Director Resources
So many books on playing better bridge but so few on better directing; plus from what I can see the resources available are generally from overseas so I suspect they may confuse me more than help? I had a look at an Alex Groner text but it looks very dated...
This forum is great, very valuable, but I would appreciate an organised/structured resource I could work through.
Are there any recommendations?
I recently ordered the Jacob Duschek book from the Ebu so looking forward to examining that.
Does anyone have an opinion on utility of the Josephina Burrie books (Australian) for UK directors?
I am trying to get my head around where the emphasis lies in moving from Club level to Tournament level.
It appears to me that an increased understanding of how Missing information or Unauthorised information underpins decision making across many aspects of play is very important.
Does that sound right?
Unfortunately, at the clubs where I direct issues arising directly or indirectly through MI or UI are the ones I am least likely to be summoned to deal with.
I am however superbly accomplished at turning up the lights and opening/closing windows. If these activities figure heavily in any TD assessment I will sail through it.
Comments
Jacob's book is the best for anyone wanting to progress with their directing. Another useful resource is the WBF commentary on the 2017 Laws. Yes, UI and MI are important at levels beyond local club games and you can often find discussions about them here or on Bridgewinners.
Having read through a large number of appeals (mostly from the ACBL rather than the EBU), I'd estimate that well over half of appealed Director decisions are related to UI, MI or both. I suspect that this is because there's more judgement involved in those decisions than in common cases like revokes and leads out of turns, so players are more likely to think that the TD's decision is wrong, leading to more appeals. (The most common cause of UI is breaks in tempo, although other forms of UI are also somewhat common.)
A large number of historical ACBL appeals are available from "https://www.acbl.org/past-nabcs/#case" (click on "NABC Appeals Committee Casebooks" – note that most of them are under older versions of the Laws and under regulations that disallowed weighted scores, but I still find it valuable to read about the judgement issues (and the older casebooks generally have lots of feedback from expert players about whether they think the Directors made the right decision), so it's a good resource for reading about UI/MI judgement issues (especially as it's quite common for the Directors, appeal committee, and expert panel to disagree!), even though the relevant laws and regulations differ. It helps to illustrate why UI/MI decisions have moved to being largely based on polls nowadays – the close ones seem too difficult for even expert players to get right on their own.
Let's not forget we also have our own appeals booklets at https://www.ebu.co.uk/laws-and-ethics/laws-ethics-publications#appeals
Jacob's book is solid and it's enjoyable to read.
The TD Training page of EBL also provides useful resources on UI/MI and other topics.