Laws of Duplicate Bridge 14

Law 64
Procedure After Establishment of a Revoke
A. Automatic Trick Adjustment
When a revoke is established:
1. And the trick on which the revoke occurred was won by the offending player, at the end of play the trick on which the revoke occurred is transferred to the non-offending side together with one of any subsequent tricks won by the offending side.
2. And the trick on which the revoke occurred was not won by the offending player then, if the offending side won that or any other subsequent trick , after play ends one trick is transferred to the non-offending side.
B. No Automatic Trick Adjustment
There is no automatic trick adjustment following an established revoke (but see Law 64C) if:
1. The offending side did not win either the revoke trick or any subsequent trick
2. It is a subsequent revoke in the same suit by the same player, the first revoke having been established.
3. The revoke was made in failing to play a penalty card or any card belonging to dummy.
4. Attention was first drawn to the revoke after a member of the non-offending side has made a call on the subsequent deal.
5. Attention was first drawn to the revoke after the round has ended.
6. It is a revoke on the twelfth trick
7. Both sides have revoked on the same board and both revokes have become established.
8. The revoke has been corrected as per Law 62C3.
C. Redress of Damage
1. When, after any established revoke, including those not subject to trick adjustment, the Director deems that the non-offending side is insufficiently compensated by this law for the damage caused, he/she shall assign an adjusted score.
2. a). After repeated revokes by the same player in the same suit (see B2 above) , the Director adjusts the score if the non-offending side would likely have made more tricks had one or more of the subsequent revokes not occurred.
b). When both sides have revoked on the same board (see B7 above) and the Director deems that a contestant has been damaged, he/she shall award an adjusted score based on the likely result had no no revokes occurred.
Law 65
Arrangement of Tricks
A. Completed Trick
When 4 cards have been played to a trick, each player turns his/her own card face down near him/her on the table.
B. Keeping Track of the Ownership of Tricks
1. If the player’s side has won the trick, the card is pointed lengthwise towards their partner.
2. If the opponents have won the trick, the card is pointed lengthwise towards the opponents.
3. A player may draw attention to a card pointed incorrectly, but this right expires when his/her side leads or plays to the following trick. If done later Law 16B may apply.
C. Orderliness
Each player arranges their own cards in an orderly overlapping row in the sequence played, so as to permit review of th eplay after its completion, if necessary to determine the number of tricks won by each side or the order in which the cards were played.
D. Agreement on Results of Play
A player should not disturb the order of their played cards until agreement has been reached on the number of tricks won. A player who fails to comply with the provisions of this law jeapordizes their right to claim ownership of doubtful tricks or to claim (or deny) a revoke.
Law 66
Inspection of Tricks
A. Current Trick
So long as his/her side has not led or played to the next trick, declarer or either defender may, until they have turned their own card face down on the table, require that all cards just played to the trick can be faced.
B. Own Last Card
Until his/her side has led or played to the next trick, declarer or either defender may inspect, but not expose, his/her own last card played.
C. Quitted Tricks
Thereafter, until play ceases, the cards of quitted tricks may not beinspected (except at the Director’s specific instruction; for example if necessary to verify a claim of a revoke).
D. After the Conclusion of Play
After play ceases, the played and unplayed cards may be inspected to settle a claim of a revoke, or of the number of tricks won or lost; but no player should handle cards other than his/her own. If the Director can no longer ascertain the facts after such a claim has been made, and only one side has mixed its cards, the Director shall rule in favour of the other side.
Law 67
Defective Trick
A. Before Sides Play to the Next Trick
When a player has omitted to play to a trick, or has played too many cards to a trick, the error must be rectified if attention is drawn to the irregularity before a player on each side has played to the following trick.
1. To rectify omission to play to a trick, the offender supplies a card he/she can legally play.
2. To rectify the play of too many cards to a trick, Law 45E (Fifth Card Played to a Trick) or Law 58B (Simultaneous Cards From One Hand) shall be applied.
