[ArtK78]

When one plays in the ACBL Speedball pairs games on BBO, often the third board of the round does not get played to the last trick before time runs out. In that event, the director assigns a score with the aid of a computer. Sometimes the assigned score is not right, in which case the director will have to examine the board without the aid of the computer. And sometimes the result is so uncertain that nothing can be done but assign an average score to both sides (or, if one pair was primarily responsible for not completing the round on time, Ave+ and Ave- can be assigned).

Last night I was playing in an ACBL Speedball IMP pairs game. We were unable to complete Board 12 on time. I thought it was clear that the opponents' 3NT contract would fail by one trick. We were in the process of playing to trick 5 when the round ended.

I was very surprised to see that the director awarded the opponents 3NT making. I tried to contact the director to say that the result was wrong, but I received no response and the score was not changed.

I would appreciate it if you could look at the hand diagram and let me know if you agree or disagree that the result should have been 3NT -1. You can follow the play to the first four tricks by hitting "Next" in the hand diagram.

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Note: (1) North's 3♣ bid was made under the mistaken idea that his partner's 2NT bid was "unusual."

(2) EW were playing UDCA.

(3) The lead to trick 5 was the ♣7.

[billw55]

Seems pretty clear. I imagine that sometimes the director may have several such decisions to make in a short time; occasional errors are to be expected. Not sure how long after the event they can be fixed.

[barmar]

billw55, on 2014-July-30, 14:27, said:

Not sure how long after the event they can be fixed.

The leaderboard pop-up answers that: Results shown are provisional - adjustments possible within 20 minutes

If you contact the director and he doesn't respond, send email to acbl@bridgebase.com. I don't think they can change the result after that period, but you'll probably get some other accomodation, such as a free play.

[ArtK78]

barmar, on 2014-July-30, 15:12, said:

The leaderboard pop-up answers that: Results shown are provisional - adjustments possible within 20 minutes

If you contact the director and he doesn't respond, send email to acbl@bridgebase.com. I don't think they can change the result after that period, but you'll probably get some other accomodation, such as a free play.

I did as you suggested, and I and my partner did receive a free play. Thanks very much.

What surprised me was that the person who responded to me said that the director should have changed the result on the board to Ave for each side rather than determining a correct score on the board. It seems to me that down 1 is inevitable, so that is the proper score to assign to the board.

[TylerE]

ArtK78, on 2014-July-31, 12:59, said:

I did as you suggested, and I and my partner did receive a free play. Thanks very much.

What surprised me was that the person who responded to me said that the director should have changed the result on the board to Ave for each side rather than determining a correct score on the board. It seems to me that down 1 is inevitable, so that is the proper score to assign to the board.

This basically sums up my dissatisfaction with ACBL online games. The focus is very much on keeping table counts up, the integrity of the games in very distant 2nd.

[ArtK78]

TylerE, on 2014-July-31, 13:53, said:

This basically sums up my dissatisfaction with ACBL online games. The focus is very much on keeping table counts up, the integrity of the games in very distant 2nd.

I find this to be highly unusual. In general, the TDs handle the games quite well.

Last night, I had a complaint about something that happened at the table (I won't go into details). I notified the TD after the game, as it wasn't something that merited any sort of score adjustment. The TD was very gracious and said that he would look into it. From my experience, that was not just a stock answer.