Masters.

Staff: East, with 1195 masterpoints, is certainly capable of explaining an

AWMW to West.

64
 CASE TWENTY-EIGHT

Subject: UI
DIC: Olin Hubert
Wed Open Pairs 2nd Session

Panel: Susan Doe (Reviewer), Matt Smith, Gary Zeiger

Bd: 13 10 8 7 The Facts: The final contract was

Dlr: North K 9 6 4 by East making four for a score
Vul: Both 4 3 of EW +620. The opening lead is
Q J 8 6 4 unknown. The director was called
Q 9 5 4 A K J 3 2 two rounds later. Because of this,
A J 3 Q 10 5 4 the director spoke to each pair
6 5 K J 7 independently. NS said that the
A 9 5 2 3 Stop card was used before West’s
6 3 bid and that the 3 bid was
8 7 2 made very quickly. South said
A Q 10 9 8 2 West took nowhere near 10 seconds
K 10 7 to bid 3. East was not sure he
saw the Stop card, but West did not
West North East South refute that it was used. West could
Pass 1 3 not give the director an accurate
3(1) Pass 4 All Pass estimate of the time elapsed prior
to the 3 bid. He said that either
(1) allegedly bid quickly North or South inquired about the
meaning of 3 (which he told the
director was “limit”), but there was no conversation at the table concerning the
tempo of the 3 bid.

The director considered whether West followed the requirement to pause after
the skip bid (Law 73A2). Although the facts were in dispute, the ruling was
based on the likelihood that the 3 bid occurred with less than a 10-second
pause. After speaking with both A and B players, however, the director
determined that Laws 73F1 and 16A were not violated since all players
consulted bid 4 with the East cards. The table result was ruled to stand.

The Appeal: NS appealed the ruling and all four players attended the hearing.
North had 13,500 masterpoints, South 9100, East 550, and West 600. The
players agreed that during the auction there was a discussion of the meaning of
the 3 bid, but no mention was made about the tempo of the bid. When asked
by the reviewer the meaning of the 3 bid, East described it as “at the three
level, having some cards”. He seemed reluctant to use his partner’s words “limit
raise”. South said he used the stop card. NS said that West did not pause. EW
did not recall that there was any tempo problem with the 3 bid.

The Decision: Given that the facts of what happened at the table were not
agreed, the panel first had to deal with the question of whether West transmitted
unauthorized information to his partner by making a fast 3 bid. On one
65
hand, NS had not mentioned a fast 3 bid at the table and had not called the
director until two rounds later to report it. On the other, EW did not have a clear
memory of the timing of the 3 bid.

Since the players offered nothing new on the subject to the reviewer that had
not already been reported to the table director, the panel ultimately decided to
defer to the table director’s finding of fact that Law 73A2 had been violated. The
panel then polled three experts and four peers (450-700 points) on East’s action
over 3-P. One expert said he would not pass and would bid either 3NT or 4.
Another thought it was 50-50 between 4 and pass. A third player consulted
said he would pass.

Of the peers, one said he would bid 4 and the other three passed (although
each of them thought 4 was a close second choice). Since pass was therefore
a logical alternative to 4, and since the panel believed that a fast 3 bid
demonstrably suggested not passing, the score was adjusted to 3 making four,
EW +170 (Laws 16A, 73F1, 12C2).

Players consulted: Matt Granovetter, Ken Gee, Lloyd Arvedon, and four players
with 450-700 masterpoints.

Rigal: The TD ruling is surprising; are we looking at the same hand with KJx
under the preempter in diamonds? I agree with the panel here.

Gerard: Opposite what a 3 bid is supposed to look like, a pass is clear. On

this hand, West had a 4 bid.

Wildavsky: Fair enough, but it would also be reasonable that the pair who failed
to summon the TD in a timely fashion should lose any benefit of the doubt. It
helps no one to avoid summoning a TD in a situation like this. After all, we do
not have to pay our TDs by the call.

66
 CASE TWENTY-NINE

Subject: UI
DIC: Harry Falk
Wednesday Fast Pairs 1st Session 3/24/04

Panel: Susan Doe (Reviewer), Michael Carroad, Millard Nachtwey

Bd: 17 A 8 7 The Facts: The final contract was

Dlr: North K Q 9 5 4 by South down one for a NS
Vul: None A Q J score of –50. The opening lead was
Q 10 6 the 7. The director was called
10 9 5 K J after East passed over 1. He
A 10 7 6 2 J 8 was called again after the opening
9 7 4 8 3 2 lead of the 7 and again at the
7 3 A K 9 8 5 4 conclusion of play The play of the
Q 6 4 3 2 hand had gone 7 to the king,
4 3 the A was continued, low to
K 10 6 5 West’s ruff (South pitching a heart),
J 2 a diamond to dummy, A and
low to East’s K, club return with
West North East South South pitching a heart from hand
Pass 1 Pass(1) 1 and ruffing in dummy. The director
Pass 2NT Pass 3 instructed East that his actions in
Pass 4 All Pass inquiring about the meaning of
an unalerted 1 bid transmitted
(1) At his turn, East picked up North’s unauthorized information to his
convention card and asked about NS partner and that he should assume a
agreements normal meaning for 1 and not ask
questions in the absence of an alert.

