January 2022 - 36

RULING the Game
Q
At our club, I recently held:
Q 10 9 4 kA J 8 6 lQ 5 3 'K J.
My partner opened 1NT (good 14 to 17 HCP),
and my right-hand opponent bid 2l, which was Alerted.
I asked my LHO what it was and was told it showed both
majors. With this knowledge, I decided not to bid Stayman
and jumped to 3NT. After a diamond lead, our opponents
took five tricks for down one. We called the director.
The director asked a bunch of questions, and she looked
at the opponents' convention card. My LHO confessed that
he was thinking about his system with a different partner;
with this partner, 2l shows just diamonds. The director
asked what I would have done with the correct explanation.
I said I would have bid 3l, which is Stayman in our methods.
As partner had four spades, I suggested we would have
gotten to 4 rather than 3NT. The director came back later
to tell us that she gave the hand to a friend who has about
the same number of masterpoints I do. The friend bid the
hand just as I said I would, so the director said she would
change the contract to 4. Here's the weird part: She said
she would give us 75% of 4 making five and 25% of 4
making four, as she thought it more likely that we would
make an overtrick than not. I did not think much more of
this until I saw the final results, where she gave us the 450,
but she also gave a penalty - and the opponents a bonus. Our
director takes her work very seriously, but she just could not
explain to me what she did. Can you explain why we got the
penalty when the opponents caused the problem?
A
As you describe this situation, it sounds like the
director put a lot of thought into her ruling. When
a player's hand does not match the explanation
given, the director has to determine whether the call
was mistaken or the explanation was mistaken. Law 75C
addresses a mistaken bid. If the director determines the
opponents' agreement to be that 2l does show both majors,
there is no infraction of Law,
and there can be no adjustment. On
the other hand, Law 75B addresses
a mistaken explanation. This is an
infraction of Law, as you are entitled
to an accurate description of
the opponents' partnership understandings.
In that case, Law 12C1b
instructs the director to replace
the result achieved at the table with
what might have happened had this
infraction not occurred. In your
case, it sounds as if the director
determined you would certainly
end up in 4; the only question
36 | Bridge Bulletin | January 2022
MODERATOR: MATT KOLTNOW
NATIONAL TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR
rulings@acbl.org
being how many tricks you would take. Perhaps the director
looked at results at other tables, or she might have
spoken to a player about likely results in 4, based on the
conditions at your table, such as the experience level of
the players, and the auction they might have heard. Law
12C1c says that the director may weight the adjusted score
to reflect the probability of different results, reminding
her that only results which can be reached legally may be
considered. For instance, in a case involving unauthorized
information, the director may give no weight to calls
which are being excluded as having been demonstrably
suggested by the unauthorized information.
In this case, the director determined she wanted to give
you 75% of 450 and 25% of 420. Because ACBLScore can
only accept one score for each contestant on each board,
the ideal way to enter a weighted score is to enter into
ACBLScore the score which receives the greatest weight.
This is the score the rest of the field will compare its
scores and earn matchpoints against. Using the BOARD
command, the director can calculate how many matchpoints
you earned for 450, how many you would have
earned for 420, then calculate the number of matchpoints
you should earn for your weighted score. That number
will be less than what ACBLScore has awarded you for
450, because you're getting a portion of a poorer score.
What appears to be a penalty is the number of matchpoints
difference between what you were awarded for 450
and the actual amount you earned for 75% of 450 and 25%
of 420. For example, if 450 is 10 out of 12, and 420 is 2 out
of 12, you're entitled to 7.5+.5 = 8. The director would use
the ADJ command to take away two matchpoints and give
them to your opponents, whose score has the opposite
problem. What looks like a penalty is simply an outside
adjustment. Players tend to find weighted adjustment
rulings to be more equitable than rulings which assign a
single score. Good for your club director for knowing this
and how to put it into ACBLScore!
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January 2022

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