[blml] Marvin French's Procedures for handling UI - part one [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[richard.hills at immi.gov.au]

Marvin French:

>We can assume a virtual peer, however: a fictitious
>typical player in the event. If rulings treat everyone the
>same, the result is identical rulings for identical
>irregularities (absent some system effect). Call it equal
>treatment under the law, a precious democratic principle.
>If I were a TD I would treat every reference in the Laws to
>"the class of player involved" to mean this virtual peer.
>Otherwise the known expert will get much benefit of doubt,
>the known novice little benefit of doubt, and the unknown
>is left in limbo. What benefit of doubt will he get? Better
>to treat all three the same.

Richard Hills:

In his short story "Harrison Bergeron", Kurt Vonnegut wrote:

"Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out
some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking
unfair advantage of their brains...."

Furthermore, it is not the case that current ACBL policy on
"peers" means that experts always gain the benefit of Law
16 rulings vis-a-vis novices.  It is just as likely that a
novice may gain, as for that novice a demonstrably suggested
action of showing your 23-count a second time may be the
only logical alternative, while for an expert an additional
logical alternative of a second-round pessimistic pass may
exist.

*     *     *

Such an example of experts losing the benefit of the doubt,
when novices would gain that benefit, occurred on this deal:

2007 Southwest Pacific Teams - Session 10

Brd: 6                   Hills
Dlr: East                JT8765
Vul: East-West           J9
                         542
                         KQ
Edgtton                                       Edgtton
KQ9                                           A42
Q865                                          AK74
T87                                           AKJ3
T97                                           43
                         Ali
                         3
                         T32
                         Q96
                         AJ8652

WEST      NORTH     EAST      SOUTH
---       ---       1D        3C
Pass      Pass      Dble      Pass
3D(1)     Pass      3H        Pass
4H        Pass      Pass      Pass

(1) Break in tempo

East-West +420

The first mate of the Black Pearl, Mister Gibbs:

"Captain, I think the crew, meaning me as well, were
expecting something a bit more... shiny."

For a novice East, their cards are very shiny, therefore
bidding them for a third time with 3H is the only logical
alternative for that novice.

And indeed East-West were merely teenage brothers.  But
unluckily for them they were not novices.  Rather, they
were precocious experts who had just qualified for the
Australian Youth Team, won the Hills-Hurley Trophy for
best youth pair of the year, and who were soon to reach
the quarter-finals of the National Open Teams.

So, for an expert East, do their cards need to be a "bit
more... shiny" for East to call again?

The director consulted six expert peers of East.  While
three optimists chose to call again over 3D, three
pessimists noted that North could be lurking with all
the outstanding high cards and (in the worst case) any
further action might see North double for -500 or more.
So those three pessimistic expert peers chose a pass,
which made pass an expert logical alternative.  Thus the
director adjusted the score to 3D East-West +130.


Best wishes

Richard James Hills, amicus curiae
National Training Branch, DIAC
02 6225 6285

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