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"ON-LINE" SELF-ALERTING: The New Normal by Patrick Carter.

Just imagine that you had the following auction 2 months ago:

South        West         North        East

                      1          2          Pass
   3           Double       4         Pass
  4NT           Pass           5         Pass
   6         Pass         Pass          Pass

2 months ago none of the bids would have been alerted. The jump overcall as long as it was a relatively normal natural 6 card suit would not be alerted, regardless of the range. 3 would not be alerted because you don’t alert cue bids. Double would not be alerted because you don’t alert doubles. None of the later bids would be alerted because you don’t alert bids higher than 3NT (unless they are an artificial opening bid)

What would happen next is that the opening leader would ask about the strength of the 2 jump overcall and what had been shown by the 5 response to 4NT. Then after the opening lead, declarer would ask East how they played the double. That is all very easy when you are talking. However, even if you are adept on the keyboard, it is just a darn nuisance when all the questions and answers have to be typed.

Fortunately, the solution to that problem is that alerts are different on the internet. Anything that you opponents might possibly want to ask about should be covered by typing on the ‘EXPLAIN’ line in the bidding box before making the call. Using this method, when you get to the end of the auction, nobody has to ask any questions, because the information is already there in front of them. Using this wonderful method, there is no danger of giving you partner information that they are not entitled to. Not only can your partner not see the explanation, they cannot even see that your bid was alerted.

We shall go through the example auction again. The 1 would not be self-alerted by most pairs, but if E/W were playing Precision it would be self-alerted as 11-15 with 5+.” 2 would be self-alerted regardless of the range so it would be something like 6-10 with 6+.” 3 would be “ support, at least game try.” There would be no explanation for 4 (or 6) by even the most diligent self-alerter, but the 4NT would be alerted as “RKCB” and the response of 5 would have the explanation of “2 key cards, no Q.”

Nobody should need to ask any questions. Good self-alerting makes the game run much more smoothly.

Finally, I cannot stress enough that self-alerts are done BEFORE making the call. That way the explanation comes up in front of your opponent instantly. Do not make the call and then quickly try to alert it, even if you are very adept on the keyboard and can do it in just 2 or 3 seconds. Sometimes your opponent has an obvious call and they have made that call in 1 second. Look at the following example where you are sitting East. You hold:

KQ1053
6
AJ74
J105

South        West         North        East
   1           Pass           1         

You have already bid 1, haven’t you? It took you a fraction of a second to decide that. Then a moment or two later, the explanation comes up for 1 of “4+.”  You don’t want to bid 1 now, do you? It is just so much better if the information comes up instantly rather than with a few seconds of lag. It does not matter if your opponents say “When we arrived at the table a couple of boards ago, our greeting included that we played transfer responses to 1.” The greeting is polite of them, but even though that has been said, it is not your responsibility to remember the opponents' system. That greeting is to remind you that if you haven’t discussed what you do over that unusual method, you might want to do it now. One of you might say: “Double shows the suit they have bid. Cue bid the suit they show is like a takeout double.” Partner would probably just say “ok” and play would start. It doesn’t mean that you have committed yourself to remembering their convention. Your opponents still have to properly self-alert when it actually comes up.

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