[SimonFa]

A quick question: When in play I often forget who bid what during long long bidding sequences. Am I allowed to make notes of the bidding and refer to them during play?

Thanks,

Simon

PS I'm in UK so EBU rules please

[nige1]

SimonFa, on 2011-June-25, 07:26, said:

A quick question: When in play I often forget who bid what during long long bidding sequences. Am I allowed to make notes of the bidding and refer to them during play? PS I'm in UK so EBU rules please

The director would treat your notes as an illegal aid to memory.

[mgoetze]

SimonFa, on 2011-June-25, 07:26, said:

A quick question: When in play I often forget who bid what during long long bidding sequences. Am I allowed to make notes of the bidding and refer to them during play?

No. You may ask for a review of the bidding just before the opening lead. But not in writing.

[jules101]

May one (declarer or opps) ALSO ask for a review of the bidding DURING the play?

If so, which rule? If not, which rule.

[Vampyr]

jules101, on 2011-June-25, 09:37, said:

May one (declarer or opps) ALSO ask for a review of the bidding DURING the play?

If so, which rule? If not, which rule.

Law 20C stipulates that any player may ask for a review of the auction at his first turn to play (not, as stated above, before the opening lead, unless you are the opening leader). Law 20F refers to explanations of the auction during the play period. This law is mute on whether you can ask for a review so that you know which calls you want an explanation for.

PS to other posters, please don't answer straight Laws questions unless you are going to answer them accurately.

[Bbradley62]

Law 20 said:

C. Review after Final Pass
1. After the final pass, either defender has the right to ask if it is his opening lead (see Laws 47E and 41).
2. Declarer** or either defender may, at his first turn to play, require all previous calls to be restated* (see Laws 41B and 41C)...
** Declarer’s first turn to play is from dummy unless accepting an opening lead out of turn.

F. Explanation of Calls
1. During the auction and before the final pass, any player may request, but only at his own turn to call, an explanation of the opponents’ prior auction...
2. After the final pass and throughout the play period, either defender at his own turn to play may request an explanation of the opposing auction. At his turn to play from his hand or from dummy declarer may request an explanation of a defender’s call or card-play understandings.
3. Under F1 and F2 above, a player may ask concerning a single call, but Law 16B1 may apply.

You may ask for a review until you have played a card to Trick 1. You can ask for an explanation (provided you know what bid you are asking about) throughout play of the hand.

[blackshoe]

I should probably go dig up the answer I posted recently in another thread (may have been on another forum), but I'll just repeat it here as best I can remember it.

Quote

Law 41B: Before the opening lead is faced, the leader’s partner and the presumed declarer (but not the presumed dummy) each may require a review of the auction or request an explanation of an opponent’s call (see Law 20F2 and 20F3). Declarer* or either defender may, at his first turn to play a card, require a review of the auction; this right expires when he plays a card. The defenders (subject to Law 16) and the declarer retain the right to request explanations throughout the play period, each at his own** turn to play.

* Declarer’s first turn to play is from dummy unless accepting an opening lead out of turn.
** Declarer may inquire at his turn to play from dummy or from his own hand.

The right to ask for explanations throughout the play does not include the right to ask for a review of the bidding. Consequently, IMO it is ill-advised to give such a review in the course of explaining the auction, although I recognize that many people do so. You have a picture of partner's hand from the bidding; give your opponents that picture. You are not required to tell them which call gave which part of the picture.

[jules101]

So...

... when declarer is part way through playing a hand she is NOT entitled to ask the defenders to repeat the full auction sequence for her (if there were competing bids)?

and likewise....

... defenders, when part way through defending a hand, may NOT ask declarer or dummy repeat the full auction for their benefit at this stage?

[blackshoe]

Correct.

