Re: Stop Card (was WBF CoC comments solicited)

> Grattan Endicott wrote:

> +=+=+ Well, now, perhaps we had better look more
> closely at the law. Law 16A: ".... makes available to
> his partner extraneous information that may suggest a
> call or play, as by means of a remark, question ....".
> The key words are "by means of". The question itself
> does not have to contain the information; "by means
> of" only requires that the question is instrumental in
> making the information available - in using the question
> to bounce the information from opponent to partner
> the player has conveyed the information 'by means of'.
>              As for the purposeful question designed to
> do exactly that, it is a clear violation of Law 73B1.
> Admittedly such an offence is difficult to prove, but
> the Director is entitled to judge that it happened, award
> an adjusted score, and let it go to appeal thus throwing
> light into the dark recesses where criminals lurk.

It is difficult to prove damage, as the partner will invariably say, "I
knew that."

It is not difficult to spot the infraction when a pro questions the
meaning of a call and the TD is certain that s/he knew the answer. But
why do you assume that an infraction if spotted would automatically
result in an adjusted score?

I cited an example long ago, lessee if I can remember it. Client RHO
opens 1H, I double, pro LHO bids 1S, client raises to 2S, which is
passed around to my partner, who comes alive with 2NT. I bid 3C and the
pro wants to know what 2NT meant.

Now, pro knew what 2NT meant, yet insisted that I explain it, even after
I said (truthfully) that the meaning I inferred came only from general
knowledge and experience, not from a special partnership agreement. The
TD backed her up. I forget what happened next, except that I took the
name of the TD and never did explain the bid.

You see, the pro was afraid that the 2NT bid would intimidate the
client, perhaps causing her to pass with competing values. There was no
damage in this case, no cause for a score adjustment, but a good TD
would have had some words of reproach for the pro.

Marv
Marvin L. French
San Diego, California

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