August 2022 - 34

RULING THE Game
Q
In a recent club game, we were defending 2k. Both
sides had taken several tricks, and declarer faced
his hand and said, " I have the rest. " His hand was
the lA K and the k4. I was about to give up when partner
objected and called the director. The director asked why
we objected to the claim. Partner said she still had a high
trump. Declarer said, " Oops, sorry I forgot. You can have it
whenever. " Partner told the director that she thinks that
if declarer thinks her hand is all good, she might well play
the low heart. We would then take the rest of the tricks.
The claimer said, " You can't make me do something stupid. "
The director agreed with that statement and awarded
our side just one trick. That's what we were always
entitled to! Is this correct?
A
This is correct. Law 70A reminds the director to
adjudicate the result of a claim as equitably as
possible to both sides, but any doubtful point shall
be resolved against the claimer. Part of being equitable
involves applying Law 70D1, which states that the director
cannot accept from the claimer any successful line of
play not embraced in the original clarification statement
if there is an alternative normal line of play which would
be less successful. In this case, declarer's suggestion about
doing something stupid was offering an additional clarification
that the diamonds would be played first. Our Laws
Commission has stated that it is not considered a normal
play for a declarer who mentions nothing about trumps to
lead one to their disadvantage, as if to " check for lurkers. "
In this case, the trump is so low that leading it could only
be the right play if the k2 or k3 remained in an opponent's
hand. If such a trump did remain, Law 70C would
not allow declarer to draw it anyway. A trick would be
awarded to the opponents for that low trump if the three
tests of 70C were met (didn't mention the trump; could
have forgotten it; could lose a trick to it by a normal play).
Lastly, remember that a bad claim is not an infraction.
There is no offending side, and there is no penalty for having
made a bad claim. The director adjudicates the claim
and tells the table what score to record.
Powered by
Q
Against 6, partner overcalled hearts during the
auction, so I led my kA. I continued with a low
heart to partner's king. Before partner could lead
to the next trick, declarer claimed. He faced his hand and
said, " Drawing trump, down one, " and folded up his cards.
Dummy had three trumps and no more hearts. Declarer
had seven spades, the 'A and a remaining heart loser.
Dummy provided the lA. Partner's quicker eyes saw a
problem, so she called the director. She told the director
that declarer did not say he would ruff a heart, let alone
34 | Bridge Bulletin | August 2022
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do so before drawing trumps, and if trumps are 3-0, then
he would not have a trump to ruff his heart loser. Declarer
added that he would obviously ruff a heart, and that he
would do that first if he found out trumps were breaking
badly. My partner told the director he should have said
that as part of the claim. The director told declarer he
would have to lose a trick because he did not account
for the possibility of trumps being 3-0 in his statement.
Dummy now asked to see all the cards, which revealed
that trumps were breaking 2-1. The director curtly said,
" Down one, " and left the table. Is this correct?
A
Issues of style notwithstanding, this sounds like
the right ruling. We are again in Law 70. The
director's ruling says in effect that, although
declarer did not mention drawing three rounds of trump
as being a possibility, on this particular hand playing
a third round of trumps or failing to ruff the last heart
would not rise to the level of normal. I suspect the curt
reply was from annoyance at not having asked your side to
show their cards, assuming that trumps were indeed 3-0.
If they were, then the director would need to consider
whether drawing all the trumps before ruffing the heart
would be considered careless for declarer's level of play. If
so, that makes it a " normal " play and your side would have
been awarded a heart trick.
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August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2022
