This page will record all the helpful information & directives which were formerly on the web-site, and will be recorded here for posterity............................

One of the most common complaints from players in all sessions is slow play. The following are all good tips to ensure a good pace is maintained throughout any session.

1. Keep an eye on the clock. Remind other players to speed up if you are falling behind. EBU guidance suggests boards should typically take approximately 7 1/2 minutes to play.
2. Lead the opening card before writing down the contract or entering it into the bridgemate. This saves time, and also allows declarer to begin planning the play immediately, which saves time.
3. Score the board quickly, and avoid a post mortem about the hand. This is important for two reasons. Firstly it saves time. Secondly, talking about the hand can give information to other tables, who have not yet played the hand. Talking about hands is another common complaint from members.
4. Move quickly between tables. Once the T D calls for movement, ensure that you move quickly. Usually, one minute is allowed for the movement between tables. Greet your opponents. but save your chat for the end of the round.
5. Don't ask every time that the alert card is used. Asking for an explanation of the bid can take up time. It is often better to keep quiet, unless it affects how you might bid yourself. If you were always going to pass anyway, DON'T ASK. You can always ask before the opening lead is faced, if necessary.
6. Consider which player sits in the North position, so that slower players are not using up time on the Bridgemates. Entering the score onto the Bridgemate, can take up time, so try to ensure that it is done quickly & accurately at your table.
7. Consider claiming all the remaining tricks if you can. There are many hands, where you know for certain, that you will win all the remaining tricks. If, that is the case, you can claim the rest of the tricks. To do this, you should place your cards face upwards on the table, and say how you are going to play the rest of the cards. This can often save two or three minutes.
8. Make an effort to catch up if you were late on the previous round, if you can. Following some of the above tips & advice given here, could be a big help.
9. Practise sorting out your cards quickly. It can take time to pick up the cards & sort them out. If you do this slowly, it is worth spending some time practising, so that this process becomes quicker. Similarly, if you are dummy, try to get the cards down on the table, in their correct positions quickly, rather than one card at a time.
10. DO NOT start your last board, if there are less than 4 minutes remaining on the clock, for that particular round. Occasionally, the T D will ask the table to take an average score for that particular board, if there is not enough time left to play the hand. Please accept this graciously, as this is only done on rare occasions, for the benefit of all the players in that session. It prevents the session from running over time, or the possibility of having to cancel boards, at the end of the session.

Slow play, leads to a table that has finished & is waiting to move, starting to talk. Although this may be quiet at first, as more tables finish the hand, the crescendo of noise begins to grow. All this leads to a second major complaint from our members - The Noise. Quite an easy fix to this, is to follow the tips given above, as much as you can, so that if all tables finish at approximately the same time, the noise problem will go away.       

This directive aims to help all players understand the rights and limitations of dummy.

What can dummy do?

• Dummy plays the cards from dummy as directed by the declarer. Dummy must only remove a card from the dummy once it has been named or touched by declarer. The selected card must be played behind the laid out cards, but in front of dummy (the person). 
• Dummy can keep count of the tricks won and lost by positioning the cards vertically if won and horizontally if lost. Dummy can inform declarer that they have placed a quitted trick (a trick that has been won or lost & placed face down) incorrectly, but only before they have played to the next trick. Dummy cannot inform an opponent that they have placed a quitted trick incorrectly.
• Dummy can prevent a revoke by asking declarer if they have any cards in a suit on which they have just discarded. E.g.  “No spades, partner?"
• Dummy can act to prevent declarer from leading from the wrong hand. If dummy notices that declarer is about to play from the wrong hand, they can alert declarer by saying “table” or “your hand”. Dummy should not point at the cards on the table, as this can be seen to be suggesting a line of play to declarer.
• Dummy can draw attention to an irregularity, but only after the play of the hand is finished, that is all thirteen cards. E.g. if dummy notices a revoke, they must not say anything during play, but can immediately afterwards inform declarer, and then call the director.
• Dummy can give information to the director if asked to do so.

What dummy cannot do :-

• Dummy cannot play a card from the table until directed by the declarer.
• Dummy cannot ask questions of either defender.
• Dummy cannot draw attention to an irregularity in the play.
• Dummy cannot rearrange the cards during play.
• Dummy cannot call the director unless another player has drawn attention to an irregularity.

Please reserve the statements "Good luck partner" (from dummy to declarer) and "Thank you partner" (from declarer to dummy), or any such comments, until AFTER the opening lead card has been shown (face up). Sometimes the manner of such comments can give unauthorised information. 

Please remember to call the TD if there is any concern or issue at the table. This helps to ensure consistency and fairness for all players.

For further information please see the links below :-

https://www.bridge-club.org/clientdocs/4249.pdf

https://www.bridgewebs.com/barrie/Dummy%20Rules.pdf

Please also note that all TD's are on the look out for the following bad habits that have crept into our play :-

1. Slow play - We all wish that this one will go away, but it keeps occurring. Please reserve your thinking time for when you really need it, not for every decision. Slow play inevitably leads to a noticeable increase in noise, as more people got tired of waiting. We are telling you to all speed up, as otherwise, having to take an average will be applied to you. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!  We have not done it yet, but we are planning to use an audible timer, to reinforce this.
2. Bidding Cards - These should not be removed from the table until the lead card has shown FACE UP!! The defender on lead, should have the opportunity to make an opening lead, based on the bidding, but also on whether or not he chooses to use or ignores this information.
3. Looking at the quitted card - Another NO-NO!! If you cannot remember that which happened just a few seconds beforehand, try not turning your own card over until such time as you have interpreted that information. We do not mean take an age, but do this in a measured manner.

What is a revoke - in Bridge terms, this is the playing of a card from your hand, which is not the same suit as the card which has previously been played, but, you do have at least one of the suit which has been played. In simple terms, you have not followed suit when you could & should have done. (I know that a revoke in the dictionary, is defined as to take back or withdraw something), but in most card games, when a card is played, it has left your possession & cannot be withdrawn. 

However, there is a small window of opportunity still for you:-

• If the revoke has not been "Established", (which means that your next opponent to play, has not as yet played a card after your revoke), then your partner is allowed to say "No ***** Partner" (where **** would indicate which suit should have been followed, i.e.♦ or the like). Then you are allowed to play the appropriate card from your hand of the suit that was lead, and leave your originally played card on the table as a "Major Penalty Card", which means that you must play this card at the first legal opportunity to play it. This incurs no trick penalty at all.  

If, the trick has been "Established" then the following points would apply:-  

• If you do not win this trick, and your partnership does not win any subsequent tricks - there is no penalty apart from your embarrassment.
• If you do not win this trick, but your partnership wins any subsequent tricks, then there is a penalty for your indiscretion. There is one trick transferred to the non-offending partnership.
• If you win this trick, and your partnership wins any subsequent tricks, then there is a penalty to you for your further indiscretion. There are two tricks transferred to the non-offending partnership.

These comply with the Laws of Bridge - rule 64A, ​however, the director (TD) must consider Rule 64C1. This basically means that if the non-offending partnership has been sufficiently hampered by the revoke, then the director may award the result, disregarding any revoke and subsequent penalty tricks, WITHOUT COMPLAINT. We all know that the director's decision is final, and that most revokes result from a lack of concentration, and are done without malice.

Always remember, that anything untoward that happens at the table, CALL FOR THE DIRECTOR. Do not try and sort it out yourself, after all, why have a director if you choose to ignore them?