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ALTERNATIVE CLUB LAWS
 When bridge is played at a club,
it is often practicable to designate an impartial and experienced
person as "Arbiter" for the game. The Arbiter interprets and applies
the Laws after an irregularity occurs and generally assumes the role
assigned to the "Director" in duplicate bridge. When such an Arbiter
is available, certain laws can be modified so as to produce greater
equity.
The "Club Laws" prescribe a
somewhat different procedure after attention is drawn to an
irregularity, and there is a different disposition for disputed
claims. The principal changes, however, lie in the authority given to
the Arbiter, after specified types of irregularity, to "adjust the
score" of a deal once play is over. In adjusting a score, the Arbiter
assigns a new result, the result he judges would have been achieved
had the irregularity not occurred. The Arbiter should resolve any
substantial doubt in favor of the non-offending side.
The alternative laws are in
force only upon advance agreement by the players, or in accordance
with the standing and published policy of a club. Any game may play
under these Club Laws, so long as an Arbiter is nominated in advance;
when there are more than four members of a table, a non-playing member
can act as Arbiter.
CLUB LAW 13
The Arbiter must be called as
soon as attention is drawn to an irregularity. Calling the Arbiter
does not forfeit any rights to which a player may otherwise be
entitled. Any player, including dummy subject to restrictions under
Law 42
and Law 43,
may draw attention to an irregularity and call the Arbiter. The fact
that a player draws attention to an irregularity committed by his side
does not affect the rights of the opponents.
After attention has been drawn
to an irregularity, no player should call or play until the Arbiter
has determined all matters in regard to rectification and to the
assessment of a penalty. Premature correction of an irregularity on
the part of an offender may subject him to further penalty.
CLUB LAW 14
The Arbiter assesses penalties
when applicable. When these Club Laws provide an option among
penalties, the Arbiter explains the options available.
The Arbiter may assign an
adjusted score, but only when these Club Laws empower him to do so, or
when the Law provides no indemnity to a non-offending contestant for
the particular type of violation of law or propriety committed by an
opponent. He may not assign an adjusted score on the ground that the
penalty provided in the Law is unduly severe or unduly advantageous to
either side.
CLUB LAW 16
If a player conveys information
to his partner by means of a remark or question, or by an unmistakable
hesitation or unwonted speed, special emphasis, tone, gesture,
movement, mannerism or any other action that suggests a call, lead or
plan of play; and if attention is drawn to the offense and the Arbiter
is called, the Arbiter should require that the auction or play
continue, reserving the right to assign an adjusted score if he
considers that the result could have been affected by the illegal
information.
After play ends, he should award
an adjusted score to redress damage caused to the innocent side, when
an opponent chose from among alternative logical actions one that
could reasonably have been suggested by his partner's tempo, manner,
remark, etc.
CLUB LAW 23
(Regular
Law 23
stands intact but with the following addition, which applies as well
to a change of call, an insufficient bid, a call out of rotation and
an inadmissible call.)
When the penalty for an
irregularity, under this or any other law, would compel the offender's
partner to pass at his next turn, and when the Arbiter deems that this
enforced pass will necessarily * damage the
innocent side, the Arbiter may reserve the right to assign an adjusted
score.
* The score should not be adjusted merely
because the penalty happened to result in good fortune for the
offending side. The word "necessarily" restricts score adjustment to
those instances in which the offender could have known, at the time of
his infraction, that it would be to his advantage to require partner
to pass.
CLUB LAW 25
CLUB LAW 27
Regular
Law 27
stands intact but with the following addition to subsection (a):
If the insufficient bid conveyed
such substantial information as to damage the non-offending side, the
Arbiter may assign an adjusted score.
CLUB LAW 30
CLUB LAW 31
CLUB LAW 32
CLUB LAW 36
CLUB LAW 38
CLUB LAW 39
CLUB LAW 40
If the Arbiter decides that a
side has been damaged through its opponents' failure to explain the
meaning of a call or play, he may award an adjusted score.
CLUB LAW 47
If a card retracted under
sections (c)
or (d)
above gave substantial information to an opponent, the Arbiter may
award an adjusted score.
CLUB LAW 55
Regular
Law 55
stands intact, but the Arbiter may assign an adjusted score to redress
any damage, as authorized in (b)(iii).
CLUB LAW 64
Regular
Law 64
stands, except that, when after any established revoke, including
those not subject to penalty, the Arbiter deems that the non-offending
side is insufficiently compensated by this law for the damage caused,
he should assign an adjusted score.
CLUB LAW 69
When declarer has made a claim
or concession, play ceases (all play subsequent to a claim or
concession must be voided by the Arbiter). Declarer must place and
leave his hand face up on the table and forthwith make a comprehensive
statement as to his proposed plan of play, including the order in
which he will play his remaining cards.
Declarer's claim or concession
is allowed, and the deal is scored accordingly, if both defenders
agree to it. The claim or concession must be allowed if either
defender has permitted any of his remaining cards to be mixed with
another player's cards; otherwise, if either defender disputes
declarer's claim or concession, the Arbiter must be called to
adjudicate the result of the deal.
