Full Disclosure: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. About Full Disclosure
Full Disclosure (FD) is the name of a new kind of BBO convention card. An FD convention card does much more than give a brief overview of what conventions you play: it automatically displays a detailed explanation of each bid in an auction (at least the ones that are defined in the convention card). Everyone at the table is able to see the information, making it a fantastic resource both for learning and for reducing partnership misunderstandings.

2. How do I load a convention card?
Follow the instructions in the instructions posted here.

3. I made a bid but no information was displayed. What happened?
If information was shown about any of your other bids (or your partner's), then it just means that the bid wasn't defined in the convention card. Each bid in each auction has to be defined individually, and there are a ton of possible auctions! Expansions and revisions are currently underway for some of the default convention cards, so the cards are becoming progressively more complete and accurate.

If you are using one of the default convention cards and information isn't showing about any of your bids (in an uncontested auction), the card didn't load properly. Loading it again should solve the problem. (Make sure to click on the "USE" button to send the card to the table!)

4. What if I don't agree with the description of the bid I want to make?
Unless you're playing with a regular partner, your best bet is to try to stay within the given definition. You're allowed to use your discretion -- no definition is ever 100% absolute -- but your partner is going to assume that your hand fits the description. You can bid whatever you like, but be prepared for partner to misunderstand your bid if it doesn't match.

A big part of the value of FD is that it provides definition in all sorts of auctions that you would never have time to talk about with a casual partner. You might not like a particular definition, but at least you and your partner both know what the bid means. There's a tried and true bridge saying that goes "Any agreement is better than no agreement." 

5. I'd like to change some of the definitions in one of the convention cards. How can I do that?
Modifying a convention card can be a bit tricky. Unless you're in a regular partnership, it probably isn't worth the effort. However, if you're feeling ambitious it can be done by opening the Convention Card window, going to the Settings menu, and clicking Editor.

6. Who can see the information provided by FD?
All available information is displayed to everyone at the table: including yourself and your partner.

7. Your partner isn't supposed to be told what your bids mean! Isn't FD against the rules?
That's absolutely true in face-to-face bridge, but online bridge and face-to-face bridge are quite different. One of the goals of FD is to improve the overall level of bidding -- particularly among the large number of one-time partnerships -- by making uniform information available to everyone at the table.

BBO management could have made the definitions visible only to the opponents and the bidder, but deliberately chose to set FD up this way. We've all had the experience of reaching a disastrous contract, not because we did anything bad, but simply because we misunderstood partner. Bridge results are meant to be a reflection of skill and judgment, and not dependent on how talented a mindreader you are.

If you and your partner want to practice without seeing the definitions displayed, you can easily do that. Either:

• Use one of the old-style convention cards

• Disable the display for your partner's bids. This can be done by clicking on the green CONV button in the bottom menu and selecting 'Options'.

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