[blml] Live exam question [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[Guthrie]

[Herman De Wael]
> Uttering the sentence "no more spades, declarer", when two people have 
> shown out, is allowed under L61B(3) and forbidden under L61B(4). 
> Therefore, it is forbidden.

[nige1]
Herman has got to be right in law and common sense.


[Tim West-Meades]
 > A failure to enquire when a player *might* have chosen so to do can
 > also transmit UI.  It is "information arising" whether the dog
 > barks or not.  I'd say such cases are extremely rare rather than
 > just rare.
 > Problems can be avoided (if playing rubber bridge in Europe or
 > duplicate in the US) by training oneself to always ask.
 > Problems can be avoided (if playing rubber bridge in Europe or
 > duplicate in the US) by training oneself to always ask.

[nige1]
Until recently, at duplicate in the UK, the law allowed defenders
to ask "having none partner?" My experience is different from Tim's: 
Both asking and not asking gave rise to "useful" unauthorised 
information several times per session.

The standard of ethics must be higher in the USA than in the UK, if
players refrain from taking advantage of so many opportunities.

Hence, IMO, changing the laws back in the UK, would be a retrograde 
step. Tim is right that few problems would result if the law then 
insisted that "you always ask"; I fear, however, that some players would 
protest at being penalized for "forgetting to ask".

There is an analogous problem with alerting; unless players must 
*always* ask the meaning of an alert, unauthorised information is 
inevitable; but in the case of alerting, the solution is obvious:

Should the law be changed to insist that players always ask? No! Why 
waste time with alerting and asking at all? Just insist that players 
*announce* (in detail) all calls that they would formerly have alerted!

If the law also accorded players the option to "switch off" all 
opponents' announcements, then not only would the game be simpler and 
more fun; but a conduit of unauthorised information would be dammed :) 
:) :) :) :) :)