The Ruling: Despite the UI and West’s illegal choice of a club lead in light of it
(Laws 16A, 73F1), the director ruled that the likelihood that 4 would go down
one even on a non-club lead was so high that NS had not been damaged by the
infraction (Law 12C2).

The Appeal: NS appealed the ruling and were the only players to attend the
hearing. North had 1050 masterpoints, South 1900, East 1250, and West 1350.
NS argued that the club lead was suggested by the UI and that since EW had
taken only four of the five possible defensive tricks, that they would have missed
one of the four tricks available after a trump or diamond or heart lead. They
were of the opinion that the opponents should be held to the worst possible
defense. They felt that they had been made to wait too long for the table director
to give them a ruling.

The Decision: The panel decided that East’s actions had transmitted UI to West
and it investigated whether that UI might have damaged NS. Ten players with
1000 to 1300 points were given the West hand as lead problem (absent the UI)
and four different ones were given the East hand to suggest a defense after a
67
spade lead. The players given the lead problem chose a trump seven times,
a diamond twice, and a club once. Some offered that a heart would never be
their choice. Of the peer players given the problem of how they would plan
their defense with the East hand, three chose to try for a club ruff. The fourth
suggested a spade return. The panel interpreted this evidence to indicate that the
likelihood that 4 would have made on a non-club lead was too low to either
award it to NS or to assign it to EW (Law 12C2), so it ruled the result stands.

The panel thought that NS should have known that they would not win an
adjustment on the board (which North said would not affect their score in any
case), so an AWMW was assessed to NS.

A procedural penalty of 1⁄4 of a board was issued to EW for the flagrant

transmission and use of UI (73F1).

Players consulted: Fourteen peers of EW.

Rigal: The TD should really have worked out the PP for himself. Well done
by the panel. A rare combination of AWMW for one side and PP for the other
— that should have left everyone happy! But it was what they both deserved.

Wildavsky: Kudos to the panel for assessing a procedural penalty. It might seem
inconsistent to also assess an AWMW, since without the appeal the opportunity
to assess the procedural penalty would have been lost. That said, the appeal in
fact had no merit. NS might well suspect that the defenders would have lost a
trick, but if they appeal they ought to be able to suggest a sequence of plays
leading to that result.

Wolff: When partner asked about the meaning of the auction (almost obviously
the one club bid) and partner followed it up with the winning club lead all hell
broke loose, ending with the strong committee’s ruling against the defenders.

To me, the appeals process needs to deal in precedents and cite cases so that
our rulings will not only eventually achieve a consistency, but even more
importantly, the perception will be more toward fairness.

The lesson to be learned is that a player should not do what the opening leader’s
partner did — look and sound suspicious by his questions and then when the
lead struck gold the bomb exploded. It is entirely possible that the non-leader
could have been asking for other reasons, but if he was and the lead was either
poor or nondescript we would never have heard of this case. Our write-ups
should discuss this point and conclude that the questioning of the bidding must
be done according to rule (only at his turn and without emphasis, requiring
positive guile) otherwise it will be deemed UI to partner, since doubt will usually
be judged against the questioner.

This leads me to a possible procedure and that is to have someone (probably a

wise and experienced director), with the idea of everyone learning something

68
from this case and decision, oversee and make it happen. I’ll volunteer to
proofread his work until he doesn’t need anyone to help him. It’ll take a little
effort and, of course, time, to reach where we want to go, but the upside will be
worth it.

Staff: Strong Panel decision. The event staff is good enough to work out the PP
which would have avoided an AWMW.

