August 2018 - 36

Ruling the Game
rulings@acbl.org
MODERATOR: MATT SMITH
NATIONAL TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR

In a recent club game,
a pair who played Precision encountered one who
played 2/1. On the bidding sequence
1♣-(1♠)-Pass-(2♣), the 1♣ opening was strong, artificial and forcing. The 2♣ cuebid promised a limit
raise or better in spades. However,
because 1♣ simply showed 16-plus
HCP and said nothing about club
length, does this 2♣ bid need to be
Alerted? Or if 2♣ showed a natural
club suit, would it need to be Alerted
in that case?

The ACBL Alert Chart defines cuebids as "a bid in a suit
which an opponent has either
bid naturally or in which he has shown
four or more cards." Therefore, the 2♣
bid is not considered a cuebid. As it is
not a cuebid, and it is not natural, then
it is Alertable. A natural club bid would
not be Alertable for the same reason: It
is not a cuebid, so natural should be the
expected meaning.

Our community has a
social duplicate bridge club
in which I am the de facto
director at times because I read
the Bridge Bulletin and have some
masterpoints. Recently, on a hand
I was defending, declarer called for
the ♣K from dummy which won the
trick. He then said, "Play the queen."
I played a club, at which point dummy asked, "Queen of clubs, partner?"
to which declarer said, "No, play the
queen of diamonds." I wasn't sure
how to rule on this. I finally decided
to require declarer to play the ♣Q.
Was I wrong?

No, you were not wrong.
This is a situation that occurs
occasionally, and Law 46
(Incomplete or Invalid Designation
of a Card from Dummy) addresses it.
Law 46B3(a) says, "If declarer designates a rank but not a suit ... declarer is
deemed to have continued the suit with
which dummy won the preceding trick
provided there is a card of the desig-

World Bridge Federation seats open
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the World Bridge Federation. Two positions will be filled at the 2018 Fall NABC
meetings in Honolulu. The term for the open WBF position begins Jan. 1, 2019,
and ends Dec. 31, 2021.
Members of the ACBL in good standing and at least 18 years of age who desire to be a candidate for WBF Representative for Zone 2 must file a written declaration of candidacy prior to
Oct. 15, 2018. Include all supporting materials detailing your qualifications for this position.
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36 Bridge Bulletin August 2018

nated rank in that suit."
Do note, though, that there is a clause
in the preface to 46B that may override
any of the restrictions that follow in
that law, including the kind of situation
you mention. It states that the restrictions described in 46B apply "except
when declarer's different intention is
incontrovertible." That is very strong
language that is not often invoked, but
it does give the director the authority to allow declarer to play a different
card than the law normally requires in
cases where it is absolutely clear that
declarer never intended to play the card
the law directs be played. An example
of where it might be applied is a case
where declarer plays the 3 towards a
spade suit of A-K-Q-J-10-2 and says
"spade" after LHO plays the 4. Law
46B2 states that such a designation
means declarer normally must play the
lowest card of the suit indicated. But
here, it is hard to imagine any circumstances where declarer meant to play
the 2 from dummy. After investigating why declarer did not ask for a high
spade, it would be legal and almost
certainly correct for the director to
invoke "incontrovertibly not declarer's
intention" and allow the play of a high
spade from dummy in this case.
You may want to share Law 46A
(Proper Form for Designating Dummy's
Card) with your declarer so that he can
be sure to always play the intended
card in the future: "When calling for a
card to be played from dummy declarer
should clearly state both the suit and
the rank of the desired card."
◾

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2018