This is the Golden Rule. Be courteous to your opponents, your partner or when calling the Director.
- The North player is responsible for the proper observance of all procedures and for maintaining proper conditions of play at the table.
- The cards must be dealt one at a time. Not “Goulash” style.
- The cards should not be taken out of a board until all players are present.
- Count your cards to ensure that you have exactly thirteen.
- Check your cards against the “curtain card”. If you are filling in a blank curtain card, please bid before you complete the card.
- Try to be quiet during bidding and play for the sake of others who may be concentrating on a tricky hand.
- You are responsible for ensuring that your opponents hear/see the “ALERT”.
- You may ask questions at the end of bidding. It is incorrect to point to a specific bid. It is proper procedure to ask for an explanation about the entire sequence of bids.
- Leave the bidding sheet or bidding box bids on the table till the opening lead is made.
- Lay out Dummy with the trump suit (if any) on your right (Declarer’s left). All cards must be on view with highest cards at the top graded down to lowest at the bottom.
- Don’t waste time. Lead first. Or put Dummy down first. Then, do whatever else you need to, like writing down the contract on your sheet.
- A polite Declarer says “thank you, partner” on seeing Dummy’s cards.
- As Declarer, get into the habit of “calling” out the card for Dummy to play. Do not touch the cards on the table. Do not touch many cards while deciding (dithering) what to play.
- When play commences, do not detach a card from your hand until it is your turn to play. Do not pull up a card, push it back into your hand, and then pull up another card. Never rearrange your hand when you are out of a suit. All these manoeuvres provide unsolicited information.
- Do not look to see the place in his hand from which another player pulls a card, nor draw inferences from them.
- It is not permissible for any player to point out that a card is wrongly pointed (turned the wrong way). You are responsible for keeping track of your winning and losing tricks.
- You are not permitted to ‘take a quick look’ at tricks previously won or lost.
- A player can reexamine his last card played until the lead is made to the following trick. A player who has not yet turned his card over may request all cards just played to the trick to be refaced. Get into the habit; don’t face your card till you are ready to play to the next trick.
- Do not gather the cards together at the end of play until there is full agreement about the number of tricks won by Declarer. (Otherwise, agreeing the number of tricks at a later stage is fraught with difficulty).
- Shuffle your cards before returning them to the board.
- If using Travelers, the South player should record the hands for the first round.
- After a board has been played, you may not, without permission, remove someone's hand to look at it. If you have received permission, only one hand at a time may be taken out of the board. If hand records are available, opt to look at the Traveler, don’t touch the physical cards.
You're expected to play the boards in a reasonable amount of time. The Director will inform you as to how many minutes are allowed per round. Once the bidding has begun, general conversation is not encouraged at the bridge table. Slowing down the pace of play with inane chit-chat or post-mortems or endless thinking during the bidding or play could result in a penalty.
Discuss only after the round is over. Try to keep these conversations short and soft. The hand you just finished will be played later at other tables, so it's important that others in the room not overhear anything that might affect their bidding or play of the hand.
This gives partner a chance to ask questions if he needs information about the opponents' bidding. It also prevents the Director call for “lead out of turn”.
Before the opening lead, all players, except Dummy, may request a review of the auction and an explanation of any Alerted calls. The Defending players may also ask for a review of the auction at their first opportunity to play.
Try not to use mannerisms or voice inflections that might convey unauthorized information. Avoid ‘meaningful eye contact’. Sighs, grimaces, slow passes and loud doubles aren't appropriate. Neither are extra words like "I guess I have to pass" or "We haven’t discussed this bid" or “I should double you”.
If you have a tough decision to make during the bidding or play, you're entitled to take extra time to think. Your partner, however, cannot take advantage of the knowledge that you had a problem. He must bid his hand normally, ignoring any information that might be suggested by your pause for thought. In these situations, the partner of the player who hesitated should take care not to make any bid or play that might have been suggested by the pause for thought. In most cases, if your partner thinks for a while and then passes, you should pass, too, unless that would be a totally illogical action with your hand.
For example, suppose you open 3S and your left-hand-opponent bids 4H. Your partner thinks for several seconds and then passes. No matter what action he was considering, you must make your normal bid of Pass. Bidding again after making a preemptive bid would be highly unusual, especially since your partner's hesitation gave you "unauthorized" information that he was considering a bid.
Don't be offended if your opponents call the Director after a hesitation, especially if you think a long time and then pass. The Director was not called because you violated a rule; it's a standard practice that protects everyone's rights, yours and theirs. The Director will affirm that you were entitled to think and he'll remind your partner that he can't use any inferences suggested by your hesitation. If your partner bids normally, that's the end of it. If the opponents question his action, they may ask the Director to adjust the score.
