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Proprieties
LAW 72 - GENERAL PRINCIPLES
| A. |
Observance
of Laws |
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1. |
General
Obligation on Contestants |
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Duplicate bridge tournaments should be played in strict accordance
with the Laws.
|
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2. |
Scoring
of Tricks Won |
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A
player must not knowingly accept either the score for a trick
that his side did not win or the concession of a trick that
his opponents could not lose. |
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3. |
Waiving
of Penalties |
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|
In
duplicate tournaments a player may not, on his own initiative,
waive a penalty for an opponent's infraction, even if he feels
that he has not been damaged (but he may ask the Director to
do so - see Law 81C8). |
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4. |
Non-offenders'
Exercise of Legal Options |
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When
these Laws provide the innocent side with an option after an
irregularity committed by an opponent, it is appropriate to
select that action most advantageous. |
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5.
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Offenders'
Options |
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Subject to Law 16C2,
after the offending side has paid the prescribed penalty for
an inadvertent infraction, it is appropriate for the offenders
to make any call or play advantageous to their side, even though
they thereby appear to profit through their own infraction. |
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6. |
Responsibility
for Enforcement of Laws |
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The responsibility for penalising irregularities and redressing
damage rests solely upon the Director and these Laws, not upon
the players themselves. |
| B. |
Infraction
of Law |
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1. |
Adjusted Score |
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Whenever the
Director deems that an offender could have known at the time
of his irregularity that the irregularity would be likely to
damage the non-offending side, he shall require the auction
and play to continue, afterwards awarding an adjusted score
if he considers that the offending side gained an advantage
through the irregularity. |
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2.
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Intentional
|
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A
player must not infringe a law intentionally, even if there
is a prescribed penalty he is willing to pay. |
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3. |
Inadvertent
Infraction |
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There
is no obligation to draw attention to an inadvertent infraction
of law committed by one's own side (but see footnote to Law
75 for a mistaken explanation). |
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4. |
Concealing
an Infraction |
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A
player may not attempt to conceal an inadvertent infraction,
as by committing a second revoke, concealing a card involved
in a revoke or mixing the cards prematurely. |
LAW
73 - COMMUNICATION
| A. |
Proper
Communication between Partners |
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1. |
How
Effected |
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Communication between partners during the auction and
play shall be effected only by means of the calls and plays
themselves. |
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2. |
Correct
Manner for Calls and Plays |
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Calls and plays should be made without special emphasis, mannerism
or inflection, and without undue hesitation or haste (however,
sponsoring organisations may require mandatory pauses, as on
the first round of auction, or after a skip-bid warning, or
on the first trick). |
| B. |
Inappropriate
Communication |
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1. |
Gratuitous
Information |
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Partners shall
not communicate through the manner in which calls or plays are
made, through extraneous remarks or gestures, through questions
asked or not asked of the opponents or through alerts and explanations
given or not given to them. |
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2. |
Prearranged
Communication |
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The gravest possible
offence is for a partnership to exchange information through
prearranged methods of communication other than those sanctioned
by these Laws. A guilty partnership risks expulsion. |
| C. |
Player Receives Unauthorised Information from Partner |
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When a player has available to him unauthorised information
from his partner, as from a remark, question, explanation, gesture,
mannerism, special emphasis, inflection, haste or hesitation,
he must carefully avoid taking any advantage that might accrue
to his side. |
| D. |
Variations
in Tempo or Manner |
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1. |
Inadvertent
Variations |
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It
is desirable, though not always required, for players to maintain
steady tempo and unvarying manner. However, players should be
particularly careful in positions in which variations may work
to the benefit of their side. Otherwise, inadvertently to vary
the tempo or manner in which a call or play is made does not
in itself constitute a violation of propriety, but inferences
from such variation may appropriately be drawn only by an opponent,
and at his own risk. |
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2. |
Intentional
Variations |
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|
A
player may not attempt to mislead an opponent by means of remark
or gesture, through the haste or hesitancy of a call or play
(as in hesitating before playing a singleton), or by the manner
in which the call or play is made. |
| E. |
Deception |
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A
player may appropriately attempt to deceive an opponent through
a call or play (so long as the deception is not protected by
concealed partnership understanding or experience). It is entirely
appropriate to avoid giving information to the opponents by
making all calls and plays in unvarying tempo and manner. |
| F. |
Violation
of Proprieties |
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When
a violation of the Proprieties described in this law results
in damage to an innocent opponent, |
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1. |
Player
Acts on Unauthorised Information |
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|
if
the Director determines that a player chose from among logical
alternative actions one that could demonstrably have been suggested
over another by his partner's remark, manner, tempo, or the
like, he shall award an adjusted score (see Law
16). |
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2. |
Player
Injured by Illegal Deception |
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if
the Director determines that an innocent player has drawn a
false inference from a remark, manner, tempo, or the like, of
an opponent who has no demonstrable bridge reason for the action,
and who could have known, at the time of the action, that the
action could work to his benefit, the Director shall award an
adjusted score (see Law 12C). |
LAW
74 - CONDUCT AND ETIQUETTE
| A. |
Proper Attitude |
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1. |
Courtesy |
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A
player should maintain a courteous attitude at all times. |
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2. |
Etiquette
of Word and Action |
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A
player should carefully avoid any remark or action that might
cause annoyance or embarrassment to another player or might
interfere with the enjoyment of the game. |
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3. |
Conformity
to Correct Procedure |
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Every
player should follow uniform and correct procedure in calling
and playing. |
| B. |
Etiquette
|
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As
a matter of courtesy a player should refrain from: |
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1. |
paying insufficient
attention to
the game. |
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2.