B. After Both Sides Play to Next Trick
When the Director determines that there has been a defective trick (from the fact that one player has too few or too many cards in their hand, and a correspondingly incorrect number of played cards); both sides having played to the next trick, he/she proceeds as follows:
1. When the offender has failed to play a card to the defective trick, the Director shall require him/her forthwith to expose a card face-up face up and place it appropriately among his/her played cards (this does not affect the ownership of the trick); if
a.) The offender has a card of the suit led to the defective trick; he/she must choose such a card to place among his/her played cards. He/she is deemed to have revoked on the defective trick and is subject to the loss of one trick transferred in accordance with Law 64A2
b.) The offender has no card of the suit led to the defective trick; he/she chooses any card to place amongst his/her played cards. He/she is deemed to have revoked on the defective trick and is subject to the loss of one trick transferred in accordance with Law 64A2
2. a). When the offender has played more than one card to the defective trick, the Director
inspects the played cards and requires the defender to restore to his/her hand all
extra cards, leaving among the played cards the one faced in playing to the defective
trick (if the Director is unable to determine which card was faced, the offender
leaves the highest ranking of the cards that he/she could legally have played to the
trick). Ownership of the defective trick does not change.
b). A restored card is deemed to have blonged continuously to the offender’s hand, and
a failure to have played it to an earlier trick may constitute a revoke.
3. When the Director determines that the offender did play a card to the trick, but that
card was not placed among the quitted tricks, the Director finds the card and places it correctly among the offender’s played cards. The Director shall award an adjusted score if the same card was played to a subsequent trick and it is too late to correct the illegal play.
Law 68
Claim or Concession of Tricks
For a statement or action to constitute a claim or concession of tricks under these laws, it must refer to tricks other than one currently in progress. If the statement or action pertains only to the winning or losing of an uncompleted trick currently in progress, play proceeds regularly; cards exposed or revealed by a defender do not become penalty cards, but Laws 16 and 57A may apply.
A. Claim Defined
Any statement by a declarer or defender to the effect that a side will win a specific number of tricks is claim of those tricks. A player also claims when he/she suggests that play be curtailed, or when they show their cards (unless he/she demonstrably did not intend to claim – for example , if declarer faces his/her cards after an opening lead out of turn Law 54, not this Law will apply).
B. Concession Defined
1. Any statement by declarer or a defender to the effect that a side will lose a specific number of tricks is a concession of those tricks; a claim of some number of tricks is a concession of the remainder, if any. A player concedes all the remaining tricks when he/she abandons the hand.
2. Regardless of B1, if a defender attempts to concede one or more tricks and his/her partner immediately objects; neither a concession nor a claim has occurred. Unauthorised information may exist, so the Director should be summoned immediately. Play continues. Any card that has been exposed by a defender in these circumstances is not a penalty card but Law 16C applies to information arising from its exposure and the information may not be used by the partner of the defender who has exposed it.
C. Clarification Required
A claim should be accompanied at once by a clear statement of the line of play or defence through which the claimer proposes to win the tricks claimed, including the order in which the cards will be played. The player making the claim or concession faces his/her hand.
D. Suspension of Play
After any claim or concession, play is suspended.
1. If the claim or concession is agreed, Law 69 applies.
2. If it is doubted by any player (dummy included); either
a). The Director may immediately be summoned and no action should be taken pending his/her arrival, Law 70 applies; or
b). upon the request of the non-claiming side, play may continue subject to the following:
i). All four players must concur; otherwise the Director is summoned, who then proceeds as in a). above.
ii). The prior claim or concession is void and not subject to adjudication. Laws 16 and 50 do not apply, and the score subsequently obtained shall stand.
Law 69
Agreed Claim or Concession
A. Establishment of Agreement
Agreement is established when a side assents to an opponent’s claim or concession, and raises no objection to it before making a call on a subsequent board or before the round ends, whichever occurs first. The board is scored as though the tricks claimed or conceded had been won or lost in play.
B. Withdrawal of Established Agreement
Agreement with a claim or concession (see A) may be withdrawn within the Correction Period established under Law 79C:
1. If a player agreed to the loss of a trick that his/her side had, in fact, worn; or
2. If a player agreed to the loss of a trick that his/her side would likely have won had the play continued.
The board is rescored with such trick awarded to his/her side.
Law 70
Contested Claim or Concession
A. General Objective
In ruling on a contested claim or concession, the Director adjudicates the result of a board as equitably as possible to both sides, but any doubtful point as to a claim shall be resolved against the claimer. The Director proceeds as follows.
B. Clarification Statemement Repeated
1. The Director requires claimer to repeat the clarification statement made at the time of the claim.
2. Next, the Director hears the opponent’s objections to the claim (but the Director’s considerations are not limited only to the opponent’s objections).
