Help
barmar, on 2018-December-20, 11:23, said:
This is true, but it's still a good idea to avoid creating UI when possible, and the Laws allude to this in a number of places. When UI is available, partner's actions may be constrained; if there are multiple LAs, the one that's consistent with the UI becomes illegal.
This is the subject of one of the questions in this month's "Ruling the Game" column in the Bulletin. If you're in the pass-out seat, the Laws give you the right to ask questions about the auction before passing. But unless it's going to affect your bid, it's best to wait until partner has made their face-down lead. Otherwise, your question creates UI, and this might limit partner's options when leading. Law 20F1 says you have the right to ask questions, but Law 16 may apply as a result.
I'm sure someone is now planning to insert the usual response "But now partner has the UI that your hand is such that the answer to the question wouldn't affect the decision about passing." This may be true, but in the vast majority of cases this UI doesn't demonstrably suggest anything. E.g. if partner has been passing throughout the auction, he probably didn't have any other call at the end, so the fact that he passes without asking about the auction conveys no new information.
This is the subject of one of the questions in this month's "Ruling the Game" column in the Bulletin. If you're in the pass-out seat, the Laws give you the right to ask questions about the auction before passing. But unless it's going to affect your bid, it's best to wait until partner has made their face-down lead. Otherwise, your question creates UI, and this might limit partner's options when leading. Law 20F1 says you have the right to ask questions, but Law 16 may apply as a result.
I'm sure someone is now planning to insert the usual response "But now partner has the UI that your hand is such that the answer to the question wouldn't affect the decision about passing." This may be true, but in the vast majority of cases this UI doesn't demonstrably suggest anything. E.g. if partner has been passing throughout the auction, he probably didn't have any other call at the end, so the fact that he passes without asking about the auction conveys no new information.
Quite right.
But be aware that almost any action taken or not taken in a particular situation creates UI in some way:
The fact that you ask a question creates UI to partner.
The very question you ask creates UI to partner.
The fact that you do not ask a question creates UI to partner.
The fact that you hesitate creates the UI that you have something to consider.
The fact that you do not hesitate creates the UI that you have nothing to consider.
And so on.
In most cases the UI created is irrelevant and can safely be ignored, but it is still there.
