APPEAL no. 27 |

Appeals Committee
Chairman | Bobby Wolff | USA
Members | Virgil Anderson Rich Colker John Lenart Dan Morse | USA USA NZD USA
Scribe | Rich Colker | USA

Event
1998 World Championships
Ladies Pairs | Qualifying
Countries
Ireland | v | France
Players
NS | O'Neill | Meehan
EW | D'Elbee | Roth
Board
Board 10. Dealer East. Game All
| ª | K 6 3 |
© | 10 8 5 2
¨ | J 10 4
§ | 10 6 2
ª | A 7 |  | ª | J 10 9 8 5 2
© | 6 | © | A J 4
¨ | Q 9 8 6 3 | ¨ | 7
§ | J 9 8 5 4 | § | A K Q
| ª | Q 4 |
© | K Q 9 7 3
¨ | A K 5 2
§ | 7 3
West |  | North |  | East |  | South
|  |  |  | 1ª |  | 2©¹
Dble² |  | 3© |  | Dble |  | 4©
4NT |  | Pass³ |  | 5§ |  | All Pass
¹ Alerted by North to East; explained as a weak-two overcall ² Negative double ³ Explanation in ¹ corrected by North: 2© was normal
Result
5§-1: +100
Facts
North alerted South's 2© bid and explained it as a weak-two because she believed at the time that East had opened 1§. She realized her mistake after West's 4NT bid and corrected her previous explanation, saying that 2© was a normal overcall. The TD was called by East at that point because, after the original explanation, her system forced her to double to show a good hand (3ª would have just been competitive). She said that had she been given the correct explanation she would have bid 3ª, which in this case is a good hand.
TD's Decision
The TD ruled that, had East been properly alerted she would have bid 3ª, and West would have competed to 4ª over South's 4©. It was then likely that N/S might have allowed the contract to make either by South leading the ©K or leading a top diamond but then not finding the low trump switch. (In point of fact, 4ª making by East/West was a normal score in the event.) Thus, according to Laws 75C, 40C and 12C2 the TD adjusted the score for both sides to 4ª by East, plus 620 for E/W.

Appellants
N/S
Players' Comments
Only N/S attended the hearing. South stated that she would have led a high diamond (after all, why else was she dealt the ¨AK?) and then would have made the obvious shift to a low trump. Thus, 4ª would have been defeated. North added that East should have realized from the original description of 2© that something was wrong: no one plays a non-jump two-level overcall as specifically weak. When asked by the Committee, N/S could not remember how West had gone down in 5§. South led the ¨A and shifted to the ©K. East then played a spade to dummy's ace and a second spade as North rose with the king felling South's queen. North thought that she then led a second heart, but somehow declarer had managed to lose another trick and neither North nor South could explain how.

Committee's Comments
The Committee believed that East would have bid 3ªover 3© had she not been misinformed and that E/W would most likely have played 4ª. Based in part on results which were typical of the board and in part on N/S's defense of 5§, the Committee decided that it was 'at all probable' that 4ª would be made. However, the Committee was not convinced that E/W deserved full protection to 4ª making.
Committee's Decision
The Committee decided to adjust the score for N/S (the offending pair) to 4ª making, -620. Since it was not clear that E/W would have made 4ª 100% of the time, the Committee decided to protect E/W to Average Plus or +620, whichever was less.
Relevant Laws
Law 75C, Law 40C, Law 12C2
Deposit
Returned | X
Forfeited |

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