Appeal No. 2
Hungary v. Mexico

Appeals Committee:

J. Gerard (Chair), E. d’Orsi, G. Endicott,
D. Morse, N. Rand

Open Teams Round 3

Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª K 8 5 3 © K 9 6 5 ¨ Q 6 § A 5 2
ª J 9 © Q 8 3 ¨ A J 10 5 4 § J 7 6		ª Q 10 7 6 © A J 10 4 ¨ K 9 8 § 10 4
	ª A 4 2 © 7 2 ¨ 7 3 2 § K Q 9 8 3

West	North	East	South
Honti	Herrera	Dzilaqy	Resk
	1§	Pass	2¨
Double	3§	3¨	All Pass

Comments:
2{ = S>W 9-11 with clubs
N>E 11-12 with clubs

Contract:
3{, played by East

Result: Seven tricks, NS – 100

The Facts:
At the end of the play East summoned the director to complain that had he been given the explanation his partner had received he would have found the {Q and made the contract.

The Director:
After a number of enquiries, ruled that East had received a correct explanation of opponents’ agreement.

Ruling: table score stands.

Relevant Laws: 40, 75.

East/West appealed.
Present: The EW players and their Captain.

The Players:
Confirmed their complaint to the tournament director. By the time that declarer had to decide where to look for {Q this was the only honour card that he had not seen. He relied on the explanation given to him, having previously seen opponents open on 9 and again on 10 HCP.

The Committee:
Noted that for lack of space in a tightly written card there was no point count written for the 2{ bid. Listened to the director’s explanation of the manner in which he had formed his opinion that North’s explanation was the correct one. The committee accepted that the director had good grounds for his ruling and decided it had heard nothing in the evidence to gainsay this.

The Committee's decision:
Director's ruling upheld.

Deposit: Returned. The merit in the appeal consisted in the question as to whether the way in which the Director had judged the North explanation to be right was satisfactory.

In a separate decision, the committee noted the absence of the Mexican pair. It is stated in the General Conditions of Contest that all players at the table shall attend an appeal hearing unless they receive permission not to attend from the committee via the director.

The committee issued a warning to the Mexican team that they may be penalized if they are in breach of this regulation again.