69
 CASE THIRTY

Subject: MI
DIC: Olin Hubert
Bracket 3 KOs 3/25/04

Panel: Gary Zeiger (Reviewer) Matt Smith, Ken Van Cleve

Bd: 28 A K 9 3 The Facts: The final contract

Dlr: West 10 7 6 was 4 by East making four
Vul: NS Q 5 for a score of EW +420. The
Q 5 3 2 opening lead was the K. The
J 10 7 2 8 6 5 director was called after the play
K J 4 A Q 9 8 5 3 2 of the hand. East intended 2 as
J 10 8 A K 9 natural. Both convention cards
8 7 6 — showed that Hamilton applied.
Q 4
— The Ruling: The table
7 6 4 3 2 result stands. There was no
A K J 10 9 4 misinformation (Law 75) and
East did not take advantage of
West North East South unauthorized information from
Pass 1NT(1) 2(2) 2NT(3) the alert and explanation of 2
3 Pass 4 All Pass by later bidding 4 (Laws 16A,
73F1).
(1) 10-12 (announced)
(2) Alerted - hearts and a minor The Appeal: NS appealed the
(3) Lebensohl ruling and all players except
North attended the hearing. North
had 2300 masterpoints, South
2800, East 1870, and West 2350. South said that this was the second hand in
a row where EW had misused Hamilton. On the previous hand, West had bid
2 showing a one-suiter, not alerted by East. West then passed East’s 2
advance. An appeal on that board was withdrawn when NS conceded that they
could not reasonably expect an adjustment due to either MI or the use of UI.
South said this second hand proved they did not really have an agreement. If
the board wasn’t adjusted, South said that EW should be penalized or the board
should be thrown out. He conceded that EW had discussed the convention and
when it applied after the previous board. He said he might have bid 5 if he
knew East had only hearts. EW said they were a new partnership formed at
this tournament. They did not recall any previous Hamilton misunderstanding
prior to the two described by South. East said her 4 bid was clear after West’s
raise irrespective of the alert and explanation by her partner. She said that on
the previous hand she did not think Hamilton applied over a 10-12 1NT, but that
they decided after the hand that it would. She said she simply forgot to bid 2
on this hand.

The Decision: The panel decided that the matching convention cards and the
immediately preceding discussion constituted a partnership agreement, so no
70
misinformation had occurred (Law 75). The panel also found that East had not
taken advantage of the UI from her partner’s alert and explanation of 2 after a
consulted expert termed 4 a “100% action” (Laws 16A and 73F1). Since no
violation of law occurred, the table result was allowed to stand.

The panel was concerned, however, about EW’s (particularly East’s) apparent
inability to understand the use of a convention in a basic situation. Therefore,
the panel assessed a 2 IMP procedural penalty against EW (Law 90A) and
warned them that further Hamilton accidents would result in them being denied
permission to use the convention. The recorder was notified of the panel’s
concern.

The appeal was found to have merit.

Player Consulted: Steve Scott

Rigal: Correct ruling and panel decision. Once in a while you just get to fix your
opponents. I can’t say I like the PP here, but I can sympathize with the decision
to do more to EW than warn them, given what had happened on the previous
deal. Any votes for convention disruption? Only kidding.

Wildavsky: Fair enough, but I’d like to know the range for 1NT on the previous
deal. It seems plausible that a variable NT range by NS contributed to the
misunderstanding.

71
 CASE THIRTY-ONE

Subject: UI
DIC: Millard Nachtwey
Red Ribbon Pairs 2nd Qualifying 3/25/04

Panel: Gary Zeiger (Reviewer), Bernard Gorkin, Su Doe

Bd: 11 Q 10 9 8 7 2 The Facts: The final contract was

Dlr: South 4 5 doubled by South down two
Vul: None K 9 6 4 for NS –300. The opening lead
10 7 was the 10 and the director
A 4 3 K J 6 was called after the 4 bid. EW
Q 10 9 8 7 6 2 K J 5 3 reported to the director that South
7 5 A J 5 took 10-15 seconds to pass over
5 A 8 6 4. NS agreed that a hesitation
5 occurred, although they did not
A concede that it was as long as EW
Q 10 8 3 contended. North said it “wasn’t
K Q J 9 4 3 2 out of the ordinary”. South said
she was thinking of bidding 5.
West North East South
1 The Ruling: The director ruled that
3 Pass 4 Pass(1) the hesitation did not demonstrably
Pass 4 Dbl 5 suggest that the 4 bid would be
Pass Pass Dbl All Pass more successful than pass, so he
ruled the table result to stand (Law
16).
(1) BIT (see The Facts)
EW appealed the ruling and were
the only players to attend the hearing.

The Appeal: North had 470 masterpoints, South had 625, East 1900, and West
1950. EW pointed out that since North found it reasonable to pass at his first
turn (as opposed to double or 3), then it must have been possible for him to
pass at his second turn. They thought that the quality of the spade suit would
deter many from bidding. They said that South’s break in tempo suggested
extra values of some sort and that any action South was considering was an
encouragement for North to bid.

The Decision: Six 500-point players were given North’s hand (without any UI)
and asked for their bids at each turn. Three players passed at each turn. Two
players wanted to bid 3 at their first turn, but when forced to pass, they bid
4 at their next turn. One player passed at his first turn, then bid 4 over 4-
P-P. An expert was consulted and he passed first and bid 4 at his next turn,
but he said it could certainly backfire. He thought any break in tempo by partner
would encourage action.

The panel decided that there had been an unmistakable hesitation by South that
72
demonstrably suggested action over inaction by North. Based on peer opinions,
the panel decided that pass by North was a logical alternative. The score was
adjusted to 4 by West making five, EW +450 (Laws 73C, 16A2, 12C2).

