[blml] The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep is sick

[Guthrie]

[Eric Landau]
Making it illegal to forget or screw up a convention thus  effectively
prohibits partnerships from trying out new methods:  you can't master
it without practicing it, but you can't practice  it without having
mastered it.

[Paul Lamford]
Yes; another good reason why forgets or misbids should incur no 
penalty per  se. An ill-considered proposal my me!

[nige1]
Before risking it at the table, the Sharples brothers refined and 
practised their version of the Roman 2D opener for a full year. Thus, 
they avoided the mistakes welcomed by Eric and Paul.

Eric is right that
- few players take such care over new conventions.
- they often make mistakes.
- most of their mistakes generate random *good* scores for opponents.
- only a few of their mistakes generate random *bad* scores.
- although some "mistakes" like "forgetting" Ghestem, not vulnerable,
   on a weak hand, seem to produce as many good results as bad.

Anyway, as a player, I disagree with Paul and Eric. I have to do 
enough guessing in the bidding and play, to forgo the thrill of random 
results caused by opponents not knowing and refusing to divulge their 
methods.

Forcing players to guess when they claim they don't know would 
simplify the law and make prevarication harder.