[Free]

FrancesHinden, on Sep 5 2005, 09:42 AM, said:

Free, on Sep 4 2005, 12:14 PM, said:

rule of 18 is a rule made up by the Belgian Bridge Federation.  It's used almost everywhere except top level.

"Count the lengths of your 2 longest suits together with your HCP.  If you reach less than 18, you're not allowed to open at 1-level."

International bridge rules however state that you're allowed to lie about shape and/or strength on purpose, as long as it's not a partnership agreement.

I am also confused.

I know of no regulation that says what you have quoted, never mind seeing it "almost everywhere".

As has already been pointed out, in the EBU you aren't allowed to have an agreement to open on less than rule of 18 (rule of 19 at level 3), but you are certainly allowed to psyche in any seat.

it's a LOCAL rule in BELGIUM, so "everywhere" means "everywhere in Belgium". However, your reply helps a lot

[Gerben42]

Free, I'm sure the local rule is that you are not allowed to have an AGREEMENT to open on less than rule-of-18. This is not the same as being allowed to open on less than rule-of-18. So yes, you can open it but don't make it a habit as it would be an implicit illegal agreement.

BTW the second hand looks a lot like my most recent psych, although it was in 3rd seat. Opps played 3NT with 6♥ cold. LHO asked me how many HCP I had, I answered: Four. Director, he opened with only 4 HCP!

Director: It's a psych, please continue playing. So we did. After the second board was finished LHO looked at the score sheet from the 1st board again and then noticed I had only two hearts. Director! He doesn't have any hearts either!

[LH2650]

pbleighton, on Sep 5 2005, 06:09 AM, said:

Do you have a link to this article?

I don't believe there is one, and the magazine is of course copyrighted.

Law 40D allows regulation of opening 1-bids that are "a King or more below average strength". It is presumably phrased this way in order to avoid imposing a specific hand evaluation method. The ACBL requires that the Goren HCP evaluation method be used, but does not allow Goren distribution adjustments, and it has no right to do either. It is often stated that a 6421 point system is more accurate than 4321. If that is used, then your first hand fails the 40B requirement, while the second hand meets it. If you use the Kaplan-Rubens Four C's evaluation (about a 10 point average), your first hand comes in at a dismal 5.1, while your second is 16.8 - a mandatory 1-opening, with plenty to spare, according to Kaplan.

I think we all agree that we would much rather hold your second hand than your first, and a competent director should be able to make that judgment.

[pbleighton]

"The ACBL requires that the Goren HCP evaluation method be used, but does not allow Goren distribution adjustments, and it has no right to do either"

Except that it does, and in ACBL events, what it says goes.

Peter (no fan of the ACBL)

[FrancesHinden]

LH2650, on Sep 5 2005, 10:10 AM, said:

Law 40D allows regulation of opening 1-bids that are "a King or more below average strength". It is presumably phrased this way in order to avoid imposing a specific hand evaluation method. The ACBL requires that the Goren HCP evaluation method be used, but does not allow Goren distribution adjustments, and it has no right to do either.

(some stuff snipped)

I think we all agree that we would much rather hold your second hand than your first, and a competent director should be able to make that judgment.

I don't agree.

If the sponsoring organisation is going to regulate my agreements about opening bids, I think it is much better than they do so in a way that does not allow judgement. They can do that by Goren HCP, or by "rule of n", or any mechanical means that they like (that people can understand), but I believe it should be mechanical.

The difficulty with allowing judgement is that everybody's judgement is different. While we might all agree on some hands, there will always be a boundary where people disagree. I would hate to play a system where every time I open light by agreement there is a risk that the TD's judgement or the AC's judgement differs from mine and suddenly I find boards are cancelled, more or less at random. In addition, it slows everything down if I can't just appeal to a mechanical rule.

p.s. I'm actually not in favour of regulating opening bids at all, but that's a totally different issue.

[LH2650]

pbleighton, on Sep 5 2005, 11:25 AM, said:

"The ACBL requires that the Goren HCP evaluation method be used, but does not allow Goren distribution adjustments, and it has no right to do either"

Except that it does, and in ACBL events, what it says goes.

Peter (no fan of the ACBL)

Probably, but not necessarily. Some Appeals Committee members actually believe in enforcing the law. You might enjoy reading the rant against regulations conflicting with Law in the Orlando NABC Casebook, Case 16.

Actually, I don't have the problem suggested in your original post on this side thread. My minimum opening bid requirement is an old-fashioned 4432 with 12 HCP. I expect to hold a hand containing 7 HCP, that I consider worth a 1-bid, about once every decade or two. Since I have never discussed opening light distributional freaks with any of my partners, and have no history of doing so, I have no agreement and am free to open your example hand under the strictest interpretation of the ACBL regulation.