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Play tough but fair
Play tough, be competitive, but be a good sport.
- Be pleasant to the opponents (and
partner!). Welcome new opponents to your table. Don’t
conduct lengthy post-mortems.
- Don’t stare at opponents, their
cards, or where in their hand they play a card from.
- If you think an experienced
opponent may have done something inappropriate, speak
privately to the official recorder.
- Slow
players – make the effort to catch up; it’s not fair to
use more than your share of the clock, and finishing late
disrupts the schedule. Claim if it’s clear.
Make beginners welcome
New players are the future of the game we love.
- Make a special effort to explain
your bidding fully to less experienced players, and
remember they may not know the methods and conventions you
are using.
- When claiming, state your line
clearly and explain it if required. Less experienced
players may not see it as quickly as you.
- If opponents don’t yet know the bridge code of
behaviour, explain (politely!) – even better, refer them
to this code.
Tell the opponents what they need to know about your system
Your opponents are
entitled to know as much about your system and style as your partner does ...
the only secret in bridge is what cards you hold.
- Provide two fully completed
system cards
- Make every effort through alerts and explanations to
tell your opponents what they need to know about your
system.
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No trickery, no tip-offs
You must not try to
help your partner or fool your opponents by anything but the bids you make and
cards you play … bridge is not poker!
- Don’t tip partner off – and
ignore partner’s tips. Ethical players will try to avoid
revealing mannerisms, and make a point of ignoring any
information they accidentally get from partner’s
hesitations or mannerisms.
- Don’t deceive the opponents by hesitations or
mannerisms. If you accidentally hesitate without a
problem, apologise: “sorry – I didn’t have any reason to
hesitate. I was asleep!”
Correct misexplanations as soon as you can
If partner
accidentally misinforms the opponents, you can’t give a correction during the
bidding (because you mustn’t tell partner the correct explanation).
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If your side becomes declarer, you must give the correct
explanation before the opponents make
their opening lead.
- If your side ends up defending, apologise and give the
correct explanation at the end of the hand. Call the
director if opponents may have been damaged – that’s why
he’s there!
Hesitations
- You are allowed to think!
But if you do take a long time over something, it shows
you had other choices. Your partner must not use that
information to influence what they do later.
- If partner hesitates, you can still pass, double or
bid whatever you want (but without – even subconsciously –
using the knowledge that partner apparently had other
options).
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