DUMMY'S RIGHTS

At a club session at my table yesterday I was defender.  Midway through play declarer nominated a lead from dummy when he was actually in his hand.  Dummy then told him he was in his hand and he withdrew the card from dummy and went to play from his hand.  As defender I quickly said that I accepted the lead from dummy but was told (not by the director) but by the other players at the table that I could not do that.  (I am the only qualified director at our club!)  I let it go because it was not really important in that hand anyway.

Now, my points are:

  •  Dummy can not correct an irregularity of a lead from the wrong hand once the card has been played.  I have checked the laws and can't find this in law 42 although I was sure that that was the case.  Am I right?
  •  Isn't a defender always allowed to accept a lead made from the wrong hand even if attention has been drawn to it by the partner of the offender?

I would appreciate another directors comment on these points.

 

Started by SUE BROWN on 18 Jun 2019 at 10:09AM

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  1. Michael Johnstone18 Jun 2019 at 03:04PM

    Under Law 42 b 1 Dummy may try to prevent an irregularity but under Law 43 1 b cannot draw attention toit once it has occurred.

    Under Law 55 A eiither defender may accept Declarer's lead out of turn or require its retraction. If the defenders choose differently then the player next in turn to the irregular lead prevails.

     

  2. SUE BROWN21 Jun 2019 at 11:30AM

    Thanks, Michael.  I didn't look far enough in the rules!

  3. Peter Hawkes15 Jul 2021 at 07:58PM

    Recent experience playing on club nights caused me to look up the rules pertaining to dummies rights and ask two Directors.

     

    After which I am still unsure of dummies rights.

     

    The last two weeks my partner (Alan)  and I were seated North-South.  Seated South on the next table and facing our table was the loudest player in the club.

     

    Sometimes when I was dummy Alan's call for me to play a card from dummy coincided with loud laughter or conversation from the next table.

     

    My hearing is not as acute as it once was so when I was uncertain which card Alan had asked for I  asked him if it was the card I thought it was before playing it.

     

    Board 12 was a case in point :

     

    NS Pair

    EW pair

    NS

    EW

    NS MP

    EW MP

    Contr

    By

    Made

    Lead

    11

    3

    600

     

    17.0

    1.0

    3 NT

    S

    9

    2

    8

    8

    600

     

    17.0

    1.0

    3 NT

    S

    9

    J

    2

    9

    170

     

    14.0

    4.0

    3

    N

    12

    A

    4

    2

    150

     

    12.0

    6.0

    2

    N

    11

    3

    5

    4

    140

     

    10.0

    8.0

    2

    N

    9

    K

    6

    6

    130

     

    8.0

    10.0

    2

    N

    10

    8

    9

    10

     

    100

    5.0

    13.0

    5

    N

    10

    A

    7

    5

     

    100

    5.0

    13.0

    3 NT

    S

    8

    2

    1

    7

     

    200

    2.0

    16.0

    5

    N

    9

    K

    10

    1

     

    530

    0.0

    18.0

    3X

    E

    9

    J

     

    Hand record

    Result stats

    Board 12
    Dlr: W
    Vul: N-S

    A
    KJ52
    K7
    AQ9853

     

    JT42
    84
    J654
    T72

    87653
    AQ76
    AT2
    K

     

    17

     

    2

     

    13

     

    8

     

    KQ9
    T93
    Q983
    J64

    N: 5244NT
    S: 3134NT
    E: 1
    W: 1

     

    Alan ( South) was declarer in 3NT and I was dummy.

    He won the spade lead in dummy and led the AC dropping East's K.

    The noise level was such that when Alan asked me to play the next card from dummy I thought he had asked for the queen of clubs but wasn't certain.  So I said "The queen ? "

     

    Question 1.  Is dummy allowed to question which card declarer asked him to play ?

    I note that Law 43A1c reads :

     

     " Dummy must not participate in the play, nor may he communicate anything about the play to declarer"

     

    Anyway Alan replied "Yes"  and I played the QC.

    It immediately dawned on Alan that my question had been "The queen ?  "  and not the "The three ?  "

    He explained that he had called for the three. But as he had said yes, he would soldier on with the QC lead.

     

    My first reaction was the Director should be called as we had been penalised by the noise coming from the next table.

    I did not because I was aware that dummies rights to call the Director are severely limited and I feared I might be breaking the rules by calling the Director.

     

    I subsequently looked up the Laws of Bridge and found Law 41A1A :

     

    "   Dummy may not initiate a call for the Director during play unless another player has drawn attention to an irregularity."

     

    Question 2 :  Would I have broken the rules by calling for the Director ?

     

    Question 3.  Would I have broken the rules by asking Alan to call the Director ?

     

    Question 4 :  If the answers to questions 2 and 3 are both yes then what can dummy do when the noise level is such that s/he has difficulty hearing what card declarer wants ?  Should they ask declarer to yell over the noise coming from the next table ?

     

    I note that the NZ Bridge Manual has a section titled " Unacceptable Behaviour at the Bridge Table."

     

    And it includes " Any loud or disruptive behaviour ".  So I guess it is unacceptable to ask partner to compete on loudness.

     

    Both Directors I consulted told me dummy may ask declarer when dummy is uncertain which card declarer called for.

     

    Director A said they weren’t certain without consulting the rules but off the top of their head dummy cannot call the Director during play unless there is some disputed call/play from an opponent.  Dummy may call the Director after play has ended.

     

     

    Director B said had he been Director he would have been happy for dummy to call him during play and on hearing Alan state he had asked for the three would have ruled that the three could be played.

     

    How should a Director rule when called by a dummy in my situation ?

  4. STANLEY ABRAHAMS16 Jul 2021 at 08:39AM

    Surely Dummy can call the director and ask that the next table keep the noise down, as Dummy cannot carry out their function if they cannot hear what card is asked for.

  5. NICK WHITTEN16 Jul 2021 at 10:24AM


    I would allow Alan to say (or scream if necessary) "NO I wanted the three" as soon as he saw the queen played and allow it to be changed 

    Even though he had previously said yes
    (although I can't find any law which explicitly allows this)

    Also I would advise (in any situation, not just bridge, where communication is difficult whether noise or unfamiliarity with the language)
    Don't ask "did you want the queen?"
    but ask "what card did you want?"

  6. GILES HANCOCK19 Jul 2021 at 01:10PM

    "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you, please repeat."

     

    There's also a danger of dummy being accused of trying to change the play.   But I think most opposition would be decent about this.

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