Players consulted: Six players with about 500 masterpoints and Phil Brady.

Rigal: I’m slightly surprised at the TD ruling for the offenders in a case of
doubt. As the panel poll demonstrated, passing 4 was an option at this level
of player, and South’s pass suggested extras (even though they happened to be
in shape not high-cards). Just because I would bid 4 does not entitle me to
overrule the polled players and the panel sensibly relied on their decision.

Wildavsky: Good work by the panel.

Staff: I’m not so comfortable with this Panel decision. The auction got back
around to South at a high level. Some time is needed. Did a break in tempo
‘demonstrably’ suggest 4? Looking at my hand (North) we have somewhere
to play! Would I allow North to double here? No, demonstrably suggested.

73
 CASE THIRTY-TWO

Subject: UI
DIC: Bob Leonard
2nd Friday Afternoon Side Game 3/26/04

Panel: Matt Smith (Reviewer) Charles MacCracken, Michael Carroad

Bd: 2 K 10 3 The Facts: The final contract was

Dlr: East K J 7 5 5 by North making five for a score
Vul: NS 7 5 4 3 of +650. The A was led and the
9 5 director was called after the auction
Q 9 7 4 J 5 ended. The director erroneously
10 2 Q 6 3 believed North’s response to 4NT
K Q 9 6 A J 10 8 2 was 5. He determined to his
10 8 6 4 3 2 satisfaction that NS do not employ
A 8 6 2 trump queen asking methods.
A 9 8 4 While South’s remark suggested a
— pass by North, there was no logical
A K Q J 7 alternative to pass for this North
(Law 16A).
West North East South
Pass 1 The Appeal: EW appealed the
Pass 1 Pass 2 ruling and all four players attended
Pass 3 Pass 4NT the hearing. NS are a semi-regular
Pass 5(1) Pass 5(2) partnership with each having about
Pass Pass(3) Pass 350 masterpoints. East had 700
points and West had 625. At the
(1) One key card for spades start of the hearing, the acution
(2) After some thought, South said and facts on the appeal form were
“I’ll let him play it.” confirmed with the players. At that
(3) Some thought before passing point, all parties agreed that North’s
response to 4NT was actually
5 (as noted on the appeal form
originally). NS said that they had no agreement about 5 being a trump queen
asking bid and in fact both said they had never heard of it. Their convention
card did not make any mention of it one way or the other.

When asked about their auction in general, NS stated that 2 was game forcing
promising four spades. South said she would have opened 1 if she had five
of them even with a longer minor (she had opened a 5-6 spade-club hand 1
earlier in the day). NS do play splinters, but both said that they splinter with
singletons and not voids. North said he expected partner to have only four
spades (perhaps even three). He agreed that he took 45 seconds before passing
5. He said he took the time trying to figure out if he had missed something
earlier in the auction, but that he eventually concluded that South must have true
heart support.

NS said they were familiar with an auction where a new suit bid at the five level
74
by the 4NT bidder requested a 5NT bid from partner. EW thought that the
remark by South suggested that North should pass and that 5 was a reasonable
alternative for North. At this point in the hearing, West volunteered that North’s
response to 4NT had been 5 and not 5. NS confirmed this fact (their
response structure to RKC was 1430).

As to the remark made by South, she agreed she said it in a quiet aside to
East. North said he did not hear the remark and West said he heard South say
something but did not understand what she said. At the end of the auction, East
asked West if he “wanted to let it go by.” West asked what she meant and when
he told him, he called the director.

The Decision: The panel polled three experts and three peers on what South’s
sequence of Bids showed. Two speculated that South was showing a hand that
was too good for a 4 bid or a splinter over 1 by North—perhaps a very
strong 3-4-1-5 pattern. North’s 3 bid may have end played South from
completing his description by jumping to 4 over an expected continuation by
North of 2NT or 3. Another was unsure what 5 showed in the absence of
partnership agreement. All agreed that 5 was not a queen ask since 5 was
available for that purpose.

The three peers (500, 270, and 450 points) were given North’s hand as a bidding
problem. Two of them preferred a bid of 2NT over 2, but over 5 all agreed
that pass was the only alternative as partner must have four hearts. Given this
input, the panel decided that although UI was available to North due to his
partner’s remark (although it may well not have been heard by him) and that the
remark suggested passing, there was no logical alternative to passing (Law 16A).

The table result of NS +650 was ruled to stand. Given that the confusion over
the auction was not cleared up until well into the hearing, EW were not given an
AWMW in a case that otherwise would have warranted one.