[mrdct]

As an interesting aside, in Australia where written bidding is prolific, the correct procedure is to remove the bidding slip after everyone has followed to the first trick but in practice it's generally only the rare SB-types that tear away the bidding slip at that point which has lead to the situation of most players in Australia playing most of their bridge with the auction right in front of them for the entire play of the hand. This is quite useful for beginners and probably a good thing, but you do find that club players with decades of experience remain reliant on having the auction in front of them throughout the play and may even perceive it as rude if you remove the bidding slip during the play.

For defenders, in practice Law 20F2 gives them a right to receive a review of the "opposing auction" by simply saying "please tell me what all of your calls meant" so they can certainly find out what declarer and dummy bid but not what their partner bid. For declarer they can only ask about "single calls" of the defenders; but I guess they could use trial and error to ascertain the auction if they completely forgot - e.g. "what did your partner's 1♥ overcall mean?", "he didn't bid that", "ok then what did your partner's 1♠ overcall mean?".

Turning to online play, one could argue that the auction ought to be suppressed from view after the first trick to better comply with the laws.

[blackshoe]

mrdct, on 2011-June-26, 20:58, said:

For defenders, in practice Law 20F2 gives them a right to receive a review of the "opposing auction" by simply saying "please tell me what all of your calls meant" so they can certainly find out what declarer and dummy bid but not what their partner bid.

I have come to believe that the answer to the question "please explain your auction" or the like should be a statement of what you know, from the bidding, about your partner's hand, without reference to specific calls. It is common though, for people to name each call and then explain it, which as you say gives opponents a review to which they're no longer entitled.

[pran]

mrdct, on 2011-June-26, 20:58, said:

For defenders, in practice Law 20F2 gives them a right to receive a review of the "opposing auction" by simply saying "please tell me what all of your calls meant" so they can certainly find out what declarer and dummy bid but not what their partner bid.

A player may not use this clause in the laws to obtain a restatement of any part of the auction.
In order to obtain an explanation of opponents' auction he must therefore specifically name the call for which he wants the explanation, or alternatively ask for an explanation (summary) of opponents' auction without any reference to the individual calls.

[mrdct]

pran, on 2011-June-27, 01:29, said:

A player may not use this clause in the laws to obtain a restatement of any part of the auction.
In order to obtain an explanation of opponents' auction he must therefore specifically name the call for which he wants the explanation, or alternatively ask for an explanation (summary) of opponents' auction without any reference to the individual calls.

I disagree. Full text of Law 20F1-3:

Quote

F. Explanation of Calls

1. During the auction and before the final pass, any player may request, but only at his own turn to call, an explanation of the opponents’ prior auction. He is entitled to know about calls actually made, about relevant alternative calls available that were not made, and about relevant inferences from the choice of action where these are matters of partnership understanding. Except on the instruction of the Director replies should be given by the partner of the player who made the call in question. The partner of a player who asks a question may not ask a supplementary question until his turn to call or play. Law 16 may apply and the Regulating Authority may establish regulations for written explanations.

2. After the final pass and throughout the play period, either defender at his own turn to play may request an explanation of the opposing auction. At his turn to play from his hand or from dummy declarer may request an explanation of a defender’s call or card play understandings. Explanations should be given on a like basis to 1 and by the partner of the player whose action is explained.

3. Under 1 and 2 above a player may ask concerning a single call but Law 16B1 may apply.

If I'm defending and forgot what the declaring side's auction was, I simply need to say, "please give me an explanation of your auction". It would be virtually impossible for the declaring side to answer that question without restating the auction. The qualifier in Law 20F3 clearly contemplates, if not encourages, such requests to be for the entire auction given the potential extraneous information implications of asking about single calls.

[blackshoe]

mrdct, on 2011-June-30, 20:44, said:

It would be virtually impossible for the declaring side to answer that question without restating the auction.

Nonsense. "Partner has shown a balanced 15-17 points with four or 5 hearts. If he has four hearts he may also have four spades." "And my partner has shown a weak hand with club shortage, probably some 4=4=4=1 or 4=4=5=0." Now it may be that the opponents can reconstruct the auction given this information, but that's up to them.