Try to play in an even tempo, without hesitations that can give away information about your hand. When it is your turn to play, place your card on the table in front of you. Don't show your satisfaction (or lack of it) by "snapping" or tossing the card. Don’t play your cards with any special emphasis to depict singletons or doubletons. Don’t let your body language reveal interest (or lack of it).
If you are Declarer, don't be afraid to "claim" before all the tricks are played out. Just face your hand (i.e. put your cards on the table for all to see) and state your line of play -- for example, "I'll pull trumps and run the Clubs" or "You get a Heart at the end". Claiming saves time and is a courtesy to your opponents, who will appreciate it if you quickly end a routine hand where they have no decisions to make.
Claiming can be tricky. The most troublesome part is that if you think you have the rest of the tricks and you are wrong or if you do not spell out your line of play, there is no going back and picking up the play where you left off. The Director must be called to unravel the situation.
The proper way to claim is to announce your line of play and face your hand. No saying “I think, maybe, I can Claim” and then continue to hold your cards to your chest!
Half measures like saying, “I have the rest” will not do. Yes, you may have the rest with any line of play, but if you don’t, you create an awkward situation, or worse, earn a penalty. Your opponent must give away information about his hand in order to challenge the claim and that gives you an unfair advantage. Saying, after your claim is challenged, “Oh yes, of course, I would pick up the last trump first” is not adequate and a Director call is in order. So get into the habit of including your line of play with ALL claims, however obvious they may be.
Your opponents are entitled to know every agreement your partner and you have. This card tells your opponents the system you and your partner Play and your style of defensive carding. At Tournaments your partnership must bring 2 CC’s and they must be identical!
If your club uses bidding boxes, try to decide on your bid before you reach into the box. If you're still thinking when you start touching the bidding cards, you may inadvertently communicate unauthorized information to partner. If, for example, you start to pull the 2S card and then change your mind and pull out the Pass card, that may suggest that you have "almost enough" to bid 2S. This amounts to thinking out loud, and it puts a lot of pressure on partner to ignore it and bid his hand normally.
As you pull cards from the box, look at the top card to be sure it's the bid you want to make. Occasionally, your thumb may slip and you'll pull out a wrong card. If this happens, you're allowed to take it back -- just say "oops" as soon as you see the wrong card and replace it with the correct one. Note that this applies only to mechanical errors, not to mental ones. If you intentionally pull out a bidding card and then change your mind, no matter how quickly, you are not allowed to change your call.
Finally, be sure that you don't communicate any extra information by tossing or slapping the cards.
When an opponent makes a preempt or a jump, you may be surprised to hear, "I'm about to make a skip bid, please wait: 3H," or merely, "Skip Bid, 3H". This duplicate novelty is a way of warning the next bidder that a higher-than-expected bid is coming. The warning gives you extra time to plan your action.
With bidding boxes, the red Stop card is used to announce a skip bid. To use it, place the Stop card on the table first and then make your bid. Leave the Stop card there for a few seconds, then remove it and place it back in the bidding box.
After your right-hand opponent makes a Skip Bid, you should study your cards for around 10 seconds (or until he picks up the Stop card), and then make your bid. You aren't required to give the Skip-Bid or Stop warning when you jump, but it's a good idea. By using the warning, you can reduce the chances that your opponent will make a fast pass or slow double that might convey unauthorized information to his partner. However, whether you use the warning or not, the next player to bid should still wait about 10 seconds before he makes his call.
If you and your partner use conventions, you must "Alert" your opponents to this fact when one of these bids comes up during an auction. To do this, the partner of the person who made the conventional bid says "Alert" as soon as the bid is made. (Bidding boxes have a blue "Alert" flag that you tap at the same time you make the verbal Alert.) This tells the opponents that your partner's bid is artificial or conventional and has a different meaning than they might expect. The next player to bid can then ask you about the meaning of your partner's bid.
Stayman is so common that it is not Alerted. Some popular bids that require alerts or announcements are:
Jacoby 2NT (forcing major-suit raise). All of opener's rebids after 2NT are also alertable.
Jacoby Transfers (after partner opens 1NT). When this bid is made, the partner of the bidder announces its meaning by saying "Transfer" (instead of "Alert").
1NT opening bids. Since different pairs play different point ranges for 1NT, the partner of the 1NT opener announces the point range ("15 - 17" or "12 - 14").
Forcing 1NT response (after partner opens 1H or 1S). This is another "announceable" bid. To let you know he is forced to bid again, opener will simply say "Forcing" when his partner responds 1NT.
