[blml] GK&E (was: alertability)

[Eric Landau]

At 03:30 PM 1/18/07, Sven wrote:

>On Behalf Of Eric Landau
>
> > What you must disclose is (a) your knowledge of your agreements, (b)
> > inferences drawn from your knowledge of your agreements, and (c) your
> > GK&E.  What you need not disclose is (d) inferences drawn from your
> > GK&E.  Your agreements are your agreements; the fact that a simple
> > overcall shows at least five cards in the suit is one of your
> > agreements, falls into category (a), and must be disclosed.
>
>I know of no system agreements that specify a minimum length of 5 
>cards for
>a simple overcall, this is simply common sense.

Simply common sense??  What has Sven been smoking?  (I want some!)

If it were "simply common sense" there would be no need for every 
(well, almost every) bridge book for beginners ever written to state 
it!  Beginners, I submit, have just as much "simple common sense" as 
the rest of us.

Indeed, what Sven really means is that *every* set of system agreements 
he knows of specifies a minimum length of five cards for a simple 
overcall.  That particular agreement might even be 100% universal; in 
any case, it is undoubtedly so widespread that neither Sven nor I have 
ever felt the need to make it an explicit, as opposed to an implicit, 
partnership agreement.  But it is just as much a partnership agreement 
as modified double-reverse super leaping Kickback.  Widespread or even 
universal adoption of a specific partnership agreement doesn't turn it 
from a partnership agreement into an orange.


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