New 2017 bridge laws

The World Contract Bridge rule book gets updated every 10 years.   The 2017 edition has just been rolled out and will be in force in NZ from 1st August. Murray Wiggins, NZ Bridge Chief Director held a seminar for directors in Matamata last week to explain some of the changes

There have been a lot of minor changes to the rules which you probably don't need to be aware of (and many the rules have changed to reflect what people are doing already like it is now officially against the rules to move the board from the centre of the table during play).  

However, probably the biggest change is the introduction of a "comparable call" which is further explained in the attached flyer that Kathy Yule put together for us laypeople.

The key changes that you may experience at the bridge table and how the comparable bid can effect the play are as follows;

Pass or Bid out of turn

Previously:   If you passed/bid out of turn and the LHO didn't accept it, the penalty was that your bid was cancelled and you were ruled out of the bidding for one round.   This often caused partner to bid wildly guessing the final contract because their partner not being allowed another bid in the auction.

Now:   The bid is cancelled and you can continue to take part in the bidding contest as long as your next bid is comparable to your first bid (or is limited to your original mistaken pass/bid).  See notes for further explanation of comparable bids.

Insufficient Bid

This has also been rewritten to take into the new comparable rule ... so;

previously:   If you made an insufficient bid and were told to 'make it good' but this would change the meaning of the bid BUT a change of bid would mean that your partner could not bid again for the rest of the auction.

now:  If you make an insufficient bid using a convention then you can 'make it good' with a different bid as long as it had a comparable meaning to your first illegal bid.  

If you as the opposition feel aggrieved that your opponents have used unauthorised information through making a mistaken or insufficient bid to their advantage or they think the comparable bid is not really comparable - you can voice your case to the director and they will look at the hand on a case-by-case basis and see if any adjustment is required.