[euclidz]

(EBU Rules)

At a point in time whilst studying the rules I recall reading that once a table has commenced a hand they must be allowed to complete it i.e. the Director cannot force them to stop and move on (and award a score for that hand). My question is - when has that process started; at what point can it not be stopped e.g. is it as soon as they have taken the hands from the board OR e.g. after the first bid?

(I have looked up the rules (index) and can't find it)

[VixTD]

Law 17A states that the auction period starts for a side when either partner withdraws their cards from the board, so I think that is generally accepted to be the point at which the pair starts the board.

[Siegmund]

No question when the auction period begins -- but I, too, remember being taught when I first started directing that a hand could not be interrupted once it had begun. I see other directors do it from time to time, and I can never find chapter and verse for why they shouldn't. (Lots of secondhand reasons, like the potential for UI if you look at your cards but then talk freely with your partner before coming back to a late play -- but I thought there was a clear "thou shalt not" somewhere.) Did I get quietly removed in the 2007 law book, or...?

[blackshoe]

Siegmund, on 2015-May-07, 08:58, said:

No question when the auction period begins -- but I, too, remember being taught when I first started directing that a hand could not be interrupted once it had begun. I see other directors do it from time to time, and I can never find chapter and verse for why they shouldn't. (Lots of secondhand reasons, like the potential for UI if you look at your cards but then talk freely with your partner before coming back to a late play -- but I thought there was a clear "thou shalt not" somewhere.) Did I get quietly removed in the 2007 law book, or...?

Not removed. There is no explicit "the director can't do this" in either the 2007 or 1997 laws, as far as I can see.

[paulg]

Section 8.81.4.1 of the current EBU White Book includes

"As a matter of principle, a TD should not remove a board from a table because it is late once an auction has commenced, unless the table was told not to play the board. In the latter case a procedural penalty for both sides should be issued and the board cancelled."

[blackshoe]

If they were told not to play the board I would probably give a PP and A- to both sides.

[euclidz]

Thanks for the helpful replies.

[VixTD]

paulg, on 2015-May-07, 11:22, said:

Section 8.81.4.1 of the current EBU White Book includes

"As a matter of principle, a TD should not remove a board from a table because it is late once an auction has commenced, unless the table was told not to play the board. In the latter case a procedural penalty for both sides should be issued and the board cancelled."

I checked the White Book before I answered, but I missed this. The auction period starts when players remove their hands from the board (law 17A), but the auction doesn't start until someone makes a call (see laws definitions), so if I wanted to follow the White Book I'd say the board has been started when the first call is made.

[Vampyr]

blackshoe, on 2015-May-07, 11:42, said:

If they were told not to play the board I would probably give a PP and A- to both sides.

Yes, like it says in the White Book. All NBOs should have a White Book equivalent.