The Arbiter should adjudicate
the result of the deal as equitably as possible to both sides, but any
doubtful point should be resolved in favor of the defenders. He should
proceed as follows:
 (a) He should require the
declarer to repeat the statement he made at the time of his claim. The
Arbiter should then require all players to put their cards face up on
the table and should hear the defenders' objections to the claim.
(b) When a trump is outstanding,
he should award a trick to the defenders if
| (i) |
in making his claim declarer made no statement
about that trump, and |
| (ii) |
it is at all likely that declarer was unaware, at
the tine of his claim, that a trump remained in a defender's hand,
and |
| (iii) |
a trick could be lost to that trump by any normal
play (an inferior or careless play can be normal, but not an
irrational play). |
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(c) He should not accept from
declarer any proposed line of play inconsistent with his statement. If
declarer did not make an appropriate announcement at the time of his
original claim, the Arbiter should not accept from declarer any
unusual line of play, or any proposed play that requires a finesse *
in a suit, unless an opponent failed to follow in that suit before the
claim or concession, or would subsequently fail to follow in that suit
on any conceivable line of play.
* For these purposes, a finesse is a play
the success of which depends on finding one defender rather than the
other with or without a particular card.
CLUB LAW 70
A defender makes a concession
when he agrees to declarer's claim or when he announces that he will
lose one or more of the remaining tricks.
A defender makes a claim when he
announces that he will win one or more of the remaining tricks, or
when he shows any or all of his cards to declarer for this purpose. If
(a) the claim pertains only to
an uncompleted trick currently in progress, play proceeds normally;
cards exposed or otherwise revealed by the defender in making his
claim do not become penalty cards, but Club Law 16,
Unauthorized Information, may apply to claimer's partner.
(b) the claim pertains to
subsequent tricks, play ceases (all play subsequent to the claim
should be voided by the Arbiter). The defender must place and leave
his hand face up on the table and make a comprehensive statement as to
his proposed plan of defense. The claim is allowed, and the deal
scored accordingly, if declarer agrees to it. If declarer disputes the
claim, the Arbiter must be called to adjudicate the result of the
deal. He does so as equitably as possible to both sides, but should
award to the declarer any trick that the defenders could loose by
normal play (an inferior or careless play can be normal, but not an
irrational play).
CLUB APPEALS COMMITTEE
Whenever possible, a club should
establish an Appeals Committee to review decisions of the Arbiter; and
any game may designate a committee to which appeals may be taken. If
such a procedure has been agreed to or published in advance, any
player may appeal any decision by the Arbiter. The Appeals Committee
exercises all powers assigned by these Laws to the Arbiter and may
overrule any of his decisions.
When an Arbiter's decision is
overruled on appeal, only the scoring of the particular deal is
affected; subsequent scores stand as recorded. If the committee's
decision results in fulfillment of a contract originally recorded as
defeated, or defeat of a contract recorded as fulfilled, then,
(a) for a contract now
fulfilled: in addition to the other trick score and premium score,
declarer's side receives a premium of 100 points for a partscore that
would not then have increased the below-the-line score to 100; and for
any other contract, declarer's side receives a premium according to
vulnerability - 300 points if declarer's side was non-vulnerable, 400
points if declarer's was vulnerable and the defenders not, 500 points
if both sides were vulnerable.
(b) for a contract now defeated,
when the original scoring resulted in a game: in addition to the other
premium score, the defenders receive a premium of 100 points if they
alone had scored a partscore in that game; plus a premium of 500
points if declarer's side originally won two of two games, or 200
points if the defenders side originally won two of three games.
RULES FOR CLUB PROCEDURE
The following rules, governing
membership in new and existing tables, have proven satisfactory in
club use over a long period of years.
A.
Definitions
Member - An applicant who has
acquired the right to play at a table either immediately or in his
turn.
Complete Table - A table with
six members.
Incomplete Table - A table with
four or five members.
Cut in - Assert the right to
become a member of an incomplete table, or to become a member of a
complete table at such time as it may become incomplete.
B. Time
Limit on Right to Play
An applicant may not play in a
rubber unless he has become a member of a table before a card is duly
drawn for the selection of players or partners.
C. Newly
Formed Tables
Four to six applicants may form
a table. If there are more than six applicants, the six
highest-ranking ones become members. The four highest-ranking members
play the first rubber. Those who have not played, ranked in their
order of entry into the room, take precedence over those who have
played; the latter rank equally, except that players leaving existing
tables to join the new table rank lowest. Precedence between those of
equal rank is determined by drawing cards, the player who draws the
highest-ranking card having precedence.
D. Cutting
in
An application establishes
membership in a table either forthwith or (if the table is complete)
as soon as a vacancy occurs, unless applications in excess of the
number required to complete a table are made at the same time, in
which case precedence between applicants is established by drawing
cards, as provided in the preceding rule.
E. Going out
After each rubber place must be
made for any member who did not play that last rubber, by the member
who has played the greatest number of consecutive rubbers at that
table. Cards are drawn for precedence if necessary. A member who has
left another existing table must draw cards, for his first rubber,
with the member who would otherwise have played. A player who breaks
up a game by leaving three players at a table may not compete against
them for entry at another table until each of them has played at least
one rubber.