Rigal: At the very least South was very close to a PP for a totally inappropriate
comment – whether or not North heard it. Since it might well have seemed to
South to be to his advantage to stop in 5 here, I think this is far closer to an
adjustment than the panel does. Still, if the sample voted the way they did, one
can hardly argue with them. This deal is certainly appropriate for the recorder.
If NS later emerge to be playing a trump queen ask I’d throw the book at them
– retrospectively.

Gerard: Not even close to warranting an AWMW. South blatantly violated the
Laws, North couldn’t tell whether to pass 5, the Panel spent a forever amount
of time dwelling on a queen ask that NS had never heard of, yet South got off
without even a warning and EW are told they shouldn’t have brought the appeal.
If I had been West, I would have reacted the same way when I found out what the
remark was. How can this type of behavior not even be questioned?

Wildavsky: Asides to the opponents, quiet or otherwise, have no place in the

game. This one deserved a procedural penalty, and I’d have searched harder for a
peer who would have bid over 5.
75
 CASE THIRTY-THREE

Subject: Tempo - UI
DIC: Ron Johnston
Senior Swiss 3/28/04

Panel: Charles MacCracken (Reviewer), Roger Putnam, Matt Smith

Bd: 12 8 2 The Facts: The final contract was

Dlr: West J 9 5 2 by North making four after the
Vul: NS A K Q 6 5 lead of the J. The director was
A 8 2 called after the 2 bid. South had
Q J 9 6 K 10 5 4 asked the meaning of 2 and after
K 6 2 A 3 getting the answer had taken some
7 2 J 4 time before passing. NS estimated
Q 10 9 K 7 6 4 3 that the time taken after the answer
A 7 3 was five to eight seconds while EW
Q 10 8 7 4 maintained that the time taken after
10 9 3 the answer was 15 to 20 seconds.
J 5 The director determined that South
had hesitated unmistakably, the
West North East South hesitation demonstrably suggested
Pass 1NT(1) 2(2) Pass(3) action over inaction to North, and
Pass 2 All Pass that pass was a logical alternative
(Law 16A). The contract was
(1) 14-16 changed to 2 by East making
(2) Clubs + major (alerted) two for EW +90 (Law 12C2). NS
(3) BIT appealed the director’s ruling.

The Appeal: All players but South attended the hearing. North was a top flight
expert. He believed that South barely broke tempo over 2. He said that the
hesitation after the answer to South’s question was five to eight seconds. East
estimated 15 to 20 seconds and West estimated 10 to 15 seconds. North argued
that since EW had passed the hand out at 2, it was likely that South had some
high cards. He also said that with his six trick hand and a good suit it was
unlikely that anyone would double 2. EW thought that 2 had substantial
risk and that pass was a logical alternative.

The Decision: The panel gave North’s hand as a bidding problem to three
experts. Two of them said that pass was the only call at IMPs, but they would
bid at matchpoints. Another thought both pass and 2 were equally likely.
The panel found there had been an unmistakable hesitation which demonstrably
suggested bidding as opposed to passing. The information from the polled
players indicated that pass was a logical alternative to bidding 2. The contract
was changed to 2 according to Laws 16 and 73F1.

Since there was no IMP difference between EW +90 and +110, the panel ruled
2 made two, EW +90 (12C2).

76
Since there was little potential gain available to bidding 2 and a potentially
huge risk, and since North put forth no cogent reason to change the director’s
ruling NS were assessed a AWMW.

Players Consulted: Jacqui Mitchell, Amalya Kearse, and Ron Smith (SF).

Rigal: The vulnerability makes passing an option, of course. I was both pleased
and surprised to see the sample agree with me, and an AWMW awarded. If
partner can’t bid over 2 why must he have values? Why should the opponents
not have missed game or a higher-scoring partscore in one or both of the majors
– as indeed they had!

Wildavsky: Good work all around.

Staff: We’ve seen these appeals before. This needs a PP and an AWMW.

