The purpose for saying “Alert” (and tapping the Alert Flag or displaying the Alert bid card) is to warn your opponents that Partner’s bid has a special meaning. You don’t say “Alert” to re-assure Partner that you understood his bid. Since the “Alert!” is for the opponents’ benefit, it is important that Partner not take any action based on your having said “Alert!” or based on the fact that you failed to say “Alert!” (perhaps communicating that you did not read his bid correctly). Partner needs to act as if he cannot hear your “Alerts!”
You should “Alert!” every time Partner’s bid is listed or underlined in red on your convention card, and any time an otherwise un-alertable call has a different meaning than the opponents would assume. For example, a cuebid of the opponent’s suit is usually not alertable. Most of the time, it shows 2 suits (as with Michaels), it is a Limit Raise of Partner’s bid, or it asks Partner for a stopper (as with Western cuebids). But, if you and Partner have agreed that it means something other than what the opponents would assume, you should warn them with an “Alert!.”
Some people are saying “Transfer!” when they should be saying “Alert!”
Example #1: Many players use the auction 1NT-P-2 Spades as a relay to 3Clubs. After Opener bids 3Clubs, Responder may pass or bid 3Diamonds, which Opener is expected to pass. Look closely at your convention card: In the 1NT responses, 2spades is black, but the line after it is red (not blue!). In this auction, Opener should say “Alert!” not “Transfer!” and certainly not “I’m taking that as a transfer.” Just “Alert!” If asked by his LHO, Opener would explain, “It is a relay to 3Clubs, suggesting he has 5+Clubs or 5+Diamonds.”
Example #2: Some players use “4-suit Transfers,” so the auction 1NT-P-2spaces is a transfer to 3Clubs, and the auction 1NT-P-2NT (or 3Clubs) is a transfer to 3Diamonds. In this case, Opener still says only “Alert!” But when asked, he would respond, “It is a transfer to (whichever) showing at least 5.”
So, why does it matter?
In the first place, you should only make the announcement “Transfer!” if the bid is printed in blue on your card, as with Jacoby (2 Diamonds or 2 Hearts) or Texas (4 Diamonds or 4 Hearts) Transfers. Making such an announcement with other bids is prohibited (unauthorized information). In the second place, if your bid of 2 Spades shows either 5+Clubs or 5+Diamonds, it is not a “Transfer;” it is a “Relay.” You see, “Transfer!” guarantees that the suit you are asking Partner to bid is your suit. “Relay,” in this case, says your suit may be Clubs or Diamonds. Since relays and transfers are different, telling your opponents that it is one thing when it is really the other is unethical.
VCC Bridge Ethics Newsletter #1 (Apr 2004)