[bali 2]

S opens 1S in 3rd seat , W pass, N 2C ( Drury ) not alerted, E pass, S bids 2D ( he has 5 S and 4 D and a sound opening ) which is alerted by N ( it is an obligation for N to alert even when 2C is not alerted ). Now of course S is awaked and seems confused, and opponents call TD. The mess is beginning....

Don't you think that it would be simpler ( and therefore better ) to cancel that obligation on N to alert 2D, and let the auction be continued without telling anything and without calling director ( uneless at the end if someone seems to be damaged ) ?
In that case, the bidding is continued with S being anaware of what is happening, and N being not allowed to use the UI conveyed by his partner.

These situations arose many times, and it is always a mess, and difficult for the director to explain to the players that there are not allowed to do so and so...
When it is already difficult for the directors, you guess what it is for the players...

Many thanks in advance
Al. Ohana

[mjj29]

bali 2, on Nov 6 2009, 02:30 AM, said:

Don't you think that it would be simpler ( and therefore better ) to cancel that obligation on N to alert 2D, and let the auction be continued without telling anything and without calling director ( uneless at the end if someone seems to be damaged ) ?

If you do that then the non-offending side are damaged by not being informed as to the meaning of the OS's bids. Given that the mess (and there will _always_ be a mess) was caused by the offending side, we should make sure that if anyone is disadvantaged it is them. Hence, the NOS get the correct explanation as soon as possible and at the expense of restricting the OS based on UI.

[bluejak]

Most TDs find it easy to explain UI, so there should be no difficulty. Certainly, players do not follow the UI rules a lot. But they will get ruled against. I agree with mjj29. Let us keep to the alerting rules.

[barmar]

It's also possible that South remembered that 2♣ was Drury, but just forgot to alert it.

And even if the explanation of 2♦ not correct, it tells the opponents what North thinks it is, so they'll understand North's further bidding in that light. And although South isn't allowed to use the wakeup to affect his bidding, he can use it to give correct explanations of North's further bidding.

No solution to this mess is perfect. The rule we currently have tries to err on the side of giving more information to the NOS.