77
 CASE THIRTY-FOUR

Subject: Tempo
DIC: Jeff Alexander
Flt A/X Swiss 3/28/04

Panel: Charles MacCracken (Reviewer), Roger Putnam, Matt Smith

The Facts: The final contract

Bd: 2 Dave Westfall was 5 making five for an EW
Dlr: East 9 8 score of +400 after the opening
Vul: NS A K J 4 3 lead of the K. West admitted
10 6 3 to taking a long time to bid 4.
8 6 5 Director was called after the 4
Mel Colchamiro Janet Colchamiro bid.
7 6 5 K Q 3 2
6 5 2 9 The Ruling: Laws 16 & 73F
J 8 5 A K Q 9 7 4 pass is not an LA. Result
K Q 10 7 A 2 stands.
Mark Burkhammer
A J 10 4 The Appeal: NS appealed and
Q 10 8 7 all four players attended the
2 hearing. West said it took a
J 9 4 3 while to work out that East was
4-6. His partner would have
West North East South doubled 1 or 2 had she held
1(1) Pass more clubs, so he down graded
1(2) 1 2(3) 2 the value of his Q. East said
Pass Pass 2(3) Pass she was looking for slam and
3(4) Pass 4(5) Pass of course she was always going
4(6) Pass 5 All Pass to game. Give her partner the
J and the K and game was
(1) 15-21 HCP automatic.
(2) 6+ HCP, denies a six-card suit
(3) Suit, forcing 1 round NS thought pass was an LA
(4) Preference given the UI East had. They
(5) Cue bid disputed the example hand
(6) A long BIT (1 minute) above being an “automatic”
make. Also, if West held, for
example, xxx Qxx Jxx QJxx, EW thought it would have taken him a
lot less time to bid 4. With this hand you cannot get to dummy twice to take
the club finesse and lead toward the KQ twice unless the diamonds are 2-2
and even if the A is on, spades have to split 3-3 to make. This hand requires
the A and K to be onside, which does not leave much of a heart suit for the
overcaller.

The Decision: Two experts felt West underbid his hand with 4 and pass was
the correct action with the East hand. One thought pass was an LA and the
other two bid the game. They thought the slow 4 definitely suggested a better
78
hand than an in tempo 4. The Panel ruled that there had been an unmistakable
hesitation that demonstrably suggested 5 over 4 and so it awarded a score of
4 making five for both sides. Laws 16, 73 and 12.

Players Consulted: Allan Falk, Peter Friedland, Greg Hinze, Dan Morse, and
Chris Willenken.

Rigal: Whenever a TD makes this sort of ruling and is overturned by a panel,

some serious soul-searching should be in order. Well done by the panel. For what
it is worth, the polled players were far less confident than I would have been
here. West had shown a Yarborough thus far in the auction (whether or not 2
was forcing) so pass of 4 is nothing less than 100% automatic.

Gerard: West didn’t raise in competition and took only a simple preference,
yet East was still looking for slam. Do you think if West had properly bid 5
she would have bid six? And after signing off three times yet finding out that
partner bid game on her own, did West even consider that slam might have
been excellent? If I bid that way as East I would have AKxx x AKQxxx
Ax. In real life, East made a game try, West rejected and East accepted. This
was blatant misuse of MI and deserved a PP.

Wildavsky: A good decision by the panel. I’m not sure about their methodology,
though. Rather than asking the players consulted whether pass is a LA I think
they’d do better to ask

(1) What call would you make?

(2) Was your decision a close one?
(3) If your decision was close, what other call or calls did you seriously
consider?

79
 CASE THIRTY-FIVE
Subject: UI
DIC: Jeff Alexander
Flt A/X Swiss 3/28/04

Panel: Charles MacCracken (Reviewer), Roger Putnam, Matt Smith

The Facts: The final contract was

Bd: 27 Paul Erb
3NT making three for NS +400
Dlr: South A 3 2
after the lead of the 9. The
Vul: None A K 6 3
director was called when North bid
J 10 7 2
3NT . North had interpreted this
10 5
action as in an auction where 2NT
Nobel Shore Adam Myerson
is a non-jump bid.
10 8 6 4 Q 9
J 8 10 9 7 5 2
The Ruling: There was UI, but
Q 9 5 3 A 6
in most cases directors have ruled
J 4 2 A Q 7 3
that 3 is a forcing auction.
Ben Black
According to Law 16, pass is not
K J 7 5
an LA. Result stands.
Q 4
K 8 4
The Appeal: EW appealed and
K 9 8 6
North and West were the only
players to attend the hearing.
West North East South
North said he intended his 2NT as
1
invitational. NS have a check back
Pass 1 Pass 1
system – North should have bid
Pass 2NT(1) Pass 3
2 and then 2NT to invite game.
Pass 3NT All Pass
He bid 3NT because he had no
club fit.
(1) Alerted; explained as a relay to get
out at 3 West thought pass was an LA given
the UI that North had.

Two consultants felt South’s bidding showed a bad 4-6 hand, so North should
pass, especially since his hand was better oriented toward suit play. His hand
had too few clubs to raise.

The Decision: The Panel found there was UI that demonstrably suggested that
3NT would be likely to be a better spot than 3, so it changed the contract to
3 down one; NS –50 under Laws 16, 73 and 12.

Players Consulted: Chris Willenken and Mike Kamil.

Rigal: See the previous case for the TD ruling for the offenders and then being
overturned. The consulted players got this exactly right. Finally someone backs
my view that not all 3 calls after ‘Lebensohl’ 2NT bids can be over-ridden!

Wildavsky: This was a dreadful ruling by the TD. He clearly did not understand
80
the auction or its relation to auctions in other decisions, which in any case do
not set a precedent. Informal polls are one way to improve rulings like this.
Especially in a Swiss, where he can consult with other players in the event, the
TD ought to have given the North hand as a bidding problem to a player or two.
When they all passed he’d hopefully realize that pass was in fact a LA.

