Bids not Alerted
Not sure what to rule on this.
North Opened 1NT - Announced as 12-14
East Doubled
South Redoubled
West bid 2 Clubs
All pass
The last three bids were not alerted - 1st double does not need an Alert, the Redouble is intended as a takeout to clubs, but North thought it was to play. West bid 2 Clubs thinking it was a transfer to diamonds. East thinks it's natural.
Needless to say it did not end well for E/W
1NT redoubled by North makes between 4 and 8 tricks, Double Dummy says should make 6
2 Clubs by North makes 7 according to DD and as played by another pair
2 Clubs by West made 5
Should west have protected themselves by asking what the redouble meant?
Thanks
Comments
BB 4A6 may offer some guidance:
4 A 6
If there is no alert and no announcement for a call that always requires one (see 2A3):
• Opponents may ask the meaning of the call without giving rise to unauthorised information
(see 2E1); and
• Failure to ask may be considered failure to protect one's side from damage due to
misinformation
If there is no alert and no announcement for a call that sometimes (depending on its agreed
meaning) requires one:
• Opponents should assume that the call does not require either.
If XX is indeed a transfer to clubs North should have alerted this - West would ask and may do better. Should consider adjusting. Almost sounds like no one is very sure of their methods.
I'd expect West to ask if an experienced player and if it was an obvious case of mis-information.(Blue Book 2.A.3 refers.) We don't know the field or the experience of West, but in any case, this isn't an obvious case of mis-information. Indeed, there may well be no mis-information anyway. We would need to know what the NS agreement for the re-double actually is, and we might then want to know the EW agreement for West's 2C bid. This might end up as a combined MI/UI ruling!
Barrie Partridge - CTD for Bridge Club Live
Yes, we do need to find out what the actual agreements were, if any, and see if they match what the players making the calls thought.