[blml] ACBL LC Detroit minutes

[David Burn]

[AG]

>> It is not illegal to
>> work out partner's intention after saying "no agreement", it is
>> illegal to say "no agreement" after you've worked out partner's
intention.

But some would like to disallow the former too. And I don't like this.

[DALB]

I am an old man, and I can remember being set mathematics problems at school
that contained the injunction "Show your working". This was, of course, to
stop you simply writing down the answer at the back of the book, or cribbing
it from a more competent classmate (my mathematics classes contained only
these).

Similarly, if you "work out partner's intention" at the bridge table, you do
so at least in part on the basis of agreements (implicit and explicit) that
your partnership has. These must be explained to the opponents. So says the
Law, so say John Probst and Grattan Endicott, and so say I.

David Burn
London, England