The Club Directors and Management committee from time to time issue guidance to clarify rules of bridge or guidance on procedures in order to help improve standard of etiquette and play by members.

We recently provided guidance on "when a bid has been made"; viz when a bid or call has been drawn from the box irrespective of whether anyone has seen what the call actually was. However, it has been felt advisable to provide more information on the use of bidding boxes. Bidding boxes are a very useful addition to contract bridge. They clarify the auction and get over problems of deafness and poor memories. They avoid having to repeat auctions. They also help to remove intonations in vocal bids which conveyed unauthorized information e.g. d,d,d,d,ouble (I’m not sure about this partner), double (a legal call) or DOUBLE (don’t take me out partner). However it is still possible to inadvertently provide additional information by the speed of the bids or the manner in which the bid is placed on the table. Therefore, please try to bid at a constant speed (too quickly is just as bad as too slowly) and particularly in a consistent manner. Issues over variations in pace were presented in the hesitation article so are not repeated here.

Making a bid: However, the manner in which bids are removed from the box can equally provide unauthorized information. There are many people "guilty" of this avoidable practice in the club. If you fiddle with the bidding cards before making a call, including moving from the pass section to the bid section your action could be interpreted as conveying unauthorized information to your partner, i.e. my bid isn’t too clear. Your partner must not make any use of this information and must call in line with what the majority of the room would do in the circumstances in accordance with your system. You are also giving valuable information to your opponents which is authorized. So it is in your own interests to bid ‘cleanly’.

To avoid this problem leave your bidding box alone until you have decide what to bid and only then select the intended call. All players should note this is a sensitive issue and must be dealt with without giving offence. It would be best if your partner pointed out your foibles to you rather than giving cause for concern to your opponents. The appropriate, official way for opponents to handle this is to reserve rights politely or call the director, although it is recognized this seems fairly heavy handed for a single occurrence. A quiet word to their partner away from the table may be a good way to handle the matter.