David Stevenson
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The only thing you seem to be missing is that questions to this forum are about duplicate bridge generally, not just online bridge.
Perhaps I might add that putting your card face down for the opening lead is required. The question is what is said. I have had one opponent lead face down, no-one says anything, and after a certain time it is turned face up. This has always struck me as most impolite. Even if the opening leader does not ask “Any questions, partner” the partner should either ask a question or say “No questions”.
If you mean a 2H bid (or a 2C or 2D bid) that shows a weak hand with hearts and spades, then yes, it is alertable. The rules are now quite simple for opening two bids. If they show that suit and only that suit, then you announce them, saying Weak, Intermediate, Strong but not forcing, or Strong. In fact Weak to Intermediate and Intermediate to Strong are possible. If a two bid shows anything else then it is alertable.
Certainly he is permitted to ask this question and it is considered polite to do so.
You may ask the meaning of any call during the auction.
Stop worrying about the committee. Leave me to worry about technicalities.
When you double, do you expect partner to bid, not to pass? Then that is a takeout double. Simple.The basic problem is that competent players usually take some notice of their holding in the opponents suit when deciding whether to double but players of limited ability or experience have a tendency to believe they have to take action with any hand with opening values so sometimes make a takeout double on a hand that better players would consider unsuitable. So what do you want us to do? Get people to write on their system card “I am a lesser a player so you cannot rely on my understanding of the nuances of bidding”?
I have little doubt that the reason the committee took this out of the Blue book was because it was a totally useless and unenforceable regulation. I think you just have to accept that the better your opponent, the more you can rely on the building, and vice versa.
We must be tolerant of players of limited ability or experience. Of course a takeout double of a 1NT opening is nonsensical but she presumably did not realise this.
At level two it is illegal to play a double in second seat as anything except penalties. At level four (or level three for that matter) you can play double as anything you like.
If you play a double as takeout then it must be alerted (and explained on BBO).So the answers to the specific questions are:
1 Acceptable at level four or three, not at level two
2 I have no reason to assume that it was a misbid
3 Answer as #1
4 I have no doubt that this player was inexperienced or of limited ability so should be treated carefully and in a friendly fashion
What agreements are allowed in any club is a matter solely for the club. In practice nearly every club in England or Wales uses the levels promulgated by the EBU. I have heard of a club which allowed a certain level subject to one exception.
Until a few years back nearly every club used level three or level four for ordinary duplicates. The feeling has been in England and Wales to allow more agreements and conventions rather than fewer and a few years back the EBU stopped using level three. The EBU Blue book (which gives details of permitted agreements) no longer lists level three agreements but does have some notes in its level four agreements that certain conventions would not be allowed at level three. The effects of this is nearly every club now uses level four but there will be the occasional one which uses level three still.
For limited events, especially for novice bridge, and events limited by master points, rank or NGS, level two is used. So if a club has ordinary evenings and also novice evenings I would expect the ordinary evenings to be level four and the novice evenings to be level two. Holiday Bridge often uses level two.
Do not misunderstand: if this club allows Undos in the play then that is that. I suggest that you suggest to the club that they follow the EBU Skyblue book but in practice you have to follow club rules.
It is very unfortunate that the rules for Undos are not consistent over the British Isles. The EBU rules are clear that Undos are allowed in the bidding for misclicks only, and the EBU argument is that this follows the laws since an unintended call may be withdrawn under the laws but an unintended play must stand. However some club duplicates and some other competitions do not follow these rules. You may be amused to hear that in a Manchester first division league match tonight an opponent asked for an Undo in the play and my partner and I refused. He asked why and I explained the EBU rule.
Certainly. My experience on BBO is that the rules on alerting are followed rather less than in live bridge. Of course South should have explained and alerted his bid. What the director would have done is less clear since your partner clearly knew from his hand that the redouble was not strong and his pass is clearly wrong. But at the very least the director would have reminded South of his responsibilities and he might have adjusted.
In this forum we are only concerned with legalities and that is perfectly legal. I leave Julian and Bernard to discuss whether it is a good idea. But you are right to put it on your system cards.
No, I do not believe so. It is a natural bid and it is fairly normal for it to be competitive rather than constructive (since people bid 2D with a constructive raise). Whether one would do it on a one count is more of a style issue than anything else.
When you quote part of something instead of the whole thing it is often misleading. The Yellow book says that you should disclose your overcalling methods on the System card, and in the absence of such information it may be assumed that they conform to historic standards, as you have quoted.
What it does NOT say is that you have to play those methods, just that you must disclose them properly if you do not play this way. The rules for overcalls, basically unchanged for very many years, is that they should show at least four cards in the suit bid.
While the Blue book does not go into such detail, 3D1 says something on the subject.Someone has suggested to me that I have misunderstood Nik’s question and that he was asking a completely different question from the question posted at the start of this thread. If that is so then I apologise but I do ask Nik and everyone else: if you want an answer to a question that is not relevant to a thread then please please please start a new thread. This thread was about how you describe your overcalling style on your system card.
The question that perhaps Nick meant is what overcalling style is legal. The answer to that is that in defence to a natural opening you may play an overcall to be any shape and strength and suit quality you like so long as the suit bid has at least four cards.
