Posted 2011-May-21, 01:57
Why bother to use lebensohl? Instead, just play that after 1♥-2♠, 2♥ shows a competitive raise to 3♥, while 3♥ shows a normal limit raise. That way, 2NT can be used to show invitational values in a balanced hand without primary support for partner and with at least one stopper in the opponent's suit. I am aware that Frances Hinden and her partners will be entirely unfamiliar with this concept and will need to study it carefully, but I assure her that it has at least some technical and practical merit.
Meanwhile, I am unable to convince myself that the Laws intend to create a position in which a player's side is able to benefit from the player's own infraction. Despite the fact that Ton Kooijman believes it acceptable for a player to know, after 1♥-2♠-[1NT corrected to 2NT] that the 1NT/2NT bidder has a hand worth only 1NT, I do not so believe, nor can I place any construction on the words in the Laws that justifies such a belief. I should say here for the benefit of bluejak that my earlier "oops" was not intended as an ellipsis for some illegal utterance by the 1NT/2NT bidder, which would indeed be UI; instead, it was intended to convey only some hiatus during which 1NT was corrected to 2NT with (apparently) the knowledge that East intended to bid only 1NT being authorised information to West. I should also apologise to bluejak and others for any confusion that my earlier wording may have caused.
Those who know me will be aware that I believe people who cannot be bothered to follow suit should be shot, in order that the game may soon (if Darwin was right) be played only by people who can be bothered to follow suit. By the same token, people who cannot be bothered to look at what the auction has actually been before making their own contribution to it should be barred from bidding not only at their current turn but for at least the rest of the session, and possibly for the rest of their natural lives. My only reservation is that this might in some cases actually improve their results, but this cannot be helped.
There is a deplorable trend, initiated by the late Edgar Kaplan and (therefore) commanding support at the highest levels, to the effect that people who do something ridiculous should not necessarily get the bad results that their actions deserve. This trend led to the ridiculous Law 25B in the 1997 Code; that Law has properly been rescinded in the 2007 Code, but the equally ridiculous Law 27B has been introduced in its stead. This trend has led also to the current ridiculous interpretation of Law 12C1b in England and (for aught I know) elsewhere to the effect that if following an infraction by the enemy, a non-offending side bids or plays more or less at random but without committing an infraction itself, it is immune from the ridiculous results it might otherwise obtain. Again, this cannot be helped.
As to the current problem: if Law 16D does not apply, then it does not apply and should be excluded from consideration by a Director. This does not mean that Law 16B does not apply: if a player makes an insufficient bid that he later corrects to a sufficient bid, the IB is "extraneous information that may suggest a call or play". Doubtless in compiling the list of examples that appears in Law 16B the Lawmakers intended expressly to exclude information dealt with under Law 16D, but that is not what the words say. Doubtless when they wrote Law 27B the Lawmakers intended expressly that the implied provisions of Law 16D should carry over to Law 16B, but that is not what the words say either.
Instead, Law 16A2 says explicitly that information from a withdrawn action is "authorised (see D)"; but since D is explicitly stated in Law 27B not to apply, this provision of Law 16A2 cannot hold, and information from a withdrawn action must be treated as extraneous per Law 16B since there is no other way in which it can be treated. This is not what the Lawmakers intended, but since what they intended is ridiculous (since it allows an offending side to benefit from its infraction), one should have no compunction in applying the letter of the Law. Nor, if necessary, the firing squad.
When Senators have had their sport
And sealed the Law by vote,
It little matters what they thought -
We hang for what they wrote.