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making
gratuitous comments during the auction and play. |
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3.
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detaching
a card before it is his turn to play. |
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4. |
prolonging
play unnecessarily (as in playing on although he knows that
all the tricks are surely his) for the purpose of disconcerting
an opponent. |
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5.
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summoning
and addressing the Director in a manner discourteous to him
or to other contestants. |
| C.
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Violations
of Procedure |
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The
following are considered violations of procedure: |
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1.
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using
different designations for the same call. |
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2. |
indicating
approval or disapproval of a call or play.
|
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3. |
indicating
the expectation or intention of winning or losing a trick that
has not been completed. |
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4. |
commenting
or acting during
the auction or play so as to call attention to a significant
occurrence, or to the number of tricks still required for success.
|
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5. |
looking
intently at
any other player during the auction and play, or at another
player's hand as for the purpose of seeing his cards or of observing
the place from which he draws a card (but it is appropriate
to act on information acquired by inadvertently seeing an opponent's
card ). |
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6. |
showing
an obvious lack of further interest in
a deal (as by folding one's cards). |
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7. |
varying
the normal tempo of
bidding or play for the purpose of disconcerting an opponent. |
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8. |
leaving
the table needlessly before
the round is called. |
LAW
75 - PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS
| A. |
Special
Partnership Agreements |
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Special
partnership agreements, whether explicit or implicit, must be
fully and freely available to the opponents (see Law
40). Information conveyed to partner through such agreements
must arise from the calls, plays and conditions of the current
deal. |
| B. |
Violations
of Partnership Agreements |
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A
player may violate an announced partnership agreement, so long
as his partner is unaware of the violation (but habitual violations
within a partnership may create implicit agreements, which must
be disclosed). No player has the obligation to disclose to the
opponents that he has violated an announced agreement and if
the opponents are subsequently damaged, as through drawing a
false inference from such violation, they are not entitled to
redress. |
| C. |
Answering
Questions on Partnership Agreements |
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When
explaining the significance of partner's call or play in reply
to an opponent's inquiry (see Law
20), a player shall disclose all special information
conveyed to him through partnership agreement or partnership
experience, but he need not disclose inferences drawn from his
general knowledge and experience. |
| D. |
Correcting
Errors in Explanation |
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1. |
Explainer
Notices Own Error |
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If a player subsequently
realises that his own explanation was erroneous or incomplete,
he must immediately call the Director (who will apply Law
21 or Law 40C). |
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2. |
Error Noticed
by Explainer's Partner |
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A player whose
partner has given a mistaken explanation may not correct the
error before the final pass, nor may he indicate in any manner
that a mistake has been made; a defender may not correct the
error until play ends. After calling the Director at the earliest
legal opportunity (after the final pass, if he is to be declarer
or dummy, after play ends, if he is to be a defender), the player
must inform the opponents that, in his opinion, his partner's
explanation was erroneous. |
LAW 76 - SPECTATORS
| A. |
Conduct
During Bidding or Play |
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1. |
One Hand Only |
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A spectator should
not look at the hand of more than one player, except by permission. |
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2. |
Personal Reaction
|
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A spectator must
not display any reaction to the bidding or play while a deal
is in progress. |
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3. |
Mannerisms
or Remarks |
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During the round, a spectator must refrain from mannerisms or
remarks of any kind (including conversation with a player). |
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4. |
Consideration
for Players |
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A spectator must
not in any way disturb a player. |
| B. |
Spectator
Participation |
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A
spectator may not call attention to any irregularity or mistake,
nor speak on any question of fact or law except by request of
the Director. |
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