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Playing Bridge on the Zone is a little different from playing Bridge with friends directly around a table. In face-to-face Bridge, it is the partner who alerts the bids and answers the questions about the bids. If the bidder were to do either, they would be passing unauthorized information about their hand to their partner, which the Bridge rules expressly prohibit.
In Zone Bridge, it's the opposite: the bidder is the one who alerts the bid, not their partner. When you alert a bid, only your opponents will see your alert and your bid explanation. Your partner will not be aware of your alert or be privy to any explanation you may make about your call. So there is no possibility of unauthorized information. Additionally, by explaining your own call, there is also no possibility of giving incorrect information to the opponents that might lead to a subsequent score adjustment.
Alerting Bids
When playing Bridge on the Zone, you can alert your own bid to inform your opponent that you are making a nonstandard bid. You cannot alert your partner's bid. To alert your bid, click the Alert button in the bidding box and click your bid. The opponents will see the alert, but your partner won't.
Asking about opponents' bids or explaining your own
To query an opponent's bid or explain your own, click the bid. If you are querying the bid, you will get a "Query sent" message next to it. If you've clicked your own bid or if your bid is being queried, an Explain bid window will appear on your screen. Type an explanation in the dialog box.
When you click OK, the explanation is displayed for a few seconds next to the bid on both your screen and your opponents' screens. Your partner will not be able to see the message you sent.
You can use the Explain bid window to Alert or un-Alert your bid by clicking the "Alert" check box.
Once a bidder has explained a bid, an opponent can double-click the bid to bring up the Explain bid window on their screen and add a question or additional comment. To view a bid message once it has timed out, move your pointer over the bid and the message will be redisplayed.
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