From the Committee

Players often ask about alerting requirements.

This summary constitutes part of the ABF Alerting Regulations, and is intended as a brief guide to players. 

Players should be familiar with the full regulations, and should try to support the fairness and enjoyment of our game by complying with both the letter and spirit of these guidelines.

1. The Laws and these regulations require full disclosure of your agreements. You should make active efforts to ensure the opponents are aware of your agreements. You do so by pre-alerts (before the auction), alerts and announcements during the auction and delayed alerts at the end of the auction.
   1. The pre-alert is the stage where you warn opponents of any very unusual agreements. Pay special attention to self-alerting calls that may surprise the opponents, (e.g. unusual doubles, unusual cue bids of opponents’ suit) and to any unusual agreements to which the opponents may need to devise a defence.
   2. Calls are alerted during the auction by audibly saying, “Alert” and by circling the alertable call on the bidding pad or placing an Alert card on the alertable call.
   3. An opening bid of 1♣ does not require an alert, irrespective of whether it is natural or conventional. Responder, after either a 1♣ or a natural 1NT opening bid, instead makes the prescribed announcement.
   4. At the end of the auction, the declaring side should draw attention to any unusual undisclosed features by placing a plus sign (+) in one corner of the relevant square(s) of the bidding pad or stating that a delayed alert applies to a particular bid.
2. Self-alerting calls include all doubles and redoubles, calls at the 4-level or higher (except conventional opening bids), cue bids of an opponent’s suit and any uncontested 2♣ response to a 1NT opening bid. These should not be alerted during the auction, but may need to be alerted in the pre-alert or the delayed alert stage. Players should be aware that such calls by opponents may not mean what they assume, and ask if necessary.
3. All conventional calls (other than self-alerting calls or those that require an announcement) must be alerted. Note that an opening 1♦ bid that may contain fewer than three cards in the suit is conventional. Note also that any call showing two suits is conventional, even where one of the suits is named, e.g. 2♥ showing hearts and a minor.
4. A natural call must be alerted if it is forcing or non-forcing in a way the opponents might not expect (e.g. inverted minor raises, preemptive raises in uncontested auctions, negative free bids) or if its meaning is affected by other agreements (e.g. a 1♥ opening that denies 4+ spades). 
5. The policy is to alert any call by partner (other than a self-alerting call) that the opponents could reasonably misunderstand.
6. In explanations, do not use the names of conventions; give specific explanations. For example, do not just say “Michaels”, but explain the meaning of the bid by saying “At least 5-5 in hearts and a minor suit, any strength”. Similarly, refrain from using the terms ‘weak’, ‘strong’, ‘intermediate’, ‘natural’ or ‘standard’ if there exist, from partnership experience, certain expectations of suit quality and/or point count. The opponents’ views of these descriptive terms may differ from yours.
7. You may ask questions only at your turn to call or play. It is improper to ask questions for the benefit of partner.
8. Irregularities:
   1. Any mis-explanation, alert or failure to alert by partner is unauthorised information to you, and you must avoid taking any subsequent action suggested by that unauthorised information.
   2. If you realise that you have given a wrong explanation during the auction or failed to alert, call the Director immediately.
   3. If you believe your partner has given a wrong explanation or there has been a material failure to alert, call the Director before the opening lead if you are the declaring side. If you are defending, you may not call until the end of the hand, whereupon you are required to do so.