|
Tempo
| Committee: |
Barry Rigal (chair) |
| |
Bart Bramley |
| |
Ed Lazarus |
| |
Barbara Nudelman |
| |
Becky Rogers |
| DIC: |
Henry Cukoff |
Event: Life Masters Pairs, 12 Aug,
second semi-final session
Board
25
Dealer: North
Vulnerability: E/W
| |
|
7 6 5
2 |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
K Q J
7 4 2 |
|
|
J 6 5
|
 |
A Q J 10 8 |
|
|
- |
 |
A K 3 |
|
Q J 10 9 7 6 4 |
 |
A 10 3 |
|
8 6 |
 |
9 2 |
|
A K Q 7 |
| |
|
K 9 4 3 |
|
|
|
8 5 2 |
|
|
9 5 |
|
|
10 8 4 3 |
| West |
North |
East |
South |
| Boudreau |
Fan |
Mager |
Gu |
| |
3
|
4 |
Pass |
| 4NT |
Pass |
5
(1) |
Pass |
| 5NT |
Pass |
6
(2) |
Pass |
| 6
(3) |
Pass |
6
(3) |
Pass |
| 7
(3) |
All Pass |
|
|
| (1) |
One or four keycards
|
| (2) |
Showed the K |
| (3) |
Break in tempo |
The Facts: 7
made seven, plus 2210 for E/W. The opening lead was the 9.
The Director was called after the 7
bid. There was no disagreement that there had been a break in tempo. The
Director ruled that passing 6
was not a logical alternative for West (Law
16). The table result was allowed to stand.
The Appeal:
N/S appealed the Director's ruling. The total time taken to make each
bid by E/W was disputed. 6
had taken from 10 to 30 seconds, 6
had taken from 30 to 60 seconds and the 7
bid had taken from 10 to 30 seconds. The 6
bid was directed to a spade control. There were no slow bids earlier.
East's pause over 6
was partly based on his surprise that he had the Q
and could not understand why West had not asked for it. West confirmed
that his final thought was still about whether to bid 7NT. E/W were a
partnership of three to four years who have played together on average
once a week until recently. West has approximately 3500 masterpoints,
East approximately 6000 masterpoints.
The Committee's decision: The Committee
found it easy to determine that East's failure to bid 7
was a serious bridge error (he could see that his diamond loser would
go on a spade.) That being the case, there was no reason to stop West
from playing bridge. While there was a very small sample of hands where
East could not make 7
(- QJ109xxx
Qxx
AKQ),
the grand slam would still be somewhat better than a ruffing finesse.
If partner produced an eighth heart or a fourth club the grand slam would
be excellent. If partner had a spade the grand slam could not be worse
than a spade finesse and the jump to 4
indicated a very good hand. Accordingly, while the hesitation had been
established and pointed toward a 7
bid, the Committee could find no logical alternative to West's raising
to 7
. Therefore, they allowed the table result of 7
made seven, plus 2210 for E/W, to stand.
|
