[monellemr]

1) Is Jacoby 2NT alertable? Different sources give different answers.
2) Assuming you have bid Jacoby 2NT, and your partner has not alerted, but then bids, let's say, 3C, are you supposed to alert 3C and if asked, say that it shows shortness in clubs?

[sfi]

Edit: My reply wasn't going through, but Gilithin covered everything I tried to post anyway.

This post has been edited by sfi: 2024-January-16, 00:01

[Gilithin]

monellemr, on 2024-January-15, 15:36, said:

1) Is Jacoby 2NT alertable? Different sources give different answers.
2) Assuming you have bid Jacoby 2NT, and your partner has not alerted, but then bids, let's say, 3C, are you supposed to alert 3C and if asked, say that it shows shortness in clubs?

Alerting regulations are different according to where you play, so you need to include this in your query. On BBO, you should always alert Jacoby and its follow-ups as self-alerts do not carry any potential UI. If your partner fails to alert your call when they should, you still have to alert their calls. Your partner is not allowed to wake up to their system forget through your alert though, so they are under some ethical pressure not to take advantage of the UI they receive. At the end of the auction, if your side declares the contract, you must disclose the failure to alert to the opponents before the opening lead is faced. You should not do so at this point if your side are defending but instead wait until the end of the play. If the opponents were damaged by the failure to alert, the TD will likely adjust the score. If your partner has taken advantage of the UI, there may be an additional penalty, particularly in serious bridge, but such penalties are rare in social club tournaments.

[helene_t]

I wonder if it is practical to alert the 3♣ rebid, especially if you are fairly sure that partner forgot. You wake up partner, and also you can disadvantage opps if they double 3♣, thinking it is artificial, when in fact opener has clubs.

[sfi]

helene_t, on 2024-January-16, 03:38, said:

I wonder if it is practical to alert the 3♣ rebid, especially if you are fairly sure that partner forgot. You wake up partner, and also you can disadvantage opps if they double 3♣, thinking it is artificial, when in fact opener has clubs.

The opponents have a reasonable amount of protection in the scenario you posit, both from use of UI and MI. It seems a lot messier if the laws were rewritten to support what you suggest. Just imagine if you didn't alert it and the bidding continued to partner's next call. At this point they say "sorry, I forgot to alert 2NT" in a way that makes it clear that it was just a failure to alert. Now what? Are you supposed to alert 3C now, and how does it get unwound? Maybe it would work if we were all used to it, but it looks like it's going to put more onus on the non-offending side to achieve an equitable outcome.

The UI from the alert is interesting from an ethical player's point of view. It quickly becomes clear that something has gone wrong and what partner is picturing from the auction. Now you kind of have to plan the auction out from two perspectives and work out which actions are suggested by the UI and which aren't. It's an interesting intellectual exercise to work out exactly how stuffed you are in the auction. Sadly it's often less interesting if the player is less ethical, but that's why we have directors.