Irregularities
Apart from definitions of basic rules and procedures, a large part of the Laws deals with handling of irregularities that may occur at the table. As such, the Laws are primarily used as a reference book for tournament directors rather than by ordinary players (although they are expected to get acquainted with basic procedures and principles). After an irregularity occurs, the tournament director should be summoned immediately by any player (except during play by the dummy) and the director may impose one or more of the following rectifications in order to restore equity to a side that has been damaged by the irregularity:
- Transfer of trick(s) to the opponents,
- Force the offender or his partner to pass for one round or to the end of the auction,
- Assign penalty card status to a card inappropriately displayed, i.e. a card that must be played at first legal opportunity,
- Impose lead restrictions if the offending side becomes the defense.
- Award an artificial score, i.e. assign so-called average-plus (typically 60% of matchpoints or +3 IMPs on the board) to the non-offending side, average (50%/0 IMPs) for the partially responsible side, or average-minus (40% MPs/-3 IMPs) to the responsible side
- Award an assigned score, i.e. assign the final contract and result of the deal to the one most likely to occur had the infraction not been committed, but which favors the non-offending side.
The director's decision may be appealed to the appeals committee, whose ruling is considered final. A further appeal to the National Authority (English Bridge Union) is possible in England
Handling of the most frequent irregularities is summarized below, without entering into fine details:
Read more about this topic: Laws Of Duplicate Bridge