[blml] This week's defender play.

[Grattan Endicott]

from Grattan Endicott
grandeval at vejez.fsnet.co.uk
[also gesta at tiscali.co.uk]
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"They who sin with caution, 
                         whilst concealed,
 Grow impudently careless,
                          when revealed."
                 ~ Susannah Centlivre.
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+=+ Perhaps, gentle reader, you would like to 
share in the following rarity. A report states:

"Spades are trumps. Mid-way through the play 
declarer led a high-ish heart from his hand.  LHO 
can ruff it if we wishes; this will be the correct 
thing to do if the heart is a winner, but the wrong 
thing to do if it is a loser. It is less than clear to 
LHO whether or not the heart is good. Whilst 
he's thinking, RHO prematurely plays a higher 
heart (i.e. a heart winner). So, LHO now knows 
not to ruff. Law 57A doesn't help declarer one 
bit - he'd like to force LHO to ruff, but 57A 
doesn't give him that option."

Various suggested rulings surround application of 
Laws 12B, 72B1, 12A1.  I have commented
"Any card that is played and then becomes 
a penalty card is seemingly a withdrawn card? 
It appears to me that penalty cards of this genre
are perhaps subject to Law 16C."

                                 ~ Grattan ~   +=+