[blml] Law 25A

[Eric Landau]

At 06:36 PM 9/6/06, Sven wrote:

>However CTD (one of the best we have in Norway) later got "cold feet" and
>called on me among others to discuss the situation. There was no doubt 
>that
>South intended to reach game and there seemed little (if any) reason to
>believe that he thought North had already bid 3NT. More probably South
>absentmindedly ("inadvertently") pulled the pass card rather than the
>desired 3NT card from his bid box. And it is clear from the facts that 
>there
>was no "pause for thought" when he discovered what he had done.
>
>After an extensive discussion we ended up "allowing" a Law 25A correction.

Sven seems to be treating "absentmindedly" and "inadvertently" as 
synonyms.  But they aren't.  On the contrary, it is the distinction 
between them that presents us with problems in the application of L25.

As I understand it, for a call to be considered "inadvertent" for L25 
purposes (for L25A to apply), the "mind" must be "present"; it is the 
(proper) connection between the mind and the hand, or the mind and the 
mouth, that must be "absent".  An absentminded intention is still an 
intention.

ISTM that L25B exists for the specific purpose of providing some relief 
to a player who has bid "absentmindedly" rather than "inadvertently".


Eric Landau                     ehaa at starpower.net
1107 Dale Drive                 (301) 608-0347
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