3. The Director may require players to put their remaining cards face up on the table.
C. There is an Outstanding Trump
When a trump remains in one of the opponent’s hands, the Director shall award a trick or tricks to the opponents if:
1. Claimer made no statement about that trump, and
2. It is at all likely that claimer, at the time of the claim was unaware that a trump remained in an opponent’s hand, and
3. A trick could be lost to that trump by any normal play.
D. Director’s Considerations
1. The Director shall not accept from claimer any successful line of play not embraced in the original clarification statement if there is an alternative normal line of play that would be less successful.
2. The Director does not accept any part of a defender’s claim that depends on his/her partner selecting a particular play from among alternative normal plays.
E. Unstated Line of Play
1. The Director shall not accept fom claimer any unstated line of play the success of which depends upon finding one opponent rather than the other with a particular card, unless an opponent failed to follow to the suit of that card before the claim was made, or would subsequently fail to follow that suit on any normal line of play.
2. The Regulating Authority may specify an order (e.g. “from the top down”) in which the Director shall deem a suit played if this was not clarified in the statement of claim (but always subject to any other requirement of this law).
Law 71
Concession Cancelled
A concession must stand, once made, except that within the Concession Peiod established under Law 79C the Director shall cancel a concession:
A. If a player conceded a trick his side had in fact one; or
B. If a player has conceded a trick that could not be lost by any normal play of the remaining cards.
The board is restored with such trick awarded to his/her side.
Law 72
General Principles
A. Observance of Laws
Duplicate bridge tournaments should be played in strict accordance with the laws. The chief objective is to obtain a higher score than other contestants whilst complying with the lawful procedures and ethical standards set out in these laws.
B. Infraction of Law
1. A player must not infringe a law intentionally, even if there is a prescribed rectification he/she is willing to accept.
2. In general there is no obligation to draw attention to an infraction of the law committed by one’s own side (but see Law 20F for a mistaken explanation and see Laws 62A and 79A2).
3. A player may not attempt to conceal an infraction, as by committing a second revoke, concealing a card involved in a revoke or mixing the cards prematurely.
C. Awareness of Potential Damage
If the Director determines that an offender could have been aware at the time of his/her irregularity that it could well damage the non-offending side, he/she shall require the auction and play to continue (if not completed). At the conclusion of play the Director awards an adjusted score if he/she considers the offending side has gained and advantage through the irregularity.
Law 73
Communication, Tempo and Deception
A. Appropriate Communication Between Partners
1. Communication between patners during the auction and play shall be effected only by means of calls and plays, except as specifically authorised by these laws.
2. Calls and plays should be made without undue emphasis, mannerism or inflection, and without undue hesitation or haste. But regulating authorities may require mandatory pauses, as on the first round of the auction, or after a skip-bid warning, or on the first trick.
B. Inappropriate Communication Between Partners
1. Partners shall not communicate by means such as the manner in which calls or plays are made, extraneous remarks or gestures, questionns asked or not asked, or alerts and explanations given or not given.
2. The gravest possible offence is for a partnership to exchange information through pre-arranged methods of communication other than those sanctioned by these laws.
C. Player Recieves Unauthorised Information From Partner
1. When a player has available to him/her unauthorised information from their partner, such as from a remark, question, explanation, gesture, mannerism, undue emphasis, inflection, haste or hesitation, an unexpected alert or failure to alert, he/she must carefully avoid taking any advantage from that unauthorised information. See Law 16B1a).
2. A penalty may be assessed against a player who violates C1, but if the opponents have been damaged, see also Law 16B3.
D. Variations in Tempo or Manner
1. It is desirable, though not always required, for players to maintain steady tempo and unvarying manner. However, players should be particularly careful when variations may work to the benefit of their side. Otherwise, unintentionally to vary the tempo or manner in which a call or play is made is not an infraction. Inferences from such variations are authorised only to the opponents, who may act upon the information at their own risk.
2. A player may not attempt to mislead an opponent by means of a question, remark or gesture; by the haste or hesitancy of a call or play (as in hesitating before playing a singleton); by the manner in which a call or play is made; or by any purposeful deviation from correct procedure (see also Law 75E2).
E. Deception
1. A player may appropriately attempt to decieve an opponent through a call or play (so long as the deception is not emphasized by unwonted haste or hesitancy, nor protected by concealed partnership understanding or experience).
2. If the Director determines that an innocent player has drawn a false inference from a question, remark, manner, tempo or the like, of an opponent who has no demonstrable bridge reason for the action, and who could have been aware, at the time of the action, that it could work to his/her benefit, the Director shall award an adjusted score.