81
 CASE THIRTY SIX

Subject: MI
DIC: Matt Smith
NAOP Flt C 3/28/04

Panel: Charles MacCracken (Reviewer), Michael Carroad, Olin Hubert

Bd: 24 A K 3 The Facts: The final contract

Dlr: West K 9 2 was 3NT down one for a score of
Vul None J 7 5 4 NS –50 after the lead of the 6.
A 5 3 The director was called when the
Q 10 9 4 7 6 2 distribution became obvious during
A J 8 5 4 3 the play. North bid 2NT over 2
A Q 8 K 10 9 3 thinking it was Flannery. Both EW
7 Q 10 9 6 2 cards were marked Flannery. East
J 8 5 did not think she had to alert it.
Q 10 7 6
6 2 The Ruling: The Director ruled
K J 8 4 that misinformation had occurred
causing damage to NS (Law 21B3,
West North East South 40C). He projected an auction of
2(1) 2NT Pass 3(2) 2 (alert), P, 2, all pass (12C2).
Pass 3 Pass 3NT Down two after AK and another,
All Pass followed by a club force.

(1) Flannery — not alerted NS appealed and were the only

(2) Stayman players to attend the hearing.
(Note: This event did not end and
the appeal was not brought until all but the NABC+ events were over. Thus,
there were no peer consultants available.)

The Appeal: North said he was aggressive and would have bid 2NT, just as he
did over the weak two. However, South would have known not to ask for a major
suit fit and passed his minimum hand. EW defended badly — at trick two North
led the 9 and ran it and still took eight tricks. Since North took eight tricks in
3NT, he asked for eight tricks in 2NT

The Decision: The panel accepted the logic that South would not have stretched
his values to bid if he knew 2 was Flannery. It found there had been
misinformation that directly led to NS’s poor result (Law 40C). It judged NS
+120 to be one of several likely result and thus, under Law 12C2, awarded that
score to NS since it was the most favorable of the likely results. That score
appeared to be the most unfavorable result that was at all probable, so it was also
awarded to EW.

Rigal: Excellent decision by the panel. The number of tricks taken in 3NT
should be what is used for the hypothetical 2NT contract.

82
Gerard: Totally incompetent ruling and description. If South leads a spade to
the ace-king and another, declarer gets out for down one by playing a club to the
ten, then pitching on a club return or covering the heart switch and pitching on
the A return. If North hops with the A and plays a club, East lets the jack
hold and covers the heart return. Maybe declarer wouldn’t have been up to it
based on the defense to 3NT, but the projected auction was ridiculous in light of
the fact that North knew he was defending against Flannery. The panel restored
sanity.

Wildavsky: The text of “The Facts” is inconsistent with the text of “The
Appeal.” Assuming the latter is correct, and that North thought 2 showed
diamonds, then the TD ruling is fair and the panel ruling good. The Laws require
the TD to enumerate the likely and at all probable results, not to project a single
most likely result.

Staff: I disagree. North still wanted to bid 2NT, because he “was an aggressive
player.” Since South’s forward going bid was equally aggressive, why should
we accept the notion of passing over Flannery? The South hand’s pluses and
minuses do not change with the new information. If anything, missing honors
are more likely to be onside, with West having an opening bid.

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 CLOSING REMARKS FROM THE EXPERT PANELISTS

Barry Rigal: The write-ups are far less well done than in previous years. It is
a major mistake to let the write-ups be handled by someone with other duties
at the Nationals. I’d urge the organization to utilize someone with time at their
disposal to produce a far more comprehensive write-up.

The TD rulings are definitely heading in the right direction. Very few outright
boners – though the tendency to rule for the offenders in the case of doubt is still
cropping up from time to time. As usual (in my opinion) the panels are doing a
fine job.

I’m probably too sympathetic to the committees – it is hard for me to be

dispassionate, and particularly this nationals since I was roped into so many
committees by the shortage of manpower and volume of work, but on re-reading
the decisions I can’t see any that are manifestly out of line. Thank you everyone.

PS let’s try to use BIT for a break not for just a pause.

Jeff Goldsmith: The process is still improving. Polling players has made the
results of appeals (and directors’ rulings) not only more accurate, but far more
convincing. Lending a convincing air to this process is a very good thing.

I feel pretty strongly that players’ claims as to the lengths of hesitations need to
be taken with an enormous grain of salt. We’ll be much more accurate simply
by looking at the hand of the player who is alleged to have tanked. If he had an
obvious problem or if he took a very strange action, it’s likely that the claimed
hesitation is accurate, more so than the player’s estimates of the time taken.
We’ll never be free of hesitation problems, but timers on the table, preferably set
off by skip bid warnings, will really help. It’ll help players who want to avoid
varying their tempo; it’ll help directors and ACs who’ll then know exactly how
long the hesitation was, and it’ll put players who do not use the skip bid warning
at a substantial disadvantage over those who do; those players will “know” that
there was a real hesitation beyond the expected length; the others will only be
able to claim it.

