bridgetalk.com forums :: Laws & Rulings

Well, after we pick up both the director and the

6 off the floor and return the card to North's hand (ok, cheap shot, but somebody would have said it):

North has 13 (or 12, or however many cards he got down before somebody stopped him - I'll assume all here) penalty cards (L49).

South has a Opening Lead out of Rotation (OLOOR) - face up (grumble). Side note: *everywhere I know* requires face-down opening leads - in duplicate anyway - why don't people do it?

West has the standard OLOOR options:

put her hand down and let partner play it on the A lead.
accept the A lead, and see partner's hand before playing from her own.
make it a Major Penalty Card (MPC) (to go along with North's 13 - multiple Penalty Cards are always Major - L50B).

Now, if she refuses the

A lead, which is sensible, she can require or forbid a heart lead from North (which frees the

A from MPC requirements), or let North lead normally. But, with multiple MPCs, West gets to designate which gets played when any could - L51A. So "require or forbid" makes no sense here...

No matter what she decides, whenever North has to play, declarer can choose the card played (if legal) from the cards left on the table. Whenever South is on lead, declarer may require any suit lead which North still has on the table, or refuse any suit or suits led (which North still has on the table), at the cost of having all cards in the designated suit or suits freed from MPC status (L51).

So, let's see: West can play the hand double-dummy, as she knows where all the cards are, and can play 39 of them...Well, for the life of me, I can't see how to avoid three losers, assuming South plays correctly - but we don't assign a score, we let it get played out. Were I West, I'd lead the

Q. When South gets in, force a club lead, and use the

A and

J as entries to score three club tricks and a ruff to go with the other 5 diamond tricks and the spade.

Hmm...There's that evil L50A clause added in the 1997 revision about UI associated with MPCs (and I hope it goes away with the next revision - it always boggles the players when I drag it out). The fact that North has four clubs is apparent from the table, but "the requirement that offender must play the card is authorized information for his partner; however, other information arising from facing of the penalty card is unauthorized for partner" - and that includes the distribution of the hand. Somehow I don't think that playing the CK on the first round of clubs, no matter where that first round comes from, can possibly be the right play without knowledge of the distribution, so I don't think we can give West the contract on use of UI grounds. So the table score (whatever it turns out to be) stands.

I originally wrote that I would refuse a heart lead T1 before pulling the

Q - as I didn't want to have south be forced to play the

A trick 2. Turns out I don't have to do that - L50D states (in part) that "The obligation to ... comply with a lead or play penalty[,] takes precedence over the obligation to play a major penalty card" - so I can force the club lead even with the

A on the table.

Michael.

International Bridge Laws Forum

If you need help with the Laws or rulings from
any country in the world, this is the place!

Hosted by David Stevenson
Senior Consultant Director
English Bridge Union

International Bridge Laws Forum

If you need help with the Laws or rulings from any country in the world, this is the place!Hosted by David StevensonSenior Consultant DirectorEnglish Bridge Union

If you need help with the Laws or rulings from
any country in the world, this is the place!

Hosted by David Stevenson
Senior Consultant Director
English Bridge Union