F.
Membership Limited to One Table
No one can be a member of more
than one table at the same time, unless a member consents, on request,
to make a fourth at another table and announces his intention of
returning to his former table as soon as his place at the new table
can be filled. Failure to announce such intention results in loss of
membership at his former table.
FOUR-DEAL BRIDGE
Four-Deal Bridge is a form of
Rubber Bridge much played in clubs and well suited to home play. Long
rubbers are avoided; extra players need wait no longer than the time
(about twenty minutes) required to complete four deals. The game is
also called Club Bridge or Chicago (for the city in which it
originated).
The Laws of Contract Bridge and
Rules for Club Procedure are followed, except as modified by the
following rules.
A rubber consists of a series of
four deals that have been bid and played. If a deal is passed out, the
same player deals again and the deal passed out does not count as one
of the four deals.
A fifth deal is void if
attention is drawn to it at any time before there has been a new cut
for partners or the game has terminated; if the error is not
discovered in time for correction, the score stands as recorded. A
sixth or subsequent deal is unconditionally void and no score for such
a deal is ever permissible.
In case fewer than four deals
are played, the score shall stand for the incomplete series and the
fourth deal need not be played unless attention is drawn to the error
before there has been a new cut for partners or the game has
terminated.
When the players are pivoting, *
the fact that the players have taken their proper seats for the next
rubber shall be considered a cut for partners.
Vulnerability is not determined
by previous scores but by the following schedule:
First deal: Neither side
vulnerable.
Second and Third deals: Dealer's
side vulnerable, the other side not vulnerable.
Fourth deal: Both sides
vulnerable.
For making or completing a game
(100 or more trick points), a side receives a premium of 300 points if
on that deal it is not vulnerable or 500 points if on that deal it is
vulnerable. There is no additional premium for winning two or more
games, each game premium being scored separately.
 
As a reminder of vulnerability
in Four-Deal Bridge, two intersecting diagonal lines should be drawn
near the top of the score pad, as follows:
The numeral "1" should be
inserted in that one of the four angles thus formed that faces the
first dealer. After play of the first deal is completed, "2" is
inserted in the next angle in clockwise rotation, facing the dealer of
the second deal. The numerals "3" and "4" are subsequently inserted at
the start of the third and fourth deals, respectively, each in the
angle facing the current dealer.
A correctly numbered diagram is
conclusive as to vulnerability. These is no redress for a bid
influenced by the scorer's failure to draw the diagram or for an error
or omission in inserting a numeral or numerals in the diagram. Such
error or omission should, upon discovery, be immediately corrected and
the deal or deals should be scored or rescored as though the diagram
and the number or numbers thereon had been properly inserted.
A partscore or scores made
previously may be combined with a partscore made in the current deal
to complete a game or 100 or more trick points. The game premium is
determined by the vulnerability, on that deal, of the side that
completes the game. When a side makes or completes a game, no previous
partscore of either side may thereafter be counted toward game.
A side that makes a partscore in
the fourth deal, if the partscore is not sufficient to complete a
game, receives a premium of 100 points. This premium is scored whether
or not the same side or the other side has an uncompleted partscore.
There is no separate premium for making a partscore in any other
circumstance.
When a player deals out of turn,
and there is no right to a redeal, the player who should have dealt
retains his right to call first, but such right is lost if it is not
claimed before the actual dealer calls. If the actual dealer calls
before attention is drawn to the deal out of turn, each player
thereafter calls in rotation. Vulnerability and scoring values are
determined by the position of the player who should have dealt,
regardless of which players actually dealt or called first. Neither
the rotation of the deal nor the scoring is affected by a deal out of
turn. The next dealer is the player who would have dealt next if the
deal had been in turn.
The following practices, not
required, have proved acceptable in some clubs and games:
| (i) |
Since the essence of the game is speed, if a deal
is passed out, the pack that has been shuffled for the next deal
should be used by the same dealer. |
| (ii) |
The net score of a rubber should be translated
into even hundreds (according to American custom) by crediting as
100 points any fraction thereof amounting to 50 or more points:
e.g., 750 points count as 800; 740 points count as 700 points. |
| (iii) |
No two players may play a second consecutive
rubber as partners at the same table. If two players draw each other
again, the player who has drawn the highest card should play with
the player who has drawn the third-highest, against the other two
players. |
| (iv) |
To avoid confusion as to how many deals have been
played: Each deal should be scored, even if there is no net
advantage to either side (for example, when one side is entitled to
100 points for undertrick penalties and the other side is entitled
to 100 points for honors). In a result that completes a game,
premiums for overtricks, game, slam, or making a doubled contract
should be combined with the trick score to produce one total, which
is entered below the line (for example, if a side makes 2
doubled and vulnerable with an overtrick, 870 should be scored below
the line, not 120 below the line and 50, 500, and 200 above the
line). |
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* In a pivot game, partnerships for each
rubber follow a fixed rotation.
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