[blml] ACBL LC Detroit minutes

[Robert Frick]

On Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:10:41 -0400, Eric Landau <ehaa at starpower.net> wrote:

>
> "Each partnership has a duty to make available its partnership
> understandings to opponents" [L40a1(b)].  Swear to disclose your
> partnership understandings, your whole partnership understandings,
> and nothing but your partnership understandings, so help ye God.  If
> you are troubled by the inability to find the line between
> "partnership understanding" and "what I meant my bid to mean", do
> your best for the moment, call the director at the appropriate time
> per L20F4-5, and let him sort it out.

No thanks.

Philosophical, this seems to capture the laws and their intent.

It is not practical in terms of getting ruled against, I don't think it is  
good for bridge, and I wouldn't enjoy it (assuming we in fact disagree at  
the table about when we would disclose to opps and when we would not).

Yesterday, my partner, after a very long hesitation, described one of my  
doubles as Rosencranz. We had agreed to play Rosencranz doubles, and I  
think technically her description was correct, though Rosencranz might  
blanche to hear it.

I really did not consider whether her explanation was correct. I think now  
that technically it was. I had not clearly misbid my hand, so at the first  
opportunity I explained to opponents that I had intended my double to be  
for penalties.

I recommend doing this. It feels great. I do it all the time -- no claims  
about whether the mistake was my partner's or mine or if we had  
understandings or not, I just correct any mistaken explanations that he  
gives (unless the mistake is clearly mine).

As for practicalities, I don't know how a director would rule. We  
certainly have evidence that we play Rosenkranz. We just don't have any  
evidence about which situations we play it in and which ones we don't. So  
someone knows whether

1D  P  P 2C
2D  X

is supposed to be Rosenkranz. Or maybe it is controversial. But no one  
where we were playing would have known.

Bob