Sport: Bridge Laws

When the 1926 bridge laws went into effect last week, they were issued from Manhattan by a council of 14 composed of ten New Yorkers, one Virginian, one Connecticutian, one Milwaukeean, one Bostonian. The organizations represented were but three: the Whist Club of New York, the American Whist League (Manhattan), the Knickerbocker Whist Club of New York. Books were published to celebrate the going into effect of the laws, two of them (Work's and Whitehead's) written by members of the bridge legislature.

Bridge addicts must now be aware that, under the new code:

¶ The bidding is now legally termed "the auction"; the four players, as Declarer, Dummy, Senior (left of Declarer) and Junior; the hand, as everything that takes place between the cut and the completion or concedure of the last trick.

¶The etiquet of cutting is: Dealer places cards before the player on his right, who lifts off a top portion of the pack, placing it toward Dealer, who places the lower portion on top.

¶ If any player, except Dealer, touch a card during the deal and thereby cause a card to be faced, making a new deal compulsory, the side opposed to the offender may add 50 points to its honor score." (Brand new.)

¶Having bid out of turn, a bidder is not penalized if he makes his bid sufficient before the error is noticed and before another bidder has bid. But the sufficient bid must be in the same suit (or in No Trump if that was the insufficient bid). If the error is noticed and called before being corrected, and before another bid has been made, the offender must make his bid sufficient and his partner is barred from the auction. But in this case, the insufficient bid may be made sufficient in any suit or in No Trump.

¶Seven odd tricks is the highest legal bid. The penalties for bidding eight or more: the offender and his partner are barred from the auction; either opponent may 1) demand a new deal; 2) require the declaration to be played at seven, doubled or undoubted, by the offending side; or 3) direct that the auction revert to the last legitimate declaration "and be continued by his side from that point."

¶ A card exposed during the auction must be left exposed; if it is a ten or higher, its holder's partner is barred from the auction. (The old code was indiscriminate.)

¶ Should Declarer lead from Dummy when it is his own lead, or vice versa, he must, if detected before an adversary has played, lead from the proper hand in the same suit if the proper hand contains that suit (to cover illegitimate efforts at finesse).

¶ A quitted (picked up) trick may be demanded for examination by a player whose side has not led or played to the following trick. (Brand new.)

¶ Honor values: simple honors in all suits and No Trump—30; four honors divided, in all suits and No Trump—40; five suit honors divided 2 and 3—50; four suit honors in one hand—80; five suit honors divided 4 and 1—90; all honors in one hand—100. One or two honors held by a side are not counted. (Brand new, but in wide vogue before the new code was officially published.)