[inquiry]

This hand turned up today. 1♣ was alerted strong, forcing. After WEST bid 6♥, north (a gold star) refused to bid and called the director. The actual complaint given to the director (verbatim with spelling as it was)...

North: no dbl negative and then 4♥ this is imposible biding

The director ruled that the bidding was ok, and for the players to continue. North left the tournament, and the director awarded 6♥+1 (assumed a major suit lead I guess).

Scoring: XIMP

1♣ 2♠ P P
X  P   4♥ p
6♥ - DIRECTOR!!!

---

A real side question, do you think this auction is "impossible" (well we know it is not impossible as it happened).

[pclayton]

WD EW. East has a max pass so 4♥ is fine.

North is acting like a child. The director ruling was appropriate.

[jillybean]

I think the director got this 100% right. North is completely within his rights to call the director and it seems to be acceptable to leave an online tournament so no infraction. Abuse is another thing.

The auction; would I make a negative double – yes, would I bid 6♥ directly – probably not.
This of course proves nothing and I think these covert accusations of cheating are disgusting.

[babalu1997]

inquiry, on Jun 22 2008, 02:20 PM, said:

North: no dbl negative and then 4♥ this is imposible biding

A real side question, do you think this auction is "impossible" (well we know it is not impossible as it happened).

why is the auction impossible?

why is the guy required to bid?


First the 2S was a preEmpt, and in a sound opening bidding system, the opening bidder must give his partner 2 chances to pass.

So, PASS SAYS SOMETHING, IT SAYS:

PARTNER BID AGAIN;

MAYBE I WILL LEAVE THE DOUBLE IN

MAYBE I HAVE A 5 CARD SUIT BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR A FREEBID

MAYBE YOU CAN LET ME KNO THAT YOU HAVE THIS SUIT STOPPED.

SO SUCH IS A PREGNANT PASS.

I AM UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO BID SO THAT THE OPPS KNOW WHAT I HAVE IN MY HAND.

[TimG]

No wonder we only lost an IMP even though we gave up a doubled over trick...

"Gold Star" means very little in my experience. I wonder: what do you think when you see a Gold Star player whose name you do not recognize?

[jdonn]

It might not have been perfect choices but the auction was totally fine. I think south would always lead a diamond but am happy he gave north the worst score possible.

[hotShot]

inquiry, on Jun 22 2008, 09:20 PM, said:

This hand turned up today. 1♣ was alerted strong, forcing.

I find it strange to use 1♣ only for natural, strong and forcing hands.
So I assume that this means it might not show ♣ length.

A neg. dbl requires a minimum strength (matter of agreement) and usually promises at least tolerance in the unbid suits. This makes little sense, if one of the bid suits was artificial.
East has a ♣ support, but West might not have ♣ to support.
Easts hand does not have tolerance in both red suits.
East can expect West to reopen, because he is strong enough to know that South is to weak raise the preempt.

If West were one suited, he would have bid his suit, so Wests reopening X denies shortness in the unbid suits, this makes a ♥ fit almost sure and makes Easts shortages valuable.

The bidding is far from impossible.

[Gerben42]

North was whining and then ran from a tournament. It is NOT acceptable to leave an online tournament.

I feel sorry for E,W and S and the director who had the misfortune to have to deal with North.

Bridge players do silly things sometimes... Sometimes the silly things are even successful. And the actual hand isn't even very silly!

[helene_t]

The auction probably exists although I can image some Lebensohl-players who would (almost) never bid like that, since 3♥ would already show something close to a maximum pass.

Calling the director just because opps make a weird bid is a nuisance to a busy TD, and a gold star should know that it will be seen as accusing opps of cheating. So I would give him a player note and next time it happens a warning.

Now that he even left the tourney of course I would blacklist him and report the case to abuse@.

[matmat]

IMO N needs to lose their star. Obviously they have the wrong attitude toward the game, which is compounded with the lack of knowledge of the rules. Not to mention poor ethics and disrespect for the others around the table.

[jillybean]

I don’t agree with the behavior but getting annoyed and quitting mid way in a game seems to be an anomaly of online bridge - and there nothing you can do about it. This seems like a mild offence compared to others Ive seen.

[jtfanclub]

In Precision, East has shown a very specific hand...whether this particular hand or Jlall's example doesn't matter, does it? Once East has shown his hand this exactly, West can look at his cards and determine where to place his contract.

North is right, though. It is an impossible auction. The fault in that lies not in East or West, however- it was South who failed to bid. We could debate at this vulnerabilty whether 3♠ or 4♠ is the right bid (I will say with my dying breath that 4♠ is right), but South should never let West get a free shot over 2♠. It's Precision. When you have a fit, and they open 1♣, you pre-empt the living daylights out of it.

And I agree with matmat- that's a star losing behavior as far as I'm concerned.