[blml] Obviously this is the prime duty

[David Burn]

[SP]

I hadn't anticipated to spend any more time on this thread, but I owe Hirsch
Davis credit for pointing out the effect of Law 75D:

Any player who becomes aware that he has given misinformation to opponents
MUST IMMEDIATELY CALL THE DIRECTOR.

Further comments should be superfluous.

[DALB]

A superfluous comment follows.

If the auction (in a jurisdiction where calls above 3NT are alertable)
contains

West: 4NT.
East: Alert.
North: Please explain.
East: Blackwood.
North: Pass.
East: Five diamonds.
West: Alert.
South: Please explain.
West: Diamond preference.

all that is known is that someone has given misinformation to the opponents,
but it may well be the case that neither West nor East knows that he is the
guilty party. Law 75D does not help in this situation, nor is it clear that
the director could assist in any way if summoned to the table.

Still, the remaining laws are perfectly clear. East and West must proceed as
though they had not heard either the questions asked or the answers given.
It is not for a player to be concerned with giving UI to partner in
answering a question from an opponent - the proper course of action is to
assume that partner has been struck temporarily deaf while the question is
being asked and the answer is being given. I have been away from this list
for some time, and I cannot bring myself to read all the learned
contributions on the subject of the de Wael school, but I dimly recollect
that this involved the mad notion that you are supposed to lie to your
opponents about your methods for the sake of telling them the truth about
your partner's hand. You are not.

David Burn
London, England