Bridge Etiquette of Old

Yesterday I wrote about the Laws of Auction Bridge from 1912. I shared some of the wacky rules that ran the game 96 years ago.

At the end of those Laws, there's an Etiquette section. This is very well done, and I'd like to share the first seven Rules of Etiquette. Modern bridge players could do well to take this to heart.

ETIQUETTE OF AUCTION BRIDGE

In Auction Bridge slight intimations convey much information. A code is compiled for the purpose of succinctly stating laws and for fixing penalties for an offense. To offend against etiquette is far more serious than to offend against a law; for, while in the latter case the offender is subject to the prescribed penalties, in the former his adversaries have no redress.

1. Declarations should be made in a simple manner, thus: "One Heart," "One No-trump," or "I pass," or "I double"; they should be made orally and not by gesture.
2. Aside from a legitimate declaration, a player should not give any indication by word or gesture as to the nature of his hand, or as to his pleasure or displeasure at a play, a bid, or a double.
3. If a player demand that the cards be placed, he should do so for his own information and not to call his partner's attention to any card or play.
4. No player, other than declarer, should lead until the preceding trick is turned and quitted; nor, after having led a winning card, should he draw another from his hand before his partner has played to the current trick.
5. A player should not play a card with such emphasis as to draw attention to it. Nor should he detach one card from his hand and subsequently play another.
6. A player should not purposely incur a penalty because he is willing to pay it, nor should he make a second revoke to conceal a first.
7. Players should avoid discussion and refrain from talking during the play, as it may be annoying to players at the table oro to those at other tables in the room.

The Official Laws Of Bridge (1912 edition)

The WBF has recently put out a new set of Laws for 2008. There have been many good changes to the old (1997) set. These Laws and the application thereof interest me greatly, so when I recently came across a copy of the Laws from 96 years ago, I was thrilled. Here's some of the strange (to us moderners) things that were Law back in 1912. (Be warned that these Laws are for Auction Bridge, and not Contract Bridge -- Contract wasn't invented until 1924.)

• Since this is Auction Bridge, you are given game and slam bonuses for making the right amount of tricks no matter how high you bid... one club making six still gives you the slam bonus.
• There are two ways to bid spades-- Spades, and Royal Spades or "Royals", Royals scoring more.
• To make game, you need 30 points "below the line"; No Trumps count for 10 per trick, Royals 9 per trick, Hearts 8 per trick, Diamonds 7 per trick, Clubs 6 per trick, and Spades 2 per trick. All this extra math means is you still need 3NT, 4M, or 5m to make the game bonus. You can never make a game in Spades.
• If your opponents revoke, giving you your 12th or 13th trick, you do not receive the slam bonus.
• The dealer cannot pass! If the dealer had a bad hand, he would bid One Spade (remember, this counts only 2 points per trick).
• The worst you can do in 1S is -100.
• To bid more than the current bid, you have to bid something worth at least as much in trick value. So if your RHO bid 3NT, you couldn't bid 4C -- you'd have to bid five!
• If you bid or double out of turn, either opponent can demand a new deal.
• When declarer revokes, the defenders automatically get 150 points.
• When the defenders revoke, declarer can take 150 points or take three tricks from the defenders.
• The revoking side cannot score (except for honors, of course).

Quickie

From BLML:

IMPs, red vs. white
LHO opens 4H in third seat, and it gets passed around to you.

---- --- (P) P
(4H) P (P) ?

You hold:

KT73 T 972 AQJ94

What's your call?

Attention Law Nerds

If you're like me, the Laws, ethics, and proprieties are one of the most interesting parts of the game. Every good player should have at least a general knowledge of the Laws of the game, and every club-level player and higher should know their rights and responsibilities when Unauthorized Information abounds.

The World Bridge Federation Laws Committee has put together and published the 2007 Laws of Duplicate Bridge. This lawbook, which went into effect January 1, replaces (but mainly just refines) the 1997 Laws. The WBF allowed its member organizations (like the ACBL) to start its use any time between January 1 and September 30. Surprisingly, the ACBL only dragged its feet 92% of the way, and agreed to put the laws in place starting September 8. Wanting to learn more about the changes in the new Laws, I did quite a bit of online research. The most interesting thing I ran across in my wanderings was the Bridge Laws Mailing List. This is a great meeting of the minds of some of the best directors and players from around the world. You can read archives here and subscribe to the list here.