[blml] Protecting yourself after failure to alert

[David Grabiner]

On 2/11/07, David Grabiner wrote:
>> The ACBL Alert chart has the following condition: "Players who, by
>> experience or expertise, recognize that their opponents have neglected to
>> Alert a special agreement will be expected to protect themselves."
>>
>> I have never seen an adjustment for MI denied because of this.

I found one, case 34 from the 1994 World Championships in Albuquerque, 
without many complicating factors.  (I'll comment on Jeery Fusselman's 
examples in a separate Email.

W   N   E   S
    1H  2S  3H
5D  6H  P   P
X   AP

Some previous rulings had said that Lightner doubles were alertable.  North 
said he would run to 6NT if the double had been alerted.  6H went down when 
the opening spade lead was ruffed; 6NT would have made.  The director 
believed that "all bridge players use this double so it was not necessary to 
alert it" and let the table result stand.

The Committee ruled the appeal without merit.  "The Committee was adamant 
that North-South should have realized the meaning of the double (don't lead 
a diamond), and that they could possibly have been taking a two-way shot to 
get a good result.  If East made the wrong lead, they would score the slam. 
If East made the correct lead, they could always maintain to a Committee 
that the double was not Alerted and they would have run to 6NT if they had 
been Alerted."  (The Committee then made an official ruling that Lightner 
doubles are not alertable.)

The commentators were unanimous in approval of the Committee ruling, and I 
think the Committee got the key point right here.  If North suspected a 
failure to alert, he could use that failure to get a double shot, and this 
is an important part of the reason that players need to protect themselves. 
A player does not need to get a perfectly safe double shot to lose any right 
for adjustment.

(Ton Kooijman mentions in the casebook that a ruling went the other way in 
the 1989 European Championships in a similar situation.)