Talking Bridge ....

Calling the Director

"Please write about calling the director" we were asked, "I always find the whole procedure a bit embarrassing".

Well, the direct and technical answer is quite simple. Duplicate Law 9B1(a) states "The Director must be summoned at once when attention is drawn to an irregularity". This is unequivocal – it is a duty, not an option.

So much for the Law, but let me digress slightly. At a social function recently an experienced player said to me "At our club, we never call the director, we just sort it out – no problem – much simpler, much more friendly". "OK", I ventured, " an inexperienced visitor arrives at your table. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, you get down to business and open 1 spade and the visitor overcalls 1 heart, which is of course insufficient. What do you do?" "Oh, we tell her to make it good", was the reply. "Right", I said "so she corrects her bid to 2 hearts which gets doubled for 800 and a complete bottom for her...?" "It happens" was the rough gist of the reply. When I suggested that her no doubt well-meaning actions had led to her opponents being treated rather shabbily, my experienced but misguided co-guest was incensed.

A director, if called, would first have given her partner the opportunity to accept the insufficient bid, and assuming this was refused would have offered the visitor various options, one of which and possibly the best option, was to pass.

This then is my primary concern when something goes wrong and the director is not called. It is all too easy for an experienced pair to say " Oh, just do so-and-so" when it may not be in the offender’s best interests. I have lost count of the number of times I have been playing and heard from an adjoining table the phrase, "Oh, that’s all right, just make it good". I wish this phrase (which doesn’t appear anywhere in the Laws) had never been coined, since it does not require a degree in clairvoyance to know that a possibly inexperienced player has just made an insufficient bid, and that it’s quite likely that he is about to be talked out of his proper rights.

Competitive bridge is unusual in that there is no referee or umpire automatically overseeing play – this makes it all the more important that when one is needed no-one should be embarrassed about seeking his help. It goes without saying that the director should be called in a courteous manner, and it is always a nice touch if it is the transgressor who calls the director and explains what he has done.

Most of the time we have a playing director and inevitably, if experienced players are confident about the correct handling of a minor infringement, they will tend to sort it out without bothering him. As long as they really know the rules, appreciate that "a little learning may be a dangerous thing" and that most rules are more complicated than is generally recognised, then no great harm is done. Such cases, however, should be very much the exception, and it should be every player’s expectation that, if an irregularity occurs, the director should be called. This is the only way to ensure that the situation is handled correctly without undue penalty to the offender or damage to the non-offenders.

He is there to help – make use of his knowledge.

Chas (complain to me, not Roger, if you disagree) Fellows

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