Other bids that need to be alerted are Weak Two-bids, Unusual Notrumps, Michaels Cuebids, Cappellati, Inverted minors, special Doubles etc. etc.
The list of alertable bids changes from time to time, and beginners aren't expected to be experts on them. If you're in doubt about whether or how you should alert a bid, just ask the club Director or the other players for help. If your opponents use an Alert, you can look at their convention card or ask them to explain in detail what it means. Be courteous, wait until it's your turn to bid before you ask questions.
- When asked, the bidder’s partner must give a full explanation of the agreement including private understandings. Stating the common or popular name of the convention is not sufficient. It is unsportsmanlike to give cryptic, evasive or misleading answers in the hope that the opponents will err. Explanation of a bid or play as ‘normal’ or ‘natural’ is inadequate, as they mean different things to different people. Failure of “Full Disclosure” leads to penalties.
- Volunteering information not asked for is another common error made by us. When you “ALERT”, do NOT automatically follow with any further explanation. Do not say for example, “Alert, showing 5-5 majors” or “Alert, Inverted Minor”. This gives unauthorized information to your partner who may have meant something else and now knows what you took his bid to mean. Some may say, “I was just trying to be helpful and to speed up the auction”. This is the wrong way to do it and is a definite “no-no”. It puts partner and opponents in an awkward position and once it happens, there is no good remedy since the damage has been done. Again, just say “ALERT” and nothing more, unless asked.
Bridge is not a game of secret messages; the auction belongs to everyone at the table. Remember that the opponents are entitled to know the agreed meaning of all calls.
- Ask questions about the Alert only when it's your turn.
- If the explanation doesn't affect your bidding decision, wait until the auction is over to ask questions. Keep in mind if you are asking the partner of the bidder to explain a bid, that this can also help the bidder in case he made a mistake or his partner explains it incorrectly. So only ask if it will affect your bidding of the hand. You always have the option to ask the questions before the opening lead is made.
Don't be shy or nervous about calling the Director. The players should never make their own adjustments for revokes, leads out of turn, insufficient bids or any other irregularities. The Director is there to do it for you. Call the Director when law infractions, hesitations, unduly slow play, rude behavior, or problems of any kind occur. The Director's responsibilities include handling all law and rule infractions as well as running a smooth and pleasant game. All Directors try to be knowledgeable and impartial in applying bridge laws that are not generally known nor easily understood. As an aside, it is also in your best interest as a bridge player to learn the basic bridge laws.
You should not signal your partner in any manner during bidding or during card play. If you have habit of making faces or looking at your partners eyes or fretting when you do not like a play or are confused by a play that they do make, make a concerted effort not to do so. Maintain sound emotional control even in the face of an awful contract!
It is unethical to hesitate when you have a singleton. If you hesitate during play when there is no reason for it you may be accused of deliberate deception and penalized. For example: Declarer plays a card and you only have the 2, 3 and 4 in that suit. Then there can be no reason for more than a brief hesitation before you play. If you don’t play signals with your partner there is no reason to hesitate and if you do play signals then it should be easy to decide which card to play.
- While you are Dummy you may not call the Director. You can do so after the hand is played out.
- You may not call Declarer's attention to anything except that he is about to lead from the wrong hand or to ask if he is out of the suit being played.
- Dummy may prevent Declarer from making a mistake if he is quick, but once the mistake has been made, he must not try to correct it.
- As Dummy you may not play or touch any card in Dummy (even a singleton) until Declarer calls the card. If Declarer designates a suit, but not the rank, he is deemed to have called for the lowest card of the suit indicated. If Declarer designates a rank but not a suit, he is deemed to be continuing the suit in which Dummy won the last trick.
- When you are Dummy, it is poor form to look at either opponent's hand or at Declarer's. You may not peek at the Results. If you do, you lose your rights as Dummy.
While it is acceptable in tennis or football to do "high fives" when completing a successful manoeuvre, it is not proper behavior at bridge. In fact, it is not even proper to commend partner for an extraordinarily good play or defense in front of the opponents. On the other hand, it is also poor behavior to berate partner when he or she plays less than perfectly. Likewise, it is not proper to chastise the opponents when a poor play turns out to be lucky or when a good bid/play provides you with a bad board.
Duplicate clubs are social groups too, so greet your opponents when you arrive at the table. Time permitting, enjoy a conversation, learn a new convention or seek advice on a Bridge hand. Make beginners and newcomers feel especially welcome; try to remember how nervous you were the first time. There are over a billion hands to challenge you, so enjoy this fascinating game and Keep Smiling.
Minor modifications made by the Swanmore Bridge Club committee, September 2021.