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The Committee read
the pertinent Laws and Regulations. Law 73D2: "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, or by the manner in which the call or play is
made." Law 73F2: "When a violation of the Proprieties described in
this Law results in damage to an innocent opponent, 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)" WBF Conditions of Contest - 16.3: "During the auction
period, after an opponent has acted quickly, it is proper to adjust the tempo
back to normal by either delaying one's own call or by waiting before passing
the tray." The Committee stresses that the word "normal" in this
regulation does not mean the average tempo of that one auction but the normal
tempo that would not be considered to transmit any unauthorised information to
partner. |
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The Director's
ruling was absolutely justified. The call of 5§ was on the evidence of the neutral spectator in normal
tempo. Whilst the East player no doubt acted in good faith, he did
overcompensate since the requirement is to return the tempo to normal and not
to a tempo consistent with any prior slow bid. It is important that this
principle is understood and players are not advised to act in the manner
described in condition 16.3, unless the position clearly requires it. The
Committee applied Law 12C3 and not being satisfied that 6§ would inevitably be bid, ruled that the score be
adjusted to 50% of +1370 and 50% of +620. |
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