[peachy]

bluejak, on Jan 28 2010, 06:03 AM, said:

Ok, fairly simple, no?

But the AC had one problem: was there a BIT?

Did not the TD give the AC the facts, among the facts was "there was an agreed BIT". I am puzzled what problem the AC could have, and if they do have a problem, then they are essentially saying that TD has misreported facts or that they do not believe TD gave them the facts or that they believe the TD is uncompetent of something. Really... I wonder if I have misunderstood something. The AC cannot have any doubt that there was a BIT, given David's OP.

[bluejak]

'cannot' is a heck of a word to describe something that happened.

Quote

Was "there was a break in tempo" part of "it was agreed", or was it just an extra comment?

It was agreed.

[campboy]

I would think that whether this constituted a BIT depends mainly on the speed of the 7♥ call. A fast 7♥ is probably a surprise and 5-10 seconds thought looks normal. On the other hand, if South took some time to bid 7♥ then West has enough time to be ready for it (and what else can South be thinking about?), unless he has a difficult decision.

[helene_t]

Maybe stupid question, but is it obvious that EW are in a FP? If not then the dbl shows that 6♠ was bid to make but does not show a strong preference for defending. Then there is no LA to 7♠ IMHO.

[mycroft]

Is 3S normal for this pair? It doesn't look normal to me - we still tend to teach "don't preempt over a preempt". I'm not at their level, but I think after 3H-3S-4C-6S, I'd think that partner's going to be very disappointed when I only make 4, and +500 looks like a good score.

Also, especially if 3S is expected for this pair, does 6S put us in a FP situation? In that case, I can see *no* reason for pulling with AI. If not, then who knows who can make what, and 7S seems reasonable.

The question is "was there a BIT?" The answer to that is (many) more questions, mostly about normal tempo for the player and the game. The comments about the tempo of the rest of the auction only make the questions more relevant. I would not expect a 4C bidder to come up with 7H - although, if I had bid 5H instead, it might have pushed them to 6 but not 7. 6S forces them to the guess. I do agree, at least a little, that once you decide to jump to 6, forcing suit agreement at the 7 level if at all, you should think a bit about what you're going to do about it - but people don't. Even experts don't. But does that "you should have thought" mean that "normal" tempo for this auction isn't about 5 seconds? I don't think so.

5-10 is an *awfully* wide range, though; 5 seems normal, 10 seems obviously out.

[peachy]

bluejak, on Jan 29 2010, 05:49 AM, said:

'cannot' is a heck of a word to describe something that happened.

Quote

Was "there was a break in tempo" part of "it was agreed", or was it just an extra comment?

It was agreed.

Well, I think you know what I mean... What happened is puzzling.
The AC had no reason "not to know whether there was a BIT" and no reason to change the facts that the TD reported.

[bluejak]

The AC decided by a vote of two to one to uphold the TD. No-one argued whether the bid was acceptable if there was UI, so the only question was whether there was UI.

Two members felt that if the players agreed there was UI, then there was UI.

One member felt that 5 to 10 seconds was not long enough to be considered a BIT in the actual auction.

[nige1]

Why does West need 5-10 seconds here? With a small doubleton ♥, West seems to have no safe option other than double. From East's point of view, however, the hesitation makes it easier to bid the grand, and pass was a less successful logical alternative, so IMO, the director and committee got it right.