From: campbell@Aero.org (Andrew Campbell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Ethics questions
Date: 14 Sep 1992 18:55:06 GMT
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: amanuensis.aero.org

In article <18tvteINNca8@overload.lbl.gov>, asya@ux5.lbl.gov (Asya Kamsky) writes:
|> In article <1992Sep11.171646.8@dcs.simpact.com> ahollander@dcs.simpact.com writes:
|> >In article <18quljINNa45@overload.lbl.gov>, asya@ux5.lbl.gov (Asya Kamsky) writes:
|> >> Analogy -- 1NT, you overcall 2H showing the majors.  Partner explains as
|> >> such and bids 2S.  You look at your hand and suddenly realize that your
|> >> spades are really all clubs.  Can you correct to 3C?  Of course not.
|> >
|> >Of course you are allowed to bid 3C.  B U T, partner has to interpret it in 
|> >the light of the 2H hand as showing the majors.
|> 
|> THis is just plain wrong -- you may really honestly know what you are playing
|> but this would never ever be allowed to stand by a committee or director.
|> 
|> There is no way to judge when you forgot your convention and when you misspoke/
|> missaw, missorted, they all have to be judged consistently, which is:
|> 
|> Once you screw up, you are screwed unless you are playing with screens.
|> 
|> >I don't think any committee would think that you've 
|> >been awakened by partner's explanation -- unless by some quirk you also 
|> 
|> It doesn't matter what they believe -- they must rule the same in all cases.
|> 
|> >yet another opinion from Al
|> 
|> Save your opinions when matters of judgement are being discussed, this
|> is a matter of law.


  If so, would you please quote the law

|> 
|> -- 
|> "In nature there are no rewards or punishments, only consequences"
|> 
|> Asya Kamsky	      e-mail: asya@ux5.lbl.gov                   Go Red Sox
|> "In order to command you must first learn to submit" - chinese fortune cookie

   
   Here is another "personal opinion" in what is perhaps simply
 a matter of law. The following are relevant.

 1. Potentially self-serving statements should be disallowed.
 2. Information from the alert is unauthorized, and you cannot
    be awakened by it.
 3. The hand held is the best prima facie evidence of a player's
    intentions or state of mind.
 4. All rulings should be made by the principle of substitution:
    substitute for the player involved one of equal general abilities,
    partnership experience, etc. This may be a different way of
    stating things, but it is the principle that is supposed to allow
    rulings that do NOT rely on factual determinations of a player's
    state of mind (e.g. in hesitation auctions).

  The actual situation (2H o'call of 1NT showing majors, but holding
  hearts and clubs) is one in which the hand points to an instance of
  memory loss. Nonetheless, it certainly appears to be a situation in
  which evidence can be introduced concerning partnership experience.
  If the pair in question can demonstrate that they have been playing
  2H for the majors in an established partnership for several years and
  have played together for 4 sessions already during the current tournament,
  and have NEVER forgotten, is it not logical to conclude that it is more
  likely that the 2H bidder mistook his clubs for spades, or inadvertently
  had the wrong call pop out of his mouth, than that he forgot?

  In my experience committees certainly often feel that such things
  should be considered. I don't know for sure how this should be
  handled, but I would certainly like to see a law quoted that even
  comes close to covering the situation involved. Note that 1-4 above,
  whose applicability could be considered a matter of interpretation,
  are not extracted from any laws, and at best may be mentioned in
  committee guidelines prepared by the ACBL. (Which of course raises
  the whole issue of there being two forms of "the law" -- the actual
  laws and the often contradictory interpretations mandated by the ACBL.)

  Summary - let's see more quotes from the laws or guidelines


 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
|L. Andrew Campbell     internet: campbell@aerospace.aero.org   |
|M1-102 PO Box 92957    organization: The Aerospace Corp.       |
|Los Angeles CA 90009   telephone: (310) 336-8642               |
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge