[blml] My draft comments on Detroit NABC+ cases 2-10

[David Grabiner]

1.  The TD and AC rulings are both reasonable; the TD is to presume damage, and 
the AC can carry out a more thorough investigation, determining, in this case, 
that North had AI about the strong hand opposite, independent of the slow pass. 
However, the AC writeup suggests that South's double was a double shot, which it 
was not; South made a reasonable penalty double, attempting to collect +300 on a 
part-score deal, which happened not to work out.

[2D-(question)P-P-X]

> 8. A don't understand either part of the TD ruling. Certainly the
> question made UI available, and that UI demonstrably suggested acting.
> Perhaps the TDs extrapolated from NABC+ case 1, which had appeared in
> the daily bulletin by the time this case came up. I believe such
> extrapolation is not justified here, but this is something committees
> ought to keep in mind. In close cases we should consider the message
> our decision will send.

What I would like to know in this case is how well E-W complied with the 
convention card rules; in the final of an NABC+ event, I would expect good 
compliance, but it's not guaranteed.  I usually look at the convention card when 
an unalerted 2D is opened because the bid is so often conventional and the alert 
might be missing.  If E-W had a convention card easily accessible to North, and 
North asked a question, the question (rather than looking) may have transmitted 
UI.  If the closest convention card was under West's coffee cup, in East's lap, 
in front of South (only one card), incompletely filled out, or illegible, then 
the question should not be considered to transmit UI.

> 9. The TD ruling was reasonable, and the AC ruling improved upon it.
> The "In real life" comment at the end of the write-up is not relevant.
> EW are entitled to know the actual NS agreement whether or not North
> knows it himself.

The TD ruling implied that it was "at all probable" that a pair playing RKC 
would get to a slam off an ace and the queen of trump; this led to the need for 
the offenders to appeal to restore equity.