Proprieties

The game of bridge has many kinds of rules. There are the basic rules of the game such as the first to bid is the person to the left of the dealer or that you must follow suit if you can. There are also rules based on the biding system you use such you must have two of the top three honors to open a weak 2 in first or second seat. There is a third set of rules to deal with irregularities which we are going to deal with in a series of articles in our bulletins during our tournament.

Today's article is going to discuss breaks in tempo. Bridge is a partnership game, but partners may only convey information to each other by the calls they make in the auction and the cards they play. No other conveyance of information is allowed. At the same time bridge is a thinking person's game. When confronted with a difficult problem it is natural to want to take time to evaluate your options. The problem is that when you take time, you send a message to the table that you have a problem. The laws of bridge state that the opponents may draw inferences from a players pause for thought, but they do so at their own risk. The partner of the person who pauses is prohibited from taking any action suggested by the break in tempo. During the play breaks in tempo which indicate that the player has a problem, when in fact he does not, are forbidden.text here