[blml] Pointing out who won the trick

[Eric Landau]

At 08:11 PM 10/4/06, Ed wrote:

>It is commonly accepted in my neck of the woods (Rochester, NY) that
>a defender is permitted to point out to his partner that he has
>turned his card of the just completed trick the wrong way, so long as
>he does so "right away" (whatever that means). However, I am told by
>others, mostly not in the ACBL, that it is illegal to do so. I can
>find no law which explicitly addresses this question, no law that
>authorizes it and none that expressly forbid it. I did find, howver,
>that in minute #8 of its 24 September 1998 meeting, the WBFLC said
>"The Secretary drew attention to those who argued that where an
>action was stated in the laws (or regulations) to be authorised,
>other actions if not expressly forbidden were also legitimate. The
>Committee ruled that this is not so; the Scope of the Laws states
>that the laws define correct procedure and anything not specified in
>the laws is, therefore, 'extraneous' and it may be deemed an
>infraction of law if information deriving from it is used in the
>auction or the play."
>
>It appears to me, then, that a defender should not tell his partner
>that he has turned a card the wrong way, in that doing so is
>"extraneous", and not proper procedure. However, if a player does so,
>the act is no more an infraction than is the passing of UI by other
>means, for example by hesitating. The legal infraction, if one were
>to occur, would be the use of the extraneous information by its
>recipient (the player who had his card turned wrong).
>
>Am I right so far?
>
>Assuming I am, how the Hell is anyone supposed to tell that a player
>in fact did commit that infraction?
>
>If I'm right, both the local position (it's okay to tell him) and the
>"other" positions (that it is completely illegal to tell him) are
>wrong. But if I'm right, the law in this case is IMO very difficult,
>if not impossible, to administer. Personally, I hope someone can tell
>me (and point to a legal basis) either that I and the local position
>are both wrong, and that the "other" position is right. Failing that,
>that I'm right <g>, and there really is an easy way to deal with it.

The ACBL permits this practice.  The placement of the turned card is 
prescribed by L65B, thus turning it the wrong way is an 
irregularity.  L9A2(a) permits "...either defender [to] call attention 
to an irregularity that occurs during the play period".  (Of course, 
everyone routinely violates L9B1(a) and L9B2 in this situation, but 
that is harmless.)

It is, however, still an "extraneous" action, and the usual rules with 
respect to UI apply.  If the player who has been informed that he 
misturned the trick would have had a logical alternative play given his 
(previously) incorrect count of the tricks, and his knowledge of the 
correct count might have suggested the play he took over its LA(s), he 
has violated L16A, and an adjustment is in order.


Eric Landau                     ehaa at starpower.net
1107 Dale Drive                 (301) 608-0347
Silver Spring MD 20910-1607