[blml] club director torment

[gesta at tiscali.co.uk]

Grattan Endicott<gesta at tiscali.co.uk
[following address discontinued:
grandeval at vejez.fsnet.co.uk]
*************************
"True luck consists not in holding
the best cards at the table,
 Luckiest he who knows just when
to rise and go home."  [John Hay ]
"*************************
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Frick" <rfrick at rfrick.info>
To: "Bridge Laws Mailing List" <blml at amsterdamned.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 5:59 PM
Subject: [blml] club director torment


>
> Hmm, I can read through 8 years worth of minutes of meetings of Law
> Commissions/Committees. Sorry to say this, but I have not seen a WBFLC
> opinion (or whatever) that I liked.
>
> Maybe I shouldn't be spending all of today running my
> obsessive-compulsive-perfectionistic programs and trying to figure out if
> there even is a right ruling or how I would find that out. Maybe I should
> just take for granted that if I make a ruling, a higher up will probably
> judge it "wrong" and there is nothing I can do in advance to avoid that.
> Maybe no one really expects club directors to do anything more than apply
> their own interpretation of the laws.
>
> Or, as you all know, the laws are pretty good, but they aren't great, and
> there is no good way of handling the ambiguities.
>
> Bob
>
+=+ No grief Bob about not liking a WBFLC opinion. It is a rare
opinion that does not meet with 'dislike' on the part of some people.
We live with that. 
        Take the law step by step. When a Director is summoned to
deal with an insufficient bid the first duty lies upon his shoulders. He
must tell the players at the table what the law is. He ought to tell them
about the LHO's option to accept or not accept, and that when LHO
has decided the offender will have options. He should tell them about
27B1(a) and (b) , about 27B2 and that replacement with a double or
redouble is only permissible if it meets the requirements of 27B1(b).
(It will help the Director if he thinks about his task beforehand and
works out the simplest way for him of stating the law adequately to
the players. I suspect that numbers of TDs will start by telling LHO of 
his options and that if he rejects the IB the offender will have options 
some of which will place restrictions upon his side.  If LHO asks for 
more information about offender's options he is entitled to it. ) When 
he has stated the law he should ask the LHO to decide whether to 
accept the IB or not.
        Only after LHO has decided not to accept the IB does offender
have any options and he does not have to select an option until he has
options. He may need to be reminded again what they are. My advice 
is to work out beforehand the easiest way for you of accomplishing all 
of this.
                                ~ Grattan ~   +=+ 
p.s. my spellchecker keeps asking me to remove the 'ic' from 
      'perfectionistic'.