[Shugart23]

Per advice, I printed out the ACBL alert procedures and was confused on page 6 where it talks about control bids should be alerted at the end of the auction.

Here are two common sequences that my partner and I might have, First with no interference, ..1C (alert) -1H (positive suggesting Spades be trump) -1S -accepting Spades and asking how many of the top 3 honors held and length - 2H (6 card suit with one of the honors) -2S (control asking) -3C (3 controls)- 3D (What control do you have of the Diamond suit) - 3S (3rd round control) - and so on

2nd case , opponents interfere 1C -1H (positive suggesting spades be trump) - 2C (interference by Opponent) -PASS by opener (control asking) - 2H ( 3 controls)- and so on......

Are all or some of these bids and responses not alterable until the end ? Partner and I have been alerting them all

[pescetom]

Shugart23, on 2024-October-30, 14:31, said:

Per advice, I printed out the ACBL alert procedures and was confused on page 6 where it talks about control bids should be alerted at the end of the auction.

Here are two common sequences that my partner and I might have, First with no interference, ..1C (alert) -1H (positive suggesting Spades be trump) -1S -accepting Spades and asking how many of the top 3 honors held and length - 2H (6 card suit with one of the honors) -2S (control asking) -3C (3 controls)- 3D (What control do you have of the Diamond suit) - 3S (3rd round control) - and so on

2nd case , opponents interfere 1C -1H (positive suggesting spades be trump) - 2C (interference by Opponent) -PASS by opener (control asking) - 2H ( 3 controls)- and so on......

Are all or some of these bids and responses not alterable until the end ? Partner and I have been alerting them all

If you play in WBFland then it is clear that all of these calls (including the control-asking Pass) should be alerted: the cutoff is above 3NT after the first round of bidding. No concept of post-alert and no talk about control bids, although it is considered implicit that most calls above 3NT will be artificial and it is deprecated to ask about a single call rather than the entire auction, preferably after the final pass.
"Is it ok if we explain it all at the end? From now on everything except a return to trumps is artificial" / "Are you two happy to explain it all at the end?" are dialogues that nige1 and I would approve, even if not perfectly kosher.
Over to ACBL gurus for the rest.

[mycroft]

Different meaning of control bid - the standard 1♥-2NT; 3♦-3♠ showing 'first or second round control in spades'.

Your bids are artificial, don't show control in the suit, and are definitely immediately alertable (below 3NT; after that they're delayed).

The issue is that with other auctions, like 1♦-3♦ (limit); 3♥-3NT; 4♣..., the 3♥ call is initially "I have a heart stopper, do you have a spade stopper?" and only after 3NT is pulled do we get the "no, slam try, 1/2 round heart control, 1/2 round club control..." If we made that call immediately Alertable, almost all of them would be useless "looking for 3NT, but rarely" Alerts.

The intent of this is "Explain your slam auctions after the auction, hopefully this stops people asking 'what was 5♦'?" It didn't work, but there's still time to teach players...

[johnu]

In the ACBL Alert Procedures under Delayed Alerts,

2. In the unopposed auction 1S - 2C - 2H - 3H - 3S - 4C - 4H where 3S and 4C were control bids: Explain 3S and 4C at the end of the auction

Control bid is not defined in the alert procedures, but is defined in the Convention Charts:

“Control Bid”: A bid showing first or second round control of a suit.

Your examples either are asking bids, responses to asking bids which are not specifically control bids, or bids that show nonspecific controls. So those bids below 3NT should be alerted immediately.