HorningBridge Club
Outline summary of main changes to bridge laws from 1 August 2008
Law 7C - Cards
You should shuffle your hand of cards before returning it to the board.
Law 20 & Law 20G - Asking About the Auction
You may ask questions about the bidding at your turn to call or play. When your partner asks, you are now specifically forbidden to ask supplementary questions until it is your turn. Where previously you could ask only for a full explanation of the auction, you may now ask questions about a specific call during the auction and throughout the play. You should try to avoid questions that might be construed as drawing attention to a specific suit as you may be offering unauthorised information to your partner. You may not ask a question because you think your partner has not understood the explanation of a call.
Law 21 -Misinformation
When your explanation of a bid does not conform to your partner’s actual hand the director must now presume that the explanation was wrong unless there is evidence to the contrary; this is a good reason to have completed convention cards on the table!
Laws 40B 2b & 41B/C - Aids to Bidding
The period after the final pass and before the opening lead is faced, is now named the Clarification Period. During this time, only declarer may consult her/his system card. Law 40 now states that you cannot use any aide-memoirs or aids to calculation; for example during the play, you cannot consult the bidding box to see what 4xx + 2 will score.
Law 61B - Revokes
A defender can now ask partner a question such as “having no spades?” if s/he believes there is a possibility of a revoke. If the answer is “yes”, the card played in error is a major penalty card. The offender must substitute a legal card. Cards played by opponents after the potential revoke can be changed. A recent article in Mr Bridge recommends that as a matter of course you use this “having none?” technique on every first occasion that your partner does not follow suit.
Law 64 - Established Revokes
The rule relating to the transfer of tricks has been simplified. One trick is transferred to opponents if the revoking player (not side) won the revoke trick, and another if the revoking side won any further tricks.
Law 65B 3 - Arrangement of Tricks.
Previously, players were not allowed to point out that tricks were pointing the wrong way. They can now do so: the declarer at any time and defenders until a lead is made to the following trick.
Suzanne Gill with thanks to Nigel Block Chief TD for NCBA
August 2008