Skip bid warnings are mandatory. Why do players refuse to use them, then go
to committee complaining about their opponents’ tempo? It’s not reasonable
to give the opponents of a player who does not use the skip bid warning carte
blanche. It is illegal to award split rulings so that a player who didn’t use a skip
bid warning is essentially never able to gain from the next player’s variation
of tempo. But it is legal to give PPs for the failure to use a skip bid warning
anytime an AC/Director rules in favor of such a player, essentially creating the
same effect. Ought we do that? Probably not, but we might consider threatening
to do it.

Four panelists is really not enough. It was really nice to be able to read the
casebook when a large group of panelists were available. Particularly valuable is
European commentary.
84
Adam Wildavsky: ACs heard 24 cases in Reno. The AC ruled as the TD did
in 16 cases. In the remaining ten cases I judged that the AC improved the TD’s
ruling four times (5, 10, 13, 23) and never clearly worsened it. I found four
cases (2, 4, 17, 18) too close to call — I’ll revisit them after the casebook is
published.

Panels heard 12 cases and decided as the TD did in seven of them. In the five
remaining cases (4, 7, 10, 11, 12) I judged that they improved the TD’s ruling.

This is the first time in the three years I’ve been keeping track that neither an
AC nor a Panel clearly worsened a TD ruling. I find this encouraging, but as
always the sample size is small. I did disagree with some decisions though,
and once I’ve read the casebook comments I might move a case or two into the
“Worsened” column.

My data can be found at http://bridge.tameware.com/laws/nabc_casebook_

summaries.html

While I am a big fan of polling, Case Twenty-five shows that it has its limits.
A poll or consultation must be used to inform the panel’s decision, not as a
substitute for it.

It also demonstrates why many poor AC and Panel decisions follow from poor
TD decisions. Had the TD ruled the other way, and provided his reasoning, I
expect the Panel would have ruled as the TD did.

I have been hoping that the number of cases heard would decrease over time, but
lately we’ve seen the opposite. Considering just NABC events we’ve gone from
a high of 37 in Toronto to a low of 13 in Phoenix, but the caseload is trending up
again. Some of this can be attributed to random variation, but it could also be a
sign that TD rulings are not as consistent as they ought to be.

I’m not certain how to improve rulings in general but one sign of improvement
would be properly filed appeals forms. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that
every TD at an NABC should be willing and able to complete an appeal form.
A proper appeals form shows that the TD gathered as complete a set of facts as
were available to him, applied a specific law or laws to those facts, and explained
the law and the ruling to the players. If that procedure were followed in every
ruling I expect there would be fewer appeals.

85
 NABC APPEALS COMMITTEE

Director Appeals Vice-chairman Chairman

Alan Le Bendig Michael Huston Barry Rigal
Los Angeles CA Joplin MO 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
Thayer Riggs, 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

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 Index — Reno NABC Appeal Cases

Case No. Subject Event Type Event AWMW

1 MI NAOP – Final NABC

2 Tempo NAOP – Final NABC
3 UI NAOP – Final NABC Yes
4 Misc Open Qualifying NABC
5 Tempo Open Qualifying NABC
6 Tempo OpenQualifying NABC
7 Tempo Silver Ribbon Qual NABC
8 Tempo Silver Ribbon Final NABC
9 Tempo Silver Ribbon Final NABC
10 MI Mixed Qualifying NABC Yes
11 MI Mixed Qualifying NABC Yes
12 Tempo Mixed Qualifying NABC
13 Tempo Mixed Qualifying NABC
14 Tempo Mixed Qualifying NABC Yes
15 Tempo Mixed Qualifying NABC
16 Tempo Mixed Final NABC
17 Tempo Mixed Final NABC
18 Tempo Open II Qualifying NABC
19 MI and UI Womens’ Qualifying NABC Yes
20 Played Card Womens’ Qualifying NABC Yes
21 Played Card Open Swiss Final NABC
22 MI Open Swiss Final NABC
23 Tempo Open Swiss Final NABC
24 Tempo Open Swiss Final NABC
25 UI A/X Pairs Regiona Yes
26 Tempo/UI Stratified Open Regional
27 UI Stratified Open Regional
28 UI Open Pairs Regional
29 UI Fast Pairs Regional
30 MI Bracketed (3) KO Regional Yes
31 UI Red Ribbon Qualifying Regional
32 UI Side Game Regional
33 Tempo/UI Senior Swiss Regional Yes
34 Tempo Flight A/X Swiss Regional
35 UI Flight A/X Swiss Regional
36 MI NAOP – Flight C Regional

87