April 2021 - 51

Newer Players

Startup Bridge
Announcements are important

I

got asked a question recently which
worried me a bit. " So I opened 1NT
and forgot to Announce 15-17 - big
deal - everybody knows what it is. "
I think it is a big deal on several levels.
1. It's the law. Whether we agree or
disagree, the lines for our notrump
range are in blue on the convention
card and an Announcement is required. Laws should be changed as
needed, but not flouted. There's already
been one big change. Since January,
we no longer say " Transfer " when one
is made. Instead, we just indicate what
suit we are asking (if online) or asked
(if in person) to bid. This new rule
applies to both major and minor suit
transfers.
2. The requirement of an
Announcement indicates that while
a bid is very common, it is not universal. Maybe everyone you know does
the same thing, but the lawmakers at
ACBL are aware that there are still
players who do not. Especially online,
rather than in the familiar fields of a
home face-to-face club, you may have
no good way of knowing what your
opponents use or don't use. Those
Announcements are for the benefit of
the opponents.
3. You can also be protecting yourself
when you require that the opponents
Announce 15-17 for a 1NT opener or

Transfer or Forcing for 1NT responses
to a major. Having to ask implies that
you have a reason to ask - often that
you have points or length in a suit -
and you should not have to reveal your
hand in that way to get information.
There's no automatic penalty for
failure to Alert or to Announce. The
opponents would have to demonstrate
that they were injured by the omission.
However, I have had to adjust scores
occasionally to compensate for failure
to provide timely information. And
that failure is worse when you also
have no convention card posted.
If you are in an established partnership, you should have a card posted.
It's a legal requirement of ACBL for
good reason. Often, the opponents can
access your card and find out what they
want to know without affecting the
flow of the auction or giving anything
away by showing interest in a particular bid.
On BBO, when your bid should be
Announced or Alerted, you do it in the
same way. Before you click on your
bid, click on the Alert box and type
in a simple explanation like " 15-17 "
or " Forcing. " It's wrong just to give
the name of a convention when the
opponents may not be familiar with
it. Rather than saying " Smolen, " for
instance, I'd type " four hearts and five

BY LYNN BERG

lberg@cfl.rr.com

spades. " If you forget, click on the Chat
button on the left of the message line,
and choose Opponents, which will
send your message only to them and
not to the Table where your partner
will see it.

West hands for the
April Bidding Box
Bid these hands with a partner. The East
hands are on page 57. The North-South
players are silent unless otherwise noted.
Scores on pgs. 40-43.

Problem 1. North deals. None vul.
North opens 1.
J 7 6  3  Q 8 3  A K Q 8 7 4
Problem 2. East deals. N-S vul.
-  A K Q 6 4 2  A J 5  Q J 10 4
Problem 3. South deals. E-W vul.
South opens 1, North raises to 3
(weak) if possible.
A K 7 4 2  J 10 8  A 9 8 7 2  -
Problem 4. West deals. Both vul.
North opens 2 if possible.
7 3  9 8 3  J 9 5  K Q J 9 8
Problem 5. North deals. N-S vul.
10 8  A 7  7 4 2  K Q 10 9 7 6
Problem 6. East deals. E-W vul.
K J  A Q 10 6  8 6 5  A Q 3 2
Problem 7. South deals. Both vul.
South opens 2.
8 7 6 4  A 9  J 5 4  9 8 7 3
Problem 8. West deals. None vul.
A Q J 3 2  A  7  A Q 9 5 4 2
April 2021 | Bridge Bulletin | 51
April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2021
