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more on defender exposing last 2 cards simultaneously

I've found out that the last 2 cards held by the defender's partner were winning honours in the minor suits. After the defender showed the last 2 cards simultaneously, a winning trump and a small club, the other defender discarded the winning diamond on the trump and saved the club honour to take the last trick. Surely the defender could have taken advantage of the unauthorised info.

Comments

  • This is not an unauthorised information ruling. One defender claims, play is suspended - declarer objects, play ceases - the TD rules on the claim/objection - the play by the other defender is not part of the play.

    It is for the TD to judge, but it is likely that keeping either winner is a normal play for the partner of the defender who claimed. Discarding the club costs a trick, so there is a normal line which results in the claiming side not making all the remaining in tricks, and the TD should rule one trick to declarer.

  • edited September 2018

    Right, basically what the defence needs to show is that it'd be abnormal for the partner of the claimer to discard the wrong card. (It can be fairly hard to do that unless it's very obvious that they had the hand counted out; playing someone for 14 cards, or an impossible distribution, is considered "normal" play as miscounting is quite common in practice.) So the defence isn't going to get both the tricks they claimed unless they can show that they must have been aware of which card was needed, e.g. via showing a consistent signalling system in their earlier discards that requested their partner hold a particular card.

  • Claiming in defence is riskier than as declarer for this reason. If you have got the position wrong, you are at risk either way, but in defence you run the additional risk that even though partner might have got it right had you not claimed, getting it wrong may be regarded as within the tolerances of normal play, so the ruling will go against you.

    I guess that's why most people don't claim in defence very often, although I probably do it more than most people of equivalent ability that I know. You have to be prepared to be very apologetic to partner if you have misunderstood the position.

  • As a practical matter, it is best not to claim in defence unless you have the rest in your hand - or perhaps if the claimer's hand and dummy are making the remaining tricks.

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